What is Cloud Computing?

When I first posted my previous blog about Cloud in Middle East, my friends started reaching me out through various mediums... what do you mean by cloud? It may seem like a new buzz word but it has been around for ages. While we all use Mobile phones, Tablets, Laptops, and we can still be unaware of Cloud technology around us.

Mechanism behind Cloud!

To cite a few examples : Google Drive, iCloud, even mailing options like Gmail or Yahoomail, or online backup solutions like Box and of course RestoreUP, they are all Cloud Based solutions. Did I forget to mention Facebook! Yes that too is Cloud technology. Many creative solutions are getting ported on Cloud, which we use everyday.

They work so well that we are, surprisingly not even aware of them as they work silently in the background of the applications which we use daily.

So what exactly is Cloud Computing?

"Cloud" is actually a metaphor that is used to define Internet based solutions. Cloud Computing is a phrase used to describe various Internet based Computing concepts/solutions that require remotely connected network of computing devices to execute, store, manage and process data in real-time.. products/services that are based on Internet and rely on Internet for their operation are called "Cloud" technologies.

In Lay-man terms, Cloud Computing is Internet based computing!

Cloud Computing is fast becoming the next stage of Internet's evolution and is providing the means to interconnect people even more closely than ever before. Though the irony of it is even though it is bringing people closer, it itself is distributing itself. Availability of high computing servers and storage at increasingly cheaper cost and ever growing speed of Internet is fueling this growth. Creative thinkers are utilizing these platforms to design newer products and solutions that can deliver massive computing power to huge computing infrastructure, applications, Business processes to personal computing, whenever and wherever needed.

One may ask why it is happening now and not earlier. Well the answer is very simple, it has been there even since Internet was born!

But real birth of Cloud Computing started much earlier than that! In early 1950s when mainframes were used by companies and educations institutions connecting to thin client agents who were accessing the resources and computing power of Mainframes. I would discuss in a later blog in detail about the evolution of Cloud.

For now I can safely mention, that when Sabeer Bhatia designed Hotmail in 1996 as the first internet mailing solution, it became an instant hit. All the mails were stored on Internet platform and anyone could send or receive mails from any part of the world, without worrying about where the servers are based. No one really knew it was fueling the birth of a new era of computing.

Decades later and after millions of applications later we are talking about a "new" buzz word "Cloud". However, the cloud shaped symbol was used to represent the Internet as early as 1994 in which servers were shown connected to, but external to, the cloud.

Cloud Computing is thus a result of evolution over the period and progression of existing technologies and thought process. Users face difficult problems every day. Cloud computing adopts concepts from Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) that can help break these problems into simpler services that can be integrated to provide a solution. The goal of cloud computing is to allow users take maximum benefit from these technologies, without the deep knowledge or expertise, and thus aim to help its users focus towards their activities by cutting down the IT obstacles and reduce cost of using an alternative solution.

Features of Cloud Computing Technologies

Cloud Computing technologies have been developed to help reduce cost of computing and ease of use. Smaller and newer versions of products that can not just be accessible on a desktop or laptop through a browser but also accessible through Mobile phones.

Common features of Cloud products include:

Business On-Demand: Software or services are available from solution providers with on-demand service model, where the services are billed as per the usage required. It allows users to interact with the Cloud to handle tasks like building, deploying, managing and scheduling. The user is able to access computing capabilities as and when they are needed and without any intervention from the service provider.
Pricing: Cloud Computing services do not have any upfront costs and are based completely on the usage. The user is billed based on the accessibility and resources they use. This in turn helps the user track their usage and ultimately help to reduce the cost. Cloud computing capture, monitor and control the usage of the user as has been requested.
Resource Pooling: Resources on Cloud as easily be pooled to serve large number of users. For an organization which has multiple divisions or multiple group companies spread across the globe, having resources equally available. Cloud computing uses multi-tenancy where different resources are dynamically allocated and de-allocated according to demand. End users usually, totally unaware about the location of storage of resources.
Rapid Elasticity: Cloud computing products are very easily scalable to suit from smaller organizations to large enterprises without much complications. The resources are allocated quickly and appropriately, and modified as required. If on a particular day, the requirement of resource increase drastically, Cloud products scale itself to accommodate new requirement and readjust when the demand eases
Broad Network Access: Cloud services are accessible using laptops, desktops, smart phones, tablets. They can use these devices whenever they are requested through simple online access. Mobility is particularly attractive for organizations to stay updated about the developments as they happen. They can easily interact with peers, customers or even partners as and when they require.
Standard Interfaces: Cloud Services have standardized interfaces, which provide instructions on how two applications or data sources can easily communicate with each other helping user to easily link Cloud services together. eg. many portals allow users to register using their Facebook or Linkedin account.
Quality of Service: Availability and security of data is prime concern for all users. Cloud service providers use multiple sources to provide accessibility of their services. This helps in load sharing and provides maximum availability to end-users. Multi-location also helps them distribute the data and thus control certain level of security over their systems. However, most providers rely on securing their data through online data encryption technologies.
Update, Upgrades & Support: Updates and Upgrades to the system normally do not require end user interventions and happen as per the service providers convenience. This is beneficial for both users and providers as they do not have to chase each other.

Types of Cloud Solutions

Cloud Computing solutions providers offer their services in through different models of operations. Three major service models include, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). New models were later introduced on similar models, like Business Process as a Service, Database as a Service (DaaS, Network as a Service (NaaS) and Communications as a Service (CaaS). Each of these services rotate around the concept of providing service as and when required.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS providers offer physical or virtual computing resources to its users. IaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as virtual machines {thin clients}, file based storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), where services are provided through large pools of data centers. Server Hosting is one of the examples of IaaS.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): In PaaS, service providers deliver computing platform to the users which allow the creation of web applications quickly and easily without the complexity of buying and maintaining the infrastructure required for it. Windows Azure can be considered an example of PaaS

Software as a Service (SaaS): Saas is the most commonly used platform of cloud technology. Most users are totally unaware that they use them on day to day basis. In SaaS, applications and databases are provided on Cloud platform for end users to utilize the resources directly. Some SaaS providers also call it as on-demand Software. Various solutions are daily created within SaaS platform and are shared easily online. Various products including, Email, CRM, ERP, Games, business automations products like Jive etc are some of the examples. Saas is a rapidly growing market and predicted to keep growing with double digit growth.

Other solutions like DaaS, or NaaS or CaaS are all derivatives of the above platforms.

Private Cloud vs Public Cloud

We all keep hearing about these two variations very often, when we talk about Cloud. So what are they and how do they differ and why do IT Managers keep arguing about it? Well to make it simpler to understand Public Cloud is a shared resource where the knowledge or control of Cloud is in the hands of the service provider, while Private Cloud is owned or operated directly by the customer.

Public Cloud is made available to customers customers by service providers who hosts their Cloud infrastructure. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc operate their Cloud infrastructure and offer services directly to the customers over the internet. With this model, customer has no visibility or control over where and how the infrastructure is managed. Public Clouds are more cost effective as the infrastructure cost is spread across the users.

Private Cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single organizations whether managed internally or by a third party and whether they are hosted internally within the organization or hosted at a remote location. Many companies use this model to create a Disaster Recovery location for their data. Since the infrastructure is not shared, the cost of Private cloud is considerably higher.

Clouds options vary as per usage!

Newer models of Cloud computing have recently developed which overlap Public and Private Cloud environment. Hybrid Cloud and Community Cloud as they are known as are good alternatives for a mix of Public and Private Cloud.

Community Cloud shares infrastructure between several organizations with common concerns, whether managed internally or by a third part and hosted either internally or externally. ERP solutions like Netsuite share resources with various organizations. The cost of such a cloud is spread over smaller set of users and is thus a bit costlier but are still considerably lower than Private Clouds

Hybrid Cloud is a composition of two or more Clouds options (Public, Private or Community) that remain unique entities but are bound together offering the advantages of multiple deployment model. It allows one to extend either the capacity or capabilities of a cloud service, by aggregation, integration or customization with another Cloud service. Hybrid Cloud architecture requires both on-premise resources and off-site resources to create a combined effort to provide solution to the end users.

Benefits of Cloud Computing Technologies

Cloud has grown over the period and matured into proper service models. Gartner predicts that 81% of the companies are either using or evaluating about Cloud computing solutions. So why is there so much buzz about it? Cloud comes bundled with loads of benefits for a home user to even an organization as large 50000+ employees.

Benefits may vary from company to company or user to user, we have listed below some of the benefits:

Cost Efficient: Cost is by far the biggest reason for people to turn towards cloud technology. With increasing faster internet and cheaper server and storage spaces, Cloud is becoming more reachable than ever. It brings down the total cost of ownership for utilizing.
Low Risk & Cap-ex free: Cloud Computing options usually give, monthly or yearly subscription based cost model, which lowers the investment risks. Users do not need to invest heavily in advance on a specific product and hope it will work in their benefit. Most Cloud computing service providers offer trial period so users can feel comfortable before they actually purchase the services.
Almost Unlimited space and computing power: Cloud providers use huge network of servers and storage solutions, thus making available almost unlimited amount if space and computing power usually needed while utilizing a cloud technology.
Instant Deployment: Cloud based products are quick to deploy and instantly available for usage. Customizations and re-branding activities are also very minimal and are also quickly completed. In some cases deployment time decreases from years to months or to even days.
Integration: Cloud products are easier to integrate with various Cloud and non Cloud platforms.
Flexible & Scalable: Customers can easily self pick and choose the features from Cloud and decide what is best suited for their requirements. Not much technical knowledge is required by end users to customize the products to suit them best. Small to large groups or organizations can utilize the same solutions depending on their requirements.
Accessibility: Cloud products are easily accessible from anywhere, using any system, which has access to internet. This has given rise to a new culture of work on the move. People access their mails on their smart phones while traveling on a train, post pictures through tablets while sitting on top of Burj Khalifa, or upload customer information on their CRM while sipping a coffee in a cafe. This has only been possible as the access to data has become more easily available due to Cloud technology
Innovation: With the availability of multiple resources on their fingertips, service providers are regularly coming up with newer and innovative ideas to convert IT issues into opportunities. Newer and lower cost products are being developed to serve various requirements of their customers. End users are also using innovative ideas to create newer options to resolve their concerns. ex. You can now create intuitive presentations or edit your images without the need to download applications.
Advanced Data Security: With the information so openly available, security has become a prime concern with Cloud technology. However, Cloud based solutions are less susceptible data hacking than on premise solutions. The prime reason being that a hacker can hit a system easily if he is aware of the potential target. With complicated network of Cloud environment getting to the right target gets much more challenging. Further Cloud computing technologies are forced to take higher levels of security encryption to show their commitment towards their customers.
Competitiveness: Cloud environment reduces a lot of IT infrastructure cost for companies, including, real estate cost, maintenance cost, rejuvenation cost, deployment & redeployment time and resources cost. With so many costs reduced and with low initial investment risks due to subscription model companies become more competitive in their businesses activities.
Minimal IT Support: IT support teams of Cloud computing companies are more involved in making their systems robust before deploying them to end customers. For users, however, little to no technical knowledge is required to operate these solutions. Since the solutions are normally based outside the premises maintenance of the solution is completely in the hands of service provider and any bug or system failure is then the headache of the service provider. In certain cases, like NaaS and IaaS solutions where infrastructure is based at user end, they are normally supported by the vendor from remote locations, while in Private Cloud environment, systems are mostly maintained in collaboration between user and the service provider
Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity: Cloud Solutions normally come with robust backup and disaster recovery solutions. The user is quickly and seamlessly shifted between multiple servers without their knowledge even in a scenario where they are working on the solutions. Cloud service providers invest heavily in keeping the availability of their services around 95%+ to keep up the commitment levels for their customers. Loss of data in case of Cloud service providers are very minimal.
Convenience & Optimal Resources Utilization: Cloud solutions are available on internet and can be easily implemented without much technical knowledge. Thus they become very convenient for the user to find them and use them depending on their requirements. Also since they are subscription based solutions and do not require huge initial investments the user can utilize maximum resources that are available within their budget and are not locked to use only one service.
Updates & Upgrades: Most Cloud providers update and upgrade their systems without intervention from the end user. Usually, service providers also do not charge additional cost of updates and upgrades to their customers.
Focus on Business: As most of the solutions on Cloud are ready to go type, organizations do not have to spend time and energy on implementation of newer IT processes, thus giving them a free mind to focus on what is right for their business.

The Downside of Cloud Computing

The lack of understanding and traditional business thinking does poise a big threat towards acceptance of Cloud technology. Cloud technology may have heaps of benefits for the companies and individuals alike, but they do come with their own set of issues and concerns. Some of the concerns include:

Security & Trust : Security of data is the single biggest concern with companies and individuals alike. However, latest Cloud providers give more security to the data compared to what an organization can arrange for their internal security. Also the highest data threat is always internal staff or competitors who tend to play mischief with an organization data. Hacking is equally possible for a best secured internal network as an open Cloud platform. Also there is lack of trust with someone sitting at a remote location totally unknown to the user handling their data, which builds up a level of distrust among the users. However, we still utilize their service. ex. 1and1.com provides mailing and hosting solutions, with not much information available about their location, companies still register with them to host their mailing or host their websites.
Cost: Most companies turn towards cloud technology on a single point, cost. However, soon they realise that they are paying too many small costs to cover each part of the solution that they would need. The best way to choose Cloud technology is not by cost but by services that they offer. Once a right set of services are shortlisted, only then one should buy a cloud solutions. This can be easily be achieved as most of the Cloud solutions offer a period of trial access to understand their technology.
Control of Data: Most traditional business thinkers want to hold on tight to their data. They are worried about sharing their data to external world. Though Cloud solution is more secure than keeping the data in a system, awareness about the difference is still too limited. Some people simply vary about the Cloud that they hide their data in Cloud backup solution {without realizing it is cloud based} and are yet not convinced that cloud is a safer platform.
Network and system Outages: Outages are also one major barrier in deciding about Cloud solution. The server are out of the hands of users, which means that you have to depend on the company providing service to host them on a strong and reliable hosting platform. However, people have tried and tested a lot of these systems and helped them grow. One should read through them in details to take a sound decision.
Data Transfer: Network bandwidth limitations are one more reason why companies remain wary of cloud. Some solutions like enterprise-wise live data backup may be the best option for an organization. But in reality the bandwidth required to manage that huge data transfer is a difficult task. However, some service providers provide Bandwidth Throttling service, which means when the load on the network is low, the backup speed increases and when the load on the network is higher, the backup speed would reduce itself to avoid network choking.
Latency: Latency is the amount of time it takes for your computer to interact with the servers in the cloud. Since you no longer have everything directly based on your computer, you have to depend on your network speed to get your work done. For example, Zoho provide online document editor. You have to depend on your internet speed to make a normal document and then download it when you are done so you can utilize it.
Understanding: It is difficult to completely understand what is going on in a cloud environment that is handled by a third party. Cloud service provider owns all the information and only freely offers whatever portion it wants.
Integrations: Level of integration achievable using cloud solutions is concern. Though cloud solutions easily mix with each other, there are still concerns about integrating them to traditional desktop or server client solutions.
Regulations & Legislation: Data privacy laws vary from country to country. A Cloud provider may reside in US and a user may reside in India, where both locations Cyber laws are completely different. Same concerns may have a different arbitrary outcome in different countries. Defining where to handle arbitration is quite a concern for both the vendor and the user.
Support: Support can be a challenge with Cloud computing. Not all service providers can provide 24x7 support to every single customers. With an ever growing number of users to serve, service providers face difficulty to address every issue which customers face on day to day basis.

To Summarize.

Cloud Computing may not mean just a single thing or service, but a host of tools, products, services, solutions, infrastructure that are managed, operated, and supported from / on an Internet platform. For companies and individuals to move to Cloud computing, there are still some basic concerns, however, more than 90% of the computer or mobile users have in one way or another used a cloud solution without their knowledge. Moving to more organised and dedicated platforms still may be challenge, but sooner than later, every service provider will provide a Cloud solution as a part of their service..

- CloudDrive Consulting