Layered Architecture of Cloud It is possible to organize all the concrete realizations of cloud computing into a layered view covering the entire, from hardware appliances to software systems. All of the physical manifestations of cloud computing can be arranged into a layered picture that encompasses anything from software systems to hardware appliances. Utilizing cloud resources can provide the “computer horsepower” needed to deliver services, This layer is frequently done utilizing a data center with dozens or even millions of stacked nodes. Because it can be constructed from a range of resources, including clusters and even networked PCs, cloud infrastructure can be heterogeneous in character, The infrastructure can also include database systems and other storage services. The core middleware, whose goals are to create an optimal runtime environment for applications and to best utilize resources, manages the physical infrastructure. Virtualization technologies are employed at the bottom of the stack to ensure runtime environment modification, application isolation, sandboxing, and service quality. At this level, hardware virtualization is most frequently utilized. The distributed infrastructure is exposed as a collection of virtual computers via hypervisors, which control the pool of available resources. By adopting virtual machine technology, it is feasible to precisely divide up hardware resources like CPU and memory as well as virtualize particular devices to accommodate user and application needs. Layered Architecture of CloudCloud Computing Layers Application Layer User Saas { mat Facebook Jatt Toute AD Seca Nlmedion Software Platform Layer ‘maton Soa Developer P95 { {Cosa ramet Sere ena Infrastructure Layer amasan ace {eteraye, Weal Meche) seca Teme Space System Jamin fas: Datacenter Layer ne (€PU erate lk Mey) Application Layer 1. The application layer, which is at the top of the stack, is where the actual cloud apps are located. Cloud applications, as opposed to traditional applications, can take advantage of the automatic-scaling functionality to gain greater performance, availability, and lower operational costs. 2. This layer consists of different Cloud Services which are used by cloud users. Users can access these applications according to their needs. Applications are divided into Execution layers and Application layers. 3. In order for an application to transfer data, the application layer determines whether communication partners are available. Whether enough cloud resources are accessible for the required communication is decided at the application layer. Applications must cooperate in order to communicate, and an application layer is in charge of this. 4. The application layer, in particular, is responsible for processing IP traffic handling protocols like Telnet and FTP. Other examples of application layer systems include web browsers, SNMP protocols, HTTP protocols, or HTTPS, which is HTTP’s successor protocol. Platform Layer 1. The operating system and application software make up this layer, 2. Users should be able to rely on the platform to provide them with Scalability, Dependability, and Security Protection which gives users a space to create their apps,test operational processes, and keep track of execution outcomes and performance. SaaS application implementation’s application layer foundation. - The objective of this layer is to deploy applications directly on virtual machines. . Operating systems and application frameworks make up the platform layer, which is built on top of the infrastructure layer. The platform layer’s goal is to lessen the difficulty of deploying programmers directly into VM containers. . By way of illustration, Google App Engine functions at the platform layer to provide API support for implementing storage, databases, and business logic of ordinary web apps. Infrastructure Layer 1. It is a layer of virtualization where physical resources are divided into a collection of virtual resources using virtualization technologies like Xen, KVM, and VMware. . This layer serves as the Central Hub of the Cloud Environment, where resources are constantly added utilizing a variety of virtualization techniques. . A base upon which to create the platform layer. constructed using the virtualized network, storage, and computing resources. Give users the flexibility they want. . Automated resource provisioning is made possible by virtualization, which also improves infrastructure management. . The infrastructure layer sometimes referred to as the virtualization layer, partitions the physical resources using virtualization technologies like Xen, KVM, Hyper-V, and VMware to create a pool of compute and storage resources, . The infrastructure layer is crucial to cloud computing since virtualization technologies are the only ones that can provide many vital capabilities, like dynamic resource assignment. Datacenter Layer In a cloud environment, this layer is responsible forManaging Physical Resources such as_ servers, switches, routers, power supplies, and cooling systems. Providing end users with services requires all resources to be available and managed in data centers.+ Physical servers connect through high-speed devices such as routers and switches to the data center. + In software application designs, the division of business logic from the persistent data it manipulates is well- established, This is due to the fact that the same data cannot be incorporated into a single application because it can be used in numerous ways to support numerous use cases, The requirement for this data to become a service has arisen with the introduction of microservices. « A-single database used by many microservices creates a very close coupling. As a result, it is hard to deploy new or emerging services separately if such services need database modifications that may have an impact on other services. A data layer containing many databases, each serving a single microservice or perhaps a few closely related microservices, is needed to break complex service interdependencies Bs Cloud Consumer Cloud consumer is the main participants of cloud computing environment. + A cloud consumer is a person or organization that use the cloud services such as Saas, PaaS and laas. + A cloud consumer browses the service catalog provided by a cloud provider, cloud consumer requests the appropriate service. + Cloud provider sets up cloud environment for the service and make a contracts with the cloud consumer for the use of the service. + Cloud consumers need cloud Service Level Agreement(SLA). ‘SLA act as a agreement for technical performance requirements provided by a cloud provider. Some terms and conditions regarding the quality of service, security, remedies for performance failures are mentioned in the SLA, Software as a service applications in the cloud are made accessible via a network to the SaaS consumers, The consumers of SaaS may be a organizations that gives their employee with access to software applications, end users who directly use software applications, or it may be software application administrators who is responsible for configure applications on the software for the customers. Platform as a service can also be employ by the consumer the tools to develop, test, deploy and manage the applications hosted in a cloud environment. PaaS consumers can be application developers who design and implement application software in software company,+ Physical servers connect through high-speed devices such as routers and switches to the data center. + In software application designs, the division of business logic from the persistent data it manipulates is well- established. This is due to the fact that the same data cannot be incorporated into a single application because it can be used in numerous ways to support numerous use cases. The requirement for this data to become a service has arisen with the introduction of microservices. + A single database used by many microservices creates a very close coupling. As a result, it is hard to deploy new or emerging services separately if such services need database modifications that may have an impact on other services. A data layer containing many databases, each serving a single microservice or perhaps a few closely related microservices, is needed to break complex service interdependencies di Cloud Consumer Cloud consumer is the main participants of cloud computing environment. + A cloud consumer is 4 person or organization that use the cloud services such as SaaS, PaaS and laaS. * A cloud consumer browses the service catalog provided by a cloud provider, cloud consumer requests the appropriate service. * Cloud provider sets up cloud environment for the service and make a contracts with the cloud consumer for the use of the service, + Cloud consumers need cloud Service Level Agreement(SLA). SLA act as a agreement for technical performance requirements provided by a cloud provider. Some terms and conditions regarding the quality of service, security, remedies for performance failures are mentioned in the SLA. Software as a service applications in the cloud are made accessible via a network to the SaaS consumers. The consumers of SaaS may be a organizations that gives their employee with access to software applications, end users who directly use software applications, or it may be software application administrators who is responsible for configure applications on the software for the customers. Platform as a service can also be employ by the consumer the tools to develop, test, deploy and manage the applications hosted in a cloud environment. PaaS consumers can be application developers who design and implement application software in software company,PaaS consumer may be application testers who run and test applications in cloud- based environments, application deployers who publish applications into the cloud, PaaS may be a application administrators who configure and monitor application performance on a platform. Cloud Consumers of Infrastructure as a service have access to different hardware resources like virtual computers, network devices such as router, storage media and other fundamental computing resource. The consumers of Infrastructure as a service may be system developers, system administrators and IT managers who creates, install, manage and monitor the services for IT infrastructure operations. 2. Cloud Provider « Acloud provider is responsible for making a service available to the cloud consumer. Cloud provider may be a person , team or an organization. + A Cloud Provider maintain and manages the different cloud computing services for the consumer and makes arrangement to deliver the cloud services to the Cloud Consumers suing network access or internet. In context to Software as a Service Cloud provider is responsible for deploys, configuring, maintaining and updating the operation of the software applications on a cloud infrastructure so that the services are provisioned as per the required levels. by the cloud consum: The major responsibilities of cloud provider in context to software as a service are to manage , control the applications and overall infrastructure. In context to Platform as a Service, the Cloud Provider manages the computing infrastructure for the platform and runs the cloud software that provides the components of the platform. These components may be software execution stack, databases and some other components that act as middleware. The PaaS Cloud Provider generally supports the development, deployment and management process of the Platform as a Service. Some integrated tools like IDE, SDK, development version of cloud software, deployment and management are also the part of Platform as a Service. Physical computing resources such as servers, networks, storage and hosting infrastructure are also maintain and manage by the cloud provider for the consumer of Infrastructure as a Service. The Cloud Provider implement the cloud software so that computing resources become available to the Cloud Consumer who use the infrastructure as service through a set of service interface and virtual network interfaces that helps in resource abstraction. 3. Cloud Auditor A cloud auditor is a dedicated team of technically skilled person that can perform an independent examination or review of cloud service controls with the intent to express strength and weakness of the process and some suggestion or improvement. Audits are performed to verify the standards of services after checking the evidence,Major role of a cloud auditor is to evaluate the services provided by a cloud provider against the parameters such as security controls, privacy impact and performance etc. To perform the audit of security a cloud auditor do the assessment of the security controls in the information system to determine the extent to which the controls are implemented accurately and operating as per expectation and producing the desired outcome with respect to the security requirements for the system Also Read -_Smart Home Technology in India 4. Cloud Broker Some time services integrations becomes more complex due to which it becomes difficult for the cloud consumer to manage the cloud service. In such situation cloud consumer request cloud services from cloud broker. Cloud Broker acts as mediator between consumer and provider. + Acloud broker manages the delivery of cloud services , their performance and use. + A-cloud broker negotiates relationships between cloud providers and cloud consumers In general, a cloud broker involves in three types of activities which are as follow Service Intermediation A cloud broker may enhances a given service by improving some specific capability and providing value-added services to cloud consumers. The improvement may be related to managing the access to cloud services, identity management, performance reporting, enhanced security, etc. Service Aggregation Services aggregation can be seems as combining and integrating multiple services into one or some more new services. The broker ensures the data movement between the cloud consumer and multiple cloud providers in secure manner. Acloud broker also provides the data integration. Service Arbitrage Service arbitrage is very similar to service aggregation but there is a little bit difference also. In service arbitrage the services to be aggregated are not fixed in advance. In Service arbitrage a broker has the flexibility to select the services from multiple agencies. The cloud broker, for example, can use a credit-scoring service to measure and select an agency with the best score. 5. Cloud CarrierCloud Carrier is another important actors in NIST cloud computing reference architecture. + Role of cloud carrier is to provide the connectivity and transport of cloud services between cloud consumers and cloud providers. + Cloud carriers provide access to consumers through network, telecommunication and other access devices For example- cloud consumers can obtain cloud services through network access devices, such as computers, laptops, mobile phones, mabile Internet devices. Hybrid cloud computing A hybrid cloud is a type of cloud computing that combines on-premises infrastructure—or a private cloud—with a public cloud. Hybrid clouds allow data and apps to move between the two environments. Many organizations choose a hybrid cloud approach due to business imperatives such as meeting regulatory and data sovereignty requirements, taking full advantage of on-premises technology investment, or addressing low latency issues. The hybrid cloud is evolving to include edge workloads as well. Edge computing brings the computing power of the cloud to loT devices—closer to where the data resides. By moving workloads to the edge, devices spend less time communicating with the cloud, reducing latency, and they are even able to operate reliably in extended offline periods. The benefits of a hybrid cloud platform A hybrid cloud platform gives organizations many advantages—such as greater flexibility, more deployment options, security, compliance, and getting more value from their existing infrastructure. When computing and processing demand fluctuates, hybrid cloud computing gives businesses the ability to seamlessly scale up their on-premises infrastructure to the public cloud to handle any overflow—without giving third-party datacenters access to the entirety of thelr data. Organizations gain the flexibility and innovation the public cloud provides by running certain workloads in the cloud while keeping highly sensitive data in their own datacenter to meet client needs or regulatory requirements. This not only allows companies to scale computing resources— it also eliminates the need to make massive capital expenditures to handle short-term spikes in demand, as well as when the business needs to free up local resources for more sensitive data or applications. Companies will pay only for resources they temporarily use instead of having to purchase, program, and maintain additional resources and equipment that could remain idle over long periods of time.Read more about hybrid cloud capabilities and getting started with Azure Advantages of the hybrid cloud: + Contrel—your organization can maintain a private infrastructure for sensitive assets or workloads that require low latency. + Flexibility—you can take advantage of additional resources in the public cloud when you need them. + Cost-effectiveness—with the ability to scale to the public cloud, you pay for extra computing power only when needed. + Ease—transitioning to the cloud doesn’t have to be overwhelming because you can migrate gradually—phasing in workloads over time. What is a public cloud? Public clouds are the most common type of cloud computing deployment. The cloud resources filike servers and storage) are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider and delivered over the internet. With a public cloud, all hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure are owned and managed by the cloud provider. Microsoft Azure is an example of a public cloud. In a public cloud, you share the same hardware, storage, and network devices with other organizations or cloud “tenants,” and you access services and manage your account using a web browser. Public cloud deployments are frequently used to provide web-based email, online office applications, storage, and testing and development environments. Advantages of public clouds: + Lower costs—no need to purchase hardware or software, and you pay only for the service you use. + No maintenance—your service provider provides the maintenance. + Near-unlimited scalability—on-demand resources are available to meet your business needs. + High reliability—a vast network of servers ensures against failure. What is a private cloud? A private cloud consists of cloud computing resources used exclusively by one business or organization. The private cloud can be physically located at your organization's on-site datacenter, or it can be hosted by a third- party service provider. But in a private cloud, the services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network and the hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organization.In this way, a private cloud can make it easier for an organization to customize its resources to meet specific IT requirements. Private clouds are often used by government agencies, financial institutions, any other mid- to large-size organizations with business-critical operations seeking enhanced control over their environment. Advantages of a private cloud: + More flexibility—your organization can customize its cloud environment to meet specific business needs. + More control—resources are not shared with others, so higher levels of control and privacy are possible. + More scalability—private clouds often offer more scalability compared to on-premises infrastructure. What are laas, Paas and Saas? laaS, PaaS and SaaS are the three most popular types of cloud service offerings. They are sometimes referred to as cloud service models or cloud computing service models. + laaS, or infrastructure as a service, is on-demand access to cloud- hosted physical and virtual servers, storage and networking - the backend IT infrastructure for running applications and workloads in the cloud + PaaS, or platform as a service, Is on-demand access to a complete, ready-to-use, cloud-hosted platform for developing, running, maintaining and managing applications. + Saas, or software as a service, is on-demand access to ready-to-use, cloud-hosted application software. laaS, PaaS and SaaS are not mutually exclusive. Many mid-sized businesses use more than one, and most large enterprises use all three. ‘As a service’ refers to the way IT assets are consumed in these offerings - and to the essential difference between cloud computing and traditionalIT. In traditional IT, an organization consumes IT assets - hardware, system software, development tools, applications - by purchasing them, installing them, managing them and maintaining them in its own on- premises data center. In cloud computing, the cloud service provider owns, manages and maintains the assets; the customer consumes them via an Internet connection, and pays for them on a subscription or pay-as- you-go basis, So the chief advantage of laaS, PaaS, SaaS or any ‘as a service’ solution is. economic: A customer can access and scale the IT capabilities it needs for a predictable cost, without the expense and overhead of purchasing and maintaining everything in its own data center. But there are additional advantages specific to each of these solutions. laaS laaS Is on-demand access to cloud-hosted computing infrastructure - servers, storage capacity and networking resources - that customers can provision, configure and use in much the same way as they use on- premises hardware. The difference is that the cloud service provider hosts, manages and maintains the hardware and computing resources in its own data centers. laaS customers use the hardware via an internet connection, and pay for that use on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis. Typically laaS customers can choose between virtual machines fiVMs) hosted on shared physical hardware fithe cloud service provider manages virtualization) or bare metal servers on dedicated fiunshared) physical hardware. Customers can provision, configure and operate the servers and infrastructure resources via a graphical dashboard, or programmatically through application proaramming interfaces fiAPIs). laaS can be thought of as the original ‘as a service’ offering: Every major cloud service provider - Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure - began by offering some form of laaS. Benefits of laaS Compared to traditional IT, laaS gives customers more flexibility build out computing resources as needed, and to scale them up or down in response to spikes or slow-downs in traffic. laaS lets customers avoid the up-front expense and overhead of purchasing and maintaining its own on- premises data center. It also eliminates the constant trade-off between the waste of purchasing excess on-premises capacity to accommodate spikes, versus the poor performance or outages that can result from not having enough capacity for unanticipated traffic bursts or growth. Other benefits of laaS include:+ Higher availability: With laaS a company can create redundant servers easily, and even create them in other geographies to ensure availability during local power outages or physical disasters. + Lower latency, improved performance: Because laaS providers typically operate data centers in multiple geographies, laaS customers can locate apps and services closer to users to minimize latency and maximize performance. + Improved responsiveness: Customers can provision resources in a matter of minutes, test new ideas quickly and quickly roll out new ideas to more users. + Comprehensive security: With a high-level of security on-site, at data centers, and via encryption, organizations can often take advantage of more advanced security and protection they could provide if they hosted the cloud infrastructure in-house. + Faster access to best-of-breed technology: Cloud providers compete with each other by providing the latest technologies to their users, laaS customers can take advantage of these technologies much earlier flan at far less cost) than they can implement them on premises. laaS use cases Common uses of laaS include: + Disaster recovery: Instead of setting up redundant servers in multiple locations, laaS can deploy its disaster recovery solution to the cloud provider's existing geographically-dispersed infrastructure + Ecommerce: laaSis an excellent option for online retailers that frequently see spikes in traffic. The ability to scale up during periods of high demand and high-quality security are essential in today’s 24- 7 retail industry. + Internet of Things (loT), event processing, artificial intelligence (Al): laaS makes it easier to set up and scale up data storage and computing resources for these and other applications that work with huge volumes of data. + Startups: Startups can't afford to sink capital into on-premises IT infrastructure. laaS gives them access to enterprise-class data center capabilities without the up-front investment in hardware and management overhead.« Software development: With laaS, the infrastructure for testing and development environments can be set up much more quickly than on-premises. fiHowever, this use case is better suited to PaaS, as you'll read in the next section.) Paas PaaS provides a cloud-based platform for developing, running, managing applications. The cloud services provider hosts, manages and maintains all the hardware and software included in the platform - servers fifor development, testing and deployment), operating system fi0S) software, storage, networking, databases, middleware, runtimes, frameworks, development tools - as well as related services for security, operating system and software upgrades, backups and more. Users access the PaaS through a graphical user interface fiGUI), where development or DevOps teams can collaborate on all their work across the entire application lifecycle including coding, integration, testing, delivery, deployment, and feedback. Examples of PaaS solutions include AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Google App Engine, Microsoft Windows Azure, and Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud. Benefits of PaaS The primary benefit of PaaS is that it allows customers to bulld, test, deploy run, update and scale applications more quickly and cost- effectively than they could if they had to build out and manage their own on-premises platform. Other benefits include: + Faster time to market: PaaS enables development teams to spin- up development, testing and production environments in minutes, vs. weeks or months. + Low. to no-risk testing and adoption of new technologies: PaaS platforms typically include access to a wide range of the latest resources up and down the application stack. This allows companies to test new operating systems, languages, and other tools without having to make substantial investments in them, or in the infrastructure required to run them. + Simplified collaboration: As a cloud-based service, PaaS provides a shared software development environment, giving development and operations teams access to all the tools they need, from anywhere with an Internet connection. + Amore scalable approach: With PaaS, organizations can purchase additional capacity for building, testing, staging and running applications whenever they need it.+ Less to manage: PaaS offloads infrastructure management, patches, updates and other administrative tasks to the cloud service provider. PaaS use cases PaaS can advance a number of development and IT initiatives including: + API development and management: With its built-in frameworks, PaaS makes it easier for teams to develop, run, manage and secure APIs for sharing data and functionality between applications. + Internet of Things (IoT): PaaS supports a range of programming languages fijava, Python, Swift, etc.), tools and application environments used for loT application development and real-time processing of data from loT devices. + Agile development and DevOps: PaaS solutions typically cover all the requirements of a DevOps toolchain, and provide built- in automation to support continuous integration and continuous delivery fiCl/CD), + Cloud-native development and hybrid cloud strategy: PaaS solutions support cloud-native development technologies - microservices, containers, Kubernetes, serverless_ computing - that enable developers to build once, then deploy and manage consistently across private cloud, public cloud and on- premises environments. SaaS SaaS fisometimes called cloud application services) is cloud-hosted, ready- to-use application software. Users pay a monthly or annual fee to use a complete application from within a web browser, desktop client or mobile app. The application and all of the infrastructure required to deliver it - servers, storage, networking, middleware, application software, data storage - are hosted and managed by the SaaS vendor. The vendor manages all upgrades and patches to the software, usually invisibly to customers. Typically. the vendor ensures a level of availability. performance and security as part of a service level agreement fiSLA). Customers can add more users and data storage on demand at additional cost. Today, anyone who uses a or mobile phone almost certainly uses some form of SaaS. Email, social media, and cloud file storage solutions fisuch as Dropbox or Box) are examples of SaaS applications people use every day in their personal lives. Popular business or enterprise SaaS solutions include Salesforce ficustomer relationshipmanagement software), HubSpot fimarketing software), Trello fiworkflow management), Slack ficollaboration and messaging), and Canva figraphics). Many applications designed originally for the desktop fie.g., Adobe Creative Suite) are now available as SaaS fie.g., Adobe Creative Cloud). Benefits of SaaS The main benefit of SaaS is that it offloads all infrastructure and application management to the SaaS vendor. All the user has to do is. create an account, pay the fee and start using the application. The vendor handles everything else, from maintaining the server hardware and software to managing user access and security, storing and managing data, implementing upgrades and patches and more. Other benefits of SaaS include: + Minimal risk: Many SaaS products offer a free trial period, or low monthly fees that let customers try the software to see if it will meet their needs, with little or no financial risk. + Anytime/anywhere productivity: Users can work with SaaS apps on any device with a browser and an internet connection. + Easy scalability: Adding users is as simple as registering and paying for new seats; customers can purchase more data storage for a nominal charge. Some SaaS vendors even enable customization of their product by providing a companion PaaS solution. One well-known example is Heroku, a PaaS solution for Salesforce. SaaS use cases Today, just about any personal or employee productivity application is available as SaaS; specific use cases are too numerous to mention fisome are listed above). If an end user or organization can find a SaaS solution with the required functionality, in most cases it will provide a significantly simpler, more scalable and more cost- effective alternative to on-premises software. SaaS vs. PaaS vs, laaS: management ease vs, control SaaS, Paas, laaS are not mutually exclusive; most organizations use more than one, and many larger organizations today use all three, often in combination with traditional IT. Obviously, the as-a-service solution a customer chooses depends first on the functionality the customer requires, and the expertise it has on staff.For example, an organization without the in-house IT expertise for configuring and operating remote servers isn't well matched to laaS; an organization without a development team has no need for PaaS. But in some cases, any of the three ‘as-a-service' models will offer a viable solution. In these cases, organizations typically compare the alternatives based on the management ease they offer, vs. the control they give up. For example, suppose a large organization wants to deliver a customer relationship management fiCRM) application to its sales team. It could: + Choose a SaaS CRM solution, offloading all day-to-day management to the third-party vendor, but also giving up all control over features and functionality, data storage, user access and security. + Choose a PaaS solution and build a custom CRM application. In this case, the company would offload management of infrastructure and application development resources to the cloud service provider. The customer would retain complete control over application features, but it would also assume responsibility for managing the application and associated data. + Build out backend IT infrastructure on the cloud using laaS, and use it to build its own development platform and application. The organization's IT team would have complete control over operating systems and server configurations, but also bear the burden of managing and maintaining them, along with the development platform and applications that run on them. laaS, SaaS, PaaS and IBM Cloud 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Storage « Read « Discuss «= Courses Cloud storage is a cloud computing concept where data is stored on the internet by a cloud computing provider who manages and administers data storage as a service. It is less expensive and more scalable to store data on the cloud instead of on physical devices like hard drives. It gives users the ability to share and access files remotely without access to their local storage systems. + It is a service model where the data is transmitted and stored on a third-party managed remoted system.« Itis usually priced at a per-consumption, monthly rate. + It helps to access files from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection. + Itcan be accessed from any device. For example, users can access the file on the go from their mobile also, fffi Advantages of Cloud Storage Below are the advantages of cloud storage: ff. Cost Saving By using cloud storage, there is no need to buy as many hard drives, enclosures to house them in, RAID cards to enable data redundancy, electricity to power them, or hardware warranty services to safeguard them. However, it also cuts management expenses by decreasing the need for in-depth capacity planning, streamlining monitoring, and minimizing on-premise hardware and software management. Administrators can instead concentrate on other, more crucial activities. 2. Data Redundancy and Replication The majority of cloud storage providers maintain numerous copies of data, even inside of a single “Data Center”, and they provide excellent object durability to lower the risk of data loss, Geographic replication options, however, can spread out several copies of data across areas if you're searching for even greater security. Others provide replication services that swiftly transfer data between data centers, while some offer geo-replication as a storage class option. Your backups are adequately shielded. 3. Data Tiering for Cost Savings Various storage classes and data tiers are offered by numerous cloud storage providers. Choose based on how regularly and rapidly one restores backups, as well as how long one wants to retain the backups. Consider using the vendor's hot storage for backups that require quick and/or frequent restores because it offers the fastest and most economical retrieval. Consider shifting data to archive storage for long-term archiving, Although data retrieval may be more time-consuming and expensive, storage expenses are far lower, especially if one intends to preserve backups for many years. The ability to automatically shift data between tiers is a feature that some vendors offer. This minimizes administration and makes it easier to obtain cost savings. 4. Regulatory Compliance For regulatory compliance, keeping backups in the same area as the data’s origin may be the best option. Worldwide alternatives for datacenters are provided by many cloud suppliers. Look for a cloud storage provider that can accommodate if one needs to store EU client data in an EU data center. Moving data to cloud storage within the same region is also advantageous for performance. Even if you are not subject to regulation, the enhanced performance might be valuable to you. fl. Ransomware/Malware Protection Ransomware is plain nasty. Unfortunately, it frequently makes the news. The malware will search the network for shares that contain files and documents to encrypt in addition to the locally infected computer, which is one of the more frightening characteristics of ransomware. You might be relieved to learn that your cloud storage can assist prevent ransomware by providing some backup security advantages because it’s more difficult to access without proper authentication if you’re hit by ransomware or another type of malware that is encrypting or destroying files. 6. Usability or Accessibility The key advantages of cloud storage are accessibility and usability. You can rapidly upload your file to your online drive even if you lack technical ability because they both have simple user interfaces. Most cloud data storage providers include drag-and-drop functionality and an intuitive user interface. For instance, if you saved a file to a disc on a mobile device, you can access that file on a computer or any other device with internet access. It doesn’t matter where you are right now. Your files, which are kept online in one of the data centers, can be accessed if you have a strong internet connection. 7. Flexibility In general, using the cloud gives businesses more flexibility than hosting on a local server. Additionally, a cloud-based solution could be able to quickly meet your need for more bandwidth without necessitating a difficult fiand expensive) update to your IT infrastructure. This improved independence and flexibility may considerably raise the overall effectiveness of your firm. You won't be able to focus on achieving your company’s goals and satisfying consumers if your present IT solutions need you to devote too much of your time to computer and data-storage concerns. However, if you rely on a third party to manage the IT hosting andinfrastructure, you'll free up more time for the areas of your organization that directly impact your bottom line. 8. Automation A cloud storage service may be used by multiple users, and as everything is handled and automated by the cloud provider vendor, one user's current task would not influence that of another. When you want to store a file in the cloud, cloud storage services function like a hard drive on your computer and won't interfere with any ongoing tasks. 9. Scalable You can upgrade the service plan if the storage included in the current plan is insufficient. Additionally, the additional space will be provided to your data storage environment with some new capabilities, so you won’t need to migrate any data from one place to another, Scalable and adaptable cloud storage is offered. fffi. Reliability Many people create a cloud backup of their hard disc in case their hard drive fails. The comfort that comes from knowing that data won't suddenly vanish one day may be well worth the small price. fffi Disadvantages of Cloud Storage Below are the disadvantages of cloud storage: ff. Vulnerability The majority of PCs and servers that save data require an internet connection. Cloud solutions are internet-based by nature, which means that they are linked to other computers and servers. Thus, making them vulnerable to attacks by malicious users on the network. 2. Internet Dependency The internet starts to be reliant on your storage. Due to the fact that the internet will govern our world in 2022, this disadvantage will diminish. One can always save files while offline and access them later. However, an internet connection will be required for the update and sync. 3. Issues in Security and Privacy Uncertainties about privacy and security on the cloud are the next significant point to be made in relation to the drawbacks of cloud storage. Confidential data must be given over to a third-party organization in order to be stored in the cloud. One must therefore have complete faith in the cloud vendor.4. Limitations on Control After the user moves data to the cloud, the vendor is now in charge of it. This implies that users must rely on the vendors to maintain their services in a safe, stable, up-and-running, and fully functional manner. This limits the influence on data safety Nearly all reliability is left up to the storage vendor, along with accessibility. fl. Cost Although cloud storage options are normally a cost-effective choice, they could not be available if utilized for short-term or very small- scale projects, depending on the cloud vendor. Users can be on the hook for 18 more months than needed, which is not financially feasible if the demand for data storage is for 6 months but the vendor's minimum offer is 2 years. 6. Migration The ability to switch to another cloud service has grown much less well than other aspects of cloud storage. As a result, many clients continue to find this scenario to be quite difficult. Although several of these options are currently unavailable, one may choose to migrate data to another solution if one discovers that the cloud provider does not adequately address all of the users’ needs. If there are such options, they might be pricey. As a result, additional expenses are now necessary, most often in the form of signing a deal with a second cloud-storage vendor while being bound by the terms of the first. 7. Regulatory Compliances Only cloud storage options with the highest levels of security protection may be trusted by financial organizations. When penalties, fines, and lawsuits are imposed because authorities think it necessary for specific criteria for data protection, the company will be the target, not the cloud provider. 8. Minimal Support Even when using a simple, rapid, and secure cloud solution, problems can occur because every user and business has different wants and specifics. The absence of support for cloud storage is one of the main difficulties there. 9. Features Each cloud service provider is unique from the others. Users may occasionally only be able to use the basic kinds of cloud storage thatcloud providers provide. As a result, one cannot modify certain features or take advantage of all of their benefits. fffi. Data Management Given that cloud storage systems have their own organizational systems, managing data may be a pain. The system used by a cloud vendor might not work with the way one manages their storage currently. What is a cloud storage provider? * cloud storage provider, sometimes referred to as a managed service provider, is a company that offers organizations and individuals the ability to place and retain data in an off-site storage system. Customers can lease cloud storage capacity per month or on demand. « What is a cloud storage provider? + A cloud storage provider, sometimes referred to as a managed service provider, is a company that offers organizations and individuals the ability to place and retain data in an off-site storage system, Customers can lease cloud storage capacity per month or on demand. + A cloud storage provider hosts a customer's data in its own data center, providing fee-based computing, networking and storage infrastructure. Both individual and corporate customers can get unlimited storage capacity on a provider's servers at a low per-gigabyte price. - How cloud storage providers work + Rather than store data on local storage devices, such as a hard drive, flash storage or tape, customers choose a cloud storage provider to host data ‘on a system in a remote data center. Users can then access those files using an internet connection, + The delivery of IT services via the internet is broadly defined as cloud. computing or utility computing, This business model first hit mainstream enterprises with the rise of application service providers. + Acloud storage provider also sells non-storage services for a fee. Enterprises purchase compute, software, storage and related IT components as discrete cloud services with a pay-as-you-go license. For example, customers can opt to lease infrastructure as a service; platform as a service; or security, software and storage as a service. Key attributes of cloud-based IT servicesCloud-based computing services enable a customer to take advantage of a multi-tenant cloud environment without having to directly manage all the services. The level and type of services chosen are specified in a service- level agreement signed with the provider. The ability to rationalize costs by using the cloud can be especially beneficial to small and midsize organizations with limited budgets and IT staff. The chief advantages of using a cloud storage provider are cost control, elasticity and self-service provisioning. Users can scale computing resources on demand as the need arises, and then spin those resources down after the task is complete. This removes any worries about exceeding storage limitations with on-premises networked storage. Enterprise uses include archive, cloud backup and long-term retention of data that is seldom accessed, but that must be readily available for competitive or compliance reasons. The key to storing data in the cloud is ensuring that it remains available, and the required level of availability influences the cost. Rather than paying outright for server and software licenses, customers receive a monthly bill for the cloud services, thus moving the cost from a capital expense to an operational expense. Users pay only for consumed storage capacity, in a manner similar to an electric utility. Consumer-based cloud storage providers Some consumer-oriented public cloud providers offer free online storage with a capacity limit. Users can upload documents, photos and videos without paying until they exceed the capacity limit. The size of the files that can be uploaded may be capped, but users can purchase unlimited storage in the cloud if their budget allows. This requires buying capacity on demand, as the need arises, or paying a nominal monthly subscription fee. Cloud services support Windows and Android devices, enabling users to create, edit and share documents across devices. Amazon Drive, Apple iCloud, Box, Carbonite, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, SOS Online Backup, SugarSyne and Western Digital My Cloud Home are among the leading consumer cloud storage options. Although geared toward individuals, companies will sometimes use consumer clouds to store selected data in a private repository, often as ameans to syne and share files across a distributed environment. Still, most organizations prefer to use cither a public cloud provider or to implement a private cloud they manage on premises for their critical application data. + Enterprise cloud storage: Public vs. private + Amazon Web Services is the leading public cloud provider, ahead of Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Amazon S3 has aided in the rise of object storage, which presents data as unique objects with a flat address. Other cloud storage providers with an enterprise focus include Alibaba Cloud, IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Rackspace. + Public clouds provide a less expensive alternative to expanding a physical storage area network or network-attached storage environment, but some enterprises are wary of using them because data is sent outside of the corporate firewall. This makes public cloud s targets for hackers, putting the onus on IT administrators to selectively orage providers potential choose which data to store in the cloud and to enforce appropriate measures for data protection and data security. + A private cloud is an internal system in which management of data always resides within the confines of a company's data center. It is not uncommon for an organization to use a hybrid cloud, in which certain resources are managed in house, while others are provided by one or more third-party cloud providers, with an orchestration layer between the platforms. Public vs. private vs. hybrid cloud storage ween Enterprise uses for cloud storageCloud storage often provides a secondary or tertiary tier to a local disk or an ite vault for traditional disk- or internal private cloud. It can serve as an off: s the tape-based backup. Conversely, some enterprises use cloud storage primary destination for backups. Certain companies also choose the cloud for primary storage. Disaster recovery (DR) planning is a prominent use case for cloud storage. Most storage array vendors provide the capability to replicate data to a cloud to protect it in the event of a data center outage. Typically, cloud. DR involves the vendor's storage software running as a virtualized instance in the cloud. ‘A more sophisticated DR approach is to set up a failover cloud array at the provider's site, In this scenario, the cloud provider installs applications, storage hardwa re and networking connections that are identical to what is installed locally, Some organizations use the services of more than one provider. This multiple cloud approach provides added redundancy by sending backups to multiple providers. This may also help users avoid vendor lock-in with a single cloud provider. Running primary workloads in cloud-based block storage is another emerging use, particularly for widely used corporate applications, such as Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft SharePoint A growing number of storage vendors offer systems to host unstructured data in the cloud. In this hybrid model, a local appliance will cache frequently accessed data in flash, while new data is written to a primary copy hosted in the cloud.Cloud storage concerns Concerns regarding regulatory compliance will guide an organization's decision of whether or not to use the cloud, as well as which application workloads to include. Customers need to address performance and security issues to prevent the compromise of personally identifiable information, such as customer credit card information. For example, Amazon has had several outages in recent years that have left customers unable to access data. Also, the demise of cloud storag : pioneer Nirvanix in 2013 left customers only two weeks to retrieve data before the vendor shut down. The suddenness of Nirvanix's departure served as a lesson for organizations to move in a more deliberate fashion to the cloud. Not every application is suited for the cloud. Certain applications carry strict performance or security requirements. Before moving an application to the cloud, IT teams should ensure it is the best strategic option, focusing on ues related to regulatory compliance, control and cost. Running applications in a multi-tenant cloud can result in inconsistent performance caused by the noisy neighbor phenomenon. This occurs when multiple applications compete for the same IT resources. A cloud storage provider can help address th se issues by enabling on-demand provisioning of bare-metal servers or cloud arrays to dedicate the needed resources continuously to critical applications.