Cloud Computing, History, Common Types & Its Importance

Cloud Computing:

The notion of cloud computing has been a wonderful experience for IT executives since its emergence in the early 2000s. Cloud computing is a term for anything involving the delivery of hosted services through the internet. It is through the internet access to computer resources such as apps, virtual and physical servers, file storage, development tools, networking capabilities, and more that are housed at a remote data infrastructure managed by a cloud services provider (CSP).  Rather than owning and controlling computer equipment on-premises, IT executives were able to rent or pay as you go apps, storage, and services in this ethereal cloud for the first time. The CSP offers these resources accessible for a monthly subscription fee or charges some usage fee.

Companies can rent access to everything from apps to storage from a cloud service provider rather than having their computing equipment or data centers. One advantage of adopting cloud computing services is that businesses may avoid the substantial cost and complexity of forming and sustaining their own IT infrastructure by just paying for what they need when they need it. In consequence, cloud computing service providers may profit from considerable economies of scale by providing the same services to a diverse set of clients.

                                          [Image is taken from unsplash.com]

History of Cloud Computing:

Millennials may believe that cloud computing is a product of their generation, but the fact is that technology has been around for more than 60 years. We have witnessed the evolution of floppy discs to zip drives, CDs, and DVDs to USB storage devices and beyond. Since the 1950s, companies have processed their data and used an incredibly advanced and ever-changing infrastructure of mainframe computers. Mainframe computers were once large and unreasonably costly. As a result, most businesses purchased one or two computers and then implemented time-sharing schedules to maximize their return on investment (ROI).

Using time-sharing, several users may connect to a mainframe computer from linked stations with no computing power of their own. The underlying idea of the cloud is this sort of distributed processing capacity. Non-local storage technology evolved fast after it reached the scientific community, thanks to the development of a military mainframe in 1950 to interconnect computer terminals through an internal array. This was a significant concern when computing cost several million dollars and the need for numerous individuals to use the technology became a must.

The phrase "cloud computing" was first used in a Compaq internal document in 1996. The term "cloud" was first associated with the notion of distributed computing, which became popular in the early 1990s, with previous references in the academic study before then. The notion of renting access to digital power reappeared often in the late 1990s and early 2000s application service providers, utility computing, and grid computing. This was succeeded by cloud computing, which gained traction with the introduction of software as a service and exhibit cloud computing providers like Amazon Web Services.

 

                                         [Image is taken from istockphoto.com]

Importance of Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing, as compared to traditional on-premises IT, and depending on the cloud services you choose, aids with the following tasks:

● Reduced IT expenses: 

Cloud computing allows you to offload part or all of the costs and work associated with acquiring, installing, configuring, and operating your on-premises equipment.

● Enhance adaptability: 

With the cloud, your business may begin using enterprise apps in minutes rather than weeks or months of waiting for IT to react to a request, acquire and set up necessary gear, and install the software. The cloud also allows you to grant select people, especially developers and data scientists, access to software and existing facilities.

● Expand more simply and cost-effectively: 

Because the cloud provides flexibility, you can scale capacity up or down in answer to network congestion and drops rather than acquiring excess capacity that sits unused during slack periods. You may also leverage your cloud provider's worldwide network to bring your apps closer to individuals around the globe.

 

                                       [Image is taken from istockphoto.com]

Services of Cloud Computing:

There are three types of common Cloud Computing services that are used:

● Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

● Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) 

● Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS):

SaaS, also known as cloud-based software or cloud applications, is the distribution of apps-as-a-service and is most likely the version of cloud computing that almost all people are familiar with. It is a cloud-hosted software application that you access and uses using a web browser, a specific desktop client, or an API that interfaces with your desktop or operating system of mobile. The underlying hardware and operating system are unimportant to the end-user, who might access the service through a web browser or app. It is frequently purchased on a per-seat or per-user basis. SaaS customers typically pay a monthly or yearly subscription cost, however, some may provide pay-as-you-go pricing according to your usage.

According to IDC analysts, SaaS is and will continue to be the dominant cloud computing paradigm in the medium future, accounting for two-thirds of all public cloud spending in 2017 and only dropping slightly to just below 60% in 2021. It is the dominant distribution mechanism for most business applications today, with hundreds of thousands of SaaS solutions available, ranging from industry-specific and departmental apps to sophisticated enterprise software databases and artificial intelligence software.

SaaS spending is made up of apps and system infrastructure software, and according to IDC, applications purchases will represent more than half of all cloud service spending through 2019. By 2021, customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource management (ERM) apps will account for more than 60% of all cloud applications spending. The range of SaaS-delivered apps is vast, ranging from CRM such as Salesforce to Microsoft's Office 365.

 

                                          [Image is taken from istockphoto.com]

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS):

PaaS offers software developers an on-demand platform, hardware, entire software stack, infrastructure, and sometimes even development tools to operate, create, and manage applications without the expense, complexity, and lack of flexibility of managing that platform on-premises. It includes the underlying storage, networking, and virtual servers as the next layer up. It will contain the tools and software required by developers to create applications and services of middleware, database management, operating systems, and development tools.

Developers simply select servers and environments from a menu to run, create, test, deploy, manage, update, and grow applications. PaaS is frequently built using containers, a virtualized computing architecture that is one step removed from virtual servers. Containers virtualize the operating system, allowing developers to gather an application with only the operating system services it requires to run on just about any platform, without adjustment or middleware.

 

                                       [Image is taken from istockphoto.com]

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS):

IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) refers to the fundamental computer building elements that may be rented: real or virtual servers, storage, and networking. IaaS gives pay-as-you-go access to core computing resources such as real and virtual servers, networking, and storage through the internet. IaaS allows end-users to expand and decrease resources as needed, eliminating the need for large, up-front capital spending or unneeded on-premises or owned infrastructure, as well as the overbuying capacity to handle periodic spikes in demand.

This is appealing to businesses that want to develop applications from the ground up and manage virtually all of the aspects themselves, but it does need organizations having the technical capabilities to coordinate services at that level. In contrast to SaaS and PaaS, IaaS gives consumers the most precise control over computing resources in the cloud. 

According to Oracle research, two-thirds of IaaS customers indicated that adopting online infrastructure makes it simpler to innovate, reduces the time it takes to deploy new applications and services, and considerably reduces ongoing maintenance expenses. However, half of the respondents stated that IaaS is not safe for most essential data.

 

                                         [Image is taken from istockphotos.com]

Cloud Computing Examples:

Some of the Cloud computing examples include:

● Google Docs and Microsoft Office 365: Users may use the internet to obtain Google Docs and Microsoft Office 365. Users could be more efficient since they can view business presentations and spreadsheets saved on the cloud from every device at any time.

● Email, Calendar, Skype, and WhatsApp: Emails, calendars, Skype, and WhatsApp utilize the cloud's capacity to give users remote data access, allowing them to access their personal information on any device, whenever and wherever they choose.

● Zoom: Zoom is a cloud-based audio and video conferencing software application that captures meetings and stores them in the cloud, allowing users to view them from anywhere and at any time.

● AWS Lambda: Lambda enables developers to run code for apps or back-end operations without the need for server provisioning or management. The pay-as-you-go approach grows with an organization in real-time to meet changes in data consumption and storage.

 

                                          [Image is taken from istockphoto.com]

Advantages of Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing represents a significant change from the typical way that organizations think about IT resources. It is not always less expensive than other types of computing, just like renting is not always less expensive than purchasing in the long run. If an application requires computational services on a regular and predictable basis, it may be more cost-effective to offer such services in-house. Using cloud services implies that businesses do not have to purchase or manage their computing infrastructure. Here are seven of the most popular reasons why businesses are turning to cloud computing services:

● Cost:

Cloud computing reduces the capital expenditure of purchasing hardware and software as well as establishing and operating on-site data centers like the stacks of servers, 24-hour electricity for power and temperature control, and IT professionals to manage the infrastructure. It quickly adds up.

● Speed:

Because most cloud computing services are self-service and on-demand, even massive quantities of computing resources may be deployed in minutes, often with only a few mouse clicks, offering organizations a lot of flexibility and relieving capacity planning strain.

● On a global scale:

The capacity to scale elastically is one of the advantages of cloud computing services. In cloud terminology, this implies supplying the correct quantity of IT resources, such as more or less computing power, storage, and bandwidth, at the right time and from the right geographic location.

● Productivity:

On-site data centers generally need a great deal of stacking and racking for tasks such as hardware installation, software patching, and other time-consuming IT administration tasks. Cloud computing eliminates the need for many of these activities, allowing IT staff to focus their efforts on more essential business objectives.

● Performance:

The largest cloud computing services are delivered through a global network of secure data centers that are continuously upgraded to the most recent generation of quick and efficient computer equipment. This has numerous advantages over a single company datacenter, including lower network congestion for apps and larger economies of scale.

● Reliability:

As data may be replicated at several alternative sites on the cloud provider's network, cloud computing enables data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity easier and less expensive.

● Security:

Many cloud providers provide a comprehensive set of policies, technologies, and controls that improve your entire security stance, assisting in the protection of your data, apps, and infrastructure from possible attacks.

 

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Despite its lengthy history, cloud computing is still in its early stages of development. Many businesses are still debating which apps to migrate and when. Nevertheless, demand is only expected to increase as businesses get more familiar with the notion of their data being stored someplace other than a server underground. We're still in the early stages of cloud adoption; according to some estimations, just 10% of the workloads that could be moved have been moved. These are the easy things, in which the finances are difficult for Administrators to disagree with.

The economics of migrating to the cloud for the remainder of the corporate computing portfolio may be less obvious. As a result, cloud computing companies are increasingly promoting cloud computing as a digital transformation agent rather than concentrating just on cost. Moving to the cloud, according to the argument, may help organizations rethink business processes and expedite business change by breaking down data and administrative barriers. Some businesses that need to gain traction for their digital transformation initiatives may find this argument attractive, while others may find their excitement for the cloud diminishing as the expenses of implementing the transition rise.

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