What Are The Different Types Of Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is a form of service delivery that uses remote servers to store, process and deliver data.
Cloud computing is not new, but it has become more popular in recent years due to the need for greater flexibility and lower costs.
Cloud computing allows you to use various types of applications as you need them. You don’t have to worry about maintaining hardware or software; cloud providers handle that aspect for you. The only thing you need is an internet connection, so no matter where you are, you can still access your files.
There are several types of cloud computing. The most common types include:
Types Of Cloud Computing
1. Private Clouds
A private cloud is a network of servers that are designed to provide services to a limited group of users. A private cloud can be a single server or a large system, depending on the needs of the business.
The private cloud allows for greater control and flexibility in how the resources are consumed, which can be beneficial for companies with diverse IT needs. The private cloud can be used as a supplement to or replacement for on-premises infrastructure, reducing the need to purchase new servers or software licenses.
The private cloud is also useful for hosting internal applications, such as those that do not require outside access or that have special security requirements.
For example, an IT department may have its internal app that manages corporate finances and payrolls employees, but it does not want employees to have access to this information outside of the organization’s firewall. In this case, using a private cloud would allow the department to host its app while still maintaining control over who has access to it.
Advantages of private cloud
- Reduced costs
The cost of developing and maintaining private clouds can be significantly less than installing and maintaining an in-house system. This is because you don’t need to invest in hardware, software, or other resources that would otherwise be required to run a standalone IT system.
- Increase flexibility
The cloud also provides better flexibility than traditional on-premises hardware, because you can scale up or down your resources easily without having to change hardware or configuring it for new workloads.
- Security
The primary benefit of private cloud computing is security. The data, applications, and services are all isolated from public networks, such as the Internet. This offers additional security because there is no single point of failure in the organization’s infrastructure.
2. Public Cloud
A public cloud service is based on shared resources and infrastructure. It is an environment that allows multiple users to access the same hardware and software resources over the Internet.
Public clouds are typically offered as a subscription service and use a utility model where customers pay for the resources they consume rather than buying them outright. This means that you only pay for what you use, which is typically significantly less than what you would pay if using other types of infrastructure such as a private data center.
3. Hybrid cloud
A hybrid cloud has both private and public resources available, which means it can take advantage of both environments when needed.
Hybrid clouds are typically used to manage workloads that are too expensive or too risky to run in a single location. For example, many businesses use hybrid clouds with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run their applications, while some companies use hybrid clouds with Microsoft Azure to run their applications.
4. Multi-cloud
Multi-cloud is a concept that refers to the use of multiple clouds. It can be used to describe the use of multiple clouds for a single application or the use of different technologies and platforms for achieving the same goals.
The most common form of multi-cloud computing is virtualization, which allows the same operating system and application to run on multiple virtual machines at once.
Advantages of multi cloud
- Improved productivity
It allows organizations to move from one cloud service provider to another without any downtime or interruptions in services. This leads to improved business continuity for the company since it can quickly switch between different providers if one fails or becomes unavailable due to any reason.
- Easier management
You can have multiple clouds that have different features, such as storage or application isolation. This allows you to choose which features you want and how much effort it takes to use them.
- Security
Having multiple clouds makes it harder for attackers to break into your network and steal information from one system without any consequences. You can also take advantage of content delivery networks (CDNs) so that your website is not overloaded with requests from all over the world at once.
- Accelerated innovation
With multi-cloud computing, organizations can move faster than ever before because they can adapt their infrastructure on the fly without having to worry about maintenance or upgrading software.
Cloud Services
There are three models of cloud services namely:
- Software as a Service
- Platform as a Service
- Infrastructure as a Service
Software as a Service (SaaS)
It is software that you access over the internet, which is hosted on a vendor’s servers. You do not need to install the software, and you can access it from any internet-connected device.
The most common examples of SaaS are email (Gmail), word processing programs (Microsoft Office 365), customer relationship management software (Salesforce), customer support ticketing systems (Zendesk) and web conferencing services (GoToMeeting).
This is also known as “on-demand software” because you only pay for what you use when you need it.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
It is an application development platform provided by a third party, which has been designed for your needs and can be customized to suit your needs. The platform provides the infrastructure and tools to develop applications in a more flexible way than traditional on-premise systems.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
It is provided through the internet and is used to provide computing resources like storage, database and network connectivity to run applications on virtual machines or bare metal servers.
This is the most basic form of cloud computing, where a provider hosts your data and applications in their data centers.
N/B: The main cloud providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
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