Ultimate Guide on Cloud Computing Tutorial for Beginners

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing can be described as providing computing power (CPU, RAM, Network Speeds, Storage OS software) over a network (usually over the internet) rather than having the computing resources physically at the customer’s location.

Eg: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud

Let’s learn with an example of Cloud computing-

Whenever you’re traveling by bus or train you’re getting a ticket to your destination and keeping back to your seat before you get to your destination. Many passengers likewise take tickets and ride with you on the same bus and it hardly disturbs you where they are going. You get off the bus, thanking the driver when your stop arrives. Cloud computing is like that bus, carrying data and information for various users and allowing the minimal cost of using its service.

Why the Name Cloud?

The term “stack” derived from a network architecture that was used by network engineers to describe the location and interconnection of different network devices. This network architecture was in form like a cloud.

Why Cloud Computing?

Information management has become a challenge in all fields with an increase in device and smartphone usage. Large and small companies today are relying on their data & investing massive amounts of money to retain the data. It needs strong IT support, and a hub for storage. Not all companies can bear high IT maintenance costs in-house and back up support services. Cloud computing provides a simpler alternative for them. Maybe its performance in data storage, processing, and lower maintenance costs has also succeeded in attracting even bigger businesses.

Cloud computing reduces the user’s need for hardware and applications. The only thing the consumer wants to be able to run is the configuration program for cloud computing systems, which can be as basic as the Web browser, and the rest is taken care of by the Cloud network. At some point in time, we’ve all encountered cloud computing, some of the popular cloud services we’ve used or are still using our mail services like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, etc.

Our data are stored on the cloud server and not on our device while accessing e-mail service. Behind the cloud the hardware and infrastructure are invisible. Whether cloud services are built on HTTP, XML, Ruby, PHP or other similar technologies is less relevant in so far as it is usable and user friendly. An individual user can connect from his / her own devices to the cloud network, such as a desktop, laptop or smartphone.

Cloud computing efficiently harnesses small businesses with limited resources, offering access to technology that was previously out of reach for small businesses. Cloud computing lets small companies make income by transforming their operating costs. Let’s see how it does?

You have to pay a great deal of attention to in-house IT services to make sure there are no bugs in the system and it runs smoothly. And you are absolutely liable in case of any technological failure; it will be asking for a lot of attention, time and resources to fix it. Whereas in cloud computing the service provider takes full responsibility for the uncertainty and technological shortcomings.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

The cost-saving opportunity is the key reason many companies embrace cloud services. Cloud computing allows you the right to use resources as needed, and only pay for what you are using. It has become possible to operate IT operations as an outsourced unit without much in-house resources because of cloud computing.

Following are the benefits of cloud computing:

• Higher device and IT network prices for consumers
• Improved performance
• Fewer repair issues
• Instant software updates
• Improved Operating Systems compatibility
• Backup and recovery
• Increased storage capacity
• Performance and Scalability
• Increase data safety

Types of Clouds

You can switch to four specific cloud models according to business needs:

Private Cloud: In one specific entity computing resources are distributed here. For intra-business communications, this approach is used more. Where the same entity can manage, own, and operate the computing resources.

Community Cloud: Here, a group and organizations are equipped with computing tools.

Public Cloud: This type of cloud is usually used for communications of the type B2C (Business to Consumer). Here the computing resource is owned, regulated, and controlled by the government, an educator, or corporation.

Hybrid Cloud: A type of cloud can be used for B2B (Business to Business) or B2C (Business to Consumer) interactions of all kinds. This deployment approach is called the hybrid cloud since different clouds connect the computing resources together.

Cloud Computing Services

The three major Cloud Computing Offerings are:

• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS or software as a service is a model of software delivery in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made accessible to clients through a network (internet). As underlying technologies that support Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) or Web Services, SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model. This service is accessible via the internet to consumers anywhere in the world.

Traditionally, it was important to buy upfront software application and then install it on your computer. On the other hand, SaaS users subscribe to it instead of buying the app, usually on a monthly basis through the internet.

Anyone who wants access to a specific piece of software may subscribe as a customer, irrespective of whether they are one or two individuals or every thousand employees in an organization. SaaS is compatible with all devices which are allowed on the Internet.

Some essential activities such as payroll, inventory, invoicing and preparing can all be done using SaaS.

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Platform as a service, which is referred to as PaaS, offers a framework and ecosystem for developers to create apps and services. This service is hosted in the cloud and is accessed via the internet by the users.

To explain this in a simple way, let’s equate it with painting an image, where your school teacher provides you with paint colors, different paintbrushes, and paper and you just need to draw a beautiful picture using those materials.

PaaS applications are continually being upgraded and new features introduced. PaaS may be of interest to app developers, web developers, and businesses. It gives a forum to promote the development of applications. This covers business development and management facilities, storage, networking, installation, monitoring, collaboration, application hosting, and maintenance.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

IaaS (Infrastructure As A Service) is an integral cloud computing business model alongside PaaS(Platform as a Business). It offers on-line access to computing services in a virtualized “internet” environment. This offers an infrastructure for computing, such as virtual disk space, network links, bandwidth, load balancers, and IP addresses. The hardware resource pool is derived from various servers and typically distributed networks across numerous data centers. It means IaaS is robust and efficient.

IaaS(Infrastructure as a Service) is a total computing package. IaaS is one of the options for small-scale companies seeking to cut costs on IT infrastructure. Annually a lot of money is spent on repairs and purchasing new products such as hard drives, network connections, external storage devices, etc. that a company owner would have avoided by using IaaS for other expenses.

What is Cloud Computing Architecture?

Let’s dig at cloud computing to see what makes cloud computing. Cloud computing consists of two front end and rear end modules. The user component of the cloud computing framework consists of the front end. This contains interfaces and applications required to access the infrastructure for cloud computing.

Although back ending refers to the cloud itself, it includes the tools required for cloud computing services. It consists of virtual machines, servers, data storage, mechanism of protection, etc. It is under the management of providers.

Cloud computing distributes the file system that extends through many computers and hard disks. Data is never stored in one location only and the other will automatically take over in case one device fails. On the distributed file system, user storage space is allocated, while another significant aspect is the resource allocation algorithm. Cloud computing is a powerful distributed system, which relies heavily on a strong algorithm.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing

Virtualization is the principal enabling technology for cloud computing. Virtualization is a single physical computer partitioning into several virtual servers. When the physical server is separated, each logical server behaves like a physical server and can run an independent operating system and applications. Some famous companies such as VMware and Microsoft provide virtualization services, where you use their virtual server instead of using your personal PC for storage and computation. They’re quick, cost-effective and consume less time.

Virtualization is very useful for software developers and testers, as it allows developers to write code that runs in several different environments, and most importantly, to test the code.

Virtualization is mainly used for three main purposes 1) Network Virtualization 2) Server Virtualization 3) Storage Virtualization

Network Virtualization: This is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent of the others and each channel is independent of the others and can be allocated in real-time to a specific server or computer.

Storage Virtualization: This is pooling physical resources from various network storage devices into what would appear to be a single storage system controlled from a central console. The virtualization of data is widely used in networks with storage space (SANs).

Server Virtualization: Server virtualization is the masking of computer resources from computer users, such as processors, RAM, operating system, etc. Server virtualization’s purpose is to maximize resource sharing and to reduce the user computing burden and complexity.

Virtualization is the secret to accessing the cloud infrastructure, which makes virtualization so important to the cloud that it disconnects the software from the hardware. For instance, PCs can use virtual memory to borrow additional hard disk memory. The hard disk normally has a lot more space than the memory. While virtual disks are slower than real memory, the substitution works perfectly if properly controlled. Likewise, there is a program that can mimic a full machine, meaning that 1 machine can execute the functions equals 20 computers.

Grid Computing Vs Cloud Computing

We are less concerned about the power supply from where it comes from and how it is produced when we turn on the fan or an electric unit. The electricity or energy we receive at home travels through a network chain which includes power stations, transformers, power lines, and transmission stations. Together these elements render a ‘ Power Grid. ‘ Likewise, ‘ Grid Computing ‘ is an infrastructure that links computing resources such as PCs, servers, workstations and storage elements and provides the mechanism required to access them.

Grid computing is a middleware for integrating distributed IT services around a network so they can operate as a whole. This is most commonly used for educational purposes in scientific research and at universities. For instance, a group of architect students working on a different project needs a specific design tool and a function design software, but only a few of them have access to this design tool, the question is how they can make this tool accessible to the rest of the students. To make this design tool available to other students on the campus network, the grid will now connect all of these computers on-campus network and allow students to use the design tool they need from anywhere for their project.

Cloud computing and grid computing are often confused, although the approach to their functionality is almost identical there. Let’s see how they work-

Utility Computing Vs Cloud Computing

We have seen how energy is supplied to our house in our previous discussion in “Grid Computing,” and we also know that we have to pay the bill to maintain electricity supply. Utility computing is just like that, we use energy at home as per our requirement and pay the bill accordingly as well as using the computing facilities and charging as per the use it is known as ‘ Utility computing. ‘ Utility computing is a good source to use on a small scale, it can be done in any server environment, and includes cloud storage.

Utility computing is the practice of delivering service by an on-demand, pay-per-use system of billing. A virtually infinite supply of computing solutions is available to the customer or client through a virtual private network or internet, which can be accessed and used whenever possible. Grid computing, cloud computing and managed IT services are based on the idea of utility computing.

Small companies with minimal budget service computing can easily use applications such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) without having to spend significantly in technology to support their client base.

Security concerns for Cloud Computing

The major issue that concerns users when using cloud storage is its stability.

One problem is that cloud providers themselves may have access to unencrypted data from customers- whether on disk, in memory or transmitted over the network.

Some government countries may decide to search through data without automatically notifying the data owner, depending on where the data resides, which is not appreciated and is considered an infringement of privacy (US Example Prism Program).

TCG (Trusted Computing Group), a non-profit organization that periodically publishes a set of requirements to protect hardware, build self-encryption drives and improve network protection, has joined forces to provide protection for applications, networks, and data cloud storage service providers. This protects the data against malware and rootkits.

When computing has grown to include multiple devices such as hard disk drives and cell phones, TCG has increased the security measures for these devices. This allows for the development of a single data security policy across all clouds.

Such reliable cloud providers include Amazon, Box.net, Gmail and many more.

Privacy Concern & Cloud Computing

Security provides users with a high barrier to adapt to cloud computing systems

In cloud computing, there are other steps that can enhance privacy.

The cloud computing service’s technical staff may potentially track the data traveling in memory until it is stored in the storage. It would be avoided to protect the integrity of data, technical and legal controls.

The other way to improve privacy is to keep the data encrypted on the cloud storage platform, avoiding unauthorized internet access; only cloud providers are unable to access the data.

Case-Study of Cloud Computing- Royal Mail

The subject of Case-Study: Use of Cloud Computing to communicate effectively among workers.
Reason for using Cloud Computing: Reducing post-communication expenses for 28,000 workers and supplying their staff with advance apps and e-mail processing interfaces.

Royal mail company, a postal service in the UK, is the largest government agency in the UK that services more than 24 million customers through its 12000 post offices and 3000 different distribution sites. The distribution and parcel-force networks manage about 404 million parcels a year worldwide. And they need an appropriate communicative tool to do this. They have understood and incorporated the benefit of cloud computing into their program. It showed outstanding inter-communication efficiency.

Before moving on to the cloud program, the company was struggling with obsolete applications, which undermined the operating performance. As soon as the company moved to Cloud Technology, 28,000 workers were presented with their new communication suite, providing them with access to resources such as instant messaging and knowledge of the presence. Employees have more space to store than they do on the local server. The employees became even more successful.

Talking at Cloud Computing’s success in e-mail services and collaboration. Royal Mail Group’s second strategic step was to switch from physical servers to virtual servers, up to 400 servers to build a private cloud focused on Microsoft hyper V. It will give their staff a fresh look and additional capacity, as well as the new online networking setting.

RMG’s (Royal Mail Group) Hyper-V initiative is expected to save about 1.8 million pounds for them in the future, which would improve the productivity of the internal IT infrastructure of the company.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Cloud Computing

Advantages of Cloud Computing

Here, are important benefits for using Cloud

Cost Savings: The greatest advantage of cloud computing is cost savings. It lets you save considerable capital costs, as it does not require any investment in physical hardware. You don’t need qualified personnel to repair the equipment, either. Cloud service provider installs and operates the equipment.

Strategic edge: Cloud computing gives you a strategic advantage over your competitors. By investing your time and resources on upgrades, it lets you access the latest and applications at any time.

High Speed: Cloud computing lets you quickly deploy your service in fewer clicks. This faster deployment enables you to get the resources needed for your system in fewer minutes.

Back-up and restore data: If the data is stored in a cloud, the backup and recovery of that is easier to provide, which is otherwise a very time-consuming on-premise operation.

Automatic Software Integration: Software integration is something that occurs automatically in the cloud. Therefore, you don’t have to make special efforts to configure and incorporate the software according to the requirements.

Reliability: Reliability is one of cloud computing’s greatest pluses. You will also get updated about the changes immediately.

Mobility: Employees who work at the premises or at remote locations can easily access all the services they may provide. What they need is a connection to the Internet.

Unlimited storage capacity: The cloud provides almost unlimited computing capabilities. You can increase your storage space easily at any time, with very low monthly fees.

Collaboration: The cloud computing platform allows a highly convenient and efficient collaboration between employees who are located in different geographies.

Quick Deployment: Last but not least, cloud computing offers you the advantage of fast deployment. And when you want to use the cloud, the whole system will be able to be completely automated in just minutes. However, the amount of time taken depends on what form of technology is used in your business.

Other Important Benefits

Some benefits of cloud computing besides the aforementioned, are:

• Self-service on-demand
• Multi-tenancy
• Offers robust computing
• Fast and effective virtualization
• Provide you low-cost software
• Offers advanced online security
• Location and Device Independence
• Also available, and automatically scales to respond to demand increase
• Allows pay-per-use
• Web-based control & interfaces
• API Access available.

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

Here, the use of cloud computing poses big challenges:

Performance Can Vary: If you are operating in a cloud environment, your application runs on the server which provides other businesses with resources at the same time. Any greedy behavior or DDOS attack on your tenant could impact your shared resource efficiency.

Technical Issues: Cloud technology is also subject to malfunctions and other technological problems. Despite maintaining high maintenance standards, even the best cloud service provider companies can face this form of trouble.

Security Threat in the Cloud: Another downside to working with cloud storage services is the risk of security. Before you accept cloud technology, you should be well aware that you will be sharing all the confidential details about your business with a third-party cloud computing service provider. Hackers may have access to information.

Downtime: Even to allow downtime when dealing with cloud computing. It is because your cloud provider can face power failure, low Internet connectivity, maintenance of the service, etc.

Internet Connectivity: For cloud computing, strong Internet access is a must. Without internet connectivity, you can not access the cloud. However, you don’t have any other way of storing cloud data.

Lower Bandwidth: Most providers of cloud storage services restrict their users ‘ usage of the bandwidth. So if your company exceeds the allowance issued, the additional charges may be considerably expensive

Lacks of Support: Cloud computing firms are struggling to provide the customers with adequate service. In addition, they want to rely on FAQs or online support from their customers, which can be a boring job for non-technical people.

Conclusion:

With all the advantages and drawbacks we can’t ignore that cloud computing is the most growing aspect of network-based computing. It gives consumers of all sizes a great advantage: easy users, entrepreneurs, companies and all forms of organizations. So, spend a long time with this technology here.

Also, see Microsoft Cloud Service Map for AWS and Azure

Top 10 Cloud Computing Service Provider Companies in 2020

Cloud Computing Providers are companies that offer IT as a service over the Internet. Cloud computing is a term used to store and access data over the internet. It does not store any data on your PC’s hard disk. Cloud computing can help you access data from a remote server.

Cloud computing services range from full software and platform creation to servers, storage, and virtual desktops. There are various types of cloud storage services on the market.

1) Amazon Web Services

AWS is the cloud web hosting platform for Amazon that provides fast, scalable, reliable, and cost-effective solutions. It provides a build block service that can be used to develop and deploy any application in the cloud. This is the most common because it joined the cloud computing room for the first time.

Features:

• Fast Deployments
• Easy sign-up process
• Enables simple management of resources adding or removing
• Access to resources which is essentially unlimited
• Centralized Information and Strategies
• Offers hybrid and hourly billing options

For More Information Click Here

2. Microsoft Azure

Azure is a cloud computing platform introduced in February 2010, by Microsoft. This open-source and scalable cloud platform that assists in solutions for development, data storage, service management & hosting.

Features:

• Windows Azure is the most effective approach to your data needs
• Provides scalability, versatility, and value for money
• Provides stability across clouds with common instruments and services
• Enable you to scale up and down your IT resources according to your business needs

Download Link https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/

3. Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud is a collection of products and applications that includes GCP & G Suite. It lets you quickly overcome all sorts of business challenges.

Features:

• Enables you to scale using free, scalable technology
• Solve open AI&Data analytics problems
• Eliminate the need to mount costly servers
• Enables you to transform your company using a full suite of cloud-based services

Download Link: https://cloud.google.com/

4. VMware

VMware is a comprehensive forum for cloud management. It lets you handle a hybrid environment that runs workloads from conventional to the container. The tools will allow you to optimize your organization’s profits.

Features:

• Hybrid Cloud Management Framework ready for enterprise
• Offers Private & Public Clouds
• Comprehensive monitoring and review that boost the forecasting and preparation capabilities
• Offers additional 3rd party and custom framework integrations, and tools.

Download Link: https://www.vmware.com/in/cloud-services/infrastructure.html

5. Oracle Cloud

Oracle Cloud provides creative cloud services that are incorporated. It helps in building, deploying, and handling workloads in the cloud or on-premises. Oracle Cloud also helps companies automate and reduce uncertainty.

Features:

• Oracle provides more options on when and how you move to the cloud
• Oracle makes you understand the importance of new technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, Machine Learning and more
• Offers Mission-critical data processing of the next generation in the cloud
• Oracle offers unsanctioned software greater exposure and defends against advanced cyber attacks

Download Link: https://www.oracle.com/cloud/

6. Kamatera

Kamatera built a cloud storage platform that is very similar to a physical server. It worked in a cloud with virtual infrastructure, making it highly scalable and cost-efficient. Pricing this cloud service is based on pay, because you use an industry-standard model.

Features:

• 13 Ultimate Efficiency and Accessibility data centers spanning four continents
• Tailor-made VPS hosting to suit your needs
• Scalability: Helps you to easily add load balancers, firewalls, private networks and applications like pfSense, Docker, CPanel, Drupal, Jenkins, WordPress, Magento, node. JS and more.
• All UNLIMITED TRAFFIC SSD’s. 99.95 percent assured uptime
• Billing options – Per Month or Per Day

More Information 

7. Cloudways

Cloudways offers a cloud-managed infrastructure for businesses, stores, and SMBs. The company has formed partnerships with top cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode. Experience the freedom to create, deploy and manage applications like PHP, Laravel, WordPress, and Magento with no cloud server management experience needed. Cloudways users will concentrate on business growth without worrying about server management, storage, and maintenance technological complexities.

Features:

• PHP 7 Ready Servers
• Simple 1-Click App Installation
• Pre-configured PHP-FPM and Redis
• Free SSL Certificates
• Automated Backups

8. DigitalOcean

The droplet of Digitalocean is a machine service that is scalable. Other than just virtual computers. This cloud platform provides storage, protection, and monitoring capabilities to easily run production applications.

Features:

• Allows you to deploy your custom picture, an app with a single click or standard distribution
• You can deploy droplets and get a reliable connection and flat price in 8 data center regions
• Right to pick Standard Plans or Performance Plans as you wish

9. Rackspace

Rackspace is another valuable method for delivering cloud computing services. It provides services such as mobile app hosting, cloud storage, cloud backup, email, cloud server, etc.

Features:

• Fast-migrating to the Cloud
• Makes you plan for the worst-case scenario
• Act as you go model on pay, and you’re paid depending on your use
• It allows you to combine solid-state drives and hard drives to provide superior performance

10. Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba is China’s largest cloud computing company. This is a new network that built a global footprint with more than 1500 CDN nodes of 19 regions worldwide and 56 availability zones spanning over 200 countries.

Features:

• Helps you to achieve faster results
• Helps you to protect and backup your data
• Total authorizations and several forms of management
• Highly secure software, and safe storage of data

More Information