Introduction to the Cloud

Overview

People say that cloud computing is essentially computing services being offered on the cloud when they want to give a basic definition of the concept. As true as that is, if the concept of the cloud isn’t clear, then the definition isn’t clear.

Let’s imagine we’re logged in to Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook on our mobile phones. If we get a new phone and we log in, all our direct messages, pictures, videos, tweets, and other content still exist as if we never switched phones giving us the same experience across devices. This is possible because we have the cloud. We can use the same application on multiple devices and have the same experience across all devices because most computing and storage takes place in the cloud.

What is the cloud?

The cloud is a set of servers we can access over the Internet. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. These servers are used to store and manage data, run applications and perform computationally intensive tasks. Instead of accessing data locally, we can access our data online from any device that can connect to the Internet.

An interesting thing about the cloud is that it primarily works on a pay-as-you-go model. This means we pay for what we want for as long as we’re interested without a lifelong commitment to a provider or plan. Renting cloud computing resources is similar to renting an apartment instead of buying a house. We pay rent for a particular duration, and on expiration, we can choose to renew our rent, move to a bigger apartment in the same building or move to a different building.

Technologies used to build the cloud

The cloud is built on technologies that enable users to manage and configure resources.

Portals

Management portals make it easy for administrators to manage resources for the applications that run on the cloud.

Virtualization

Virtualization creates a layer of abstraction over hardware with software programs. This allows the hardware components of a computer—CPU, memory, storage, and others —to be partitioned into numerous virtual computers, referred to as virtual machines (VMs). This maximizes hardware utilization on the cloud as multiple users can use multiple partitions.

Automation

This helps reduce (or eradicate) manual intervention for tasks such as server provisioning and integration.