cloud

“Cloud” as a technical term refers to the Internet, and more precisely to some datacenter full of servers that is connected to the Internet. The cloud may also be used to describe specific online services, which are collectively labeled as “cloud computing.” Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications.

Among the most popular services that are based on cloud one can find web applications, SaaS, online backup, and other types of online storage. Besides all the traditional Internet services (web hosting, email, and online gaming, social networking websites, etc.) may also be considered as a part of the cloud since they are hosted on Internet servers, rather than users’ local computers.

Categories of Cloud Computing:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): considered to be one of the basic cloud-service model, provides the user with virtual infrastructure, for example servers and data storage space. Virtualization plays a major role in this mode, by allowing IaaS-cloud providers to supply resources on-demand extracting them from their large pools installed in data centers.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS): in this model, cloud providers deliver to the user development environment services where the user can develop and run in-house built applications. The services might include an operating system, a programming language execution environment, databases and web servers.

• Software as a Service (SaaS): here the cloud provides the user with access to already developer applications that are running in the cloud. The access is achieved by cloud clients and the cloud users do not manage the infrastructure where the application resides, eliminating with this the way the need to install and run the application on the cloud user’s own computers.

• Network as a Service (Naas): this model is the least common, here the user is provided with network connectivity services, such as VPN and bandwidth on demand.

Nowadays the the cloud computing is extremely important and its impact on web world will grow with new supporters. Among the most important advantages of cloud computing is cost efficiency, a possibility to backup and recover the data, and almost unlimited storage. Besides it is really convenient in maintaining and environmentally friendly.

Though some features are limited and security issues may appear, there is no doubtcloud computing is a great solution for running a business or any personal use.