In today’s world, where technology is imperative and unavoidable, the cloud stands to be of huge importance. It can be said that the future of cloud service models is on the ninth cloud. In 2020, the public cloud market share was expected to reach around 257.5 billion U.S. dollars in size and by 2022 the market revenue is forecast to exceed 362.3 billion U.S. dollars. You can imagine where it must have reached by now.
Cloud Service Models based on Infrastructure Ownership
Cloud services providers offer you with shared pools of resources over a broad network access. Learn more about the different types of cloud options which can be provisioned or released with minimum management efforts and service provider interaction.
Public Cloud
Public cloud is the most well-known cloud service model which offers services and infrastructure to ‘n’ number of users and is publicly accessible (with security restrictions). Public cloud platforms usually have an enormous amount of space, which results in more effortless scalability. A public cloud storage follows a ‘pay as you go’ structure, allowing the customers to supply more capacity on demand. The best part is that you will be secured with the provider’s security and a disaster recovery plan.
Private Cloud
Private cloud providers allows only to a single organization and at the same time, offers many benefits of the public cloud, i.e., elastic scaling and resource sharing. A private cloud storage can be accessed and utilized from anywhere by an authorized user. If controlling your IT environment is a need for your business, then private cloud solutions are the right choice for you.
Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid cloud computing is a combination of both public cloud and private cloud. It allows the data and applications to move between both platforms seamlessly. There are two different types of hybrid cloud architecture. Cloudbusting, the first one has a private cloud as a primary cloud and stores your data in a secure environment. The second one also runs many applications and data in a private cloud environment but outsources non-critical applications to a public cloud provider.
Community Cloud
A community cloud is a collaborative effort where the cloud is shared between several organizations with a specific thing in common i.e. security, jurisdiction, compliance, etc. It is an extension of a private cloud that also operates as a public cloud. Even with a shared space, the community cloud system is highly flexible with necessary access controls. It is commonly used by healthcare organizations, financial services firms, etc.
Virtual Private Cloud
A virtual private cloud lets you launch resources in a logically isolated virtual network. It is basically a private cloud hosted within a public cloud where a VPC reserves resources for only one customer. Here, VPC customers can run codes, store data, host websites, or do anything they do in a private cloud.
Cloud Service Models based on Service, Architecture, & Flexibility
As more businesses move to the Cloud, you must have heard of SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS before as they are gaining more popularity. And, if you are considering moving forward with a cloud model, these are three most important acronyms to learn about.
Let’s go through them one by one.
Software as a Service
Affordable, Anywhere Accessibility, Ready to Use
SaaS is the most popular form of cloud computing and is ready to be purchased and used on a subscription basis, i.e., a monthly fee or an annual fee. Here, your cloud providers will handle the infrastructure, upgrades, and provide the application software ensuring that it is accessible anywhere, anytime. The best part about the SaaS model is that organizations using it can quickly scale their operations.
The software will run in a virtual machine, or even multiple software will run in the same machine. The service provider controls the entire computing stack which can be accessed by you through a browser. Moreover, it doesn’t require any installations or downloads in your existing infrastructure so you won’t have to worry about the maintenance.
Infrastructure as a Service
Minimize Costs, Enhanced Scalability, Simple Deployment
IaaS provides a completely virtualized computing infrastructure to an organization that is completely managed over just the internet. The provider is responsible for managing servers, data storage, networking hardware, or any other physical ends of the infrastructure. At the same time, it also allows the customers to customize their resources according to their needs. Here, the customer can purchase, install, and manage operating systems, middleware, applications, etc. as they need it without having to install hardware on their premises.
IaaS cuts off the cost of building in-house infrastructure and hence, is the best option for organizations on a tight budget. Also, IaaS providers continuously update the latest software and update patches, so it becomes easier to get new applications on board.
Platform as a Service
Minimal Development Time, Multiple Programming Language Support, Enhanced Collaboration
PaaS provides the framework needed to build, test, deploy, manage, and update software products. PaaS works on the same infrastructure as IaaS and it also includes the operating systems, middleware, development tools, and database management systems. It is most helpful for organizations that develop software and web-based applications as IaaS provides a favorable environment for developing and testing applications.
Teams working remotely can be the most benefited as the team members can access the same assets and speed up their work process. Moreover, there are pre-coded applications built into the platform, which significantly reduces the coding time and brings outputs faster than usual. The PaaS model is also available on a subscription basis with flexible pricing options.
Colocation and the cloud
Organizations are transitioning away from physical data centers to cloud services due to various technical and business reasons. Cloud computing brings you a step closer to technological development as it speeds up the pace of your work. A bunch of options of cloud computing is available but all of them ensure one thing i.e., improved network speed and performance.
Are you ready to choose the right cloud service model?
If you ever googled ‘IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS’, ‘difference between IaaS PaaS and SaaS’, or ‘what are the differences among IaaS PaaS and SaaS’, I hope after reading this blog, you won’t have to. And, now you must also have a clear idea of how the right colocation provider can accommodate the infrastructure needs of a private cloud network while also providing access to a wide range of public cloud services to build a sophisticated hybrid cloud architecture that provides unparalleled flexibility.
Moving forward, if you are looking for a service provider, let NCT help you understand the difference between various types of cloud computing and identifying which one is the right fit for your business.
