Cloud Services

Cloud services simply refer to those services that provide infrastructure, software, hardware, or even different platforms via the internet. Their cloud technology services include providing servers, databases, storage space, intelligence, etc., to a client, through a third-party format. Here, the internet in itself forms the “cloud” in Cloud services. 

Before the inception of computers, data was stored in handwritten or typed formats on paper. With advancements in technology, data is now being stored in hard drives and different servers. But as the world shifts towards a digital landscape, the amount of data being generated every moment has also increased tremendously.

As such, the hard drives and servers alone cannot accommodate the needs of the growing industries and businesses. This is where cloud services come in.

Cloud service providers aim to reduce the problems faced by major companies and businesses for storing data and managing expensive and difficult hardware and software. In this article, we delve further into the world of cloud technology. Read on to learn more about the different types of cloud computing technology and the benefits of the same.

Benefits of Cloud Services

The cloud services offer various advancements above the traditional hosting services. The different benefits of cloud technologies are listed below.

Cost-Effectiveness

One of the major benefits of cloud services is cost reduction. Earlier, businesses and organisations used to require a separate team of IT employees to handle their hardware and software needs and set up server databases in their vicinity, which generated a high amount of electricity for running numerous databases.

But now, cloud service providers are offering these technologies on a pay-as-you-go model. This means that you are only charged for the amount that you use, similar to electricity bills that charge according to the amount of electricity consumed.

Instead of buying your own hardware, you can pay to use your host’s hardware. This can also be replaced if it doesn’t suit your needs or even upgraded to a better configuration. The only indispensable thing with regard to cloud technology is the internet. As the whole framework is accessible through the internet, cloud technology is of utter importance.

Better Security

Keeping their data secure is the number 1 priority of all businesses, and cloud service providers promise to deliver the same and more. They have various policies, technologies, and controls in place that ensure top-notch protection of different apps, software, and precious data. Studies have also found that most of the time, data theft occurs internally. Hence, storing your data off-site in a secure location could also be a clever alternative. 

Fast processing speed

Cloud technologies provide instantaneous solutions to problems faced by clients. Instead of applying a complex and tedious update to the infrastructure, services can be provided by cloud technology in minutes. This increases the flexibility and efficacy of a business.

Offers better productivity

As the software and complex servers are being handled by cloud computing technology, organisations can deploy their IT teams in other tasks. They need not worry about having a separate team that looks after data storage, another for maintaining the hardware, and another for looking after the security. As the resources now can be allocated towards achieving better business goals, cloud technology increases the overall productivity of a company.

High-reliability factor

From regular backups to data recovery, cloud services offer it all. Cloud computing technology has an uptime rate of 99.9%. They are accessible 24/7. Data is mirrored on various redundant sites of the cloud service provider’s network, and hence continuity of business is not an issue. Another advantage of cloud services is the fact that it also provides data recovery options after a disaster. 

Types of Cloud Computing Technology

Cloud computing technologies can be categorised based on their deployment models and service models. Based on the service models, the three different models are IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. Let’s read about them in detail 

IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)

As the name suggests, this category offers IT infrastructure in the form of servers, data centres, networks, etc. It uses a pay-as-you-go model, offers access to all the servers used by the organisation and provides access to the root-level technology. It removes the need for installing data centres or racks of servers on-site. 

Examples of IaaS are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, etc. 

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)

This is the most popular category of cloud services. Here, the cloud technology providers offer the end products directly. SaaS provides services such as file storage, file backup, web emails, etc. Their services only consist of software and do not provide any pieces of equipment as such. 

Examples of SaaS are Dropbox, G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, etc. 

PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)

In PaaS or Platform-as-a-service, organisations are provided with a pre-developed platform by cloud providers. Organisations can use their codes and applications to build upon these platforms. These are mostly used for building cloud apps, where the organisation can use the operating system as well as the programming language provided by the cloud providers. 

Providers offering IaaS also offer platform-as-a-service. One such example is the Amazon Web Service Elastic beanstalk.

Based on deployment models, cloud technology can be categorised as:

1. Public Cloud
2. Private cloud
3. Hybrid Cloud

Conclusion

As the world becomes more digitised by the day, the format of storing data also needs to go through a makeover. As such, cloud technologies rise to the need of the hour. Although cloud services have their own set of benefits, many naysayers still do not trust the security of cloud computing services. Recent attacks by cybercriminals also added to the issue. 

Like every other thing in this world, cloud computing technologies also have their own pros and cons. You cannot overlook the benefits that they provide, from better speed and higher ROI to a more technologically inclined data storing method.