In the digital age we live in, it’s no surprise that cloud computing has become a popular buzzword. Cloud computing is essentially storing and accessing data over the internet instead of locally on your devices. In this article, you will learn about the different types of cloud computing and their uses. Whether you are a technology professional or just someone interested in staying current with tech news, this article can help you understand this relatively new phenomenon and all its implications.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the delivery of computer services where the software, virtual machines, storage, and other computing resources are hosted remotely in a data center and are accessible via the internet by users through terminals or computers.
Cloud computing is a type of online or Web-based computing that provides shared computer processing power and data storage. Cloud computing uses virtualization and large-scale data storage to manage and allocate these resources.
It is used to store and process data, which can then be accessed from any device. Cloud computing is a cost-effective solution for businesses because it provides a more flexible and scalable way to store and process data.
Cloud computing providers offer all the necessary software and hardware resources, so businesses don’t have to purchase and maintain expensive equipment. Cloud computing brings many benefits to both businesses and individuals. For businesses, it offers flexibility, scalability, and better security. For individuals, it offers accessibility and affordability.
In our previous article, we have explained this in more detail. Please check this out: "What is Cloud Computing?".
Types of Cloud Computing
Here, we will give the explanation for the four types of cloud computing and they are:
- Public Cloud
- Private Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud
- Comma Cloud
Let's take a look in detail:
1. Public Cloud Computing
As the name suggests, in public cloud computing, the cloud is owned by an organization that provides shared access to computing resources. It is an internet-based service that delivers all the benefits of cloud computing and allows organizations to outsource their IT infrastructure, including servers and storage, as a service.
For example, when you store your data in the Amazon Web Services Public Cloud, you are storing it in a huge data center owned by Amazon. This is public cloud computing because Amazon makes its computing resources available to the public.
2. Private Cloud Computing
The concept of private cloud computing is to provide cloud computing services to an organization’s own employees without making the services available to the general public. Private cloud computing is an attractive option for organizations that need to share data and resources between multiple offices and departments, but do not want to spend a lot of money managing an IT infrastructure.
For example, when a company like Microsoft chooses to build a private cloud to run their services like Azure and Office 365, they build and maintain the data center that the services run from.
How to make an example of private cloud computing? Let’s say a company wants to use cloud computing to store company data and make it accessible from any employee’s computer.
To do this, the company needs servers to store and make data accessible, virtualization software to host the servers and make them accessible via the internet, and a service like Microsoft Office 365 to manage the servers.
It also needs a way to connect the servers to each employee’s computer over a private network. This can be done by installing hardware called a VPN (virtual private network) router at each location and connecting it to the servers.
3. Hybrid Cloud Computing
A hybrid cloud is a combination of two or more cloud services that are maintained by different providers. For example, an organization may store its data in a public cloud provider like Amazon Web Services and have its application hosted on a private cloud provided by Microsoft Azure.
In such a case, the organization is using a hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud computing is used by organizations that want the benefits of both public and private clouds.
4. Comma-cloud computing
Comma-cloud computing is when you use multiple cloud providers in your organization. As the name suggests, comma-cloud is not one type of cloud but a combination of multiple cloud services. For example, an organization may use Amazon Web Services for its data storage and Microsoft Azure for its application hosting.
Understanding Cloud Services and Software
Cloud computing has also made it possible for companies to offer cloud services, which are applications that can be run over the internet. Some examples of cloud services are online file storage and online collaboration tools like Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365.
Cloud software is a computer program or set of programs that can be accessed and operated remotely over a computer network such as the internet. Cloud software is accessed and operated remotely.
Cloud software can be broken down into two types, SaaS and PaaS. SaaS stands for software as a service and is a cloud service where a vendor hosts the software and gives the user access to it over the internet.
PaaS stands for the platform as a service and is a cloud service where a vendor hosts the infrastructure, including the operating system, and gives the user access to it over the internet.
Wrapping up
As you can see, there are many uses for cloud computing and many types of cloud computing. If a company does not have the resources to maintain an in-house data center, it can contract with a cloud computing provider to host and manage its services and data.
If an individual wants to store their data in a secure location, they can store it in a cloud data storage service. And if they want to use online office applications like Microsoft Word or Google Sheets, they can use cloud software. Cloud computing is a very powerful and flexible tool, and it is sure to play a big role in the future of business and technology.
