Cloud computing is an important innovation in the storage of data, industry technology and service all over the world. It has made seamless information sharing across different applications and devices possible. Internet has made this possible, as instead of storing data on your local servers or hard drives now, you can store and access your data and programs over the internet (cloud is just a metaphor). Does that mean the whole world is moving towards a software-defined space? Is the line between hardware and software becoming blurry?
F5 Networks CTO Karl Triebes says that 90 percent of his firm’s innovation and development time is devoted to software, with the remaining 10 percent still focused on the hardware products. He further says that switches will always exist as hardware due to their price-functionality point, but the rest of it can start to be built from software or be built to function with what we often call a ‘software appliance’.
Understanding Cloud Computing
The closest expression to the public at large about cloud computing is in the form of cloud storage apps like Dropbox or Google Drive. Most people only think that cloud storage is only a storage technology or equipment. However, that is not the case. Cloud storage is also a service innovation. It is not about storing data on your hard drive or running programs on it. A dedicated network attached storage (NAS) hardware or server at your home also does not mean that you are utilizing the cloud. Storing data on your home network or your office network does not count as cloud storage either. For it to be called as ‘cloud computing’ you need to be able to access your data over the internet, data which is synchronized with other information over the web.
Cloud Computing Is A Hardware That Behaves Like A Software
Cloud computing uses a network of online remote servers to store, manage, and process data. The software of these clouds allows for the replication and portability of hardware resources like memory and processing power. This means that hardware resources are turning into a virtual hardware with access to virtual memory, virtual processing, and virtual disk. With cloud computing, the hardware assumes the flexibility of a software and thus the memory can be multiplied and moved from one server to the other at any time. It is easier to modify hardware resources (as if they are software) as they can be adjusted without disruptions by a technician. So if you wish to increase the memory or disk space or simply add more connections to your network, you don’t have to go through interruptions by a technician when he shuts off the server to add more RAM modules.
Cloud Computing Is Remote Computing
Remote accessibility is the key to using cloud computing services. These services can be private, public or even hybrid. Cloud infrastructure is present in all the three models that allow the organizations to work remotely by accessing the web from anywhere. In a private cloud, the organization owns the cloud infrastructure components and places them within its own data centre. In a public cloud, these are owned by a third-party public cloud provider. Whereas, in the case of a hybrid cloud, it consists of a combination of both the private and public models.
Based on your business requirements, you can choose from any of the following structures:
- Platform as a service (PaaS): This type of cloud computing allows the users to develop and manage their own software and applications without having to build or maintain the infrastructure required to develop and launch the said software. Force.com and GoogleApps are classic examples of PaaS that facilitate deployment of applications without the complexity of buying the underlying hardware and software layers.
- Software as a service (SaaS): SaaS uses a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store and process the data. These cloud hosting providers deliver software solutions to their users through their own servers thereby eliminating the need to install and run the applications for the client. SaaS and cloud are hence often used interchangeably. The software of these applications is commercially available and not custom made, but even then SaaS provides one of the best ways to use advanced technology for small and medium enterprises.
- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): This type of cloud hosting delivers data management infrastructure to the clients. It mostly includes some form of virtualized infrastructure and services that allow the client to deploy virtual machines as components that are managed through a console. The physical resources like the servers, storage, and network are maintained by the host of cloud computing services, whereas the infrastructure deployed is that of the user.
As cloud networks become more flexible, the need for commodity hardware is starting to quickly diminish.
0 Comments