What is Cloud computing?
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services (Storage, Servers, Database, Networking and Software) over the internet, enabling faster innovation, efficiency in completing tasks, flexible resources, and economics of scale.
A simple example is When you save photos to Google Drive or stream movies on Netflix.
Benefits of cloud computing.
Cloud computing has changed the way businesses work by making things more flexible, faster, and more reliable. But to really see why it matters, it helps to understand some basic ideas behind how it works. In this post, we’ll explain seven simple concepts you’ll often hear about when people talk about the cloud, whether you’re just getting started or want a quick refresher.
What is Virtualization?
Virtualization means using one physical machine to run many virtual machines at the same time. Each virtual machine acts like a separate computer, even though they share the same physical resources. This makes it easier to use hardware efficiently, reduce costs, and quickly deploy applications. A software called Hypervisor divides the server into multiple virtual machines which enables the virtual machines to act as a separate computer of its own, with its own operating system and applications, even though they’re all running on the same physical machine.
Types of Virtualization.
Virtualization in cloud computing enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server, maximizing resource utilization and flexibility.
What is Scalability?
Scalability means the ability to easily increase or decrease your computing resources (like servers, storage, or processing power) based on how much you need at any given time.
For example, if your website suddenly gets a lot more visitors, the cloud can quickly add more power to handle the traffic, and when things calm down, it can reduce the resources so you don’t waste money.
Scalability is one of the main advantages of the cloud and the main driving force for its popularity in businesses.
Types of Scalability.
1. Vertical scaling- This means increasing or decreasing the capacity of existing services by upgrading the memory (RAM), storage, or processing power (CPU).
1. Horizontal Scaling - In cloud computing, horizontal scaling means you add more servers when you need more power to share the workload, and take them away when you don’t. It’s easy to do and helps your system grow or shrink smoothly depending on your needs. It is Immediately and continuously available.
Vertical scaling Vs Horizontal scaling.
Scalability in cloud computing allows resources to be easily increased or decreased based on demand, ensuring optimal performance and cost-efficiency.
What is Agility?
Agility in Cloud Computing means being able to quickly and easily adapt to changes, whether it’s scaling resources, launching new services, or responding to market demands. It helps businesses stay competitive by quickly bringing new products and services to market.
For example, a startup wants to launch a new app, Instead of buying servers, they use cloud services to develop and test the app quickly. When the app becomes popular, they scale up instantly without delays or huge upfront investments.
Agility matters because of its Faster time to market (helps stay ahead of competitors), Improved customer experience (meet demands), and Cost efficiency (avoid overbuying equipment or paying for unused capacity).
Ways To Achieve Agility In The Cloud.
Types Of Agility In Cloud.
Advantages Of Agility In Cloud Computing.
Agility in cloud computing enables rapid deployment, scaling, and adaptation of IT resources to meet changing business needs efficiently.
What Is High Availability?
High Availability is all about keeping your applications and services running smoothly, even when something goes wrong.
In today’s cloud-driven world, where websites, applications, and digital services must remain accessible around the clock, ensuring high availability is not just important, it’s essential for delivering consistent and reliable user experiences. This means that even if one server crashes or a part of the system fails, another takes over instantly so everything keeps running smoothly, and you, the user, won’t even notice a problem occurred.
Lets take for instance that you are playing an online game, and suddenly, one of the servers hosting the game crashes, with high availability, multiple servers in different location is provided, backups are automatically provided, and loads are balanced.
How Cloud Computing Enables High availability.
Key components of high availability.
High availability in cloud computing ensures continuous access to services by minimizing downtime through redundancy, load balancing, and failover mechanisms.
What is Fault Tolerant?
Fault tolerance means a system can keep running smoothly even if part of it stops working. Instead of shutting down or crashing, it recognizes the problem and keeps things going without disruption.
Imagine the power in your town comes from several power stations,
if one of them breaks down or needs repairs, the others step in and keep sending electricity. That way, you don’t lose power in your home.
This illustrates how redundancy and backup systems ensure continuous operation just like high availability in computing.
Fault tolerance is important because it ensures continuous service, protects data, maintains business reliability, and enhances user satisfaction by keeping systems operational and resilient during unexpected failures.
How Fault tolerance is important.
How Fault Tolerance Work in the Cloud.
While high availability focuses on minimizing downtime, fault tolerance aims for zero downtime by having backup systems already running in parallel, ready to take over instantly if needed.
What is Global Reach in Cloud Computing?
Global reach refers to the ability of cloud services to be accessed from anywhere in the world. Cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud have data centers distributed globally, allowing users to deploy services close to their customers for better speed and compliance, regardless of where those users are located.
Cloud providers achieve global reach by using distributed data centers, content delivery networks, and multi-region deployments to ensure fast, reliable, and compliant access to services worldwide.
For example, Uber relies on cloud infrastructure to deliver real time ride services and dynamic mapping to users across the globe with low latency and high reliability.
How Global Reach Works.
Benefits of Global Reach.
Global reach in cloud computing enables worldwide access to services and data through a network of distributed data centers, CDNs, and multi-region deployments.
What is the difference between Elasticity and Scalability?
Elasticity and Scalability are closely related but have distinct roles in cloud computing.
Elasticity is the ability of a system to automatically add or remove resources based on real-time demand. Elasticity is about real-time, dynamic adjustment to workload changes. In Elasticity, no manual intervention needed.
Elasticity Example:
When an online grocery store suddenly see an increase in orders, cloud platform automatically scales up by adding more servers to handle the increase in traffic, and when the orders slows down, the system automatically scales down, releasing the extra servers to save costs.
Scalability is the ability of a system to increase or decrease resources (like CPU, memory, storage) to meet long-term workload demands. This can be either in vertical form (upgrading existing resources) or horizontal form (adding more resources).
Scalability Example:
When an shopping site expects more users during the holiday season, so it adds more servers ahead of time. This means that it is about planned capacity growth.
Difference between Elasticity and Scalability.
Whether you're new to cloud computing or refreshing your knowledge, understanding these concepts helps you recognize the strength of modern cloud systems. The more you learn, the better you can build, scale, and innovate with confidence.
Top comments (1)
Nice