The concept of Cloud Computing came into existence in the year 1950 with implementation of mainframe computers. Since then, cloud computing has been evolved from static clients to dynamic ones and from software to services.
What is Cloud?
The term Cloud refers to a Network or Internet. In other words, we can say that Cloud is something, which is present at remote location. Cloud can provide services over public and private networks.
Cloud Computing provides us means of accessing the applications as utilities over the Internet. It allows us to create, configure, and customize the applications online.
Applications such as e-mail, web conferencing, customer relationship management execute on cloud.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing refers to manipulating, configuring, and accessing the hardware and software resources remotely. It offers online data storage, infrastructure, and application.
Cloud computing offers platform independency, as the software is not required to be installed locally on the PC. Hence, the Cloud Computing is making our business applications mobile and collaborative.
Concept
There are certain services and models working behind the scene making the cloud computing feasible and accessible to end users.
Deployment models define the type of access to the cloud, i.e., how the cloud is located? Cloud can have any of the four types of access: Public, Private, Hybrid, and Community.
The public cloud allows systems and services to be easily accessible to the general public. Public cloud may be less secure because of its openness.
The private cloud allows systems and services to be accessible within an organization. It is more secured because of its private nature.
The community cloud allows systems and services to be accessible by a group of organizations.
The hybrid cloud is a mixture of public and private cloud, in which the critical activities are performed using private cloud while the non-critical activities are performed using public cloud.
Cloud Computing advantages
One can access applications as utilities, over the Internet.
One can manipulate and configure the applications online at any time.
Cloud resources are available over the network in a manner that provide platform independent access to any type of clients.
Cloud Computing offers on-demand self-service. The resources can be used without interaction with cloud service provider.
Cloud Computing is highly cost effective because it operates at high efficiency with optimum utilization. It just requires an Internet connection.
It does not require to install a software to access or manipulate cloud application.
Security and Privacy
It is the biggest concern about cloud computing. Since data management and infrastructure management in cloud is provided by third-party, it is always a risk to handover the sensitive information to cloud service providers.
Although the cloud computing vendors ensure highly secured password protected accounts, any sign of security breach may result in loss of customers and businesses.
This risk involves the failure of isolation mechanism that separates storage, memory, and routing between the different tenants.
It is very difficult for the customers to switch from one Cloud Service Provider to another. It results in dependency on a particular CSP for service.
