Cloud Computing Systems 101: An Overview

Cloud computing is a ubiquitous computing model that can provide convenient on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources such as networks, servers, storage, databases, applications, services that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or along with service provider interaction. It’s a pay-as-you-go model, enterprises can lower the Capital expenditure (CAPEX); Operating expense (OPEX), and their infrastructure more efficiently, and scale as per the business requirements.

Consumers can test the Cloud computing model to shift from the traditional way of businesses to the cloud through these five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.

Five Essential Characteristics

Cloud computing made fundamental changes the way IT services are delivered and consumed.

1. On-Demand Self-Service

A user can provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service provider.

2. Broad Network Access

All Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that support client platforms such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations.

3. Resource Pooling

The provider’s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple users using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources. Computing resources are dynamically assigned and reassigned according to user demand. Examples of Computing resources include storage, processing, memory, and network bandwidth.

4. Rapid Elasticity

Capabilities can be elastically provisioned and released, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward with user demand. To the consumer, the capabilities available for flexible provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be appropriated in any quantity at any time.

5. Measured Service

Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of services such as storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts. Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, accounted, and reports providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized services over the usage period.

Benefits:

• Elasticity and resilience
• Scalability and flexibility
• High-performance VM
• Support Development Tools
• Reduce operational and maintenance costs
• Reduce disaster recovery infrastructure costs
• Reduce operational complexity
• Capacity on demand
• Shared services through the cloud
• Cloud Automation
• Decreased deployment time
• Additional capacity can be added rapidly as needed
• Scaling down prevents paying for unused capacity
• Leverage a Cloud provider for infrastructure and
• Support many Frameworks and Languages
• Cloud Security
• Fast and SLA-based Recovery

Cloud Computing Service Models

There are many ways to take advantage of the cloud’s capabilities. The three service models associated with cloud computing are Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The following sections summarize the key concepts and advantages and disadvantages of each service model.

1. Software as a Service (SaaS)
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS), and
3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

1. Software as a Service (SaaS)

The consumer uses the provider’s SaaS platform to access the applications running on a cloud platform. The applications support various client devices and accessible from a web browser, or a program interface. The consumer controls or changes the service provider’s cloud infrastructure network that includes operating systems, network servers, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Consumer Operations Example: Uses application/service for business process operations.

Cloud Provider Operations Example: Installs, manages, maintains, and supports the software application on a cloud infrastructure.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

The consumer-created or developed applications by using required programming languages, and it will deploy on the PaaS platform. In this model, incorporating a pay-per-use or charge-per-use basis. It deploys the Applications on the abstraction, acts as a host, conceptually this layer sits above the physical layer which manifests one of the essential cloud computing characteristics. The underlying service provider infrastructure was not managed or controlled by the consumer that includes physical servers, networks, operating systems, or storage. On the contra, the consumer has control over the deployed applications and performs various configuration operations for the deployed application on the hosting environment.

Consumer Operations Example: Develops, tests, deploys and manages applications hosted in a cloud environment.

Cloud Provider Operations Example: Provisions and manages cloud infrastructure and middleware for the platform consumers; provides development, deployment, and administration tools to platform consumers.

3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

The consumer provision storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and potentially limited control over selecting networking components.

Consumer Operations Example: Creates/installs, manages, and monitors services for IT infrastructure operations.

Cloud Provider Operations Example: Provisions and manages the physical processing, storage, networking, and the hosting environment and cloud infrastructure for IaaS consumers.

Cloud Computing Deployment Models

The significant aspects of cloud computing are designed to serve as a means for wide comparisons of cloud services and deployment strategies and to provide a baseline for discussion from what is cloud computing to how to best use cloud computing and deploy the cloud services.

1. Private cloud
2. Public cloud
3. Hybrid cloud, and
4. Community cloud

1. Private Cloud

The cloud infrastructure is provisioned for exclusive use by a single organization or an entity comprising multiple consumer's business units. It is owned, managed, and operated by the organization, a third-party service, or some combination of them, and it may remain on or off premises based on the organization's requirements.

2. Public Cloud

The public cloud infrastructure is provided for open use by the public is well known as the public cloud. It may own, managed, and operated by an individual, small-Large Enterprise, business, academic, or government organization, or some combination of them. It lies only on the premises of the cloud service provider.

3. Hybrid Cloud

The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more distinct cloud infrastructures usually private, public, or community that remain unique entities to each other but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds.

4. Community Cloud

The community cloud, it provisions infrastructure for exclusive use by a specific community of consumers from organizations that have shared concerns such as own mission, enterprise security requirements, enterprise unique policies, and compliance standards. Its own, managed and operated by one or more of the organizations in the community cloud, a third party, or some combination of them, and it may exist on or off-premises.

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Greek Quotes:

“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” — Aristotle

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Also published at https://medium.com/faun/what-are-cloud-computing-cloud-computing-deployment-and-service-models-592b83522463