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ABOUT THE CLOUD
Cloud computing draws its name from the familiar cloud drawings used to depict the Internet in network diagrams. Besides being an easy way to render a complex concept, it is also an appropriate metaphor. Like real clouds, the cloud computing model has no clear boundaries or borders and is constantly shifting and changing. The beauty of the cloud is that the wide range of deployment methods gives organizations a tremendous degree of flexibility to craft an IT infrastructure that best fits their needs as various price points. Hybrid approaches allow organizations to mesh the best of public and private cloud services with dedicated hosting or on-premises legacy deployments.
Cloud-based services offer the means for attaining some of IT’s most elusive goals and aligning IT with business, quickly and easily scaling compute resources on-demand, decoupling services from underlying technology, data center automation, green computing, and more. The cloud is serving to provide two key benefits – exceptional cost savings and extreme operational flexibility that has both large and small scale organizations building cloud deployment strategies into their IT plans.
One of the most obvious business benefits of a cloud solution is reduced acquisition and deployment costs. The economies of scale that get passed on to the customer effectively convert CapEx into OpEX. Paying for service on demand requires less upfront capital and allows businesses to efficiently ramp up and power down based upon current needs, as well as providing the flexibility to introduce new IT services.
The Public Cloud
Also known as the “shared cloud,” this model involves an environment in which an external service provider offers shared access to services through the internet. The types of services that can be provided through the public cloud are wide-reaching. Storage services provide a way to store data and documents without having to continually grow farms of storage networks and servers. SaaS companies offer CRM services through their multi-tenant shared facilities so clients can manage their customers without buying software or worrying about capital outlays for IT infrastructure.
Benefits of the public cloud:
The public cloud option often appeals to small and midsize organizations because it is inexpensive, scalable and versatile, and it requires less IT proficiency or management expertise.
The Private Cloud
Private or internal clouds reproduce the best characteristics of the public cloud without exposure to other users. A private cloud can be deployed inside an organization’s own firewall by wrapping layers of virtualization and management software around existing infrastructure, or by contracting with a service provider for virtual machines layered on top of a dedicated physical server. Either way, organizations gain increased automation, speed and capacity while maintaining control of proprietary data and applications.
Benefits of the Private Cloud
Private clouds are ideal for mission-critical data and applications that have to be as secure as possible for business reasons or compliance requirements. Private clouds are being rapidly adopted in enterprise environments, where fast providing and automation are allowing the creation of what are essentially self-service IT departments. Furthermore, the operations team can easily track usage statistics, appropriately allocate system costs and effectively plan for the future. There are cost and efficiency benefits achieved by aggregating and holistically managing processors, storage and networking as a seamless, flexible and dynamic operating environment.
Cloud-based services offer the means for attaining some of IT’s most elusive goals and aligning IT with business, quickly and easily scaling compute resources on-demand, decoupling services from underlying technology, data center automation, green computing, and more. The cloud is serving to provide two key benefits – exceptional cost savings and extreme operational flexibility that has both large and small scale organizations building cloud deployment strategies into their IT plans.
One of the most obvious business benefits of a cloud solution is reduced acquisition and deployment costs. The economies of scale that get passed on to the customer effectively convert CapEx into OpEX. Paying for service on demand requires less upfront capital and allows businesses to efficiently ramp up and power down based upon current needs, as well as providing the flexibility to introduce new IT services.
The Public Cloud
Also known as the “shared cloud,” this model involves an environment in which an external service provider offers shared access to services through the internet. The types of services that can be provided through the public cloud are wide-reaching. Storage services provide a way to store data and documents without having to continually grow farms of storage networks and servers. SaaS companies offer CRM services through their multi-tenant shared facilities so clients can manage their customers without buying software or worrying about capital outlays for IT infrastructure.
Benefits of the public cloud:
The public cloud option often appeals to small and midsize organizations because it is inexpensive, scalable and versatile, and it requires less IT proficiency or management expertise.
The Private Cloud
Private or internal clouds reproduce the best characteristics of the public cloud without exposure to other users. A private cloud can be deployed inside an organization’s own firewall by wrapping layers of virtualization and management software around existing infrastructure, or by contracting with a service provider for virtual machines layered on top of a dedicated physical server. Either way, organizations gain increased automation, speed and capacity while maintaining control of proprietary data and applications.
Benefits of the Private Cloud
Private clouds are ideal for mission-critical data and applications that have to be as secure as possible for business reasons or compliance requirements. Private clouds are being rapidly adopted in enterprise environments, where fast providing and automation are allowing the creation of what are essentially self-service IT departments. Furthermore, the operations team can easily track usage statistics, appropriately allocate system costs and effectively plan for the future. There are cost and efficiency benefits achieved by aggregating and holistically managing processors, storage and networking as a seamless, flexible and dynamic operating environment.