Cloud

What Is the Cloud?

A cloud is essentially a group of servers that are accessed through the usage of an internet connection. The software and the databases that run on those servers can also be considered the cloud. Cloud servers are typically located throughout different data centers all over the world, and by taking advantage of cloud computing, both the users and companies as a whole do not have to manage physical servers and can do all of this remotely.

In fact, through the cloud infrastructure, you can access the same files as well as applications from any device due to the fact that all of the computing, as well as storage, takes place on servers in a data center, instead of locally on your physical device.

Cloud computing is available through the usage of a technology known as virtualization, which allows for the creation of simulated, digital-only virtual computers that can behave as if they were physical computers that ran on their own hardware.

This is known and commonly referred to as a virtual machine. 

When this is implemented correctly, the virtual machines on the same host machine are sandboxed from one another. In other words, they cannot really interact with each other, and the files, as well as applications from one virtual machine, are not visible to any other virtual machine, even though they essentially run on the same hardware.

Clouds make more efficient use of the hardware which hosts them, so you are not wasting any precious hardware that the server can offer.

There are multiple service models when it comes to cloud computing, and these include software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and function-as-a-service (FaaS).

You can deploy a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud and a multicloud.

A private cloud is a server, data center or distributed network that is specifically distributed to one organization. A public cloud is a service that is run by an external vendor that can include servers in one or multiple data centers. A hybrid cloud combines public and private clouds. A multicloud involves the usage of multiple public clouds.