Startups on Cloud 9: How the Cloud Computing Technology Helps Businesses

Cloud computing provides cost savings, scalability, high performance, and much more. For many companies, cloud shifting is directly related to the modernization of data and IT.

When the technology first emerged in the early 2000s, it was considered as something mysterious. The idea of accessing computing resources not from the local IT infrastructure used to appear only in sci-fi books. However, over time, it`s become absolutely real and forever changed our digital habits.

What is cloud computing?

This is the provision of computing resources via the Internet (cloud), including storage, computing power, databases, networks, analytics, artificial intelligence, and software applications. Thanks to such outsourcing, companies gain access to the necessary computing resources without having to purchase or maintain a physical local IT infrastructure. This way you can use resources more flexibly, implement innovations faster, and reduce scaling-associated cost.

Cloud types

Public cloud

It provides for the placement of virtual infrastructures of two or more customers at once. The company`s data is stored on a physical server along with the information of other organizations, while they are reliably protected and isolated. In fact, the set of physical resources of the provider's data center is divided into several virtual data centers used by customers of cloud services.

Among the main advantages of the public cloud is the relatively low cost and, as a result, accessibility to a wide range of customers. Also, this type of deployment is characterized by flexibility, convenience, and ease of interaction with cloud hosting. With a stable internet connection, virtual machines in the public cloud are easy to deploy and collapse. Computing power can be increased during peak loads and reduced if necessary.

Private cloud

A private cloud is computing resources designed exclusively for an organization. It can be physically located in a data center on the company`s territory or at a cloud service provider. A private cloud provides a higher level of security and privacy than public clouds, offering companies dedicated resources.

Private cloud customers get such benefits as self-service, scalability, adaptability, as well as the option of additional control and customization. On top of that, private clouds can have a higher level of security and privacy because they are hosted on private networks that are inaccessible to public traffic.

The disadvantages of a private cloud include its high cost, as well as the duration of deployment. Plus, a limited pool of resources will not allow, if necessary, increasing the power of cloud computing.

Hybrid cloud

This type combines the characteristics of public and private clouds. It is used when the customer does not have enough private cloud capacity, or when the infrastructure is located in a private cloud but is more convenient to carry out certain tasks in a public cloud.

Hybrid cloud is the only option when the company has enough high-quality equipment but needs more resources. This results in the relocation of the current infrastructure and individual services to the cloud. Also, it is helpful if you need to ensure compliance with certain security levels for personal data protection.

Despite the fact that the hybrid cloud combines some benefits of private and public clouds it also has its own drawbacks. The risks of using a hybrid cloud include an increased threat of data loss when transferring data from a private cloud to a public one, as well as the inability to track where the data is actually located outside the private server.

Cloud computing advantages

Cost saving

Teams using cloud resources do not need to purchase their own hardware resources. In addition to hardware costs, cloud service providers do their best to maximize and optimize hardware usage. This turns hardware and computing resources into a commodity and cloud service providers try to offer the lowest price.

Accessibility

With the help of cloud infrastructure, you can process and deliver data to customers faster that ever. Agile developers can use the cloud infrastructure to quickly deploy new virtual machines to test and validate unique ideas as well as automate the stages of the testing and deployment pipeline.

Scalability

As cloud computing adapts by default, businesses can scale resources if necessary. Cloud computing provides automatic scaling of functions for companies. Cloud applications can automatically reduce and increase infrastructure resources when traffic spikes.

Efficiency

The cloud-based technology offers the most advanced and powerful computing resources. Users can take advantage of the best multi-core processors designed for heavy tasks requiring parallel processing. In addition, large cloud service providers offer machines with advanced GPUs and TPUs for intensive processing of graphic and matrix data, as well as tasks requiring the AI use. These cloud providers are constantly updating processors with the newest technologies.

Large cloud computing providers have equipment distributed globally, which ensures high connection performance depending on the location. On top of that, cloud service providers offer global content delivery networks that cache user requests and content by location.

Security

Private cloud hosting offers an isolated infrastructure protected by a firewall, which contributes to security. Besides, it provides a variety of mechanisms and technologies to create secure applications. User access control is an important security task, and most cloud service providers offer tools to restrict full user access.

Holistic management

Cloud deployment allows teams to connect tools at any stage of development, making it easier to monitor each part of the pipeline. Integrated monitoring is another key opportunity as it enables you to eliminate problems and incidents faster. Cloud service providers share system health indicators, including information about the application and server, processor, memory, frequency of requests and errors, average waiting time, etc.

Flexibility

Continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) are the key methods of DevOps adherents. They help companies accelerate their workflow and, subsequently, launch products faster. CI/CD cloud solutions, such as Bitbucket Pipelines, allow teams to automatically create, test, and deploy code without worrying about managing the CI infrastructure or maintaining it.

Cloud computing risks

Transferring traditional services to the cloud

The security requirements for cloud computing are no different from data centers`ones. However, data center virtualization and shift to the cloud infrastructure lead to new threats.

Internet access to computing power management is one of the key characteristics of cloud computing. In most traditional data centers, engineers' access to servers is physically controlled while in cloud-based structures they work online.

The solution:

To protect your data, you should limit the access control and ensure change transparency at the system level.

Changeability of virtual machines

Virtual machines are dynamic. You can create a new machine, pause its work, and resume it in a short time. They are copied and can be transferred between physical servers. This variability affects the integrity of the security system.

The solution:

It is important to strongly record the security status of the system so thar it doesn`t depend on its state and location.

Internal vulnerability

Cloud computing and on-premises servers use the same operating systems and applications. For cloud systems, the threat of remote hacking or malware activity is high as well as the risk of virtual systems. Parallel virtual machines increase the space that can be potentially attacked.

The solution:

The system of detection and prevention of cyberattacks should be able to instantly identify malicious activity at the level of virtual machines, regardless of their location in the cloud infrastructure.

Statistics

In 2020, the global cloud computing market size was amounting to roughly $220 billion. By 2021, it doubled its volume reaching $445 billion as a result of demand surge. The market is projected to exceed $945 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16% during the forecast period. Moreover, it is expected to reach $1,5 trillion by 2030.

The key market drivers are the increasing amount of data in websites and mobile applications, the growing demand to monitor and reduce Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operational Expenditure (OPEX), and the development of big data, AI, and Machine Learning.