Defining Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a common term that is used for defining anything that involves the delivery of hosting services over the internet. A cloud service can be differentiated from traditional web hosting based on three characteristics. These distinguishing characteristics involve- the cloud is sold on demand, it is elastic, and lastly, the cloud services are fully managed by the provider. Innovations in the field of virtualization and distributed computing along with improved access to high-speed internet, has accelerated the interest of users in cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Service Categories

The cloud services are typically based on the end-user or business requirements. Following are the primary cloud services-

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is often referred to as a software delivery method for providing access to software and its associated functions remotely as a web-based service. Rather than paying for an upfront fee for purchasing the licensed software, SaaS customers pay a recurring fee amount for subscribing to their services. Additionally, they can access the SaaS from any Internet-connected device at any point in time.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

In the case of PaaS, the platform is outsourced instead of a company or data centre purchasing and managing its own hardware and software layers. Most of the PaaSes have been designed for developers, and they aim to simplify the process of creating and deploying the software. A web-developer could use PaaS for operating system software, Web server software, etc.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

The infrastructure-related to computers could include servers, storage, and networking that is delivered as service. IaaS has been popular with enterprises that appreciate the convenience of having a cloud vendor for managing their IT infrastructure. They can even see cost-savings as a result of paying only for the computing resources that are used.

Security in Cloud Computing

Security has remained a primary concern for businesses that contemplate cloud adoption, especially the adoption of the public cloud. The public cloud providers share the underlying hardware infrastructure between a large number of customers, as the public cloud is a multi-tenant environment. This environment asks for copious isolation between the logically-computed resources. Also, access to public cloud storage and compute resources are authenticated only by the account login credentials. Most organizations are bound by the complex obligations, and the governance standards are hesitant in placing data or workloads in the public cloud due to the fear of outrages, loss or theft. With time, this fear has receded as logical isolation has proven to be reliable, and the addition of data encryption along with several identity and access management tools has helped in improving the security of data present within the public cloud.

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