Demystifying Cloud Computing: From Basics to Benefits (Part 1/11)

Whether you’re aiming for a career in cloud technology or just want to understand this buzzword, this series is for you.

Cloud computing is like renting computing power and resources over the internet instead of owning and managing physical hardware and software. Just imagine a bunch of interconnected servers, except that instead of your office, they are somewhere else in a data center.

Why Cloud?

• Cost Savings: No upfront hardware costs, pay only for what you use.
• Scalability: Quickly adjust resources to meet changing demand.
• Reliability: Cloud providers ensure uptime and disaster recovery.
• Security: Benefit from top-tier security measures.
• Agility: Innovate faster with easy access to new technologies.

Evolution

• In the early days, Mainframes were the first ‘clouds’ — big, expensive computers shared by many users.
• With Virtualization technology later on it was possible to run multiple ‘virtual’ computers on one physical machine, paving the way for modern cloud computing.
• Then came the Cloud Explosion where companies like Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure) and Google (GCP) built massive data centers offering computing power on-demand.

Models

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): The basic building blocks which includes servers, storage, and networking. (Example: AWS EC2, GCP Compute Engine, Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines)
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): Tools for developers to build and run apps without managing the underlying infrastructure. (Example: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, GCP App Engine, Microsoft Azure App Service)
• SaaS (Software as a Service): Ready-to-use applications you access over the internet. (Example: Gmail, LinkedIn, Microsoft 365)

Deployment

• Public Cloud: Shared resources, pay-as-you-go. (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure)
• Private Cloud: For a single organization, more control.
• Hybrid Cloud A mix of both, offering flexibility.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we explore these different cloud service models in depth!