Subhash was a smart, innovative and entrepreneurial 23-year-old who started a small business on his limited budget. He always wanted to cut business expenses wisely and wanted to opt for smarter investment techniques. In the initial phase of his business, he noticed that he faced some really tough and costly challenges. He made a list of the main challenges and one of them was to buy hardware for each employee along with the software and its licenses, which he found to be extremely demanding. In addition, he spotted other issues like storage capacity, keeping up with updates for newer software, and ongoing trends in the market. He felt that with each new hire more software was needed, those problems made the situation worse and distracted him from his business goals. He researched and ultimately chose cloud computing: a smart, easy-to-use option that’s also easy on the pocketbook.
Retrospective scene
In the early days, when Homo sapiens grew up, they wonderfully transformed into humans from apes. It grew a little: basic needs included- Food, clothing, housing. They grew more found means to meet those basic needs. So they started to ‘Develop’, now they had farms to eat, wells for water, mills for clothes, bricks for houses. Needs give birth to utilities. The same scenario applies to business computing. One of the most recent successful utilities is Cloud Computing. Traditionally, companies have built their own internal IT infrastructure that caters to all technical needs. But that involved expensive equipment and servers and installing everything locally – too much hard work to make ends meet! Things have changed. With the rise of cloud computing, a business can have reliable and more secure business computing delivered as a public service. We buy basic services for the smooth running of our daily lives, similarly, we ‘BUY’ IT infrastructure as a service! Just spend what we need and focus on the business, not the technology.
Technically: What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is the provision that allows the user to log into a web-based service that hosts all the programs required to complete the job. The cloud computing service provider runs everything from sending emails to word processing and various complex data analysis programs. The term ‘cloud’ actually refers to the network of computers that handle all respective assigned tasks. Cloud computing service providers charge for the maintenance and management of data entries by clients. Cloud computing has become the next big thing at the forefront of application software, storage, hardware, and platform flexibility that provides easy solutions for the most complex things. The system favors companies of all sizes, but it is very fruitful for medium and small ones.
All that is needed to take advantage of the service is a basic computer system, a web browser and the Internet. It has become a lifeline for organizations looking for a simple solution to the complex problem of choosing and organizing software based on each employee’s area of work. Have you ever noticed that all Internet users benefit greatly from cloud computing? The best examples of cloud computing are Gmail, Amazon web services, Google apps, where a browser helps the user to access the app whenever they want.
How does it work?
Knowing how cloud computing works is interesting. The structural design can be classified into two main sections: front and rear. The front-end is controlled by the end user or client or, for example, the web browser using the cloud services. The back-end is the network of servers with any software and data storage systems that are run, operated, and maintained by the cloud (in short, the service provider).
Cloud has a centralized server management system. The centralized server manages the system, balances and adjusts customer supply and demand, monitors traffic and avoids congestion. This server follows a set of rules (protocol) known as middleware. Middleware, as its name suggests, is the intermediary that allows networked computers to communicate with each other. Looking at the other side of the process, one can rename cloud computing as green computing because it helps in the successful conservation of electrical energy.
Can cloud computing be pocket friendly?
Cloud computing is also profitable. Unlike traditional computing, the service condenses “hard costs” such as the cost of hardware, infrastructure, software licenses, and “soft costs” such as IT staff, troubleshooting, energy costs for run the servers, the desktops, and the cooling of the entire server room. When it comes to data maintenance costs, they are also greatly reduced since they are maintained by the service provider (they perform the full set of tasks, from running the cloud to storing data). The need for high storage hard drives can be avoided as all data is stored on a remote computer.
System failure can cause the owner a serious nervous breakdown due to the high costs of data recovery and system repair, not to mention data loss. In such situations, of course, the show goes on because the data can be operated from the remote computer from anywhere.
The market is in favor of the buyers. Since the last three years, the number of service providers has increased. In this field of computing, we have crucial players like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Intel and many others who are competing hard to build effective and impressive clouds for their customers.
Brownie points for cloud computing users!
The advantages of cloud computing do not end here. Databases in cloud computing are very dynamic and scalable, which means that local computers no longer have to deal with heavy applications that almost kill the speed of the local computer and more importantly the demands of hardware and software by the user decrease. But, who is the protagonist of the entire history of cloud computing? The answer is Data. The cloud not only creates, runs and maintains data, it also protects it.
Data security is the top priority in all cloud data operations. No doubt the data is backed up in multiple locations. Is named redundancy of data, the most important attribute of cloud computing service. Another benefit of cloud computing is that data accessibility is not limited to any particular hardware or storage device. Data can be accessed anytime and anywhere it is needed.
Is the right cloud chosen?
But there are some important concerns that one must not avoid before trusting the service. One of them is to choose the right form of cloud computing between:
ï‚· SAAS (Software As A Service): Where users rent application software and databases. It is commonly known as software on demand. For example: ADP (long-time payroll service provider), Google apps.
ï‚· IAAS (Infrastructure as a Service): Here the cloud providers provide their client with servers (as many as the client needs) in exchange for the rental of each server. For example: “Amazon web services” is one of the most successful IAAS providers to date.
ï‚· PAAS (Platform As A Service): In this form of cloud computing, users rent the complete package of servers plus the software required to use them. For example: Salesforce.com is one of the most popular PAAS providers.
According to business needs, the user should tactfully choose the most suitable form of cloud computing. Second, the vital decision to select the right service provider pays off in the long run. One must ensure that the provider is trustworthy, has a good reputation for customer service and satisfaction, and must have a proven track record in handling the respective business ventures. They must be carefully equipped with proper techniques where data is segregated in a clear and unobtrusive manner. The data of different clients must be treated with the utmost care and confidentiality. Most importantly, cloud computing providers must be equipped with proper disaster recovery policies to deal with any unfortunate events in the future. Cloud computing can be the right option that solves countless purposes in one fell swoop. It is the means to get the best performing system at the best value for money. Technology that tunes the business toward stated goals is worth adopting. After all, in the arena, when life moves at the speed of light, twenty-four hours seems too precise to get the job done. Businesses really need the full attention of the owner, the technology can be taken care of by cloud computing service providers, so why risk energy, time and peace of mind? When one just needs to spend money.