Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. These resources include tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software.
Rather than keeping files on a proprietary hard drive or local storage device, cloud-based storage makes it possible to save them to a remote database. As long as an electronic device has access to the web, it has access to the data and the software programs to run it.
Cloud computing is a popular option for people and businesses for a number of reasons including cost savings, increased productivity, speed and efficiency, performance, and security.
Understanding Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing is named as such because the information being accessed is found remotely in the cloud or a virtual space. Companies that provide cloud services enable users to store files and applications on remote servers and then access all the data via the Internet. This means the user is not required to be in a specific place to gain access to it, allowing the user to work remotely.
Cloud computing takes all the heavy lifting involved in crunching and processing data away from the device you carry around or sit and work at. It also moves all of that work to huge computer clusters far away in cyberspace. The Internet becomes the cloud, and voilà—your data, work, and applications are available from any device with which you can connect to the Internet, anywhere in the world.
Cloud computing can be both public and private. Public cloud services provide their services over the Internet for a fee. Private cloud services, on the other hand, only provide services to a certain number of people. These services are a system of networks that supply hosted services. There is also a hybrid option, which combines elements of both the public and private services.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet, including data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software.
Cloud-based storage makes it possible to save files to a remote database and retrieve them on demand.
Services can be both public and private—public services are provided online for a fee while private services are hosted on a network to specific clients.
Types of Cloud Services:
Regardless of the kind of service, cloud computing services provide users with a series of functions including:
- Storage, backup, and data retrieval
- Creating and testing apps
- Analyzing data
- Audio and video streaming
- Delivering software on demand
Cloud computing is still a fairly new service but is being used by a number of different organizations from big corporations to small businesses, nonprofits to government agencies, and even individual consumers.
Deployment Models:
There are various types of clouds, each of which is different from the other. Public clouds provide their services on servers and storage on the Internet. These are operated by third-party companies, who handle and control all the hardware, software, and the general infrastructure. Clients access services through accounts that can be accessed by just about anyone.
Private clouds are reserved for specific clientele, usually one business or organization. The firm's data service center may host the cloud computing service. Many private cloud computing services are provided on a private network.
Hybrid clouds are, as the name implies, a combination of both public and private services. This type of model allows the user more flexibility and helps optimize the user's infrastructure and security.
Newer forms of cloud computing services include the community cloud, the big data cloud, and the multicloud.
Types of Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing is not a single piece of technology like a microchip or a cellphone. Rather, it's a system primarily comprised of three services: software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and platform-as-a-service (PaaS).
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) involves the licensure of a software application to customers. Licenses are typically provided through a pay-as-you-go model or on-demand. This type of system can be found in Microsoft Office's 365.1
Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) involves a method for delivering everything from operating systems to servers and storage through IP-based connectivity as part of an on-demand service. Clients can avoid the need to purchase software or servers, and instead procure these resources in an outsourced, on-demand service. Popular examples of the IaaS system include IBM Cloud and Microsoft Azure.2 3
Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is considered the most complex of the three layers of cloud-based computing. PaaS shares some similarities with SaaS, the primary difference being that instead of delivering software online, it is actually a platform for creating software that is delivered via the Internet. This model includes platforms like Salesforce.com and Heroku.4 5
Advantages of Cloud Computing:
Cloud-based software offers companies from all sectors a number of benefits, including the ability to use software from any device either via a native app or a browser. As a result, users can carry their files and settings over to other devices in a completely seamless manner.
Cloud computing is far more than just accessing files on multiple devices. Thanks to cloud computing services, users can check their email on any computer and even store files using services such as Dropbox and Google Drive.6 7 Cloud computing services also make it possible for users to back up their music, files, and photos, ensuring those files are immediately available in the event of a hard drive crash.
It also offers big businesses huge cost-saving potential. Before the cloud became a viable alternative, companies were required to purchase, construct, and maintain costly information management technology and infrastructure. Companies can swap costly server centers and IT departments for fast Internet connections, where employees interact with the cloud online to complete their tasks.
The cloud structure allows individuals to save storage space on their desktops or laptops. It also lets users upgrade software more quickly because software companies can offer their products via the web rather than through more traditional, tangible methods involving discs or flash drives. For example, Adobe customers can access applications in its Creative Cloud through an Internet-based subscription. This allows users to download new versions and fixes to their programs easily.
Disadvantages of the Cloud:
With all of the speed, efficiencies, and innovations that come with cloud computing, there are, naturally, risks.
Security has always been a big concern with the cloud especially when it comes to sensitive medical records and financial information. While regulations force cloud computing services to shore up their security and compliance measures, it remains an ongoing issue. Encryption protects vital information, but if that encryption key is lost, the data disappears.
Servers maintained by cloud computing companies may fall victim to natural disasters, internal bugs, and power outages, too. The geographical reach of cloud computing cuts both ways: A blackout in California could paralyze users in New York, and a firm in Texas could lose its data if something causes its Maine-based provider to crash.
As with any technology, there is a learning curve for both employees and managers. But with many individuals accessing and manipulating information through a single portal, inadvertent mistakes can transfer across an entire system.
The World of Business:
Businesses can employ cloud computing in different ways. Some users maintain all apps and data on the cloud, while others use a hybrid model, keeping certain apps and data on private servers and others on the cloud.
When it comes to providing services, the big players in the corporate computing sphere include:
- Google Cloud
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Microsoft Azure
- IBM Cloud
- Alibaba Cloud
Amazon Web Services is 100% public and includes a pay-as-you-go, outsourced model. Once you’re on the platform you can sign up for apps and additional services. Microsoft Azure allows clients to keep some data at their own sites. Meanwhile, Alibaba Cloud is a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group.
Major Cloud Outages of 2020:
Here are the top cloud outages of 2020.
Microsoft Azure, March 2020:
On March 3, 2020, Microsoft Azure services in Microsoft’s East U.S. data center region encountered more than six hours of outage. The outage affected a subset of East U.S. customers. The Redmond giant disclosed that a cooling system failure led to the outage, which impacted storage, compute, networking, and other services. According to the root cause analysis report, the malfunction was fixed by manually resetting the cooling system’s controllers. The company informed that it was reviewing the building automation control system and mechanical cooling system responsible for the incident.
IBM Cloud, June 2020:
IBM Cloud suffered a multi-zone, four-hour interruption of services on June 10, 2020 that affected IBM cloud customers in Washington, D.C., Dallas, London, Frankfurt, and Sydney. The outage impacted general cloud services, Kubernetes services, App connect, and Watson AI cloud services. An investigation revealed that a third party network provider flooded the IBM Cloud network with incorrect routing, which impacted IBM Cloud services and 80+ data centers.
Another IBM cloud outage was reported on June 25, 2020, which lasted for three hours.
Also Read: IBM Deepens Hybrid Cloud Strategy With Nordcloud Buy
Cloudflare, July 2020:
A 27 minutes Cloudflare outage took down a significant chunk of internet services on July 17, 2020. The outage was due to a configuration error in Cloudflare’s global backbone network, which resulted in a 50% traffic drop across its network. The disruption impacted several big name clients such as Discord, Feedly, GitLab, League of Legends, Patreon, Politico, and Shopify. John Graham-Cumming, CTO, Cloudflare, said, “We’ve already made changes to the backbone configuration to make sure that this cannot happen again.”
AWS, November 2020:
Even though 2020 turned out to be a strong financial year for AWS, the cloud giant suffered a multi-hour, global outage on November 25, 2020 which sparked a wave of memes on Twitter. The interruption affected the U.S. East-1 region that knocked down services of prominent AWS customers, including 1Password, Adobe Spark, Autodesk, Flickr, iRobot, Roku, Twilio, The Washington Post, and Glassdoor. The interruption was triggered due to the small addition of capacity to Amazon Kinesis. Also, it affected other AWS services, such as Lambda, LEX, Macie, Managed Blockchain, Marketplace, MediaLive, MediaConvert, Personalize, Rekognition, SageMaker, and Workspaces.
Also Read: What Your Disaster Recovery Strategy Should Look Like in 2021 – Part I
Google Cloud, December 2020:
On December 14, 2020, Google Cloud experienced a widespread outage that interrupted services, including YouTube, Google Workspace, and Gmail. The 47 minutes outage was due to its automated storage quota management system that reduced the authentication system’s capacity and prevented users from accessing the services.
The company wrote, “At 04:08 am the root cause and a potential fix were identified, which led to disabling the quota enforcement in one datacenter at 04:22 am. This quickly improved the situation, and at 04:27 am the same mitigation was applied to all datacenters, which returned error rates to normal levels by 04:33 am.”
Undeniably, the cloud underpins technologies for smooth business operations. But prolonged cloud outages hamstring internet services and severely impact customer service and business revenues. Organizations need to prepare for sudden disruptions with a strong recovery plan and enhance their dependence on a hybrid cloud strategy. This boils down to one question — should enterprises migrate their mission-critical applications to the public cloud?
ARTICLE SOURCES:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cloud-computing.asp
Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.
Microsoft. "What is SaaS?" Accessed August 8, 2020.
IBM. "IBM Cloud Infrastructure as a Service." Accessed August 8, 2020.
Microsoft. "What is IaaS?" Accessed August 8, 2020.
Heroku. "The Heroku Platform." Accessed August 8, 2020.
Salesforce. "What is PaaS (platform as a service)?" Accessed August 8, 2020.
Google. "Drive." Accessed August 8, 2020.
Dropbox. "Smart Workspace." Accessed August 8, 2020.
Adobe. "Creative Cloud." Accessed August 8, 2020.
Amazon Web Services. "AWS Pricing." Accessed August 8, 2020.
I have lost a lot of faith with the Medical Community and the Governments over the last several years, but there are a few good things that can raise above the corruption and the pushing of drugs a new approach to heal people. The following is from www.gaia.com and written by Hunter Parsons that does not involve any drug or pushing an ineffective so called vaccine that the drug company is not held accountable in any way but they use sound! The use of sound can regrow bone tissue! Here is the story:
"The future of regenerative medicine could be found within sound healing by regrowing bone cells with sound waves.
The use of sound as a healing modality has an ancient tradition all over the world. The ancient Greeks used sound to cure mental disorders; Australian Aborigines reportedly use the didgeridoo to heal; and Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowls were, and still are, used for spiritual healing ceremonies.
Recently, a study showed an hour-long sound bowl meditation reduced anger, fatigue, anxiety, and ...
Not a fan of a Defense Agency studying Anti-Gravity and other Exotic Tech, but if the commercial world and make this technology cheap that will change our world yet again. The following is about three minute read and from www.gaia.com. The below was written by Hunter Parsons:
"Wormholes, invisibility cloaks, and anti-gravity — it’s not science fiction, it’s just some of the exotic things the U.S. government has been researching.
A massive document dump by the Defense Intelligence Agency shows some of the wild research projects the United States government was, at least, funding through the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program known as AATIP.
And another lesser-known entity called the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Application Program or AAWSAP
The Defense Intelligence Agency has recently released a large number of documents to different news outlets and individuals who have filed Freedom of Information Act requests.
Of particular interest are some 1,600 pages released to Vice News, which ...
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"Over the past decade, there have been a number of archeological revelations pushing back the timeline of human evolution and our ancient ancestors’ various diasporas. Initially, these discoveries elicit some resistance as archeologists bemoan the daunting prospect of rewriting the history books, though once enough evidence is presented to established institutions, a new chronology becomes accepted.
But this really only pertains to the era of human development that predates civilization — the epochs of our past in which we were merely hunter-gatherers and nomads roaming the savannahs. Try challenging the consensus timeline of human civilization and it’s likely you’ll be met with derision and rigidity.
Conversely, someone of an alternative...
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We all have heard about chaos theory, but if you have not or have forgotten what chaos theory is well here you go from interestingengineering.com:
"Chaos theory deals with dynamic systems, which are highly sensitive to initial conditions, making it almost impossible to track the resulting unpredictable behavior. Chaos theory seeks to find patterns in systems that appear random, such as weather, fluid turbulence, and the stock market.
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As Edward Lorenz, who first proposed what became commonly known as the Butterfly Effect, eloquently said, "Chaos: When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future.""
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The following is from an article from interestingengineering.com and written by Paul Ratner:
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