You may have heard people use terms like “The Cloud”, and Cloud Computing, but what exactly is “The Cloud”?
Dive into this article to find out.
“there’s no cloud. It’s just someone else’s computer “
The quote above is grossly incorrect. I'll explain why in a minute.
What is The cloud?
The cloud is not just someone else’s computer; the cloud is much more than that. The cloud is a complex system of interconnecting parts that come together to make our lives easier, more efficient, and far more capable. The cloud is a global network of remote servers with a unique function.
These servers are designed to store and manage data, run applications, or deliver content or services such as streaming videos or social media. Instead of accessing files and data from a local or personal computer, you are accessing them online from any Internet-capable device.
By “someone else’s computer, “ they are referring to the storage aspect of the cloud, which is just one of the services the cloud provides. The cloud offers more services, such as analytics and insight tools, developer tools, machine learning tools, and many more.
So you see, the cloud is not just someone else’s computer. Someone else’s computer could not possibly pull off those many services.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing can be defined as the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the Internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. By using Cloud Computing, users and companies do not have to manage physical servers or run software applications on their machines.
Let’s break down the keywords in this definition.
- On-demand - means you don’t have to call or inform the Cloud Service Provider e.g. AWS and say, “Hey, I will need a couple of servers tomorrow; could that work out?”. The servers and other resources are readily available for you to use anytime without any form of booking needed.
- Resources - resources here can be servers, storage, machine learning workflows, data analytics workflows, and many more.
- Pay-as-you-go pricing - means you don’t have to sign a contract or pay upfront to use the service. You only pay for the resources you use.
How does Cloud Computing work?
Cloud Computing is made possible by a technology called Virtualization. Virtualization allows the creation of a virtual machine that behaves like a physical computer with its own hardware. Virtual machines running on the same server are sandboxed from each other i.e. they don't interact with each other. They run independently of each other.
Cloud Service Models
There are three main types of cloud computing models. Each type of cloud computing provides different levels of control, flexibility, and management so that you’ll select the service that best fulfils your business needs. The three Cloud Service Models are as follows:
- Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS): IaaS provides computing resources over the cloud. Resources may include storage, servers, networking hardware, and many more. Examples are AWS, GCP, Microsoft Azure, Heroku, Digital Ocean, etc.
- Platform as a Service(PaaS): The good thing about this service model is that you don't need to manage the underlying infrastructure as in IaaS; the Cloud Service provider automatically manages it. Examples are Google App Engine and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
- Software as a Service(Saas): SaaS is also known as on-demand software. It allows quick access to cloud-based applications. It is the most common cloud computing model. Examples are Google Suite, DropBox, Slack, and Zendesk.
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