Drawn from chapter 1 of the CompTIA Cloud+ Study Guide (Montgomery, 2016).
What Is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is essentially outsourcing datacenter operations, applications, or a section of operations to a provider of computing resources often called a cloud company or cloud service provider. The consumer of cloud services pays either monthly or by the amount of usage of the service. We will explore many different models and types of cloud computing in this book. Throughout this book we will be referencing the National Institute of Standards document NIST SP 800-145 as the main source of cloud computing definitions. NIST defines cloud computing as
a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models. We will take a close look at all aspects of cloud computing as we progress on our journey to obtain the Cloud+ certification and provide much more detail to this general definition.
Computing as a Utility Service
We are accustomed to many services provided by utilities such as electricity and water into our homes; however, we do not get involved in the details of how these services are created and deliveredwe just want the final product and to pay for what we use. Traditionally, computing did not follow this model. Instead a company or individual would purchase all the hardware and software to meet the needs of the corporation or individual. Individuals had to purchase the most up-to-date systems since the investment was high and they couldnt always upgrade to new models. For large companies this would be an even bigger capital investment since they needed to maintain a staff of specialized engineers to operate and maintain the systems. Also, the solution had to have the added capacity to grow and to handle peak processing loads even if it often was not being used. Special rooms were needed to host the equipment and to power and cool the datacenter servers. Security of the data access had to be at a high level depending on the data and constantly upgraded to guard against security breaches and viruses. Cloud computing follows the utilities model where a provider will sell computing resources on an as-needed or as-consumed model. This allows a company or individual to pay for only what they use and has many additional advantages that we will explore throughout this book.
The Growth of the Cloud
The market and adoption of the cloud computing business has exploded worldwide as it has been adopted by the mainstream of companies and has moved from early adopters to general acceptance in the marketplace today. While there are many statistics and measurements of the size of the market, it is has been growing between 15 and 30 percent annually worldwide and is well over a $120 billion market in 2016, with many estimates that are much higher. What is clear is that the economics and business advantages of cloud computing are compelling companies to move more and more applications to the cloud, fueling additional growth well into the future.
Why Do This?
There are many advantages to moving to the cloud, but three stand out as compelling business and operations alternatives to hosting computing resources internally in a privately owned datacenter:
In the past when computing resources were needed there was often a long delay of procuring, installing, and configuring all of the pieces needed to host an application. With a cloud solution, the equipment is already running in a cloud providers datacenter and you can begin using the service in record time, often as short as a few minutes.
From a financial perspective, a companys expenditures can be reduced as they avoid the large upfront costs of purchasing the needed computing equipment and ongoing support expenses associated with maintaining your own computing environment. Cloud computing with its pay-as-you-go billing model frees up a companys capital budget to be used for other needs within a company.
As the need to add capacity is reached, a cloud computing model can expand capacity almost immediately as compared to a corporate datacenter, where long delays are often experienced due to the need to procure, install, and configure the new equipment.
Prompt
Cloud computing services enable users to be mobile and access resources and information from their phones, tablets, laptops and other devices. Some services, such as Apples iCloud, also enable users to have multiple devices all connected to the same cloud account so that any and all information generated between them is also stored and accessible from any connected device. This service also enables the seamless exchange of connections as users change devices, like live phone calls. For this discussion, research a cloud service that facilitates mobility, such as the Apple iCloud or competing service, and address how this service meets user mobility needs. Discuss how a business might benefit from such a service. Support your response with at least one external citation and reference following APA 6 formatting requirements.
References
Montgomery, T. (2016). CompTIA cloud study guide: Exam CV0-001. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1119243229
