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Cloud Computing: Benefits,

Disadvantages & Types of Cloud
Computing Services
BY MATT MCDERMOTT

Cloud and Data Security Cloud Technology

Cloud computing is one of the hottest catchphrases in business today. It has

transformed the way organizations store, access and share information,
collaborate and manage computing resources. With the advent of the internet,
cloud computing has provided new ways of conducting business by allowing
companies to rise above the conventional on-premises IT infrastructure.

Cloud computing offers modern businesses flexibility, efficiency, scalability,

security, increased collaboration and reduced costs. While the COVID-19
pandemic has accelerated cloud adoption, the reliance on cloud technologies
is set to continue in 2022, especially with hybrid work taking center stage. So,
whether an organization already uses cloud services or is planning to in the
coming year, it is imperative to understand the basics of cloud computing in
order to take full advantage of cloud-powered solutions.

In this blog, we will explore what exactly cloud computing is, how it works, its
benefits and disadvantages, and how companies can protect their SaaS data
better.
What is cloud computing?
According to ZDNet, “cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing
services — from applications to storage and processing power — typically
over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis.”

In simplest terms, the cloud refers to the internet. When organizations store
data in virtual data centers or access programs using an internet connection
instead of relying on their device’s hard drive or on-premises IT infrastructure,
it means they are operating in the cloud.

Cloud computing can be as simple as “servers in a third-party data center” or

entire serverless workloads that are infinitely scalable and geo-redundant.
Cloud servers and services are scalable and elastic.

How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing resources, such as IT

infrastructure or data center over the internet. This model allows businesses
to rent storage space or access software programs from a cloud service
provider, instead of building and maintaining their own IT infrastructure or data
center. One major benefit of using cloud computing services is that companies
pay only for the resources they use.

To better understand its technical aspects, cloud computing processes can be

divided into frontend and backend. The frontend component allows users to
access data and programs stored in the cloud through an internet browser or
by using a cloud computing application. The backend consists of servers,
computers and databases that store the data.

History of cloud computing

According to Technology Review, the phrase “cloud computing” was first

mentioned in 1996 in a Compaq internal document.

The year 1999 was a milestone for cloud computing when Salesforce became
the first company to deliver enterprise applications over the internet. This was
also the beginning of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

In 2002, Amazon launched Amazon Web Services (AWS), which was another
significant development in cloud computing. Its suite of cloud-based services
included storage, computation and even human intelligence. In 2006, Amazon
launched Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), allowing businesses as well as
individuals to rent virtual computers and run their own computer applications.

The year 2009 saw yet another giant milestone in cloud computing as Google
Workspace (now Google Workspace) started to provide browser-based
enterprise applications. In the same year, Microsoft entered the cloud
computing arena with Microsoft Azure, and soon companies
like Oracle and HP followed suit.
What are examples of cloud computing?

Cloud computing includes everything from virtual machines to databases to

entire serverless applications. Some examples of cloud computing include:

Salesforce: Salesforce.com is a SaaS provider that specializes in customer

relationship management (CRM). The company provides enterprise
applications to help align marketing, sales, customer services, etc., and allows
users to work from anywhere.

DigitalOcean: This company is a New York-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service

(IaaS) provider for software developers. Businesses use DigitalOcean to
deploy and scale applications that run simultaneously across multiple cloud
servers.

Microsoft Azure: Microsoft Azure is a fine example of a Platform-as-a-

Service (PaaS) that supports the entire application development lifecycle, right
from development to deployment and beyond. Azure provides a plethora of
tools, languages and frameworks to developers.

Dropbox: Dropbox is a cloud-based file hosting service that allows users to

store and sync files to their devices so they can access them from anywhere.
It also allows users to share large files, including images and videos via the
internet, facilitating effective collaboration.

What is the importance of cloud computing?

Before cloud computing came into existence, companies were required to
download applications or programs on their physical PCs or on-premises
servers to be able to use them. For any organization, building and managing
its own IT infrastructure or data centers is a huge challenge. Even for those
who own their own data centers, allocating a large number of IT
administrators and resources is a struggle.

The introduction of cloud computing and virtualization was a paradigm shift in

the history of the technology industry. Rather than creating and managing
their own IT infrastructure and paying for servers, power and real estate, etc.,
cloud computing allows businesses to rent computing resources from cloud
service providers. This helps businesses avoid paying heavy upfront costs
and the complexity of managing their own data centers. By renting cloud
services, companies pay only for what they use such as computing resources
and disk space. This allows companies to anticipate costs with greater
accuracy.

Since cloud service providers do the heavy lifting of managing and

maintaining the IT infrastructure, it saves a lot of time, effort and money for
businesses. The cloud also gives organizations the ability to seamlessly
upscale or downscale their computing infrastructure as and when needed.
Compared to the traditional on-premises data center model, the cloud offers
easy access to data from anywhere and on any device with internet
connectivity, thereby enabling effective collaboration and enhanced
productivity.

What are the most common uses of cloud

computing?
From startups to large corporations and government agencies, every
organization uses the cloud to access technology services to streamline
workflows, improve communication, productivity, service delivery and more.
Listed below are some of the most common uses of cloud computing.
 Storage: One of the most common uses of cloud
computing is file storage. While there are several options
to store and access data, such as hard drives on PCs,
external hard drives, USB drives, etc., cloud storage
enables businesses to seamlessly access data from
anywhere and on any device with an internet connection.
Cloud storage services like Amazon S3, DropBox
or OneDrive provide secure access to data and also
allows businesses to upscale and downscale storage
space based on their requirements.
 Database: Cloud database is another popular business
use case. IBM defines cloud database as “a database
service built and accessed through a cloud platform.” A
cloud database delivers most of the same functionalities
as a traditional database, but with additional benefits such
as flexibility, cost savings, failover support, specialized
expertise and more.
 Web applications: Web applications are a must-have
tool for businesses today. Powered by cloud technology,
anyone can access web-based apps using a web
browser, providing instant remote access to information.
 This allows business professionals to communicate with
customers and provide them with required information
while they’re on the go, and helps them collaborate with
colleagues from anywhere.
 Collaboration: Due to its easy accessibility, integration,
flexibility, security and ease of use, cloud-based tools,
such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, have
become the obvious choice for businesses looking to
collaborate both internally across departments and
externally with clients. Gmail, Google docs, Microsoft
Outlook, Microsoft Word, Teams, etc., are powerful
business tools designed to enhance collaboration and
productivity.
 SaaS applications: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
applications, such as Salesforce, allow businesses to
store, organize and maintain data, as well as automate
marketing and manage clients efficiently. SaaS solutions
are highly functional and do not require software and/or
hardware management.
What are the different types of cloud computing?
There are four main types of cloud computing: public, private, hybrid and
multicloud.

Public cloud

VMware defines public cloud as “an IT model where on-demand computing

services and infrastructure are managed by a third-party provider and shared
with multiple organizations using the public internet.” Cloud service providers
offer various services like Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-
Service (PaaS) and SaaS to individuals and businesses who rent these
services on a monthly or pay-per-use basis. Amazon Web Services (AWS),
Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud and IBM Cloud are the top five
cloud providers.

Private cloud

A private cloud or an internal cloud is where the IT infrastructure (hardware

and software resources) is solely dedicated to a single organization, unlike a
public cloud where the computing resources are shared among multiple
tenants. A private cloud environment is ideal for businesses for whom meeting
regulatory requirements, security and control are a priority. Traditionally, a
private cloud is hosted at a company’s data center and uses its own
hardware. However, an organization may outsource hosting to a third-party
provider who remotely manages the computing resources.

Hybrid cloud

A hybrid cloud is a combination of both public cloud and private cloud

environments. Businesses use this model to supplement their compute
capacity. When the capacity of a private cloud reaches its peak, businesses
can leverage public cloud to enhance the capabilities of the private cloud.
Hybrid cloud enables businesses to scale compute capacity up or down
depending on the traffic or service demands. This eliminates the need to
purchase and maintain new servers, allowing businesses to save cost, time
and effort.

Multicloud

Multicloud is the practice of using a combination of clouds — two or more

public or private clouds, or a combination of both, from several cloud
providers. A multicloud approach allows businesses to select the best
services from different cloud vendors based on their budgets, technical
requirements, geographic locations and so on. This model enables
businesses to use different clouds for different purposes. For instance, an
organization can use one cloud for software development and testing, another
cloud for data backup and disaster recovery, and other for data analytics.

What are the three different types of cloud

computing services?
The three types of cloud computing services are Infrastructure-as-a-Service
(IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

IaaS is a cloud computing service where cloud providers deliver and manage
virtualized computing infrastructure over the internet. Instead of creating an in-
house IT infrastructure, businesses can access essential resources, such as
operating systems, networking, storage space, development tools, etc., on
demand. This saves hardware and software costs as well as minimizes the
burden of IT staff.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS allows businesses to concentrate on the development, deployment and

management of software applications and services without having to worry
about the underlying infrastructure since cloud providers do the heavy lifting.
With PaaS, developers and programmers gain access to not only IT
infrastructure but also application/software platform and solution stack. Some
of the examples of PaaS include AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Google App
Engine and Microsoft Azure.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS provides businesses with ready-to-use software that is delivered to

users over the internet. All of the underlying infrastructure, including hardware,
software, data storage, patch management and hardware/software updates,
are managed by SaaS providers. SaaS is a subscription-based model, which
requires businesses to subscribe to the services they want to use. Users can
access SaaS applications directly through web browsers, which eliminates the
need to download or install them. SaaS allows users to access web-based
solutions from anywhere and at any time with an active internet connection.
Some popular SaaS solutions include Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and
Salesforce.

What are the benefits of cloud computing?

Cloud computing enables businesses to operate from virtually anywhere and
with more efficiency. Some benefits of cloud computing include:
 Cost savings: One of the greatest benefits of cloud
computing is reduced costs. Since businesses do not
need to build their own IT infrastructure or purchase
hardware or equipment, it helps companies reduce capital
expenses significantly.
 Flexibility/scalability: Cloud computing offers greater
flexibility to businesses of all sizes. Whether they require
extra bandwidth, computing power or storage space, they
can seamlessly scale up or down computing resources
depending on their needs and budget.
 Security: Data security is a major concern for businesses
today. Cloud vendors provide advanced security features
like authentication, access management, data encryption,
 etc., to ensure sensitive data in the cloud is securely
handled and stored.
 Mobility: Cloud computing allows users to access
corporate data from any device, anywhere and at any
time, using the internet. With information conveniently
available, employees can remain productive even on the
go.
 Increased collaboration: Cloud applications allow
businesses to seamlessly communicate and securely
access and share information, making collaboration
simple and hassle-free. Cloud computing empowers
multiple users to edit documents or work on files
simultaneously and in a transparent manner.
 Disaster recovery: Data loss and downtime can cause
irreparable damage to businesses of any size. Major
cloud vendors are well-equipped to withstand unforeseen
disruptive events, such as hardware/software failure,
natural disasters and power outages, to ensure high
application availability and business continuity.
 Automatic updates: Performing manual organization-
wide software updates can take up a lot of valuable IT
staff time. However, with cloud computing, service
providers regularly refresh and update systems with the
latest technology to provide businesses with up-to-date
software versions, latest servers and upgraded
processing power.
What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?
The advantages of operating in the cloud are immense. However, there are
certain disadvantages that companies should be aware of before deciding to
transition to the cloud. Listed below are the top five disadvantages of cloud
computing.

1. Downtime: Since cloud computing systems are

completely reliant on the internet, without an active
internet connection, businesses cannot access the data or
applications hosted in the cloud. Google suffered three
severe outages in 2020 that affected the majority of its
services and users across the globe.
2. Vendor lock-in: Migrating a company’s workloads and
services from one cloud provider to another is a major
 challenge in cloud computing. Differences between cloud
environments may cause compatibility or integration
issues. If the transition isn’t handled properly, it could
expose an organization’s data to unnecessary security
vulnerabilities.
3. Limited control: Since the cloud infrastructure is wholly
owned and managed by the cloud vendor, businesses
using cloud computing services have limited control over
their data, applications and services. Therefore, it’s
important to have a proper end-user license agreement
(EULA) in place to understand what a business can do
and can’t do within a cloud infrastructure.
4. Security: One of the major concerns of storing a
company’s sensitive data in the cloud is security.
Although cloud service providers implement advanced
security measures, storing confidential files on remote
servers that are entirely owned and operated by a third
party always opens up security risks. When an
organization adopts a cloud computing model, the IT
security responsibility is shared between the cloud vendor
and the user. As such, each party is responsible for the
assets, processes and functions they control.
5. Data loss or theft: Storing crucial data in virtual data
centers can open the doors to a variety of risks that could
lead to data loss, such as cloud misconfiguration,
information theft, security breach, stolen credentials, etc.
Moreover, cloud service providers, such as Microsoft and
Google, follow a shared responsibility model, where the
vendor assumes responsibility for application availability
and everything that entails, while the customer retains
responsibility for application data, administration and user
management.
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company chooses, they must be careful that the benefits of the cloud do not
outweigh the underlying security risks.
Businesses using SaaS solutions such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace
and Salesforce lose data every day. Many companies tend to believe that
SaaS vendors are responsible for protecting their data. However, that’s not
the case. While SaaS providers ensure application uptime and availability,
data protection is the customers’ responsibility.

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their valuable data against the most common causes of data loss like
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Tech AcceleratorWhat is public cloud? Everything you need to know

PREVNEXT

DEFINITION

cloud computing






By

 Wesley Chai
 Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted
services over the internet. These services are divided into three main
categories or types of cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (IaaS),
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 a data center that
supplies hosted services to a limited number of people, with certain access
and permissions settings. Private or public, the goal of cloud computing is to
provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services.

Cloud infrastructure involves the hardware and software components required

for proper implementation of a cloud computing model. Cloud computing can
also be thought of as utility computing or on-demand computing.

The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used
to represent the internet in flowcharts and diagrams.

How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing works by enabling client devices to access data and cloud
applications over the internet from remote physical servers, databases and
computers.

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF

What is public cloud? Everything you need to know

 Which also includes:

 8 key characteristics of cloud computing

 Top public cloud providers of 2023: A brief comparison

 8 ways to reduce cloud costs

DOWNLOAD1

Download this entire guide for FREE now!

An internet network connection links the front end, which includes the
accessing client device, browser, network and cloud software applications,
with the back end, which consists of databases, servers and computers. The
back end functions as a repository, storing data that is accessed by the front
end.

Communications between the front and back ends are managed by a central
server. The central server relies on protocols to facilitate the exchange of
data. The central server uses both software and middleware to manage
connectivity between different client devices and cloud servers. Typically,
there is a dedicated server for each individual application or workload.

Cloud computing relies heavily on virtualization and automation technologies.

Virtualization enables the easy abstraction and provisioning of services and
underlying cloud systems into logical entities that users can request and
utilize. Automation and accompanying orchestration capabilities provide users
with a high degree of self-service to provision resources, connect services and
deploy workloads without direct intervention from the cloud provider's IT staff.

What are the different types of cloud computing services?

Cloud computing can be separated into three general service delivery
categories or forms of cloud computing:

1. IaaS. IaaS providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), supply

a virtual server instance and storage, as well as application programming
interfaces (APIs) that let users migrate workloads to a virtual machine
(VM). Users have an allocated storage capacity and can start, stop, access
and configure the VM and storage as desired. IaaS providers offer small,
medium, large, extra-large, and memory- or compute-optimized instances,
in addition to enabling customization of instances, for various workload
needs. The IaaS cloud model is closest to a remote data center for
business users.

2. PaaS. In the PaaS model, cloud providers host development tools on their
infrastructures. 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 it's
developed. Common PaaS products include Salesforce's Lightning
Platform, AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Google App Engine.

3. SaaS. SaaS is a distribution model that delivers software applications over

the internet; these applications are often called web services. Users can
access SaaS applications and services from any location using a computer
or mobile device that has internet access. In the SaaS model, users gain
access to application software and databases. One common example of a
SaaS application is Microsoft 365 for productivity and email services.

Three
cloud service categories
Cloud computing deployment models
Private cloud services are delivered from a business's data center to internal
users. With a private cloud, an organization builds and maintains its own
underlying cloud infrastructure. This model offers the versatility and
convenience of the cloud, while preserving the management, control and
security common to local data centers. Internal users might or might not be
billed for services through IT chargeback. Common private cloud technologies
and vendors include VMware and OpenStack.
In the public cloud model, a third-party cloud service provider (CSP) delivers
the cloud service over the internet. Public cloud services are sold on demand,
typically by the minute or hour, though long-term commitments are available
for many services. Customers only pay for the central processing unit cycles,
storage or bandwidth they consume. Leading public CSPs include AWS,
Microsoft Azure, IBM and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), as well as IBM,
Oracle and Tencent.

A hybrid cloud is a combination of public cloud services and an on-premises

private cloud, with orchestration and automation between the two. Companies
can run mission-critical workloads or sensitive applications on the private
cloud and use the public cloud to handle workload bursts or spikes in demand.
The goal of a hybrid cloud is to create a unified, automated, scalable
environment that takes advantage of all that a public cloud infrastructure can
provide, while still maintaining control over mission-critical data.

The
three main cloud deployment models

In addition, organizations are increasingly embracing a multi-cloud model, or

the use of multiple IaaS providers. This enables applications to migrate
between different cloud providers or to even operate concurrently across two
or more cloud providers.

Organizations adopt multi-cloud for various reasons. For example, they could
do so to minimize the risk of a cloud service outage or to take advantage of
more competitive pricing from a particular provider. Multi-cloud
implementation and application development can be a challenge because of
the differences between cloud providers' services and APIs.

Multi-cloud deployments should become easier, however, as providers'

services and APIs converge and become more standardized through industry
initiatives such as the Open Cloud Computing Interface.

A community cloud, which is shared by several organizations, supports a

particular community that shares the same concerns -- e.g., the same
mission, policy, security requirements and compliance considerations. A
community cloud is either managed by these organizations or a third-party
vendor and can be on or off premises.

Characteristics and advantages of cloud computing

Cloud computing has been around for several decades now, and today's
cloud computing infrastructure demonstrates an array of characteristics that
have brought meaningful benefits for businesses of all sizes. Some of
the main characteristics of cloud computing are the following:

 Self-service provisioning. End users can spin up compute resources for

almost any type of workload on demand. An end user can provision
computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage,
eliminating the traditional need for IT administrators to provision and
manage compute resources.

 Elasticity. Companies can freely scale up as computing needs increase

and scale down again as demands decrease. This eliminates the need for
 massive investments in local infrastructure, which might or might not
remain active.

 Pay per use. Compute resources are measured at a granular level,

enabling users to pay only for the resources and workloads they use.

 Workload resilience. CSPs often implement redundant resources to

ensure resilient storage and to keep users' important workloads running --
often across multiple global regions.

 Migration flexibility. Organizations can move certain workloads to or from

the cloud -- or to different cloud platforms -- as desired or automatically for
better cost savings or to use new services as they emerge.

 Broad network access. A user can access cloud data or upload data to
the cloud from anywhere with an internet connection using any device.

 Multi-tenancy and resource pooling. Multi-tenancy lets numerous

customers share the same physical infrastructures or the same
applications yet still retain privacy and security over their own data. With
resource pooling, cloud providers service numerous customers from the
same physical resources. The resource pools of the cloud providers should
be large and flexible enough so they can service the requirements of
multiple customers.
 An
overview of cloud features and characteristics

These characteristics support a variety of important benefits for modern

business, including the following:

 Cost management. Using cloud infrastructure can reduce capital costs, as

organizations don't have to spend massive amounts of money buying and
maintaining equipment. This reduces their capital expenditure costs -- as
they don't have to invest in hardware, facilities, utilities or building large
data centers to accommodate their growing businesses. Additionally,
companies don't need large IT teams to handle cloud data center
operations because they can rely on the expertise of their cloud providers'
teams. Cloud computing also cuts costs related to downtime. Since
downtime rarely happens in cloud computing, companies don't have to
spend time and money to fix any issues that might be related to downtime.

 Data and workload mobility. Storing information in the cloud means that
users can access it from anywhere with any device with just an internet
connection. That means users don't have to carry around USB drives, an
external hard drive or multiple CDs to access their data. Users can access
corporate data via smartphones and other mobile devices, enabling remote
employees to stay up to date with co-workers and customers. End users
 can easily process, store, retrieve and recover resources in the cloud. In
addition, cloud vendors provide all the upgrades and updates
automatically, saving time and effort.

 Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR). All organizations

worry about data loss. Storing data in the cloud guarantees that users can
always access their data even if their devices, e.g., laptops or
smartphones, are inoperable. With cloud-based services, organizations
can quickly recover their data in the event of emergencies, such as natural
disasters or power outages. This benefits BCDR and helps ensure that
workloads and data are available even if the business suffers damage or
disruption.
What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?
Despite the clear upsides to relying on cloud services, cloud computing
carries its own challenges for IT professionals:

 Cloud security. Security is often considered the greatest challenge facing

cloud computing. When relying on the cloud, organizations risk data
breaches, hacking of APIs and interfaces, compromised credentials and
authentication issues. Furthermore, there is a lack of transparency
regarding how and where sensitive information entrusted to the cloud
provider is handled. Security demands careful attention to cloud
configurations and business policy and practice.

 Cost unpredictability. Pay-as-you-go subscription plans for cloud use,

along with scaling resources to accommodate fluctuating workload
demands, can make it tough to define and predict final costs. Cloud costs
are also frequently interdependent, with one cloud service often utilizing
one or more other cloud services -- all of which appear in the recurring
monthly bill. This can create additional unplanned cloud costs.

 Lack of capability and expertise. With cloud-supporting technologies

rapidly advancing, organizations are struggling to keep up with the growing
 demand for tools and employees with the proper skill sets and knowledge
needed to architect, deploy, and manage workloads and data in a cloud.

 IT governance. The emphasis on do-it-yourself capability in cloud

computing can make IT governance difficult, as there is no control over
provisioning, deprovisioning and management of infrastructure operations.
This can make it challenging to properly manage risks and security, IT
compliance and data quality.

 Compliance with industry laws. When transferring data from on-

premises local storage into cloud storage, it can be difficult to manage
compliance with industry regulations through a third party. It's important to
know where data and workloads are actually hosted in order to maintain
regulatory compliance and proper business governance.

 Management of multiple clouds. Every cloud is different, so multi-cloud

deployments can disjoint efforts to address more general cloud computing
challenges.

 Cloud performance. Performance -- such as latency -- is largely beyond

the control of the organization contracting cloud services with a provider.
Network and provider outages can interfere with productivity and disrupt
business processes if organizations are not prepared with contingency
plans.

 Building a private cloud. Architecting, building and managing private

clouds -- whether for its own purpose or for a hybrid cloud goal -- can be a
daunting task for IT departments and staff.

 Cloud migration. The process of moving applications and other data to

the cloud often causes complications. Migration projects frequently take
longer than anticipated and go over budget. The issue of workload and
data repatriation -- moving from the cloud back to a local data center -- is
often overlooked until unforeseen cost or performance problems arise.
 Vendor lock-in. Often, switching between cloud providers can cause
significant issues. This includes technical incompatibilities, legal and
regulatory limitations and substantial costs incurred from sizable data
migrations.
Cloud computing examples and use cases
Cloud computing has evolved and diversified into a wide array of offerings and
capabilities designed to suit almost any conceivable business need. Examples
of cloud computing capabilities and diversity include the following:

 Google Docs, Microsoft 365. Users can access Google Docs and
Microsoft 365 through the internet. Users can be more productive because
they can access work presentations and spreadsheets stored in the cloud
at anytime from anywhere on any device.

 Email, Calendar, Skype, WhatsApp. Emails, calendars, Skype and

WhatsApp take advantage of the cloud's ability to provide users with
access to data remotely so they can access their personal data on any
device, whenever and wherever they want.

 Zoom. Zoom is a cloud-based software platform for video and audio

conferencing that records meetings and saves them to the cloud, enabling
users to access them anywhere and at any time. Another common
communication and collaboration platform is Microsoft Teams.

 AWS Lambda. Lambda enables developers to run code for applications or

back-end services without having to provision or manage servers. The pay-
as-you-go model constantly scales with an organization to accommodate
real-time changes in data usage and data storage. Other major cloud
providers also support serverless computing capabilities, such as Google
Cloud Functions and Azure Functions.
So, how is the cloud actually used? The myriad services and capabilities
found in modern public clouds have been applied across countless use cases,
such as the following:

 Testing and development. Ready-made, tailored environments can

expedite timelines and milestones.

 Production workload hosting. Organizations are using the public cloud

to host live production workloads. This requires careful design and
architecture of cloud resources and services needed to create an adequate
operational environment for the workload and its required level of
resilience.

 Big data analytics. Remote data centers through cloud storage are
flexible and scalable and can provide valuable data-driven insights. Major
cloud providers offer services tailored to big data projects, such as Amazon
EMR and Google Cloud Dataproc.

 IaaS. IaaS enables companies to host IT infrastructures and access

compute, storage and network capabilities in a scalable manner. Pay-as-
you-go subscription models can help companies save on upfront IT costs.

 PaaS. PaaS can help companies develop, run and manage applications in
an easier and more flexible way, at a lower cost than maintaining a
platform on premises. PaaS services can also increase development
speed for applications and enables higher-level programming.

 Hybrid cloud. Organizations have the option to use the appropriate cloud
-- private or public -- for different workloads and applications to optimize
cost and efficiency according to the circumstance.

 Multi-cloud. Using multiple different cloud services from separate cloud

providers can help subscribers find the best cloud service fit for diverse
workloads with specific requirements.
 Storage. Large amounts of data can be stored remotely and accessed
easily. Clients only have to pay for storage that they actually use.

 DR. Cloud offers faster recovery than traditional on-premises DR.

Furthermore, it is offered at lower costs.

 Data backup. Cloud backup solutions are generally easier to use. Users
do not have to worry about availability and capacity, and the cloud provider
manages data security.
Cloud computing vs. traditional web hosting
Given the many different services and capabilities of the public cloud, there
has been some confusion between cloud computing and major uses, such as
web hosting. While the public cloud is often used for web hosting, the two are
quite different. A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that
differentiate it from traditional web hosting:

1. Users can access large amounts of computing power on demand. It is

typically sold by the minute or the hour.

2. It is elastic -- users can have as much or as little of a service as they want

at any given time.

3. The service is fully managed by the provider -- the consumer needs

nothing but a personal computer and internet access. Significant
innovations in virtualization and distributed computing, as well as improved
access to high-speed internet, have accelerated interest in cloud
computing.
Cloud computing service providers
The cloud service market has no shortage of providers. The three largest
public CSPs that have established themselves as dominant fixtures in the
industry are the following:

 AWS
 GCP

 Microsoft Azure

Other major CSPs include the following:

 Apple

 Citrix

 IBM

 Salesforce

 Alibaba

 Oracle

 VMware

 SAP

 Joyent

 Rackspace

When considering a cloud service vendor, certain considerations should be

taken. First, the actual suite of services can vary between providers, and
business users must select a provider that offers services -- such as big data
analytics or artificial intelligence (AI) services -- that support the intended use
case.

Though cloud services typically rely on a pay-per-use model, different

providers often have variations in their pricing plans to consider. Furthermore,
if the cloud provider will be storing sensitive data, physical location of the
provider's servers should also be considered.

Naturally, reliability and security should be top priorities. A provider's service-

level agreement should specify a level of service uptime that is satisfactory to
client business needs. When considering different cloud vendors, close
attention should be given to what technologies and configuration settings are
used to secure sensitive information.

Cloud computing security

Security remains a primary concern for businesses contemplating cloud
adoption -- especially public cloud adoption. Public CSPs share their
underlying hardware infrastructure between numerous customers, as the
public cloud is a multi-tenant environment. This environment demands
significant isolation between logical compute resources. At the same time,
access to public cloud storage and compute resources is guarded by account
login credentials.

Many organizations bound by complex regulatory obligations and governance

standards are still hesitant to place data or workloads in the public cloud for
fear of outages, loss or theft. However, this resistance is fading, as logical
isolation has proven reliable and the addition of data encryption and
various identity and access management tools have improved security within
the public cloud.

Ultimately, the responsibility for establishing and maintaining a secure cloud

environment falls to the individual business user that is responsible for
building the workload's architecture -- the combination of cloud resources and
services in which the workload runs -- and implementing the security features
that the cloud provider offers.

History of cloud computing

The history and evolution of cloud computing date back to the 1950s and
1960s.

In the 1950s, companies started to use large mainframe computers, but it was
too expensive to buy a computer for each user. So, during the late 1950s and
early 1960s, a process called time sharing was developed to make more
efficient use of expensive processor time on the central mainframe.

Time sharing enabled users to access numerous instances of computing

mainframes simultaneously, maximizing processing power and minimizing
downtime. This idea represents the first use of shared computing resources,
the foundation of modern cloud computing.

The origins of delivering computing resources using a global network are, for
the most part, rooted in 1969 when American computer scientist J.C.R.
Licklider helped create the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, the
so-called precursor to the internet. Licklider's goal was to connect computers
across the globe in a way that would enable users to access programs and
information from any location.

In the 1970s, cloud computing began taking a more tangible shape with the
introduction of the first VMs, enabling users to run more than one computing
system within a single physical setup. The functionality of these VMs led to
the concept of virtualization, which had a major influence on the progress of
cloud computing.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Microsoft, Apple and IBM developed technologies
that enhanced the cloud environment and advanced the use of the cloud
server and server hosting. Then, in 1999, Salesforce became the first
company to deliver business applications from a website.

In 2006, Amazon launched AWS, providing such services as computing and

storage in the cloud. Following suit, the other major tech players, including
Microsoft and Google, subsequently launched their own cloud offerings to
compete with AWS.

Future of cloud computing and emerging technologies

Over 30% of enterprise IT decision-makers identified public cloud as their top
priority in 2019, according to the "RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud Report."
Still, enterprise adoption of the public cloud, especially for mission-critical
applications, hasn't been happening as quickly as many experts predicted.

Today, however, organizations are more likely to migrate mission-critical

workloads to public clouds. One of the reasons for this shift is that business
executives who want to ensure that their companies can compete in the new
world of digital transformation are demanding the public cloud.

Business leaders are also looking to the public cloud to take advantage of its
elasticity, modernize internal computer systems, and empower critical
business units and their DevOps teams.

Additionally, cloud providers, such as IBM and VMware, are concentrating on

meeting the needs of enterprise IT, in part by removing the barriers to public
cloud adoption that caused IT decision-makers to shy away from fully
embracing the public cloud previously.

Generally, when contemplating cloud adoption, many enterprises have been

mainly focused on new cloud-native applications -- that is, designing and
building applications specifically intended to use cloud services. They haven't
been willing to move their most mission-critical apps into the public cloud.
However, these enterprises are now beginning to realize that the cloud is
ready for the enterprise if they select the right cloud platforms, i.e., those that
have a history of serving the needs of the enterprise.

Cloud providers are locked in ongoing competition for cloud market share, so
the public cloud continues to evolve, expand and diversify its range of
services. This has led public IaaS providers to offer far more than common
compute and storage instances.
For example, serverless, or event-driven, computing is a cloud service that
executes specific functions, such as image processing and database updates.
Traditional cloud deployments require users to establish a compute instance
and load code into that instance. Then, the user decides how long to run --
and pay for -- that instance.

With serverless computing, developers simply create code, and the cloud
provider loads and executes that code in response to real-world events so
users don't have to worry about the server or instance aspect of the cloud
deployment. Users only pay for the number of transactions that the function
executes. AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions and Azure Functions are
examples of serverless computing services.

Public cloud computing also lends itself well to big data processing, which
demands enormous compute resources for relatively short durations. Cloud
providers have responded with big data services, including Google BigQuery
for large-scale data warehousing and Microsoft Azure Data Lake Analytics for
processing huge data sets.

Another crop of emerging cloud technologies and services relates to AI

and machine learning. These technologies provide a range of cloud-based,
ready-to-use AI and machine learning services for client needs. Amazon
Machine Learning, Amazon Lex, Amazon Polly, Google Cloud Machine
Learning Engine and Google Cloud Speech API are examples of these
services.

This was last updated in November 2022

Continue Reading About cloud computing

 What is a network? Definition,
explanation, and examples
When you buy a new computer, the first thing you’ll probably try to do is connect to the Internet. To do this,
you establish a connection to your router, which receives the data from the Internet and then forwards it to the
computer.

Of course that’s not all: Next, you could also connect your printer, smartphone or TV to the router so that these
devices are also connected to the Internet. Now you have connected different devices to each other via a
central access point and created your own network.

But what exactly does that mean?

Contents
1. What is a network?
2. Network example: your home Wi-Fi
3. What are the tasks and advantages of a network?
4. How does a network work?
5. Client-server architecture
6. What types of networks are there?

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What is a network?
In information technology, a network is defined as the connection of at least two computer systems, either
by a cable or a wireless connection. The simplest network is a combination of two computers connected by a
cable. This type of network is called a peer-to-peer network. There is no hierarchy in this network; both
participants have equal privileges. Each computer has access to the data of the other device and can share
resources such as disk space, applications or peripheral devices (printers, etc.).

Today’s networks tend to be a bit more complex and don’t just consist of two computers. Systems with more
than ten participants usually use client-server networks. In these networks, a central computer (server)
provides resources to the other participants in the network (clients).

Definition: Network
A network is a group of two or more computers or other electronic devices that are interconnected for the
purpose of exchanging data and sharing resources.

Network example: your home Wi-Fi

The Wireless LAN (Wireless Local Area Network, i.e. the Wi-Fi network) in your home is a good example of
a small client-server network. The various devices in your home are wirelessly connected to the router, which
acts as a central node (server) for the household. The router itself is connected to a much larger network: the
Internet.

Since the devices are connected to the router as clients, they are part of the network and can use the same
resource as the server, namely the Internet. The devices can also communicate with each other without
having to establish a direct connection to each device. For example, you can send a print job to a Wi-Fi-
enabled printer without first connecting the printer to the computer using a cable.

Before the advent of modern networks, communication between different computers and devices was very
complicated. Computers were connected using a LAN cable. Mechanical switches were used so that peripheral
devices could also be shared. Due to physical limitations (cable length), the devices and computers always had
to be very close to each other.

Note
If you need an extremely stable connection you should consider the possibility of a wired connection to the
router or device, despite the advantages of Wi-Fi.
What are the tasks and advantages of a network?
The main task of a network is to provide participants with a single platform for exchanging data and
sharing resources. This task is so important that many aspects of everyday life and the modern world would be
unimaginable without networks.

Here’s a real-life example: In a typical office, every workstation has its own computer. Without a network of
computers, it would be very difficult for a team to work on a project since there would be no common place to
share or store digital documents and information, and team members would not be able to share certain
applications.

In addition, many offices only have one printer or a few printers that are shared by everyone. Without a
network, the IT department would have to connect every single computer to the printer, which is difficult to
implement from a technical standpoint. A network elegantly solves this problem because all computers are
connected to the printer via one central node.

The main advantages of networks are:

 Shared use of data

 Shared use of resources
 Central control of programs and data
 Central storage and backup of data
 Shared processing power and storage capacity
 Easy management of authorizations and responsibilities

How does a network work?

In a typical client-server network there is a central node called the server. The server is connected to the other
devices, which are called clients. This connection is either wireless (Wireless LAN) or wired (LAN).

In a typical home network, the router assumes the role of the server. It is connected to the Internet and provides
the “Internet” resource for the other devices (computers, smartphones, etc.).
The router combines all wired and wireless devices in a local network.

Client-server architecture
In larger networks, such as corporate networks, the server is usually a central computer. This computer is
used exclusively for running special server software and services, not regular applications and programs. The
server must operate continuously, whereas the other computers (clients) can be switched off.

The server and the client communicate as follows in this server-based network: The client first sends
a request to the server. The server evaluates the request and then transmits the response. In this model, the
client always connects to the server, never the other way around.

Network protocols
Network protocols ensure smooth communication between the different components in a network. They
control data exchange and determine how communication is established and terminated as well as which data
is transmitted. There are usually multiple network protocols that each perform a specific subtask and are
hierarchically organized into layers.

Network addresses
In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the transmitter and receiver can be correctly identified. Network
addresses are used for this purpose. In computer networks, each computer typically has an IP address, similar
to a telephone number, that uniquely identifies the computer. This internal IP address is used only for
communication between the participants in the local network. For communication on the Internet, external IP
addresses are used that are automatically assigned by the Internet provider.

A distinction is also made between IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. IPv4 addresses used to be standard, but only a
total of around 4.3 billion of these addresses could be assigned before they were exhausted. Due to the massive
expansion of the Internet, additional IP addresses were urgently needed. Therefore, the new IPv6 standard was
developed, allowing up to 3.4 x 1038 (340 sextillion) addresses. This should be sufficient for the future.

You can find detailed information on the IP protocol and its important role in computer networks in our article
“What is the Internet Protocol ?”.

What types of networks are there?

Networks are usually divided into different network types according to transmission type and range, that is,
depending on how or how far the data is transmitted.

Wireless vs. wired

Networks are classified by transmission type as either wireless or wired. Examples of wireless networks
include Wi-Fi networks based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, or the LTE networks used for mobile devices and
smartphones. Wired networks such as DSL are also known as broadband Internet.

Network range
Networks are typically classified by range as follows:
  Personal Area Network (PAN): A PAN is used for interconnecting devices within a
short range of approximately 10 meters. Examples include Bluetooth technology or
Apple’s Airdrop ad hoc Wi-Fi service.
 Local Area Network (LAN): Local area networks are among the most widespread
networks and are used in households or small and medium-sized companies.
 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): These types of networks cover cities or single
geographic regions.
 Wide Area Network (WAN): The nationwide broadband or cellular network in the US
is an example of a Wide Area Network.
 GAN (Global Area Network): The best known example of a global network is the
Internet.

Note that there is some overlap between the different network types: As a Wi-Fi user, you are simultaneously
part of a WAN and a GAN when you’re connected to the Internet.