Cloud Computing – an Overview

Cloud Computing simply means to move the IT processes to the internet. It is the conversion of a self hosted server based service to an online service to reduce time and cost. You can also see this as a process minimization of IT tools and hardware in your business. Because with cloud computing you are storing everything in the internet and that can be accessed from anywhere at any time. Cloud computing provides on demand services over the internet. Remote maintenance of tasks is possible only due to cloud computing.

With cloud computing you can now process data virtually outside your location.

Imagine yourself as the owner of a small business. In the very beginning you will store all your files on your computer. As your business grows, you will hire more employees. More people means more investment on machineries like computers, external hard disks, SSD etc. for them. More machines will add up to more expenditure towards maintenance and power. Now what if you can take help from the internet for all your tasks like data storage, computing, maintenance, security and all in return for a small amount of money. This is now possible due to cloud computing. There are many companies that provide cloud services. Some good examples are – Google Cloud, AWS, IBM Cloud and Apple Cloud.

These services are divided into 3 main categories:

SaaS or Software as a service

Whenever you create a website, you take hosting services. This is one kind of cloud computing. Somebody else is doing the installation, maintenance and other required tasks for you. Here you are called as an end-user and whoever is maintaining your site will be called as the third party. You needn’t have to worry about the huge installation and maintenance charges. But you have to pay a little amount of money periodically for availing the service.

PaaS or Platform as a service

Under this service, organizations get the control over the installed application and they can configure the settings of the application.

IaaS or Infrastructure as a service

IaaS, as the name suggests provides all the necessary IT infrastructure to organizations. This is the most flexible cloud computing service essentially targeted at businesses.

Advantages of cloud computing

1. Cost Saving

As there is no requirement of heavy installations of software and subsequently hardware, the IT costs greatly reduce. Businesses that will take advantage of cost effective measures like cloud computing are sure to survive in the long run. The concept of cloud computing has led everyone not to invest much on storage devices. This has increased the work efficiency of every business. More machineries means more amount of time on maintenance and security.

2. No loss of data

As you can store data on the cloud, there is no worries in case your device is lost or damaged. For example, you can upload your photos on Google photos which is a cloud service. If there is any damage to your smartphone, you needn’t to worry as you can access them again from another device from any location. Just the main requirement is good internet connectivity.

3. Customizable

The best part of these services is that they are flexible or highly customizable. This means you have full control over the service requirement. You only spend for the service that you require. As companies are able to provide cloud computing services at a huge scale therefore they are affordable touching every small and big businesses.

4. Security

As you don’t have to procure hardware, therefore there is no question of physical security issues. Companies take every care for the security of your data. You feel relaxed that whatever you have stored is absolutely safe and you can retrieve them as it is.

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Conclusion

The field of IT is a continuously transforming process. You have to forget the old technologies and adapt to newer ones. In years to come, new modifications like are