The cloud gives you flexible, rapid access to inexpensive IT services and support. This is helpful whether you are just sharing photos with your family or supporting the demanding operations of a business. By using cloud services, you won’t need to invest in hardware that is usually quite expensive, space consuming, and needs a tech support staff to manage. You won’t need to buy expensive software programs, only to have new versions come out each year, leaving you with programs that are not up-to-date. You will be able to plan for the exact type and size of the resources you need to get your newest idea going or operate your IT department. Access to many resources are available in the cloud and you only need to pay for the ones you actually use.
How does it work?
The cloud provides a simple way to access a broad set of applications, storage, and servers over the internet. For example, Amazon Web Services is a Cloud Computing provider and it owns and maintains the network-connected hardware. Their hardware will give you the application services you need by way of a web application.
There are eight services provided by Cloud Computing. Those services are:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
This is one of the main three categories of cloud computing services. It is a type of cloud computing where a third party provider hosts constructive computing capabilities over the internet. It will provide; hardware, servers, storage, software and other framework basics on behalf of its users. Other user applications IaaS hosts and tasks it handles are; system maintenance, flexible planning and backup.
Workloads that are temporary, experimental or change quickly will find that Iaas is well suited for them as it can be adjusted on-demand. It also features; dynamic scaling, desktop virtualization and policy based services. The services are on a pay-per-use basis, which is usually either by the hour, week or month.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Providers deliver apps over the internet and manage user’s hardware and software on their framework via the internet. In the PaaS model the cloud provider gives hardware and software tools that are usually needed for application development as a service. The software and hardware is on the PaaS providers system so the user does not have to install it on their systems or develop their own application.
PaaS does not usually replace a business entire framework, rather it relies on the providers for important services like; application hosting or Java development. Most PaaS platforms lean towards software development. It allows them to change or upgrade their operating systems more often and for their development teams to work together on projects.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is a software delivery model where applications are managed by a merchant or service provider and is available to customers over the internet. SaaS is becoming the common delivery model as basic technologies that support Web services mature and develop. Benefits of the SaaS are; automatic updates and patch management, compatibility- all users have the same version of software, easier administration, easier collaboration, global accessibility.
Storage as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is a business model where third-party providers rent space on their storage to customers (end users). This method allows the users who do not have capital or personnel to maintain their own system. This model targets secondary storage applications as an easy way to manage backups. The important advantage is the money savings. The user does not need to have space for physical storage, personnel to maintain it and hardware to store it themselves.
Storage as a Service works well for small to mid-sized businesses that do not have the budget or employees to operate and maintain their own storage infrastructure. It also helps as an insurance against disaster recovery and offers long term storage for records.
Communications as a Service (CaaS)
CaaS is an outsourced communication answer that can be leased from a single merchant. Communications can be; VoIP (voice over IP), instant messaging and video conferencing applications that use a fixed mobile device. The CaaS merchant is responsible for all hardware and software management. Along with the management service they offer a guarantee for quality of service (QoS).
This service offers flexibility and expandability for small to mid-sized businesses. A business of this size may not be able to afford these additional devices otherwise. The features and capacity can be changed from day to day if that functionality keeps up with the demand.
Network as a Service (NaaS)
NaaS is a business model for providing network services over the internet on pay-per-use subscription. For a customer to use NaaS the only thing they need to create an information technology (IT) network is; a computer, an internet connection and access to the NaaS portal. This is appealing to business owners as it saves from spending budget funds on network hardware and employees to manage it. The network actually becomes a utility and is paid for just like an electric bill is paid. The network is virtual and all the intricacies are hidden.
Monitoring as a Service (MaaS)
This is a delivery model that expedites the deployment of auditing performance for a variety of other services and apps. The online monitoring continuously tracks certain applications, networks and systems. The MaaS consists of multiple tools and applications that monitor certain aspects of an application. A certain area is constantly evaluated and the results are displayed in real time or periodically in a report.
Anything as a Service (XaaS)
This service covers a growing range of services that are available over the internet through the cloud computing instead of being provided locally. It reflects the enormous potential for on-demand cloud services and is being marketed heavily.