Cloud Computing: Definition, Architecture, Pros, and Cons

Have you ever wondered, how companies manage to store, modify, and retrieve terabytes of data so easily? This advancement has entered into the IT industry with the term known as cloud computing.

Cloud computing is dubbed as such due to the fact that the data being accessed is remotely located in the cloud. So, let’s learn more about this technology and how it is providing a reliable place to store data to the world.

Summary

In this blog, you will learn about one of the trending terms in the IT industry, cloud computing, and what is making it different from the normal and usual storage resources. So, tighten up your browsers, and let’s begin!

What is Cloud Computing?

The delivery of various services over the Internet is known as cloud computing. Cloud-based storage allows you to save files to a remote database rather than maintaining them on a proprietary hard drive or local storage device.

Data backup, disaster recovery, email, virtual desktops, and other use cases are all common in organizations of all types, sizes, and industries. But by using cloud technology, you usually only pay for the cloud services you use, which helps you cut costs, run your infrastructure more efficiently, and scale as your business grows.

Cloud computing has emerged as the best means to provide enterprise software, as well as the preferred alternative for businesses looking to expand their infrastructure or launch new products.

The cloud is based on a distributed computing model. It distributes resources among users and operates quickly. It lets several users and applications collaborate more effectively while saving money by sharing infrastructure.

Users are given Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) so that they can use them to access cloud services and pay for them based on how often they use them. For example, Amazon Web Services offer on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Architecture

The front-end and back-end of cloud computing architecture are separated. The client-side of the cloud computing system is referred to as the front end. It includes interfaces and applications, such as web browsers, that are necessary to access cloud computing services.

The backend element of the system assists you in managing all of the resources required to provide cloud computing services. This portion of the cloud architecture contains a security system, data storage, servers, and so on.

Front-end: It provides the necessary apps and interfaces for the cloud-based service. The only component of the front-end is cloud infrastructure. It is made up of hardware and software that allows people to interface with the cloud.

Backend: The application, server, management, security, and storage components make up the back-end of the cloud architecture.

1. Any software or platform that a client desires to use can be used as an application component. The application returns a result to the end-user based on the client’s requirements.
2. The service component controls which services you have access to based on the client’s needs. It’s an important part of cloud architecture. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) are some of the services available.
3. The storage component in the Cloud provides a significant amount of storage capacity for storing and managing data. Its capacity varies depending on the market’s available service providers.
4. The management component maintains components such as the application, service, runtime cloud, storage, infrastructure, and other security issues. Its job is to allocate specialized resources to certain tasks while also performing numerous cloud-related operations.
5. Implementing various security techniques in the backend is referred to as security in the backend. End-users can access secure cloud resources, systems, files, and infrastructure. It’s an important aspect of the cloud’s backend infrastructure.

Advantages of Cloud Computing

1. Cloud applications promote collaboration by allowing groups of people to share information via the cloud quickly and effortlessly.
2. By ensuring that your application is always available, an Internet cloud architecture boosts company productivity and efficiency.
3. It allows you to save a lot of money because it doesn’t require any actual hardware.
4. Cloud computing provides customers with APIsAMP to access cloud services and charges them based on their usage.
5. Cloud computing allows users to get programs and data more quickly and accurately. It is the most efficient recovery approach because it requires minimal downtime.

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

1. You will be unable to access this information if your internet connection is poor. We don’t have any other way to get data from the cloud, though.
2. Cloud computing is prone to outages and other technical problems.
3. Clients must prepare ahead of time for optimal performance and avoid cramming huge numbers of servers and storage devices into a small number of data centers.
4. When switching services from one vendor to another, organizations may run into issues, most notably vendor lock-in.
5. Because the service provider owns, manages, and monitors the cloud infrastructure, cloud computing users have less influence over the function and execution of services within the cloud infrastructure.

Leading Cloud Services Provider

Due to the increasing demand for cloud services from individuals, organizations, and everybody in between, the market is replete with a wide range of cloud service providers. Users can easily choose one that they find the best. Here is a list of the most popular cloud services provider:

• Amazon Web Services
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Oracle Cloud
• Alibaba Cloud
• IBM Cloud
• SAP Cloud Platform
• Rackspace Cloud

Conclusion

In this blog, you came across the basics of cloud computing, how it works, what are the different roles of its components, its pros and cons, and at the end you learned about the current leaders in cloud computing service providers.

This is an emerging technology that is evolving at a higher pace and increasing its repute in the IT industry. Companies are adopting this practice with great interest. It is changing the way the world stores and accesses data to a great extent.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, pursuing a career in cloud computing could be a great option. However, the learning doesn’t stop here. Keep advancing.