What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is a term that is used to refer to technologies involved with providing hosted services over the World Wide Web. These cloud computing services are categorized into three groups. These include:
- Infrastructure as-a-service
- Platform as-a-service
- Software-as-a-Service
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas)
The IaaS is composed of the hardware and other infrastructure that power the cloud environment. Examples of these services include servers, operating systems, network and storage.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
The PaaS is in the middle of these three service pack and forms the platform that operates the cloud computing environment. This service acts as a middleman between the users and the hardware that powers the cloud environment.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
This is the part of the three service stack that contains software applications and it is this part of the cloud computing environment that users interact with on a daily basis.
The three aforementioned services interact in such a way that they form one environment and none can perform on its own. However, it is possible to interact with each service on its own, but not as a cloud-computing environment.
The cloud computing environment is advantageous to companies that seek to use these services because it allows them to rent services and use resources without the need to own them. With this technology, the companies that seek these services can use the resources based on their needs. When the company needs to use more resources because of increased demand, then they can scale up appropriately and pay for the increased resource usage.
Likewise, when there is a fall in demand for resources, the companies can scale down and use resources that match the demand. This ensures that companies are more efficient and do not have to incur the costs of running computing devices for resources that they do not need. Additionally, the resources are also available to other companies whose demands may also be higher at that point in time. The companies also benefit from not having to cater for the repair of the databases and the hardware devices running these cloud environments.
Cloud computing companies
With the increased adoption of cloud computing technology owing to its numerous advantages, the number of cloud computing companies offering these services keeps increasing by the day. However, there are several examples of companies that are globally recognized for the provision of cloud services. These include, but are not limited to; Kamatera (1), IBM Cloud (2), Microsoft Azure (3), Amazon Web Service (4), Google Cloud Platform (5), PhoenixNAP (6), Adobe (7), Verizon Cloud (8), Dropbox (9), and Oracle Cloud (10).
Cloud Software
The cloud environment has two categories of software. The first category is software that runs the cloud computing devices and includes the operating system and other basic software that is run by the servers. The other category includes the client-based applications that are hosted on the servers and these applications are the ones that offer services to the clients and it is through these applications that clients interact with the cloud environment.
Internet Cloud
The internet cloud is a term that is used to refer to centers that major technology companies have, over a period of time, concentrated massive amounts of computing power used to run servers where information that accessed over the internet is stored. It is in these locations that the so-called clouds are stored.
Cloud Technology
Cloud technology is a term that is used to refer to the processes that involve the hosting of services on servers externally and accessible via remote means. The servers are run and controlled by cloud providing companies and the firms that seek the resources and services offered by the companies rent the services at a fee. Information is stored in the servers at the cloud providers and attacks or damage at the firms renting these services does not affect the information stored at the servers. Cloud technology is proving very popular because of its cost-effective nature as well as the conveniences and the advantages it offers to users of the cloud computing services. The ease of accessibility and recovery from disasters such as fires, theft, data breaches, and hackers makes cloud computing technology an ideal solution to companies globally.
Cloud Computer System
A cloud computer system is a system encompassing servers, the hardware and software infrastructure that work in unison to provide cloud computing services. A cloud computing system is owned and run by cloud computing providers such as Amazon and Google. These cloud computer systems are specially built to run server services. However, as more services are being accessed online, the cloud computer system is gradually resembling the normal computer systems but with more processing power and huge potential to handle several operations simultaneously. For a cloud computer system to prove effective, the processing power and ease of accessibility from remote locations determine its efficiency and attractiveness to potential cloud computing clients.
Cloud computing technology has gained traction in the recent past and its popularity will only grow as more companies adopt the technology and more service providers emerge. Naturally, scholars are also expected to give the technology more attention as its usage continues to increase. For students pursuing Information Technology and computer science, the fact that the technology is a recent phenomenon means that the amount of research that is freely available on these topics is limited. To find the relevant information, it may require the learners to seek expert ap computer science homework help from seasoned researchers.