Plus we have a free Cloud Fundamentals course for you!
Everybody speaks about it, even those outside the IT industry. Everything can be in the cloud, even our personal photos and documents. But what exactly is Cloud Computing? How can be used in different areas? This is what we are going to look at in this blog and attempt to give you an understanding of the fundamentals of Cloud Computing.
Cloud computing solutions abstract the physical hardware and present them as virtualised resources to be used for processing, memory, storage, and networking. In other words, you don't use your own computer for storage and other functions, you use a remote computer, which you need to access remotely, usually via the internet.
You’re probably using cloud computing right now, even if you don’t realise it. If you use an online service to send email, edit documents, watch movies or TV, listen to music, play games, or store pictures and other files, it’s likely that cloud computing is making it all possible behind the scenes.
A few examples what kind of things you can do with remotely accessed computers, otherwise referred to as the cloud:
- Create new apps and services
- Store, back up, and recover data
- Host websites and blogs
- Stream audio and video
- Deliver software on demand
- Analyse data for patterns and make predictions
The main benefits of cloud computing are agility, operational and management efficiency, and reduced costs. Everything that companies are looking for, and that’s why Cloud Computing still on trend and will be more and more popular in the future. This is reason enough for getting yourself certified in Cloud Computing with an up to date Cloud Fundamentals course from New Horizons Ireland.
Service models
Cloud computing is often divided into three separate types of services or models.
1: Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is a method for delivering software applications over the Internet, on demand and typically on a subscription basis. With SaaS, cloud providers host and manage the software application and the underlying infrastructure, and handle any maintenance, like software upgrades and security patching. Users connect to the application over the Internet, usually with a web browser on their phone, tablet, or PC.
2: Platform as a Service (PaaS)
(PaaS) refers to cloud computing services that supply an on-demand environment for developing, testing, delivering, and managing software applications. PaaS is designed to make it easier for developers to quickly create web or mobile apps, without worrying about setting up or managing the underlying infrastructure of servers, storage, network, and databases needed for development.
3: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
The most basic category of cloud computing services. With IaaS, you rent IT infrastructure—servers and virtual machines (VMs), storage, networks, operating systems—from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-go basis.
There are 3 types of Cloud deployments:
1: Public cloud
Public clouds are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider, which deliver their computing resources like servers and storage over the Internet. Microsoft Azure is an example of a public cloud. You access the services and manage your account using a web browser.
2: Private cloud
A private cloud refers to cloud computing resources used exclusively by a single business or organization. A private cloud can be physically located on the company’s on-site data-centre. A private cloud is one in which the services and infrastructure are maintained on a private network.
3: Hybrid cloud
Hybrid clouds combine public and private clouds, bound together by technology that allows data and applications to be shared between them. The main advantage is that hybrid cloud gives businesses greater flexibility and more deployment options.
