You might have heard a lot about cloud computing and its services, but what is it exactly? Let us find out. Cloud is a platform that offers IT services to the companies at a low cost. Cloud works on virtualization. In previous times, IT companies in Ludhiana required a separate room that consists of all the servers. These servers are database servers, network servers, routers, gateways, etc. To manage all of these servers, a professional is required to manage and maintain. A lot of costs will be incurred for managing these servers as well as hiring a professional for its maintenance. Not all companies can incur such expenses. This is where the cloud comes to play.
The companies that require IT infrastructure at a low cost can definitely go for cloud computing. Different companies provide cloud services, the companies that use this service has to pay according to their usage. There are many providers but the top three providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Microsoft. There are a number of features due to which the usage of cloud computing is becoming popular. Easy maintenance, decentralized, location independent, high availability, scalability, reliability, multi-sharing, etc. are some of the characteristics and features of cloud computing. Due to its many features at a low cost, it is highly used by small and large-scale organizations.
1. Public Cloud – Public clouds are called public because anyone from the general public can access the systems and the services provided. There are many features of public clouds. They are location independent, inexpensive, easy to maintain, etc. However, there are certain limitations of Public cloud, they are: lack of security and customization. Security of the public cloud is limited as there are more number of users. Also, many services and resources are publically provided. Examples of public clouds are Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc.
2. Private Cloud – As the name states, private clouds are used by one single organization. The company uses this type of cloud to manage their database and other critical information, this cloud can be accessed only within the organization. The people outside the organization cannot use this cloud. Private clouds are more secure and provide more privacy. This is location dependent as it is accessible only within the organization. Also, it is expensive as compared to the public cloud. Private clouds are managed by the third party or internally.
3. Hybrid Cloud – It is self-explanatory that hybrid is a mixture of public and private clouds. For general tasks, the public cloud is used and for critical work, a private cloud is used. In this way, the purposes are served in the hybrid cloud. A hybrid cloud is less expensive as compared to the private cloud but more expensive than the public cloud. Because of being both public and private it is highly scalable and flexible.
Cloud has three service models. Each model is different and provides different functionalities to the users. These models are:
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
• PaaS (Platform as a Service)
• SaaS (Software as a Service)
Here are some of the key difference between these three models:
1. On the basis of meaning:
• IaaS – It is outsourced by the customer organizations for availing of the IT infrastructure. Resources like network, processing, servers, virtual machines, etc. are outsourced.
• PaaS – Developers use this layer to check their applications. The applications can be tested, managed, run, execute, etc. on the cloud.
• SaaS – All applications are hosted centrally using SaaS. Multiple users can access the hosted application using the internet.
2. On the basis of Users:
• IaaS – This service is used by network architects.
• PaaS – Developer use PaaS service model.
• SaaS – It is used by end users.
3. On the basis of Full Form: All the service models have different full forms:
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
• PaaS (Platform as a Service)
• SaaS (Software as a Service)
4. On the Basis of Flexibility:
• IaaS – It is highly flexible than the other two.
• PaaS – It is flexible but still there are some limitations.
• SaaS – It has the lowest flexibility in all three models.
5. On the basis of Investment:
• IaaS – It is costly as compared to the other two models (SaaS and PaaS).
• PaaS – Investment requirement is moderately expensive but less than IaaS.
• SaaS – It is the least expensive as compared to IaaS or PaaS.
These are some of the key differences between these cloud service models. The selects the model according to their requirement. Once, the model is selected, it is implemented in the company and then, the users, employees, etc. can start availing of their service.
