What is cloud computing?

Let’s understand cloud computing.

Cloud computing is a technology that provides computing resources and services through the Internet.

Cloud computing was made to address issues of conventional on-premise infrastructure, including high upfront costs, maintenance, and scalability. Its primary advantage lies in the availability to provide on-demand access to required resources and services for users.

What are the major characteristics of cloud computing?

Introducing the cloud computing technology allows users to scale resources up or down on demand and respond rapidly to growth and changes in the business. Also, data backup and recovery can be easily implemented via centralized data storage. With cloud computing, users can access resources from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection. Users can also work at any time or from any place.

Moreover, server and network management, updates, or security can be less of a burden for users, as those are done by the cloud service provider, helping the users to concentrate on their core work. Lastly, cloud computing reduces the costs of unused system resources, as users are charged on a pay-per-use basis by the cloud service providers.

What are the service models of cloud computing?

Cloud computing services are offered in the following three models:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

An IaaS is a type of cloud computing service that provides essential basic computing infrastructure, such as servers, storage, network, etc. Users can use and configure scalable resources on demand.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

A PaaS is a development platform that helps implement development, deployment, and operation on the infrastructure provided by an IaaS. It includes infrastructure, such as middleware, database management systems, development tools, operating systems, libraries, etc. for application development and deployment.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

A SaaS is a service model that provides software applications hosted in the cloud. Users can access and use software through the Internet, without having to worry about software installation, updates, or maintenance. A SaaS is usually offered on a pay-per-use basis or subscription-based plan.

What are the different types of cloud computing?

There are a variety of deployment types for cloud computing. There is no one right way, so users can establish proper cloud architecture by choosing or combining multiple types of cloud deployment models and cloud services.

Public Cloud

A public cloud is a cloud service open to the public and companies through the Internet. Public cloud services are operated by cloud service providers and users can use them through the Internet. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform), and Samsung Cloud Platform (SCP) are the most typical type of public cloud services.

In general, public cloud services offer low costs, high scalability, flexibility, and reliability. In addition, they decrease the burden on users to maintain or upgrade the system, as the service provider takes responsibility of them. Because of these advantages, public cloud services are becoming increasingly popular for businesses and individual users.

Private cloud

A private cloud is a cloud infrastructure operated within an organization. Private cloud infrastructure is operated in the internal data center or private hosting service of an organization. Private clouds are built to fulfill organizational requirements including security, regulatory compliance, customization, and performance. A private cloud environment can be enabled with virtualization software, such as OpenStack, VMware, and Hyper-V internally. Also, users can ask cloud providers, such as Samsung SDS, to implement a private cloud environment for them. Private cloud solutions have better control over security and compliance than public cloud solutions. Since they are operated internally, private clouds can separate data and applications from the outside. These benefits of private clouds help companies protect crucial data or business applications safely and enjoy the advantages of the cloud.

Hybrid cloud

A hybrid cloud is a combination of public and private cloud environments and shares data and applications between them. That means it is an environment where on-premise infrastructure and cloud infrastructure are integrated. Companies can maintain conventional on-premise infrastructures while enjoying the advantages of the cloud and expand their business by storing sensitive data on-premises and using cost-effective cloud services.

Multicloud

Multicloud uses the resources and services of multiple cloud service providers. This allows users to take advantage of competition between cloud service providers to optimize costs and reduce the risks of failures from a certain provider or excessive vendor dependency.

Development of cloud computing and its base technology

The development of cloud computing was accelerated by various technologies as follows:

Virtualization

As a foundational technology for cloud infrastructure, it virtualizes physical resources to enable a wide range of tasks.

Containerization

Containerization is a software deployment process that provides applications with all the libraries and files they need to operate on any infrastructure as a package. This allows software developers to easily deploy and manage applications that perform consistently in a cloud environment.

Cloud management platform

It manages and monitors cloud resources, and it provides users with necessary tools and services.

Cloud storage

Cloud storage providers store, manage, and back up data in a cloud environment, allowing users to access it whenever they need.

Cloud networking

Cloud networking enables companies to create and manage virtual networks in the cloud, connecting resources across various platforms.

Cloud security

Cloud security consists of various technologies, such as authentication, encryption, and permission management, which is designed to maintain the security of data and applications in a cloud computing environment.

Microservices

Microservices are an architectural pattern that composes an application using small, independent services based on functionality. Microservices allow developers to independently develop, deploy, and manage each service which is scalable in a cloud environment.

Serverless computing

A serverless computing model offers an environment where users can focus solely on application code while cloud providers handle server management, infrastructure configuration, etc. It helps developers rapidly develop and deploy applications without concerning themselves with the infrastructure.

Cloud native

Cloud native is a term that describes applications and technologies designed to make the most use of cloud computing environments. It includes technologies, such as containerization, microservices, and Continuous Integration (CI)/Continuous Deployment (CD), and enables high scalability, elasticity, and rapid deployment in a cloud environment. Cloud native computing enables developers to develop applications more rapidly and respond to changing business requirements.

The emergence of cloud service providers

A cloud service provider is a company or organization that provides and manages cloud computing services. Some typical examples are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Samsung Cloud Platform (SCP).

Cloud computing has had a huge impact on the IT industry through the various technologies and development of services, allowing companies and individuals worldwide to use cloud computing to take innovative approaches to their businesses and improve work efficiency.

To summarize, cloud computing is a technology that remotely provides computing resources and services, which are being used in a variety of industrial fields with multiple advantages for both companies and individuals. The advantages include cost reduction, scalability, flexibility, easy data backup and recovery, accessibility, and convenience of management and maintenance. Some typical examples of cloud computing services are web hosting, data analysis, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or web application development.

Samsung SDS provides tailored cloud implementation and migration solutions, leveraging its accumulated expertise and experience to accelerate digital competitiveness.