Cloud Computing in a Nutshell

What is it?

Well, there isn't a proper definition for this terminology, it depends on the way you see it,

Some definitions from famous sites,

Cloud Computing (Wikipedia):

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet). 

Cloud Computing (Vangie Beal through Webopedia):

Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications.

Cloud Computing (IBM.com):

Cloud computing, often referred to as simply “the cloud,” is the delivery of on-demand computing resources everything from applications to data centres—over the Internet on a pay-for-use basis.

What it really is?

In plain English, “Cloud” is just a metaphor. It indicates that cloud (information/resources) is accessible from anywhere in the world and it (information) can be of any shape and size, just like the cloud. Of course, multiple people can view (access information) a single cloud (information/resource) at the same time.

And don’t think it’s a complex technology and hard to use, if you are using Emails, Google drive, SkyDrive, social network sites (instagram, Facebook etc.) then you are already using cloud computing. Let’s say, you upload a photo that you clicked from your mobile to Google drive from India and using the same login credentials, you brother can view the same photo using a laptop in the U.S. and that’s cloud service.

Where Can I get it?

Similar to Internet service providers, mobile service providers and Cable providers, we also have Cloud service providers.

Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Google, SAP, Oracle and Salesforce are some of the famous and major cloud service providers in the world. Some of their services are free and most of them involve cost depending up on the usage.

Why do we need Cloud Computing?

They call it as “Elasticity”, the main reason why almost all companies are using Cloud Services. You can increase or decrease the service you get according to usage, just like your Internet plan. Say you own a website where students can check the results of a particular exam conducted once every year. AT least for one week from the date of result announcement, the traffic to your website will be remarkably high and you web server cannot manage the entire traffic. Now you won’t be ready to own a new server just because you need it for a week, will you? That’s where cloud service comes into play. You can lease a web server from a cloud service provider and divert half or even 90% (cost may vary) of your web traffic towards that server and once the traffic is reduced, you can end the lease. End result, you have satisfied all the customers who visited the website, at the same time it’s really an economical solution to the problem.

Note: This is just one among the millions of services possible.

There are multiple other benefits such as reduced capital costs, ready made platforms, reduced cost on infrastructure, universal access, data replication and backup, scalability, security, reliability, improved flexibility, pay for what you use, less maintenance and much more. 

What do I need to use cloud?

“Internet” is the first word I can think of, any device that can make use of internet and that’s all you need. If you are the owner of an IT organization and want to make use of the most complex services offered you need money along with Internet.

Types of Services Offered:

There are different types of services offered by providers, out of which the most famous ones are:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)

However there are other types of services as well such as Communication as a Service (CaaS), Network as a Service (NaaS), Data as a Service (DaaS) and much more. As a matter of fact, there is a new term getting its shape in the field of cloud computing is XaaS which means “Everything/Anything as a Service”!!

Types of Clouds:

While service differs based on what you get, Cloud differs based on the type of usage, most common types of clouds are:

• Private Cloud
• Public Cloud
• Community Cloud
• Hybrid Cloud

In case you need more details on a particular topic, feel free to leave comments.