
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. Instead of owning and maintaining physical data centers and servers, users can rent computing resources on-demand from cloud providers.
Key Characteristics of Cloud Computing:
- On-Demand Self-Service: Users can provision resources as needed without human intervention.
- Broad Network Access: Services are available over the internet and accessible from anywhere.
- Resource Pooling: Computing resources are pooled and dynamically allocated based on user demand.
- Rapid Elasticity: Resources can scale up or down automatically to handle varying workloads.
- Measured Service: Usage is metered, and customers pay only for what they consume.
Types of Cloud Computing Services:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Provides virtual machines, storage, and networking (e.g., AWS EC2, Microsoft Azure VMs).
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): Offers a platform with managed infrastructure for developers to build applications (e.g., Google App Engine, AWS Elastic Beanstalk).
- Software as a Service (SaaS): Delivers fully functional software applications over the internet (e.g., Google Drive, Microsoft 365).
Cloud Deployment Models:
- Public Cloud: Services are offered over the internet and shared among multiple customers (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure).
- Private Cloud: Cloud infrastructure is dedicated to a single organization for more control and security.
- Hybrid Cloud: A combination of public and private clouds to balance flexibility and security.
- Multi-Cloud: Using multiple cloud providers to avoid vendor lock-in and improve resilience.
Would you like me to go deeper into any of these aspects? see the next blog….