Cloud Computing

CLOUD COMPUTING…

 In Computer science’s day-to-days life a new concept is introduced as Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing  is a marketing term. Just like electricity, users can simply use electricity. They do not need to worry where the electricity is from, how it is generated, or transported. At the end of the month, they will get a bill for the amount of electricity they consumed. The idea behind cloud computing is similar. The user can simply use storage, computing power, or specially crafted development environments, without having to worry how these work internally. Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility

            Cloud computing is a systems architecture model for Internet-based computing. It is the development and use of computer technology on the Internet. Cloud computing is a general concept that utilizes Software as a Service (SaaS), such as Web 2.0 and other technology trends, all of which depend on the Internet for satisfying users' needs. For example, Google Apps provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the Internet servers. Also, if you have to do the presentation of your project in your office and office PC is not having power point, still you can show the presentation as software is on the Internet Server.

Cloud Computing can be classified into 4 types on the basis of location where the cloud is hosted:

§  Public Cloud: Computing infrastructure is hosted at the vendor’s premises. The customer has no visibility over the location of the cloud computing infrastructure. The computing infrastructure is shared between organizations.

§  Private Cloud: Computing architecture is dedicated to the customer and is not shared with other organizations. They are expensive and are considered more secure than Public Clouds. Private clouds may be externally hosted ones as well as in premise hosted clouds.

§  Hybrid Cloud: Organizations host some critical, secure applications in private clouds. The not so critical applications are hosted in the public cloud. The combination is known as Hybrid Cloud. Cloud bursting is the term used to define a system where the organization uses its own infrastructure for normal usage, but cloud is used for peak loads.

§  Community Cloud: The cloud infrastructure is shared between the organizations of the same community. For example, all the government agencies in a city can share the same cloud but not the non government agencies.

Benefits :

           

• Reduced Cost
  Cloud technology is paid incrementally, saving organizations money. 
• Increased Storage
  Organizations can store more data than on private computer systems.
• Highly Automated
  No longer do IT personnel need to worry about keeping software up to date.
• Flexibility
  Cloud computing offers much more flexibility than past computing methods.
• More Mobility
  Employees can access information wherever they are, rather than having to remain at their desks.
• Allows IT to Shift Focus
  No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues, government organizations will be free to concentrate on innovation.