Cloud computing is a technology that provides access to computer resources over the Internet. There is no need to buy, store, and maintain physical equipment – the cloud provider does that. The user gets access to the management terminal, where the characteristics of virtual servers are configured and additional services are connected. The volume of resources is practically unlimited, and payment is based on consumption. This is convenient: you can increase capacity when you need it, and disconnect everything unnecessary when high performance is not required.
Why cloud computing is needed
Before the advent of cloud computing, organizations had to store their data and deploy software on their servers. And the larger the organization, the larger the local infrastructure. Everything seemed to be under control, but there was an important disadvantage – the inability to scale quickly when the workload increased. For example, if the number of online orders has risen sharply in the period of a sale, the servers can “lie” and can not cope with the influx of buyers. And this is fraught with lost profits. To avoid this happening, you can install additional equipment, but this approach is costly and inefficient because the standby iron will idle most of the time. And the purchase, installation, and configuration of the equipment will require time, which is often lacking.
Cloud technology allows you to manage your infrastructure more flexibly. With virtualization, you can quickly assemble the right number of servers with the desired performance. GPU, RAM, disk capacity, and other parameters are configured in a couple of clicks. If the current configuration can’t handle the load, resources can be added through the control panel. In addition, the auto-scaling feature allows for automation of this process.
Therefore, you don’t need to buy expensive “hardware” which will idle much of the time. You can rent it from a cloud provider and use it when you need it. Using cloud computing reduces hardware downtime and makes more efficient use of resources. That’s why many organizations, regardless of type, size or industry, are moving to the cloud model of operation – it’s profitable and easy.
In addition, the cloud allows you to simplify the organization of your IT systems. You can get the right amount of perfectly working servers, Kubernetes clusters, or DBMS at any time – it’s convenient. There is no need to configure and update them, and your cloud provider takes care of that.
Cloud platforms allow you to solve a variety of tasks. With their help, for example, you can build a more reliable backup and disaster recovery system, implement DevOps practices in development, train artificial intelligence, work effectively with Big Data, etc. For example, financial organizations are using cloud computing to create digital fingerprints of users and improve anti-fraud systems that protect customers’ money from fraudsters. Video game developers and media corporations can perform object rendering and content delivery (CDN) tasks.
