General Concepts of Cloud Computing

 

General Concepts of Cloud Computing.

Introduction to Cloud Computing

             Cloud computing is the delivery of applications, platforms, data storage, operating systems, and other computing resources over the Internet. In the cloud model, you pay a regular subscription fee to consume certain services from a third party provider. 

              

            This is similar to how you consume services in your home such as water and electricity. You pay the utility provider on a monthly or quarterly basis, and the provider is responsible for delivering services to you, and maintaining the infrastructure necessary to deliver those services (public water pipes, power lines). If there is an issue, you would contact the service provider for a resolution. For example, if there is a power outage due to a thunderstorm, the utility provider is responsible for troubleshooting and taking the necessary steps to resolve the issue and reinstate your service.

This is a stark contrast to the traditional on-premise model, where the customer is responsible for purchasing and maintaining the server(s) where the software is installed, and the software itself. This includes setting up redundancies to back up data, and security measures to protect both the physical servers on site, and the software in the virtual space. For example, if the customer's server crashes and needs to be rebooted, an employee within the organization must handle this task, and all employees using the software wouldn't be able to access the system while it's down. What if data was lost during the crash? For a large organization, it may be feasible to budget for a team of people to maintain the servers, software, redundancies, and security, but small and mid-size organizations need a cost-effective solution where they know their data is safe and their applications are accessible when they need them. Large organizations also look to cloud software to help them reduce the cost of maintenance while gaining the benefits described in the below:

Elasticity:

              Increase or decrease the storage space and computing power you need to meet fluctuating workload requirements.

Affordability:

            Minimize hardware and IT (Information Technology) department costs; only pay for what you use.

Availability:

             24 x 7 x 365 system access from anywhere, on any device.

Security:

             Improve compliance, protect data, and mitigate risk with continuous security updates from the cloud provider.

Innovation:

            Rapidly adopt new technologies to innovate faster, while simplifying the IT department's maintenance responsibilities.

Agility:

         Set-up cloud system(s) to quickly react to changing market conditions and business needs.

Reference:(Educational Purpose)

1. Learing.sap.com