Watch Out: How Cloud Computing is taking over and step-by-step Guide to Cloud Computing (Part-1)--

In today's scenario data is stored in hard drives of computers and servers. These hard drives and servers can store, process, and retrieve a considerable amount of data quickly and conveniently.

However, both hard drives and servers have some limitations, and with the rate at which today’s businesses and industries are growing, the need for storage that can store and process increasingly more significant amounts of data has become a priority. This is where Cloud Computing has come into the picture.

What is Cloud Computing?

1. A distributed digital infrastructural resource that delivers hosted services by way of the internet.

2. In simple words, cloud computing is an on-demand computing service such as database, storage, computing, and networking over the internet.

Different cloud computing services are--

1. Compute - In cloud computing, the term “compute” describes concepts and objects related to software computation. In simple it is processing power, memory, networking, storage, and other resources required for the computational success of any program.?

2. Database - In general, the database is information that is set up for easy access, management, and updating. Computer databases stores aggregations of data records or files that contain information, such as sales transactions, customer data, financials, etc.

3. Storage - Cloud storage is a data deposit model in which digital information such as documents, photos, videos, and other forms of media are stored on virtual or cloud servers. It allows you to transfer data on an offsite storage system and access them whenever needed.?

4. Networking - Cloud networking offers connectivity to and between applications and workloads across clouds, cloud services, on-premises data centers, and edge networks.

Different types of Cloud Deployment Models are--

Different organizations have different requirements, they want different levels of control over their cloud infrastructure. Therefore three types of models come into the picture.

1. Public Cloud - Public cloud is a type of computing where resources are offered by a third-party provider such as AWS etc. via the internet and shared by organizations and individuals or anyone who want to use or purchase them. The cloud service providers are responsible for maintaining the physical infrastructure.

2. Private Cloud - Private cloud (also known as an internal cloud or corporate cloud) is a cloud computing infrastructure that is specially provisioned for a company and it's the user only. The physical infrastructure can be maintained either by the organization itself or by third-party cloud providers.

3. Hybrid Cloud - Hybrid cloud combines public cloud services, private cloud services, and on-premises IT infrastructure and provides orchestration, management, and application portability across all three types of services.

In simple words, a hybrid cloud refers to a combination of at least 2 computing environments that share information with one another. Those environments may include-

-->?At least 1 private cloud and at least 1 public cloud

--> 2 or more private clouds

-- > 2 or more public clouds

--> One bare-metal (physical hardware) or the virtual environment connected to at least 1 cloud

What are the Traditional Data Centers?

In traditional data centers (data centers on-premises) a data center is like a physical space where an organization keeps computer systems and related hardware that are required for their websites, apps, or IT infrastructures, such as servers and routers.

The data centers generally include--

--> Compute, the memory, and processing power

--> Storage to house data

--> Networking to connect the components and to access the internet

--> Power and Cooling Infrastructure

Advantages of traditional data centers --

(a) Control - you can build it to suit your own needs. When upgrades are required,?you're in the driver's seat.

(b) Customization - You can restrict access to the facility to individuals from within your own organization, and manage the workload.

(c) Security - Only members of your staff will have access to data centers, this

makes it more trustworthy and safe.

Drawbacks of traditional data centers --

(a) Higher costs - Construction and ongoing data center infrastructure management are?

typically more expensive for traditional data centers.

(b) Limited scalability - On-premises data centers have to fix an upper limit so you will?

face upper limit scalability issues when it is required in less time.

Different types of Cloud Service Models--

1. Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) -?Use only infrastructures, such as hardware, networking, and virtualization from the cloud providers. Examples: Using a virtual machine (VM) to deploy your applications or databases.

We are responsible for ----

--> Application Code and Runtime??????????????

--> Configuring load balancing

--> Auto Scaling

--> OS (upgrades and patches)

--> Availability

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Use a platform, such as networking, hardware, operating system, virtualization, and application runtime provided by the cloud.

In PaaS cloud provider is responsible for ---

--> Operating system ( upgrades and patches)

--> Application Runtime

--> Auto-scaling, Availability & Load balancing, etc..

In PaaS we are responsible for --

--> Configuration (of Application and Services)

--> Application code (if needed)

3. Software as a Service (SaaS) - Centrally hosted software (mostly on the cloud) that is offered on a subscription basis (pay-as-you-go). Examples: Email, calendaring & office tools (such as Outlook 365, Microsoft Office 365, Gmail, and Google Docs)

In SaaS cloud provider is responsible for:

--> OS (upgrades and patches)

--> Application Runtime

--> Auto-scaling, Availability & Load balancing, etc..

--> Application code and/or

--> Application Configuration (How much memory? How many instances? ..)

In SaaS customer is responsible for:

--> Configuring the software

--> Content (example: docs, sheets, etc)

Some Key Cloud Concepts are --

1. Scalability (Vertical and Horizontal Scaling) - Scaling is the process of increasing or decreasing the computing power. If you decide to increase the size of the existing VM, this is called Vertical Scaling. If you add more VM to your infrastructure, this is called Horizontal Scaling.

2. Elasticity - Elasticity is the ability of the system to scale dynamically. If the system can scale automatically, It is known as Automatic Scaling.

3. Agility - Agility is the ability of the system to react quickly.

4. High Availability -- It is the ability of the system to operate continuously without failure for a designated period.

5. Fault Tolerance - It refers to the ability of the system (computer, network, storage, etc.) to continue operating without interruption when one or more of its components fail.

Some Benefits of Cloud Computing are--

---> Trade "capital expense" for "variable expense"

---> Benefit from massive economies of scale

---> Stop guessing capacity

---> Stop spending money running and maintaining data centers

---> "Go global" in minutes

Different Cloud Providers are --

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud, and Oracle Cloud are some of the key names in the Cloud industry.

Quick Review --

In this article, we discussed what Cloud computing is, how it differs from traditional data centers, the different services of the cloud, and the different deployment models of the cloud. We also talked about the three cloud computing models — IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.?

Watch out for this space for more such articles and keep connected and follow me for the next part of this article in which I will cover the Creation of an AWS Account, Securing an AWS Account, Configuring MFA & Password Policy, Setting up a Budget & Alert, etc...

?Do like and comment if you found this useful! Your feedback is welcome in the comment section.

P.S. If you read till the end, Thank you!

This article is part of AWS Career Growth Program (AWS-CGP) by Pravin Mishra

For more AWS related content please visit the website.”