Cloud computing – With so many different definitions, what are we talking about?
Any time you have a new concept, industry or technology there will be some confusion because words and concepts have not been universally defined and accepted. It will take time for the concepts of cloud computing to settle down into a description that is universally accepted. Even then there will be sub-components such as defining what is a Hybrid Cloud, Public Cloud and Private, Etc. We are going to talk in the first step basic terms of what we refer to a cloud computing.
Cloud computing is currently in that phase where the mass acceptance of any one definition will in time win over as the industry standard. One of the first definitions of cloud computing was merely the combination of private and public data centers. If a person could combine those two, you would be working in the cloud. Fortunately that definition has pretty much faded away as business becomes better informed.
Another definition which is very broad but has wide acceptance, says that true cloud computing is when you have Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) combined in an accessible format, then you have cloud computing. While this definition is still strong it does not represent the cloud computing that general industry and business is being drawn towards as the next generation of technology to promote innovation and efficiency.
In a corporate conference of Reviora, the definition of cloud computing was described as having five tenants of a practical definition. Cloud computing is based on:
1. Scalable and flexible. This is where an organization is able to add or subtract users quickly as needed or not needed. The cloud is elastic in flexibility, which means that the users would have the ability to increase or decrease their computing power. This aspect is one of the exciting aspects of the cloud. To only use and pay for only what you need. This includes the storage and / or the system’s bandwidth. The important thing is to remember that with the cloud your computing is not set to a specific server size but to the needs of the user.
2. Internet based. Here is a very basic distinction of cloud computing from just any data center. In order for an organization to truly take advantage of the cloud it requires internet access. Otherwise it is just a regular data center with all of the normal limitations and fixtures. With Internet based computing the options and possibilities are become virtually endless. There are seemingly infinite resources available to end users who are using cloud computing. While in a data center the limitations are clearly visible and many times very frustrating.
3. All inclusive. A true cloud enables the applications to be all inclusive. If you are only using an external hosting service for one application or just a couple of separate applications than that really is not cloud computing. Cloud computing has the ability to take all of your applications to the cloud and off your servers. With very few exceptions any business application should be able to be put in the cloud and utilized by the end user. So while there are many who claim to provide cloud computing for one or two software packages, they are really stretching the concept of a hosted data service to sound like cloud computing. When all of your applications are off-site and readily accessible then you are working with a cloud concept.
4. Integrity. Cloud computing must provide full integrity of data and processing. This area requires that not only the data but the applications and systems have full security and stability. If you are working with communications or just processing you need to know that your data is safe and available whenever and where ever you need it. This is probably the one area that most data centers fail. While they have backup systems they some of them are expensive, limited and sometimes unacceptable to industry standards. Cloud computing provides end users to have a seamless operation from one software application to another. Just placing applications on backed up servers are not enough.
5. Subscription based. One of the advantages of being involved in cloud computing is the fact that you don’t have to purchase servers and backup equipment. In fact there is no upfront capital outlay it is all based on a convenient periodic payment for the computing you used. So if you only need “3.5 servers”, you don’t pay for 4 servers.
So Cloud computing not only provides you with the best of a regular data center it provides much more. There is a lot more to this discussion and we will tackle more of it as the days go on but this is just the start.
No comments:
Post a Comment