Are you planning to switch to the cloud?

If you are planning to move your existing services on the cloud, you will have to take a lot of things into consideration. You will need to brainstorm with the top-tier leadership and specify your IT requirements. Depending upon your business, you may have to outsource your hardware. In other cases, it may be more suitable to have cloud development environments for your business. Thus, it is important for you to understand the basic cloud computing classifications. Cloud computing is divided into three main services.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS refers to the outsourcing of the servers and machines to a cloud service provider. With IaaS, businesses do not have to purchase hardware for their software, networking, processing, and storage needs. This helps vastly in the saving of expenses, especially for non-IT businesses. As computing hardware requires a great deal of space, therefore the consideration of their allocation is a major factor in the expansion of a business.

Similarly, these hardware devices are involved in the high consumption of energy resources, resulting in extremely high bills.  Hence, IaaS appears as a game changer as it minimizes these expenses. Now businesses can get their hands on powerful hardware equipment of cloud providers. This remote hardware can help in the running of operating systems, development of virtual machines, and other important IT assets.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Do you manage a software development company? Are you faced with challenges in the configuration and installation of your software requirements? PaaS is especially helpful for developers as it provides an environment in which coding projects can be easily developed and deployed. Developers only have to concern themselves with the application layer’s configuration and administration while the cloud services manage both the OS and the hardware needs.

The services offered by PaaS can include middleware, databases, development tools, and any other utility that can speed up the coding of applications. As a result, developers do not have to over think about the intricacies of the hardware and OS level complexities, and they can attend to their critical application layer logic.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Have you ever used Google Drive for storing your personal data? Well, then you have used a SaaS service.

Often, organizations have to deal with downtime which shutdowns their operations. As a result, the customers are unable to receive support. With the arrival of SaaS-based solutions, both the employees and customers of an organization would be able to access the organization’s digital platforms through the internet.

SaaS is a service in which a cloud provider hosts software apps and allows users to use them in return for a fee. With the emergence of SaaS, businesses no longer need to engage themselves in the installation and running of software applications. Instead, they can ask a cloud provider for the provision of a service, allowing them to focus more on their operations and to increase their revenue.

Types of Cloud

Now that you have been acquainted with the types of cloud services. We will now move on the different types of cloud.

Public Cloud

Have you ever used Amazon’s EC2? It is an example of a public cloud.

Public cloud is the cloud that provides cloud computing services like IaaS and PaaS for the general public. This means that both the individuals and businesses use the public cloud. In a public cloud, the IT hardware and computing resources are located at the provider’s location, and the clients are restricted in their control of the IT management.

Public clouds are usually shared by a wide range of users where organizations and individuals may be using the same remote machines for their uses. However, they are properly separated so a client’s data is not exposed to another one. A public cloud is a good option for storing data, hosting applications, etc.

Private Cloud

The application of a private cloud is reflected through its terminology. A private cloud is one in which a separate IT infrastructure is provided to a business. Thus, it eliminates the sharing of computing resources to another business. Moreover, the control and management of the infrastructure is given to the organization by the cloud provider.

The location of the IT infrastructure of a private cloud varies. Sometimes, it is located at the data center of the cloud provider. On other certain occasions, virtualization is applied to the IT assets that are located at the company’s facility. As a result, businesses are able to be more flexible in their configuration and can enhance their performance through a private cloud.

However, it should be noted that the costs are higher for a private cloud as it requires the buying and maintenance of the required resources. Hence, private clouds are not favored by small businesses. They are more suitable for organizations that require greater privacy and security.

Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid cloud has the best of both worlds. This means that it combines the positives of both the public and private clouds. In a hybrid cloud, there is a minimum of a single private and public cloud. Depending on the company’s requirements, there can be countless public and private clouds.

This means that organizations can save costs by utilizing public clouds for a number of their computing requirements and by using the private cloud when the organizations require privacy and security.  On the other side, organizations will have to make sure that the different clouds are seamlessly connected without any compromise on the integrity of the data.

Final Thoughts

The final decision regarding the choice of the right service and cloud model depends upon your business and personal requirements. Whether you require assistance on the application or the hardware layer, these cloud services can help fill your gaps easily.

Businesses can either choose a local reputable provider or use cloud platforms that are offered by global platforms, such as Amazon’s Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform etc.