Cloud computing is a model which facilitates on-demand network access to shared configurable resources like – networks, storage, servers, and applications which can be quickly implemented and released with minimum effort.
The cloud service offerings and deployment models:
Cloud computing has become an attractive proposition for an enterprise due to its ease of usage. This has been made possible by large data center service vendors who are now better known as cloud service vendors again primarily due to their scale of operations.
Figure: The cloud computing service offering and deployment models
Five essential characteristics of cloud computing are–
On-demand self-service: A consumer can unilaterally decide computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
Resource Pulling: The provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources which are deployed according to consumer demand. The consumer usually has no idea or control over the exact location of the provided resources (e.g. country, state, or datacenter). Some of the examples are storage, processing, memory, and network bandwidth.
Rapid Elasticity: Resources can be elastically increased or decreased, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly fulfill the demand. Due to this, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be appropriated in quantity at any time.
Broad network access: Resources are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g. mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations)
Measured service: Cloud systems can automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g. storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts)
These need to be clearly stated as many vendors have tried to pass off their offerings as “cloud computing” even though they do not fit the criteria.
Cloud Computing Stack
The widely accepted cloud computing stack depicts three categories within the Cloud –
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS),
Platform as a service (PaaS),
Software as a service (SaaS).
IaaS is an on-demand delivery of Cloud Computing infrastructure – storage, servers, networks, etc. It is the backbone of the cloud. Amazon Web Services is the largest and most well-known in this category.
PaaS is a pack of services and tools made to make coding and deploying applications easy and efficient in the cloud. This is not infrastructure. It is an add-on service that allows you easier access, management, and scaling of infrastructure.
With SaaS, an application license is provided to the customers either as a “pay-as-you-go” model through a subscription or as an on-demand service. SaaS is like other cloud services, quickly growing and soon you will be able to find it almost everywhere. Microsoft Office 365 is a common example of a SaaS application and there are other countless applications.
Figure: Cloud Computing Stack
The seven-step model of migration into a cloud:
A structured and process-oriented approach during data migration into a cloud has several advantages. The process includes seven steps or phrases. These steps are-
Conduct Cloud Migration Assessment
Isolate the dependencies
Map the Messaging and Environment
Re-architect and implement the lost functionalities
Leverage Cloud functionalities and features
Test the migration
Iterate and optimize
Figure: The iterative seven-step model of mitigation into the cloud
History of cloud computing:
The coinage of the term “cloud computing” is credited to Dr. Ramnath Chellappa for using it in its modern context during a lecture he delivered in 1997. Before the advent of cloud computing, the symbol of cloud was generally referred to as the network of computing equipment in the original ARPNET by 1977 and in CSNET by 1981. The internet was denoted by a cloud.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt used the term “cloud computing” at an industry conference on August 9, 2006. He is credited for popularizing the term.
Cloud computing has evolved and has become part of everyday life. Like every technology cloud computing has its advantages as well as limitations.
Advantages -
Cost Savings: One of the biggest benefits of cloud computing is cost savings. You can just pay for just the storage, which you can access from anywhere. There is no additional cost of hardware, servers, air-conditioning, etc.
Reliability: Cloud computing is much more reliable and consistent than traditional IT infrastructure. You can pay to increase the capacity temporarily and decrease the capacity when it is not in use.
Easy management: With cloud services, you would not be limited by slow speeds or bandwidth caps if applicable to home connection and additional data protection. Even a natural disaster that wipes out the entire data center would not theoretically cause you to lose any data as your data will be on the internet
Disadvantages
Downtime: As your data is managed by cloud service providers, you might not be able to access the data if the servers of the cloud services are overwhelmed by internet traffic or being updated. You cannot access your data if the internet connection is disrupted or compromised.
Security: When you are using cloud services, you are providing all the confidential data. If the data fall into the wrong hands, they might scam or exploit loopholes and vulnerabilities within the system
Limited Control: Usage of cloud services means limited control over data, data analysis. Customers cannot get any backend information.
Future of Cloud Computing:
The aggressive move to the cloud is hastened by the pandemic. According to Forrester Research, the global cloud infrastructure will increase by 36%. The valuation of which might cross $125B.
The global IT expenditure is might grow by 20 % this year and the valuation might be more than $305 billion from the previous $257 billion. It is expected that Google cloud might achieve more than 40% growth this year. We might see multi-cloud and joint cloud offerings as the cloud providers might partner up to increase the market growth.
All cloud server provides like- AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, etc. will try their best to leverage the market of the pandemic era.
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