What is Cloud Computing Explained In Simple Terms

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Introduction

The market for cloud technology and integrated services has transitioned from early adopters and successful pilots to mainstream use by enterprises. The benefits that continue to draw organizations to the cloud remain the same: the need for organizational flexibility, dynamic scalability of applications and infrastructure, faster time-to-market, and cost efficiency. Cloud computing is not just a trend. It is changing the way IT organizations drive business value. As the cloud goes mainstream, it is important for organizations to understand the different options available, as well as their advantages and tradeoffs. Here we have tried to explain cloud computing in simple terms. Let’s see characteristics, benefits and service models of cloud computing.

Characteristics of cloud computing

 

1. On-demand self-service –

   This means De-provision and provision of resources of computing as per requirement without human interaction in an automated fashion. For example, server time and storage as needed without human interaction.

2. Ubiquitous network access –

   This means we can access cloud computing services from anywhere, on any device and at any time. This gives us the huge benefit of portability, so we can access it from any device like laptop, mobile or personal computer.

3. Resource pooling –

   This means the resources of computing are pooled as per the requirement of the consumers so that the physical or virtual resources can be reassigned or assigned dynamically as per the requirement.

4. Rapid elasticity –

   This is the main characteristic of cloud computing when it comes to handling the traffic over the network. With this, resources can be released or provisioned elastically according to the requirement. It helps to handle the network traffic and provide flawless services.

5. Measured services –

   This is very useful for the consumer of the cloud services. This means consumer needs to pay only for the services they use. This is almost similar to the electricity bill which we pay according to the usage of the electricity. Computing resources are reported and monitored to provide transparency between the service provider and service consumers.

   

   What is Cloud Computing Explained In Simple Terms

Cloud computing service models

There are main three service models of cloud computing through which we can take the benefits of cloud services. They are SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Let’s see this in brief;

1. SaaS –

   The full form of this is Software as a service. Usually, whenever we require any software we need to buy licenses copy of it and need to pay monthly fees if any. But with SaaS, we can use online software which we can access from multiple platforms. It saves us money because we need to pay for it only we are using it. The eye-catching example of SaaS is Google Docs.

2. PaaS –

   The full form of this is Platform as a service. This type of services mainly used by the application developers for developing and managing the applications by using online platforms provided by the cloud service provider. Because of this, developers can manage and develop applications in limited hardware and resources. Example of PaaS Google app engine.

3. IaaS –

   The full form of this is Infrastructure as a service. With this services, an organization can use the virtual infrastructure provided by the service providers. This saves a lot of investments in infrastructure like network components, hardware, storage etc. Which means clients can use equipment owned by the service provider which they need not manage. The consumer pays as per the use for these services. Example of IaaS is Amazon EC2.

   

   What is Cloud Computing Explained In Simple Terms

Types of Cloud Computing Deployment models

 

1. Public cloud –

   This is used by different organizations on public internet buy paying as per use.

2. Private cloud –

   In this type, cloud infrastructure is owned and controlled by the organization itself

3. Community cloud –

   This is owned and used on share basis by multiple organizations

4. Hybrid cloud –

   This is a combination of more than one cloud model.