What is Cloud Computing?
Talking about the cloud has become more common in today’s world. Uploading photos or information to the cloud is now a well known concept. As common as it has become, for much of the general population the power and innovation of the cloud goes unnoticed and untapped. A major innovation and development of the cloud is cloud computing.
Microsoft defines cloud computing simply as “the delivery of computing services…over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.” Cloud computing allows people and businesses to store, transfer and process information through cloud-based services instead of on a single computer or server. It is extremely beneficial as it often reduces costs, increases productivity and speed, can be globally accessed, and is extremely reliable.
Cloud Computing
There are 3 cloud computing deployment options:
- Public Cloud
- Private Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud
Depending on the IT infrastructure and business needs, one cloud deployment type may be more practical to be used over another. Nightfall, a company built to provide cloud security helps explain the differences and benefits of each:
- Public Cloud There can be a lot of advantages and benefits to using public cloud computing. A public cloud is hosted through a third party like Google or Microsoft Azure, which means that time and resources can be spent on maintaining security and efficiency instead of infrastructure. Public cloud computing options are often less expensive than private cloud computing.
- Private Cloud A private cloud is different from a public cloud in the fact that only a single customer or company can access the information stored in the cloud. For businesses using Cloud Computing that deals with sensitive and confidential information, a private cloud suits their needs for maintaining confidentiality.
- Hybrid Cloud While setting up a hybrid cloud can be complicated, once set up correctly a hybrid cloud combines the benefits of both public and private cloud computing. “It combines the on-premise datacenter of the private cloud with a public cloud, allowing information to flow between both.”
Cloud Computing Services
After determining the cloud deployment, a cloud service must also be chosen. There are 3 main cloud computing services:
- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
- Platform as a service (PaaS)
- Software as a service (SaaS)
Cloud computing services are what makes the cloud so useful for businesses. They provide the infrastructure within the cloud to perform tasks, store information, or run an application.
Relevant Courses
Understanding the intricacies of cloud computing can be difficult. Ascend Education’s Cloud+ and Virtualization courses mitigate these challenges and prepare you for managing Cloud Computing systems.
In these courses, you will understand a basic overview of cloud systems, technologies, security, management, and troubleshooting. Ascend’s virtualization course is the only course of its kind that covers all major virtualization technologies. A Microsoft Azure course is being developed and will soon be offered along with our other courses.
