Increasingly used by companies across all industries, Cloud Computing is the new form of data storage for the 21st century. However, it comes in many variants, and it is not always easy to choose the offering that best suits your business.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud is an English term meaning Cloud. In computing, cloud computing refers to a system that allows you to store your data on remote computers (called servers) and which are only accessible via the internet. In other words, the cloud computing is a general term referring to everything that involves the delivery of internet-hosted services. These services are divided into three broad categories or types of cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (IaaSS), platform as a service (PaaS ) and software as a service (SaaS).
A cloud can be private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the internet. A private cloud is a proprietary network or data centre that provides hosted services à un nombre limité de personnes, avec certains paramètres d'accès facile et d'autorisations. Privé ou public, l'objectif du cloud computing est de fournir un accès facile et évolutif aux ressources informatiques et aux services informatiques.
How does cloud computing work?
Cloud computing works by allowing client devices to access cloud data and applications over the Internet from of physical servers, databases and remote computers.
An Internet network connection links the front-end, which comprises the client access device, browser, network and cloud software applications, with the back-end, which consists of databases, servers and computers.
Communications between the front-end and back-end are managed by a central server. The central server relies on protocols to facilitate data exchange. The central server uses both software and middleware to manage connectivity between the various client devices and cloud servers. As a general rule, there is a dedicated server for each individual application or workload.
What are the different types of cloud computing services?
Cloud computing can be divided into three general categories of service delivery or forms of cloud computing:
1- IaaS (Software as a Service)
IaaS providers supply a virtual server instance and storage, along with application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow users to migrate workloads to a virtual machine. Users have an allocated storage capacity and can start, stop, access and configure the virtual machine and storage as they see fit. IaaS Providers offer small, medium, large, extra-large and memory- or compute-optimised instances, in addition to allowing instance customisation, for various workload needs. The IaaS cloud model is the closest to a remote data centre for business users.
2- PaaS (Platform as a Service)
In the PaaS model, cloud providers host development tools on their infrastructure. Users access these tools over the Internet using APIs, web portals, or gateway software. PaaS is used for general software development, and many PaaS providers host the software after its development. Common PaaS products include Salesforce Lightning Platform, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Google App Engine.
3- SaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
SaaS is a distribution model that provides software applications on the Internet ; these applications are often referred to as web services. Users can access SaaS applications and services from anywhere using a computer or mobile device with Internet access. In the SaaS model, users have access to application software and databases. A common example of a SaaS application is Microsoft 365 for productivity and messaging services.
Cloud computing deployment models
Cloud computing deployment
The benefits of cloud computing
Why are so many individuals adopting the cloud?
Simply because it has numerous advantages, namely
- On-demand resource availability
- Flexibility
- Security
- Easy access and self-service access
- Reliability
- Pay for what you consume, with no upfront investment
- Infrastructure optimization based on needs
- Speed of implementation
How can the cloud help you?
The cloud involves the migration of services, computing and data, for cost and business benefits, to an internal or external transparent file location service, or services.
By making data, services and capacity more available in a service-based model, they can be much more easily incorporated into IT and business processes that need to be omnipresently accessible.
This is often at much lower costs, while increasing the value of the company and offering opportunities for improved collaboration, integration, and analysis on a common platform.
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