Cloud computing is the delivery of computing resources as a service.

The resources are owned and managed by the cloud provider rather than the end user.
Those resources may include anything from browser-based software applications (such as Tik Tok or
Netflix), third party data storage for photos and other digital media (such as iCloud or Dropbox), or third-
party servers used to support the computing infrastructure of a business, research, or personal project.

Cloud Computing is basically alternative of general computer users typically had to buy and maintain the
software and hardware that they wished to use. Which creates an advantage means cloud users no
longer have to invest the labor, capital, or expertise required for buying and maintaining these
computing resources themselves.

With an on-premises datacentre, we have to manage everything, such as purchasing and installing
hardware, virtualization, installing the operating system, and any other required applications, setting up
the network, configuring the firewall, and setting up storage for data. After doing all the set-up, we
become responsible for maintaining it through its entire lifecycle.

But if we choose Cloud Computing, a cloud vendor is responsible for the hardware purchase and
maintenance. They also provide a wide variety of software and platform as a service. We can take any
required services on rent. The cloud computing services will be charged based on usage.

Definition of Cloud Computing

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory agency of the United States
Department of Commerce with a mission to advance innovation, defines cloud computing as:

A model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can
be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

NIST lists the following as the five essential characteristics of cloud computing:

 On-demand self-service: Cloud resources can be accessed or provisioned without human

interaction. With this model, consumers can gain immediate access to cloud services upon
signup. Organizations can also create mechanisms for allowing employees, customers, or
partners to access internal cloud services on demand according to predetermined logics
without needing to go through IT services.
 Broad network access: Users can access cloud services and resources through any device
and in any networked location provided that they have permission.
 Resource pooling: Cloud provider resources are shared by multiple tenants while keeping
the data of individual clients hidden from other clients.
 Rapid elasticity: Unlike on-premise hardware and software, cloud computing resources can
be rapidly increased, decreased, or otherwise modified based on the cloud user’s changing
needs.
 Measured service: Usage of cloud resources is metered so that businesses and other cloud
users need only pay for the resources they use in any given billing cycle.
Advantages of cloud computing

 Cost: It reduces the huge capital costs of buying hardware and software.

 Speed: Resources can be accessed in minutes, typically within a few clicks.

 Scalability: We can increase or decrease the requirement of resources according to the

business requirements.

 Productivity: While using cloud computing, we put less operational effort. We do not need
to apply patching, as well as no need to maintain hardware and software. So, in this way,
the IT team can be more productive and focus on achieving business goals.

 Reliability: Backup and recovery of data are less expensive and very fast for business
continuity.

 Security: Many cloud vendors offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls that
strengthen our data security.

 Reliability: Backup and recovery of data are less expensive and very fast for business
continuity.

 Security: Many cloud vendors offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls that
strengthen our data security.

For the operation of this computing, the following 3 components have a big hand and the
responsibilities of these components can be elucidated clearly as below:

 Clients- Clients in cloud computing are in general to the operation of Local Area Networks
(LAN’s). They are just the desktops where they have their place on desks. These might be also in
the form of laptops, mobiles, tablets to enhance mobility. Clients hold the responsibility of
interaction which pushes for the management of data on cloud servers.

 Datacentre- It is an array of servers that houses the subscribed application. Progressing the IT
industry has brought the concept of virtualizing servers, where the software might be installed
through the utilization of various instances of virtual servers. This approach streamlines the
process of managing dozens of virtual servers on multiple physical servers.

 Distributed Servers- These are considered as a server where that is housed in the other location.
So, the physical servers might not be housed in a similar location. Even the distributed server
and the physical server appear to be in different locations, they perform as they are so close to
each other.

While the other component is Cloud Applications, where it is defined as cloud computing in the form of
software architecture. So, cloud applications serve as a service which operates both the hardware and
software architecture.
Cloud computing has many other components and those come under mainly as four classifications

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)- The fundamental classification of cloud computing services. This
service allows for the rent of servers and virtual systems, networks, IT infrastructure and storage too. It
avoids the complication behind acquiring and administering own physical servers and infrastructure.
Few of the business aspects offered by IaaS are:

 Economical web hosting services

 Supports application and web servers and manage networking resources

 Increased performance on computing

 Assists in big data analysis

 Maintains huge storage, backup, and recovery

IaaS advantages

 Organizations choose IaaS because it is often easier, faster and more cost-efficient to operate a
workload without having to buy, manage and support the underlying infrastructure. With IaaS, a
business can simply rent or lease that infrastructure from another business.In general, IaaS
customers pay on a per-user basis, typically by the hour, week or month. Some IaaS providers
also charge customers based on the amount of virtual machine space they use. This pay-as-you-
go model eliminates the capital expense of deploying in-house hardware and software.

 IaaS delivers cloud computing infrastructure, including servers, network, operating systems, and
storage, through virtualization technology. These cloud servers are typically provided to the
organization through a dashboard or an API, giving IaaS clients complete control over the entire
infrastructure. IaaS provides the same technologies and capabilities as a traditional data center
without having to physically maintain or manage all of it. IaaS clients can still access their servers
and storage directly, but it is all outsourced through a “virtual data center” in the cloud.

IaaS Characteristics

 Characteristics that define IaaS include:

 Resources are available as a service

 Cost varies depending on consumption

 Services are highly scalable

 Multiple users on a single piece of hardware

 Organization retain complete control of the infrastructure

 Dynamic and flexible

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS advantages-

 SaaS removes the need for organizations to install and run applications
 on their own computers or in their own data centers. This eliminates the
 expense of hardware acquisition, provisioning and maintenance, as well
 as software licensing, installation and support. Other benefits of the
SaaS model include:

 Flexible payments- Rather than purchasing software to install, or additional hardware to

support it, customers subscribe to a SaaS offering. Transitioning costs to a recurring operating
expense allows many businesses to exercise better and more predictable budgeting. Users can
also terminate SaaS offerings at any time to stop those recurring costs.

 Scalable usage- Cloud services like SaaS offer high Vertical scalability, which gives customers the
option to access more or fewer services or features on demand.

 Automatic updates- Rather than purchasing new software, customers can rely on a SaaS
provider to automatically perform updates and patch management. This further reduces the
burden on in-house IT staff.

 Accessibility and persistence- Since SaaS vendors deliver applications over the internet, users
can access them from any internet-enabled device and location.

 Customization- SaaS applications are often customizable and can be integrated with other
business applications, especially across applications from a common software provider.

 Scalable usage- Cloud services like SaaS offer high Vertical scalability, which gives customers the
option to access more or fewer services or features on demand.

 Automatic updates- Rather than purchasing new software, customers can rely on a SaaS
provider to automatically perform updates and patch management. This further reduces the
burden on in-house IT staff.

 Accessibility and persistence- Since SaaS vendors deliver applications over the internet, users
can access them from any internet-enabled device and location.

 Customization- SaaS applications are often customizable and can be integrated with other
business applications, especially across applications from a common software provider.

PaaS (platform as a service)

Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a runtime environment. It allows programmers to easily create,
test, run, and deploy web applications. You can purchase these applications from a cloud service
provider on a pay-as-per use basis and access them using the Internet connection. In PaaS, back end
scalability is managed by the cloud service provider, so end- users do not need to worry about managing
the infrastructure.

PaaS includes infrastructure (servers, storage, and networking) and platform (middleware,
development tools, database management systems, business intelligence, and more) to support the
web application life cycle.

The main offerings included by PaaS vendors are:

 Programming languages- PaaS providers provide various programming languages for the
developers to develop the applications. Some popular programming languages provided by PaaS
providers are Java, PHP, Ruby, Perl, and Go.
 Application frameworks- PaaS providers provide application frameworks to easily understand
the application development. Some popular application frameworks provided by PaaS providers
are Node.js, Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, Spring, Play, Rack, and Zend.
 Databases- PaaS providers provide various databases such as ClearDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB,
and Redis to communicate with the applications.
 Other tools- PaaS providers provide various other tools that are required to develop, test, and
deploy the applications.
Benefits

 Lower administrative overhead- Customer need not bother about the administration because it
is the responsibility of cloud provider.
 Lower total cost of ownership- Customer need not purchase expensive hardware, servers,
power, and data storage.
 Scalable solutions- It is very easy to scale the resources up or down automatically, based on
their demand.
 More current system software- It is the responsibility of the cloud provider to maintain software
versions and patch installations.
Since cloud technology provides many benefits to users, these benefits should be classified based on the
needs of the users. The cloud deployment model represents the exact category of cloud environment
based on proprietorship, size, and access and also describes the nature and purpose of the cloud.

These are:

 Public Cloud Model

 Private Cloud Model

 Hybrid Cloud Model

 Community Cloud Model

Public Cloud

The name speaks for itself: public clouds are available to the general public, and data are created and
stored on third-party servers.

Public cloud is 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.
Public cloud service providers may offer cloud-based services such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS),
platform as a service (PaaS), or software as a service (Saas) to users for either a monthly or pay-per-use
fee, eliminating the need for users to host these services on site in their own data center.The public
cloud deployment model is the first choice for businesses with low privacy concerns. When it comes to
popular public cloud deployment models, examples are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud , Microsoft
Azure, Google App Engine, IBM Cloud, Salesforce Heroku and others.

Using the public cloud can save businesses money in a couple of different ways:

 Lower equipment purchase costs: Because employees can access and pay for cloud-based
resources only when they need them, using public cloud–based desktops and applications is
often less expensive than purchasing physical IT equipment or software packages that may or
may not be used and will need to be maintained.
 Lower equipment maintenance costs: With public cloud-based services, the cost of maintaining
IT equipment is also passed on to the cloud service provider.
The Advantages of a Public Cloud

 Hassle-free infrastructure management. Having a third party running your cloud infrastructure is
convenient: you do not need to develop and maintain your software because the service
provider does it for you. In addition, the infrastructure setup and use are uncomplicated.

 High scalability. You can easily extend the cloud’s capacity as your company requirements
increase.

 Reduced costs. You pay only for the service you use, so there’s no need to invest in hardware or
software.

 24/7 uptime. The extensive network of your provider’s servers ensures your infrastructure is
constantly available and has improved operation time.
The Disadvantages of a Public Cloud

 Compromised reliability. That same server network is also meant to ensure against failure But
often enough, public clouds experience outages and malfunction, as in the case of the 2016
Salesforce CRM disruption that caused a storage collapse.

 Data security and privacy issues give rise to concern. Although access to data is easy, a public
deployment model deprives users of knowing where their information is kept and who has
access to it.

2. Private Cloud

Compared to the public model, the private cloud provides wider opportunities for customizing the
infrastructure to the company’s requirements. A private model is especially suitable for companies that
seek to safeguard their mission-critical operations or for businesses with constantly changing
requirements.

Multiple public cloud service providers, including Amazon, IBM, Cisco, Dell and Red Hat, also provide
private solutions.

The Benefits of a Private Cloud

 All the benefits of this deployment model result from its autonomy. They are the following:

 Bespoke and flexible development and high scalability, which allows companies to customize
their infrastructures in accordance with their requirements

 High security, privacy and reliability, as only authorized persons can access resources

The Drawbacks of a Private Cloud

 The major disadvantage of the private cloud deployment model is its cost, as it requires
considerable expense on hardware, software and staff training. That is why this secure and
flexible computing deployment model is not the right choice for small companies.