Cloud computing is a type of internet-based computing that delivers hosted services and resources on demand. Cloud computing is divided in to multiple different service categories – Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Disaster Recover as a Service (DRaaS). It enables businesses to utilize resources like compute, network, storage, application, hybrid integration (backups, site recovery, site replication, etc.), Management and Security. Most common cloud resources used today are:
- Compute
- Network
- Storage
- Application
There are 3 different types of cloud models that can be deployed – private, public, and hybrid.
- Private: With the Private cloud model, resources are delivered from a company’s data center to the users. This model offers flexibility and accessibility, while preserving the management, control and security to the local data centers.
- Public: In the public cloud service model, a 3rd party provider delivers the services over the internet. Public cloud services are sold on demand, normally by the minute or hour. Customers pay for the compute, network, storage and application usage. There are 3 leading public cloud providers – Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Compute Engine.
- Hybrid: Hybrid cloud model is mixture of public cloud and on-premises private cloud -allowing the configuration and automation between the two. Companies can run sensitive and mission critical applications on the private cloud while using the public cloud for bursting workloads that must scale on demand. The goal of hybrid cloud is to create a unified, automated, and scalable environment that takes advantage of all that a public cloud infrastructure can provide while maintain control over mission-critical data.
