Decoding Cloud Computing

Recently, I came across a viral clip of a prominent political figure of a first world nation, talking about cloud 'that exists above us'. I understood that still now there's a lot of misconception about 'Cloud' as if our data is stored somewhere in the sky.

This is not uncommon. Many people still lack the proper understanding of what Cloud actually is and what do we mean by Cloud Computing. So, I believe a primer on the topic is imperative before I dive further in this blog series.

What is Cloud?

Now lets imagine, we have a toy box at home where you store all your favorite toys. Now, let's assume that your toy collection has surpassed the capacity of the box that you have. Then you possibly lookout for a vast space where you can keep your toys safely. Whenever you want to play with your toys, you can simply fetch them, and they'll be brought to you right away, no matter where you are. Others can also keep their toys in the same space, however, they will remain separated from yours just as yours from theirs.

Image source: Google

Now lets call that the special toy box as "The Cloud" and lets imagine these toys as pictures, games, applications or even whole websites! Now lets define what "Cloud computing" is. It means using a big toy box, to store our data and access them from any device (your tablet or iPhone) anywhere, without any worries of provisioning and maintaining this big toy box.

Image source: Google

Cloud Computing

Now, when the definition is clear, lets move ahead with the technical definition of the term - Cloud Computing as defined by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

In simple term, cloud computing means that someone else provides you with the network, storage, and other resources you need to run your apps or store data. You can get as much as you need quickly, with very little effort on your part.

As per NIST standards, a cloud model is composed of

• 5 essential characteristics.
• 3 service models.
• 4 deployment models.

Essential Characteristics

1. On-demand self-service: Users can automatically provision computing resources as needed without human intervention.
2. Broad network access: Cloud services are accessible over the network using standard devices like phones, tablets, and laptops.
3. Resource pooling: Cloud providers pool computing resources to serve multiple users, dynamically allocating them based on demand.
4. Rapid elasticity: Cloud resources can be quickly scaled up or down to meet changing demand, appearing unlimited to the user.
5. Measured service: Cloud systems automatically track and optimize resource use, providing transparency for both providers and consumers.

Service Model

In a typical on prem environment, stakeholders own everything from Networking to Application. However, this ownership can vary depending upon the type of model you prefer to use.

1. IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service: - From Networking to Virtualization, the provider is the owner whereas you only the Operating System, any middle-ware, runtime, data and the application. Examples - AWS, Azure, Digital Ocean, etc.
2. PaaS: Platform as a Service: Here, you deploy and manage your own applications on the cloud platform provided. Examples - AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku, etc.
3. SaaS: Software as a Service: The user use applications on the cloud without managing the underlying infrastructure. This means the entire infrastructure along with the data and everything is owned by the provider. A certain specific dataset that belongs to you is owned. Examples - Gmail, Dropbox, Salesforce, etc.

Deployment Models

1. Private cloud: This cloud infrastructure is exclusively used by one organization. It is managed on or off-site, by the organization or a concerned third party.

2. Community cloud: A cloud infrastructure which is shared by organizations with common interests, managed by one or more of them or a third party, on or off-site.

3. Public cloud: A cloud infrastructure is available to the general public, managed by various organizations, and located at the provider’s site. Example - AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.

4. Hybrid cloud: A combination of different cloud types (private, community, or public) that work together for flexibility and resource sharing.

Benefits

We have understood the definition and important models, let us now understand the benefits of Cloud Computing. Top benefits of cloud computing includes -

1. Variable expenses: Bear the expenses of the computing resources you only use, instead of bearing upfront costs in data centers.

2. Economies of scale: Cloud providers offer lower costs by aggregating usage across many customers.

3. Capacity flexibility: Access exactly the capacity you need without guessing, and scale up or down as needed.

4. Speed and agility: Rapid provisioning of IT resources, enhanced organizational agility and reduced development time.

5. Focus on business: Allows users to focus on their core business rather than wasting efforts on in-house data centers.

6. Global reach: Deploy applications worldwide within minutes, providing the best customer experiences with minimal latency.

You may read more over here.

Use cases of cloud computing

1. Data Storage: Secure storage and access to large volumes of data from anywhere anytime.

2. Disaster Recovery: Complete DR management can be implemented using cloud computing.

3. Web Hosting: Host and manage your websites with scalable cloud resources.

4. Software Development: Streamline the development, testing, and deployment of applications using cloud services and tools.

5. Big Data Analytics: Perform complex data analysis using scalable cloud computing power.

6. Machine Learning: Train and deploy AI models using cloud computing power.

7. Backup Solutions: Automatically back up important data to safeguard against loss.

And many more...

Now, that we have learnt many things about the topic, you can start your learning journey by creating an account with any of the available Cloud services. I personally prefer AWS as you can learn a lot with AWS Free Tier which is ideal for new users to try and test out their products. Here is the link for your reference.

Summary

So, we learned about what Cloud really is and what do we mean by Cloud computation. We also learned about different types of service models and deployment models of cloud along with the benefits and use cases of cloud computing.

This is not endorsed by any org, all my opinions.

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