Copyright TechTarget - All rights reserved https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Techtarget Feed Generator en Tue, 21 Apr 2026 23:05:32 GMT https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing editor@techtarget.com <p>If you want to prove your mettle as a cloud computing professional who can navigate their way through the Amazon Web Services management console, then the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam is for you.</p> <p>Although it's considered an entry-level designation, the Cloud Practitioner exam is well respected in the industry. It's incredibly difficult and covers an impressively wide array of topics.</p> <p>Not as tightly focused on a specific domain like the <a href="https://www.theserverside.com/blog/Coffee-Talk-Java-News-Stories-and-Opinions/AWS-Certified-Developer-Exam-practice-questions-and-answers">Certified Developer - Associate</a> or Solutions Architect - Professional certifications, the Cloud Practitioner exam tests candidates on a wider array of topics than any other AWS exam.</p> <p>If you want to pass the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam, you'll need to demonstrate foundational knowledge in a variety of topics, such as the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.theserverside.com/blog/Coffee-Talk-Java-News-Stories-and-Opinions/How-to-Transfer-a-Domain-to-Amazons-Route-53">Route 53</a> and domain name mapping.</li> <li>Kubernetes and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/video/Create-an-Amazon-EKS-cluster-and-deploy-Docker-containers">EKS clusters</a>.</li> <li>The role of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/video/An-Amazon-Bedrock-tutorial-for-beginners">Amazon Bedrock</a> and SageMaker.</li> <li><a href="https://www.theserverside.com/video/Java-Spring-Boot-and-AWS-Elastic-Beanstalk">Python and Node Beanstalk</a> app deployment.</li> <li>Amazon <a href="https://www.theserverside.com/video/Host-a-static-website-on-AWS-with-Amazon-S3-and-Route-53">S3 static website hosting</a>.</li> <li>Container <a href="https://www.theserverside.com/video/How-to-deploy-Spring-Boot-apps-in-AWS">deployment to ECS</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Think you're ready to <a target="_blank" href="https://aws.amazon.com/certification/" rel="noopener">schedule the test</a>?</p> <p>Before you sign up, step through this 65-question AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner practice exam. If the questions make sense and you have no problem picking the correct answer, you are well on your way to not just passing the test, but possibly pulling in a 100% score.</p> <p><i>Cameron McKenzie has been a Java EE software engineer for 20 years. His current specialties include Agile development; DevOps; Spring; and container-based technologies such as Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes.</i></p> Looking to get AWS Cloud Practitioner certified? Then step through these 65 questions and prepare yourself for the test. https://www.theserverside.com/video/AWS-Certified-Cloud-Practitioner-practice-exam Mon, 25 Aug 2025 16:00:00 GMT <p>Cloud computing has become vital to business operations, offering modern businesses scalability and flexibility. The cost of cloud storage, though, can quickly spiral out of control without a strategy.</p> <p>Diligent monitoring and analysis can help address these cloud challenges, enabling admins and businesses to understand the cost components and usage patterns. These activities make sure that businesses get the most value from their cloud investments and avoid unnecessary expenses.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is cloud cost analysis?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What is cloud cost analysis?</h2> <p>The systematic process of tracking and evaluating cloud storage spending is a type of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchCloudComputing/tip/Cloud-cost-management-tools-you-should-know-about">cloud cost analysis</a>. Performing this analysis means monitoring cloud resource spending, identifying spending patterns and comparing actual costs against budgets. It helps businesses get a clearer picture of their cloud spending so that they can better plan their use.</p> <p>Some businesses do it as part of a FinOps Framework exercise, a larger strategy that maximizes the overall business value of cloud resources. But even as a standalone initiative, an analysis of the cost of cloud storage can deliver significant savings and information to any business.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Why do it?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Why do it?</h2> <p>As with any budgeting exercise, a cloud storage cost analysis ensures that cloud usage and spending align with business objectives and good practices. Businesses use it to strategically adjust their budgets and spending to be sure that they're useful and cost-effective. It's also a good way to offset provider-based cost increases as businesses invest in hardware and software upgrades to better serve customers.</p> <p>Regular analysis gives businesses better visibility into their cloud storage resource usage, so they see what's being used and how. They'll see performance analytics that identify underused or idle resources that affect efficiency, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchCloudComputing/tip/What-is-cloud-cost-optimization-Best-practices-to-embrace">uncover overspending</a> through historical usage data, and forecast future use and costs. Decision-makers will be able to make more informed decisions about resource allocation, spending and technology investments.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Key factors of a cloud storage cost analysis"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Key factors of a cloud storage cost analysis</h2> <p>IT teams and admins should consider the following key factors when analyzing the cost of cloud storage.</p> <h3>Capacity costs</h3> <p>Many providers offer different <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/How-to-effectively-plan-cloud-storage-scalability">capacity models for cloud storage</a>, including on-demand, reserved capacity, spot instances and discounts for large-scale storage.</p> <h3>Transaction costs</h3> <p>Review the fees for read/write operations, data retrieval and API requests based on your organization's data access patterns. Storage for rarely retrieved data is often cheaper than frequently accessed or changed data.</p> <h3>Storage tiers</h3> <p>Evaluate the different storage types available and their pricing implications. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Choose-the-best-Azure-Blob-Storage-tier">Hot, cool and archive cloud storage</a> have varied costs. Know how you use and access the data to confidently choose the relevant storage tier.</p> <h3>Data transfer costs</h3> <p>Understand if a cloud provider charges for uploading, downloading and moving data between storage tiers or regions, as it could become a significant variable cost based on your usage.</p> <h3>Data volume and growth</h3> <p>Current and projected data volume affects long-term costs. Backups and archive stores can grow exponentially as a business grows, so project and review it regularly.</p> <h3>Vendor lock-in</h3> <p>If your business deals with a single cloud vendor or provider, you could be subject to vendor lock-in clauses in your agreement. That could make a move from one vendor to another prohibitively expensive or technically difficult if the new choice uses proprietary technologies, APIs or data formats.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-cloud_storage_uses-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-cloud_storage_uses-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-cloud_storage_uses-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-cloud_storage_uses-f.png 1280w" alt="Chart listing common cloud storage uses." height="262" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Watch out for hidden costs"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Watch out for hidden costs</h2> <p>Some hidden costs of cloud storage include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Data transfer fees.</b> Vendors typically charge for moving data between cloud services. As they're calculated based on the amount of data being moved, it can get expensive to move significant data volumes.</li> <li><b>Exit or egress fees.</b> They also charge for migrating data off a platform, either to another cloud provider or to on-premises storage. As with transfers, vendors calculate <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Cloud-egress-costs-What-they-are-and-how-to-dodge-them">egress fees</a> based on the volume of data being moved -- and might charge more if you're moving to a new provider and closing your account with them.</li> <li><b>Region and availability zones.</b> Cloud data is generally stored in cloud regions and availability zones to ensure maximum availability for customers. Some businesses are required to store data in specific regions for legal or regulatory reasons, which can increase the cost of cloud storage if it means that duplicates must be kept in multiple regions.</li> <li><b>Hot, warm and cold storage availability.</b> Pricing is based on access frequency, with hot storage generally being the most expensive and going down in price from there. Costs can creep up if your business is accessing data more often than the zone allows, as extra access is generally priced higher. Understanding your needs and the fees involved can offset extra costs you might incur.</li> <li><b>Multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments.</b> Since many businesses use <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Multi-cloud-vs-hybrid-cloud-and-how-to-know-the-difference">multiple clouds</a> today, you could rack up higher costs through additional orchestration apps, staff and transfer costs.</li> </ul> <p><i>Julia Borgini is a freelance technical copywriter, content marketer, content strategist and geek. She writes about B2B tech, SaaS, DevOps, the cloud and other tech topics.</i></p> </section> Avoid budget overruns and maximize your cloud investment with regular cloud storage cost analysis. Keep an eye out for hidden costs such as egress fees. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_g1135435124.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Top-tips-for-doing-a-cloud-storage-cost-analysis Thu, 24 Jul 2025 14:00:00 GMT <p>In today's rapidly evolving IT landscape, organizations increasingly adopt cloud and cloudlike storage. The key is to find a storage-as-a-service provider whose platform closely aligns with your organization's needs.</p> <p>By storing data in the cloud, organizations can ensure that their data is secure, accessible and easy to manage, all while driving down storage costs. Storage as a service (STaaS), though, is a general term and could include a variety of types. These providers commonly fall into one of three categories: infrastructure as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">IaaS</a>), specialized storage and capacity on demand.</p> <p>This article outlines several leading STaaS providers in each of these categories. Providers are listed in alphabetical order per section.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IaaS storage"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IaaS storage</h2> <p>IaaS is most commonly associated with cloud hyperscalers and is available in the form of raw, scalable storage that developers or IT teams can use. These storage platforms are built for scalability, performance and reliability. Unlike consumer-grade products, they do not typically include an interface for sharing files or collaborating on data. If such features are needed, it's up to the application developers to build them.</p> <h3>Alibaba Cloud</h3> <p>Alibaba Cloud designed Object Storage Service for unstructured data storage and intended it for high durability and massive scalability. Alibaba provides various controls such as data lifecycle management and access control. Alibaba's high-performance file storage, Cloud Parallel File Storage, can be used for high-performance computing workloads and adheres to a scale-out architecture supporting parallel access.</p> <p>Alibaba also provides file storage through <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/An-introduction-to-Alibaba-cloud-offerings">Apsara File Storage</a>, which is better suited to more conventional file storage workloads and is accessible through protocols such as NFS and SMB. Businesses can use Alibaba's block storage for databases, VMs and transactional workloads.</p> <h3>AWS</h3> <p>The Amazon Web Services cloud offers several different storage options, each designed to handle a specific use. As an example, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/news/366620972/Amazon-Exec-New-AWS-S3-capabilities-highly-adopted-by-users">S3, Amazon's object storage</a>, is well suited for storing large volumes of unstructured data. Similarly, Amazon offers block storage as a part of its Elastic Block Store service, which is usually for storing Elastic Compute Cloud VM instances. In addition, Elastic File System is for file storage and is compatible with commonly used file systems. Finally, Amazon S3 Glacier storage is for cheaper data archiving.</p> <h3>Google Cloud</h3> <p>Like other cloud-based object storage products, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/How-to-handle-Google-Cloud-Storage-costs">Google Cloud Storage</a> is suitable for storing all manner of unstructured data. Google makes block storage available to its customers through Persistent Disks, which customers can use with VMs or database workloads. Google's file storage service, Filestore, is accessible through the NFS protocol.</p> <h3>Microsoft Azure</h3> <p>Like AWS, Microsoft's Azure cloud includes several services delivering various types of storage. Microsoft's object storage, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tutorial/How-to-create-Azure-Blob-Storage-accounts">Azure Blob</a>, is optimized for unstructured data types such as files, documents and media. However, Azure Blob also includes tiers that are intended for use as archival storage. For users who need to create cloud-based VM instances, Azure's preferred service is Azure Disk Storage. Azure Files, which exposes a cloud-based file system through the SMB protocol, is a more traditional file system.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-exhrtTmpWQ?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Specialized storage-as-a-service providers"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Specialized storage-as-a-service providers</h2> <p>Specialized cloud storage is tied to a web interface that enables the storage to be used for a specific purpose. As an example, a specialized cloud storage service might assist with sharing documents among teams or uploading large files.</p> <h3>Box</h3> <p>Box is an enterprise file-sharing platform. Not surprisingly, Box focuses heavily on security and compliance. In addition to its core security offering, Box offers services that are specifically geared toward ensuring compliance with regulations ranging from GDPR to FedRAMP. The company also offers additional services, such as Box Shuttle, for content migration, and Box KeySafe, which helps to protect encryption keys.</p> <h3>Dropbox</h3> <p>Dropbox is another <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Compare-Box-vs-Dropbox-enterprise-storage-platforms">popular file-sharing platform</a>. Dropbox offers plans that are designed for use by consumers, but the company also has professional and enterprise-grade plans. The plans largely differ from one another in terms of storage, retention period, volume of data transfers included and number of users supported. However, the Advanced plan includes single sign-on and compliance-tracking capabilities, advanced key management, role-based access control and tiered management.</p> <h3>Microsoft 365</h3> <p>Microsoft 365 is an entire suite of cloud applications with services ranging from email to project management. Enterprise-grade storage and file sharing are delivered through services such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Manage-OneDrive-for-Business-storage-limits-step-by-step">OneDrive for Business</a> and SharePoint. OneDrive enables users to securely store, access and share files from almost any device. SharePoint is designed more for collaboration and high-volume content management. It fully supports version controls, permissions management and data backups, and integrates with other Microsoft 365 applications.</p> <h3>ShareFile</h3> <p>ShareFile is a platform for secure document sharing, automation and e-signing. The company offers several different plans. Features such as threat detection, feedback and approval, and encrypted messaging are included in the most basic plan. Higher-end plans are designed to comply with regulations such as HIPAA and offer features such as unlimited e-signatures, document request lists and AI-driven secure share recommendations. The company also offers plans geared toward accounting, with features tailored to the unique needs of accountants.</p> <h3>WeTransfer</h3> <p>WeTransfer is also a file-sharing service, though it is primarily geared toward sharing or sending large files that are too big to transfer through email. While the company offers some consumer-oriented plans, it also provides enterprise plans supporting advanced access management, single sign-on, custom transfer rules and advanced logging. Additionally, WeTransfer enables users to create content lifecycle management policies that automatically expire content after a specified amount of time.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Capacity on demand"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Capacity on demand</h2> <p>Capacity-on-demand storage is commonly used in hybrid cloud environments, as a mashup of traditional and cloud storage. Like traditional storage, capacity on demand is hardware-based and installed in an organization's own data center. It's different from more traditional data center storage hardware in that the storage-as-a-service providers bill the hardware like a cloud service. In other words, businesses can have extra storage capacity sitting in the data center, ready to use. However, they only pay for the storage that they use.</p> <h3>Dell Apex</h3> <p>Dell advertises Apex as an end-to-end portfolio that it offers through an as-a-service subscription plan. As such, Apex includes far more than just storage. Servers, data protection and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/news/366553296/Dell-Apex-brings-cloud-Azure-HCI-to-ground">HCI systems</a> all fall under the Apex umbrella. Customers choose the technology that they want to deploy; select the deployment, support and other services that they want; and select the terms of the consumption agreement. Storage services are billed based on either raw capacity or usable capacity, depending on the product.</p> <h3>HPE GreenLake</h3> <p>GreenLake is HPE's hybrid cloud platform. Like Dell Apex, storage services account for only a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00047694enw" rel="noopener">small part</a> of HPE's GreenLake offerings. HPE offers several different GreenLake for Storage configurations including Mission Critical, Business Critical and General Purpose. These configurations vary in terms of both the hardware and the recommended use. Apart from the Business Critical configuration, businesses can choose from Cost-optimized, Performance or Balanced tiers. The Business Critical configuration can be Performance or Balanced.</p> <h3>IBM Storage as a Service</h3> <p>IBM Storage as a Service is based around the company's FlashSystem and DS8900F hardware. This data storage hardware is deployed on-premises, with storage billed using consumption-based pricing, similar to what cloud providers use. IBM uses AI-driven monitoring as a tool for helping admins manage their storage and forecast capacity-planning needs. IBM offers three separate Storage as a Service tiers: Extreme, Premium and Balanced. These tiers differ in terms of capacity, performance and availability.</p> <h3>NetApp Keystone</h3> <p>NetApp Keystone is designed for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/feature/An-introduction-to-hybrid-multi-cloud-storage">hybrid multi-cloud</a> by supporting object, block and file storage on-premises and in the public cloud. NetApp has simplified the billing process by adopting a single, pay-as-you-go subscription that covers storage used both on-premises and in the cloud. Users can scale all this available capacity as needed. NetApp has centralized storage provisioning and monitoring through its BlueXP tool. NetApp offers multiple tiers of service. The company's Extreme and Premium tiers come with an uptime guarantee of 99.999%.</p> <h3>Pure Storage Evergreen//One</h3> <p>Like NetApp Keystone, Pure Storage Evergreen//One is designed to simplify storage as a service by using a single, unified subscription for all storage, regardless of whether it exists on-premises, in a hosted environment or in the public cloud. The Evergreen//One catalog offers several different classes of block, file and object storage, as well as storage for use by AI or as a unified data repository. These tiers vary in terms of cost, performance, latency and commitment.</p> <p><i>Brien Posey is a former 22-time Microsoft MVP and a commercial astronaut candidate. In his more than 30 years in IT, he has served as a lead network engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and a network administrator for some of the largest insurance companies in America.</i></p> </section> If you're looking for cloud storage or an on-premises platform with similar billing methods, you might find what you need in this list of 14 storage-as-a-service providers. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_g1251263502.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Get-to-know-storage-as-a-service-providers-and-their-offerings Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT <p>Cloud bursting is an application deployment technique in which an application running in a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/private-cloud">private cloud </a>or data center bursts its extra workload to a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/public-cloud">public cloud</a> when the demand for computing capacity spikes. This deployment model gives an organization access to more computing resources as needed.</p> <p>When compute demand exceeds the capacity of a private cloud, cloud bursting gives an organization additional flexibility to deal with peaks in IT demand and frees up local resources for other critical applications.</p> <p>The advantage of a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/hybrid-cloud">hybrid cloud</a> deployment model like cloud bursting is that an organization only pays for extra compute resources when they are needed.</p> <p>In a cloud bursting model, the private cloud is the primary means of deployment, with public cloud resources being used in times of increased traffic. When a private cloud reaches its resource capacity, overflow traffic is directed toward a public cloud without service interruption. Once reduced to normal traffic levels, data is moved back to the private cloud. Cloud bursts can be triggered either automatically based on high usage demands or manually by request.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cloud_bursting-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cloud_bursting-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cloud_bursting-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cloud_bursting-f.png 1280w" alt="A diagram showing the cloud-bursting process" height="349" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>With cloud bursting, the private cloud is the primary means of deployment and public cloud resources are used as needed during times of peak traffic. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>When using cloud bursting, an organization should <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Taking-a-good-enough-approach-with-cloud-security-isnt-enough?">consider its level of security</a>, platform compatibilities and compliance requirements. Because private clouds are generally more protected than public clouds, critical applications or data are not recommended for cloud bursting since that data will transition between clouds, potentially <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Security-in-the-public-cloud-explained-A-guide-for-IT-and-security-admins">introducing security and compliance risks</a>.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DIeTEFtg-Zw?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How does cloud bursting work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How does cloud bursting work?</h2> <p>IT administrators help <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/The-importance-of-cloud-capacity-management-and-how-to-do-it">establish capacity thresholds</a> for applications in the private cloud. When workload capacity nears its threshold, the used application automatically switches to the public cloud and traffic is directed toward it. Once the spike in resource demands diminishes, the application is moved back to the private cloud or on-premises infrastructure.</p> <p>An organization can take one of the following approaches to cloud bursting:</p> <p><b>Distributed load balancing.</b> With distributed <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/load-balancing">load balancing</a>, applications operate between a public cloud and a data center. When traffic hits its predefined threshold, an identical environment redirects workload traffic to a public cloud. This method needs an application to be deployed locally and in the public cloud and requires load balancing operations to share traffic.</p> <p><b>Pros:</b> This method is highly scalable, promotes <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/high-availability">high availability</a>, optimizes performance and is cost-efficient.</p> <p><b>Cons:</b> Data consistency can be challenging. More <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/What-is-endpoint-security-How-does-it-work">endpoints</a> can mean more security risks or a larger attack surface. Configuration can be complex, requiring specialized knowledge.</p> <p><b>Automated bursting.</b> This method requires an organization to set policies to define how bursting is handled. Once set, an application hosted in a private cloud can automatically burst over to a public cloud. Software is used to automatically switch the application over. This helps an organization provision cloud resources exactly when needed without delay.</p> <p><b>Pros:</b> This method offers elastic scalability, cost and operational efficiencies, enhanced performance and availability. Automated cloud bursting can improve the resilience of applications and services.</p> <p><b>Cons: </b>Data latency issues can affect performance, integration can be difficult, configuration can be complex, and automated scaling can cause costs to spike.</p> <p><b>Manual bursting.</b> Manual bursting enables an organization to manually <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/cloud-provisioning">provision</a> and de-provision cloud services and resources. It is suitable for temporary large cloud deployments when increased traffic is expected or to free up local resources for business-critical applications.</p> <p><b>Pros:</b> This method's costs are predictable. It offers greater resource control, enhanced security, and a lower risk of unauthorized data transfer.</p> <p><b>Cons:</b> This method takes longer to scale compared to automated methods. It requires human intervention for resource allocation and management. There can be increased operational costs and inconsistencies in process management.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="When does an organization need cloud bursting?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>When does an organization need cloud bursting?</h2> <p>Cloud bursting is recommended for high-performance, noncritical applications that handle nonsensitive information. An application can be deployed locally and then burst to the cloud to meet peak demands, or it can be moved to the public cloud to free up local resources for business-critical applications. Cloud bursting works best for applications that do not depend on a complex application delivery infrastructure or integration with other applications, components and systems internal to the data center.</p> <p>When considering cloud bursting, an organization must also examine security and regulatory compliance requirements. For example, cloud bursting is often cited as a viable option for retailers that experience peaks in demand during the holiday shopping season. However, cloud computing service providers do not necessarily offer an environment compliant with the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/PCI-DSS-Payment-Card-Industry-Data-Security-Standard">Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard</a>, and retailers could be putting sensitive data at risk by bursting it to the public cloud.</p> <p>Other applications of cloud bursting include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Software development and big data modeling.</b> Organizations that handle <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/big-data">big data</a> or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/machine-learning-ML">machine learning</a> can use cloud bursting to generate models that exceed their private cloud capacity.</li> <li><b>Marketing campaigns.</b> An organization can use cloud bursting with a marketing campaign if they are expecting a large influx of traffic as a result.</li> <li><b>Healthcare.</b> Data-intensive research can benefit from on-demand high-performance computing.</li> <li><b>Retail and e-commerce.</b> Overflow traffic due to seasonal sales can be rapidly and inexpensively accommodated without permanent infrastructure investment.</li> </ul> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-public-cloud-providers-A-brief-comparison">Cloud service providers</a> Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure can support cloud bursting.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The benefits of cloud bursting"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The benefits of cloud bursting</h2> <p>The main benefits of cloud bursting include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Cost.</b> An organization only pays for extra compute resources when needed. Likewise, private cloud infrastructure costs can be kept low by maintaining only minimal resources.</li> <li><b>Flexibility.</b> Cloud bursting can quickly adjust to capacity needs and free up private cloud resources.</li> <li><b>Business continuity.</b> An application can burst over to the public cloud without interrupting its users.</li> <li><b>Peaks in traffic.</b> If an organization is expecting a sudden increase in traffic, like during a holiday, cloud bursting can be used to facilitate any expected or unexpected peaks in compute resource demands.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The challenges of using cloud bursting"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The challenges of using cloud bursting</h2> <p>Cloud bursting does come with some challenges, however. These include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Security.</b> If a public cloud is attacked, then an adjacent organization's data can be at risk.</li> <li><b>Data protection.</b> It could be difficult to keep backups consistent when they are fed from multiple sources.</li> <li><b>Networking.</b> Organizations might find it difficult to build low-latency and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/bandwidth">high-bandwidth</a> redundant connections between public and private clouds.</li> </ul> <p>Other issues related to cloud bursting arise from the potential for incompatibility between the different environments and the limited availability of management tools. Cloud computing service providers and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtualization">virtualization</a> vendors have developed tools to send workloads to the cloud and manage hybrid environments, but they often require all environments to be based on the same platform. These challenges typically lead to few companies being able to deploy cloud-bursting architectures.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How to implement a cloud bursting strategy"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How to implement a cloud bursting strategy</h2> <p>The following are some tips for implementing a cloud bursting strategy:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Assess use cases. </b>Determine how cloud bursting could be beneficially applied in the enterprise.</li> <li><b>Choose an appropriate architecture. </b>Identify the primary environment and select the right architecture to accommodate the use cases.</li> <li><b>Choose a cloud provider. </b>Determine which of the cloud providers can best<b> </b>handle the burst traffic.</li> <li><b>Decide between automated and manual bursting.</b> Make appropriate monitoring and personnel choices based on this decision.</li> <li><b>Implement security.</b> Apply in-transit encryption; configure roles, access and authentication.</li> <li><b>Implement monitoring.</b> Configure resource triggers, such as CPU usage and memory management, and establish ongoing usage monitoring.</li> <li><b>Configure scaling. </b>Define appropriate scaling policies and implement triggers as needed.</li> </ul> <p><i>Learn more about </i><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Cloud-bursting-What-it-is-and-what-its-good-for"><i>how cloud bursting works </i></a><i>and which applications can benefit from it.</i></p> </section> Cloud bursting is an application deployment technique in which an application running in a private cloud or data center bursts its extra workload to a public cloud when the demand for computing capacity spikes. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/5.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-bursting Wed, 18 Jun 2025 09:15:00 GMT <p>Infrastructure as code (IaC) is an IT practice that codifies and manages underlying IT infrastructure as software. It enables developers and operations teams to automatically manage, monitor and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/provisioning">provision</a> resources instead of manually configuring hardware devices, operating systems (OSes), applications and services. IaC is also referred to as <i>programmable</i> or <i><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/How-to-realize-the-benefits-of-software-defined-infrastructure">software-defined infrastructure</a></i>.</p> <p>The concept of IaC is similar to programming <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/script">scripts</a>, which automate IT processes. However, scripts are primarily used to automate a series of static steps repeated numerous times across multiple servers. IaC uses higher-level, descriptive language to code more versatile and adaptive provisioning and deployment processes.</p> <p>For example, the IaC capabilities included with the IT management and configuration tool Ansible can install a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchoracle/definition/MySQL">MySQL</a> server, verify that it is running properly, create a user account and password, set up a new database and remove unneeded databases.</p> <p>The code-based infrastructure automation process resembles software design practices, where application development teams develop declarative code, control code versions, test iterations and limit deployment until the software is approved for production.</p> <p>IaC also shares the same goal of abstracting IT resources as cloud computing, but it automates the entire process -- from provisioning and configuration to deployment and management. IaC is also used to provision and manage <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-infrastructure">cloud infrastructure</a>, using the cloud provider's application programming interfaces (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-program-interface-API">APIs</a>) to access and interact with the provider's resources and services.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kjq4vw_hMjE?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How does infrastructure as code work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How does infrastructure as code work?</h2> <p>In the simplest terms, IaC uses software code to provision and manage an IT infrastructure. By using code to define a desired IT outcome, organizations can improve infrastructure consistency, security, automation and performance.</p> <p>Much time and effort are involved in manually provisioning and configuring servers, storage, networks, Oses, applications, and other devices and services, such as databases, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/load-balancing">load balancers</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/firewall">firewalls</a>. It can take hours -- even days -- for a human to provide a suitable deployment environment for an enterprise workload and data. Human error can creep into many aspects of this manual effort, leading to the following problems:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Inconsistent outcomes where no two environments are the same.</li> <li>Security vulnerabilities when settings and configurations are done incorrectly.</li> <li>Troubleshooting difficulties where infrastructure documentation is poor or nonexistent.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/compliance">Compliance</a> and business continuance issues caused by security and troubleshooting problems.</li> <li>Problematic management and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/change-control">change control</a>.</li> </ul> <p>IaC embodies all the instructions needed to build and deploy a desired IT environment as a software entity. Developers and IT staff can create detailed instructions to assess the steps required and measure the code's outcomes.</p> <p>The infrastructure code delivers reproducible results and can be executed at the push of a button or in response to specific conditions. It brings a high level of automation to provisioning and management.</p> <p>Change is easier to manage because any modifications to the infrastructure code result in a new version that is well documented and can be managed with any standard <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/version-control">version control</a> system. If a problem arises due to a change, it can be corrected by running a previously known-good version of the code. This simplifies troubleshooting and improves compliance and security for the business.</p> <p>The following four basic types of IaC are often used in tandem:</p> <ol type="1" start="1" class="default-list"> <li>Scripts are often used to automate simple ad hoc tasks.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/configuration-management-CM">Configuration management</a> code defines and automates the installation and configuration of devices such as servers.</li> <li>Provisioning code automates setting up an overall infrastructure, tying together varied aspects of the environment.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/container-containerization-or-container-based-virtualization">Container</a> code relies on templates to define image files with libraries and dependencies needed to deploy and execute an application.</li> </ol> <p>The IaC process typically involves the following three steps:</p> <ol type="1" start="1" class="default-list"> <li>A developer uses domain-specific language to create specifications for the desired infrastructure.</li> <li>The specification files are sent or staged to a server or repository, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/GitHub">GitHub</a>, or an API.</li> <li>The IaC platform uses the specification files, either automatically or on demand, to create and configure the intended infrastructure.</li> </ol> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/converged_infras-infrastructure_as_code_f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/converged_infras-infrastructure_as_code_f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/converged_infras-infrastructure_as_code_f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/converged_infras-infrastructure_as_code_f.png 1280w" alt="A chart showing IaC principles, features and results." height="238" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>IaC enables IT teams to translate into code a data center's physical resources, services and discrete configurations to automatically provision and manage those resources. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IaC approaches: Declarative vs. imperative"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IaC approaches: Declarative vs. imperative</h2> <p>Infrastructure-as-code tools operate using declarative and imperative approaches.</p> <h3>Declarative approach</h3> <p>A <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/declarative-programming">declarative programming</a> approach outlines the desired, intended state of the infrastructure but does not explicitly list the steps to reach that state. It declares an intended goal and allows the underlying IaC tools to decide how those goals are implemented. A commonly known declarative programming language is Structured Query Language (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/SQL">SQL</a>). Amazon Web Services (AWS) CloudFormation templates, among others, are written in the declarative style of infrastructure as code.</p> <h3>Imperative approach</h3> <p>An <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/imperative-programming">imperative programming</a> approach defines commands that enable the infrastructure to reach the desired state. It defines the precise steps and their order to achieve a desired outcome and does not deviate from those steps. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/object-oriented-programming-OOP">Object-oriented languages</a>, like C++ and Java, can be used for imperative programming. A tool such as Chef can be used declaratively but also imperatively as needed.</p> <p>In both approaches, IaC is configured on a template, where the user specifies the resources needed for each server in the infrastructure. The template is used to verify that a system is configured correctly or has been set up appropriately. Templates can be constructed as a set of layers of resources, such as in AWS CloudFormation, which makes a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/software-stack">stack</a>.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IaC best practices"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IaC best practices</h2> <p>IaC involves infrastructure configuration and infrastructure management with high levels of automation. While there is no universal approach to deploying and using IaC, numerous best practices help streamline these deployments. Standard IaC best practices include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Use version control.</b> Provisioning and configuring infrastructure through software means IaC adheres to many software development best practices, such as strong version control. Organizations should use repositories for IaC files, comprehensive version control, and strong documentation and record-keeping to track who accesses the files and what changes occurred between versions.</li> <li><b>Do not share secrets.</b> Many configuration elements involved in IaC require passwords or encryption certificates. These are often included in IaC files without protection, potentially exposing sensitive systems and compromising security. Use a separate secrets manager to store <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/identity-access-management-IAM-system">identity and access management</a> details in a protected manner.</li> <li><b>Keep files secure.</b> IaC is intended to embrace the same collaborative attitude as other DevOps and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/agile-software-development">Agile</a> software designs. However, IaC files are likely to contain intellectual property, secrets or other sensitive content. It's important to keep them as secure as other source code the business uses.</li> <li><b>Test and validate files.</b> IaC files should never be taken for granted. They should be tested and validated in the same ways that other software is tested before being released to production. This often involves using <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/CI-CD-pipelines-explained-Everything-you-need-to-know">continuous integration/continuous delivery</a> (CI/CD), DevOps and Agile techniques.</li> <li><b>Use smaller files.</b> Several smaller IaC files can be used to perform specific tasks and then connected with a script or another IaC template. Using a larger number of smaller files enables better modularity and facilitates reuse of IaC files rather than creating and maintaining a single large ubiquitous file to do everything.</li> <li><b>Monitor and correct drift.</b> When implemented properly and with careful attention to immutability, IaC should ideally not allow configuration drift. However, drift can still occur due to system problems, troubleshooting and human error. It's essential to monitor the infrastructure environment, compare the environment against the IaC definition to find instances of drift, and document and correct any instances.</li> <li><b>Use code as a single source of truth.</b> IaC should serve as a reference point for infrastructure configurations. Treating IaC code as a single source of truth should help ensure consistency across environments, minimizing dependencies and reducing errors that could occur manually.</li> <li><b>Focus on immutable infrastructure.</b> Software defines an infrastructure. With IaC, an <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/immutable-infrastructure">immutable infrastructure</a> approach should be used. Infrastructure changes should not be made once the code is provisioned and deployed. If a change is needed, the current infrastructure should be deleted, and a new infrastructure should be deployed using new versions of the IaC files. This prevents any chance of configuration drift.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Immutable vs. mutable infrastructure"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Immutable vs. mutable infrastructure</h2> <p>Mutable infrastructure refers to changing components in production, while the overall service or application operates normally. Immutable infrastructure assembles and sets components and resources to create a full service or app. If a change is required for any component, it is not changed or reconfigured; it is all updated and effectively redeployed in an instance. A new iteration is assembled, tested, validated and launched, while the old iteration is discontinued and its resources are released for reuse.</p> <p>Immutable infrastructure has gained favor, particularly for cloud and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/microservices">microservices</a> environments, which are highly scalable and involve many interdependent components and services. Any one-off updates to address specific issues can cause configuration drift that cascades as updates are rapidly pushed to production. Reissuing sets of immutable services and components is more efficient than patching and reconfiguring individual infrastructure components. IaC emphasizes using immutable infrastructure techniques, though immutability is not a prerequisite for IaC.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Benefits and challenges of infrastructure as code"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Benefits and challenges of infrastructure as code</h2> <p>There are many benefits associated with IaC, from automation efficiency to its flexibility to align with other modern IT practices. Other IaC benefits include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Speed and efficiency.</b> Automated provisioning and management are faster and more efficient than manual processes. This extends to provisioned resources and virtualization, databases, networking, user account management and other tied-in services. IaC can also include code that automatically scales by adding or shutting down environments and resources when they are no longer needed.</li> <li><b>Consistency.</b> Software developers can use code to provision and deploy servers and applications according to business practices and policies -- rather than rely on systems administrators in a DevOps environment. A developer might create a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/configuration-file">configuration file</a> to provision and deploy a new application for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/quality-assurance">quality assurance</a> or experimental deployment before operations take over for live deployment in production.</li> <li><b>Accountability.</b> Code and corresponding repository management provide a solid foundation for documenting IaC code. It's easy to see factors such as who developed each version and what changes occurred between IaC code versions. This strengthens business compliance and code quality standards.</li> <li><b>Return on investment. </b>Implementing IaC requires a considerable investment, but the payoff in speed, efficiency, consistency, compliance, troubleshooting and automation is typically worth the investment. IaC replaces a manual process that can take hours with an automated process that can be measured in minutes. It eliminates many problems associated with manual infrastructure provisioning and configuration.</li> <li><b>Alignment with DevOps.</b> The infrastructure setup written as code can go through the same version control, automated testing and other steps of a CI/CD pipeline that developers use for application code. An organization might combine IaC with containers, which abstract the application from the infrastructure at the OS level. Because the OS and hardware infrastructure are provisioned automatically and the application is <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/encapsulation">encapsulated</a>, these technologies prove complementary for diverse deployment targets, such as test, staging and production.</li> <li><b>Shared resources.</b> IaC improves replicating infrastructure across other systems that use the same resources. In this use, IaC provides consistency and can help streamline troubleshooting processes.</li> </ul> <p>Despite its benefits, IaC also poses some disadvantages, including the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Requirement of additional tools.</b> Infrastructure as code requires additional IaC-specific or IaC-capable tools, such as configuration management tools and an automation and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/orchestration">orchestration</a> system, which could introduce learning curves and errors. Mistakes can proliferate quickly through servers, especially with extensive automation, so monitoring version control and performing comprehensive prerelease testing are essential.</li> <li><b>Lack of features.</b> IaC tools provide various powerful features and capabilities, but some might be <a target="_blank" href="https://lukeshaughnessy.medium.com/infrastructure-as-code-is-not-the-answer-cfaf4882dcba" rel="noopener">incomplete or missing</a>. It's important to evaluate and vet tools, especially against business needs, and maintain careful oversight of each tool provider's product or feature roadmap.</li> <li><b>Complexity of existing tools.</b> Introducing new tools, processes and standards into the DevOps and operations environments can add complexity to areas with prevalent tools and platforms. Enterprise-wide support is required for IaC to provide lasting and meaningful benefits to the business.</li> <li><b>Potential for configuration drift. </b>If administrators change server configurations outside of the set IaC template, there's potential for configuration drift without additional change management tools. It's important to integrate IaC fully into systems administration, IT operations and DevOps practices with well-documented policies and procedures. If legacy security and monitoring tools cannot handle IaC, this will require investing in more tools, with additional training and testing to integrate them into workflows.</li> <li><b>Competency gaps.</b> IaC places more responsibility on developers to understand how to write efficient code that translates seamlessly into production environments. They must also have strong knowledge of the languages used for IaC, including JavaScript Object Notation (<a href="https://www.theserverside.com/definition/JSON-Javascript-Object-Notation">JSON</a>), <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/YAML-YAML-Aint-Markup-Language">YAML</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Ruby-on-Rails-RoR-or-Rails">Ruby</a>, C++ and SQL. Knowledgeable staff might be harder to find and retain.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Infrastructure-as-code tools"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Infrastructure-as-code tools</h2> <p>IaC tools configure and automate infrastructure provisioning. These automation tools can automatically execute infrastructure deployment, such as servers with orchestration functionality. They can also configure and monitor previously provisioned systems.</p> <p>IaC tools enforce the setup from the template using push or pull methods. In the push method, a centralized server sends the desired configuration to a specific system or systems. The pull method is initiated by a request to a centralized server from a system or systems in the infrastructure. Tools are typically designed by default for push or pull deployment of code, but they can be set up for specific instances to do the opposite. These tools should also be able to roll back changes to the code in case of unexpected problems from an update.</p> <p>The following are <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/IaC-tools-comparison-shows-benefits-of-automated-deployments">examples of IaC tools</a>:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>AWS CloudFormation.</li> <li>Chef.</li> <li>Google Cloud Deployment Manager.</li> <li>Microsoft Azure Resource Manager.</li> <li>Puppet.</li> <li>Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.</li> <li>Terraform by HashiCorp.</li> <li>VMware Tanzu Salt.</li> </ul> <p>Some tools rely on a domain-specific language, while others use a standard template format, such as JSON and YAML.</p> <p>Organizations should consider the target deployment and select a tool for that environment. For example, AWS CloudFormation is designed to provision and manage infrastructure on AWS and works with other AWS offerings. Similarly, Microsoft Azure Resource Manager manages infrastructure on the Azure platform, while Google Cloud Deployment Manager is Google's infrastructure deployment service. Alternatively, Chef works with on-premises servers and multiple cloud provider <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">infrastructure-as-a-service</a> offerings.</p> <p><em>IT operations can go beyond IaC and take a code-based approach to managing all their resources. Learn <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/tip/What-it-means-to-do-everything-as-code-in-IT-operations">how everything as code works</a>, and see if it's right for your organization.</em></p> </section> Infrastructure as code (IaC) is an IT practice that codifies and manages underlying IT infrastructure as software. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/6.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Infrastructure-as-Code-IAC Mon, 05 May 2025 09:00:00 GMT <p>A northbound interface (NBI) is an application programming interface (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-program-interface-API">API</a>) or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/protocol">protocol</a> that allows a lower-level network component to communicate with a higher-level or more central component; conversely, a southbound interface (SBI) allows a higher-level component to send commands to lower-level network components. Northbound and southbound interfaces are most associated with software-defined networking (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/software-defined-networking-SDN">SDN</a>), but can also be used in any system that uses a hub-and-spoke -- also called <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/star-network">star</a> -- or controller-and-nodes architecture.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/sdn-traditional_vs_sdn.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/sdn-traditional_vs_sdn_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/sdn-traditional_vs_sdn_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/sdn-traditional_vs_sdn.png 1280w" alt="Diagram comparing traditional networks and SDN." height="685" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Software-defined networking simplifies network design and management compared with traditional hardware-oriented networks. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Northbound interface and southbound interface in simple terms"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Northbound interface and southbound interface in simple terms</h2> <p>In the context of networking, north and south can be thought of as directions on a map. The north is on the top and south on the bottom of the diagram. Using these cardinal directions helps to visualize internal network communications and how control moves from the top, or north, to the bottom, or south, of a network.</p> <p>All networks consist of both higher-level elements and lower-level elements. Examples of the former include tools for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network-automation">network automation</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network-orchestration">network orchestration</a>, administration consoles, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network-analytics">network analytics</a> and other management systems. Examples of lower-level elements include switches and routers.</p> <p>The higher-level elements control the lower-level ones. At the same time, the network's lower-level components need to communicate with its higher-level components using APIs.</p> <p>Some network designs also have <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/east-west-traffic">east-west</a> interfaces for communication among peers, also called <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/peer-to-peer">peer-to-peer</a> communication. These interfaces facilitate communication between the components -- servers, for example -- within the same data center or cloud environment.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is northbound and southbound traffic in networking?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What is northbound and southbound traffic in networking?</h2> <p>It is easy to confuse northbound/southbound interface with northbound/southbound data flow or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network-traffic">traffic</a>. The interface -- northbound or southbound -- defines the sender, receiver and data format; it expresses the conceptual level of communication and covers the entire bidirectional API.</p> <p>Conversely, if data or traffic is said to be northbound, southbound or east-west, that merely describes whether it is going toward or away from the network core. It is therefore possible to say that a southbound command went from the core to a node over the northbound interface.</p> <p>Simply put, north-south traffic refers to traffic coming in and going out of the internal network. For example, data traveling between a network <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/server">server</a> and an external client over the internet is north-south traffic. In contrast, east-west traffic is the internal traffic moving between devices within a network.</p> <p>It's important to understand the flows of both north-south and east-west traffic for security reasons. The more north-south traffic there is in a network, the greater the chances of a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/cyber-attack">cyberattack</a> originating from outside that network. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/video/An-explanation-of-ransomware">Ransomware</a> attacks and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/data-breach">data breaches</a> often occur when there are inadequate security controls to manage and control north-south traffic because these attacks typically originate from outside the network.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Benefits of northbound and southbound interfaces"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Benefits of northbound and southbound interfaces</h2> <p>Northbound interfaces abstract the inherent complexities of networks, thus simplifying network management. Also, they provide enhanced flexibility and programmability in system configurations, making them essential for efficiently deploying and integrating the various applications and services in the network.</p> <p>Other benefits of NBIs include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Centralized <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network-management">network management</a> and control.</li> <li>Efficient <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/resource-allocation">resource allocation</a>.</li> <li>Faster application and service deployment.</li> <li>Easier application customization.</li> <li>Real-time monitoring of network infrastructure.</li> <li>Network automation and orchestration.</li> </ul> <p>Northbound interfaces help improve network efficiency, flexibility and agility. By reducing unnecessary complexity, they can also reduce the network's operational expenses and improve its <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/ROI">return on investment</a>.</p> <p>Southbound interfaces, on the other hand, play a crucial role in policy implementation. They are also useful for creating actionable and feasible configurations for network devices. Without them, it can be difficult to translate the high-level commands from <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network-management-system">network management systems</a> into practical configurations. SBIs can also help to improve network control and management.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Northbound and southbound interfaces in software-defined networking"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Northbound and southbound interfaces in software-defined networking</h2> <p>In SDN and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/What-is-network-virtualization-Everything-you-need-to-know">virtualized networks</a>, the network logical design and data flows are set by software configurations instead of through hardware or physical cabling changes. SDN helps IT administrators to set up highly flexible network infrastructure, which in turn enables organizations to quickly adapt to evolving business requirements. The configuration of the elements is set by the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/SDN-controller-software-defined-networking-controller">SDN controller</a>, which sits in the control layer at the center of the network diagram, with north and south established in relation to it.</p> <p>It is important to note that in SDN, the northbound and southbound interfaces are for networking control commands and APIs. The data or traffic carried by the network stays on the data layer and does not traverse the northbound and southbound interfaces.</p> <h3>Northbound interface in SDN</h3> <p>The northbound interface in SDN provides a standardized approach for communication between the highest <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/Application-layer">application layer</a> and the SDN controller at the middle control layer. It thus enables the efficient exchange of network information between the SDN controller and high-level applications. The application layer consists of network orchestration services, networking design software, operator software or third-party applications that make decisions about the overall structure of the network.</p> <figure class="main-article-image half-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/networking-apis_and_protocols_sdn.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/networking-apis_and_protocols_sdn_half_column_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/networking-apis_and_protocols_sdn_half_column_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/networking-apis_and_protocols_sdn.png 1280w" alt="Diagram of how APIs and protocols work with SDN and SD-WAN." height="334" width="280"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Northbound and southbound APIs link network applications and devices to the SDN controller. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>In SDN, the operator or orchestration software does not directly issue commands or configurations to the network nodes. Instead, the operator uses the application layer to issue commands to the control layer over the northbound interface.</p> <p>The northbound interface is often a representational state transfer API, or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/RESTful-API">REST API</a>, exposed by the SDN controller. Various SDN controllers provide northbound interfaces to enable easy <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/feature/What-does-software-defined-actually-mean">software-defined</a> network management and control. These include the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.opendaylight.org/" rel="noopener">OpenDaylight</a> platform, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/ONOS-Open-Network-Operating-System">Open Networking Operating System</a> and Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller.</p> <h3>Southbound interface in SDN</h3> <p>The southbound interface in SDN is the communication between the SDN controller at the middle control layer and the lower networking elements at the data layer. The data layer consists of the physical or virtual network switches and ports.</p> <p>The SDN controller takes the desired state of the network and translates it into specific commands and configurations that are then pushed to the network devices over the southbound interface. SBIs enable the controller to operate efficiently and to make fast adjustments in response to real-time business requirements.</p> <p>Popular southbound interface standards are <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/SNMP">Simple Network Management Protocol</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/OpenFlow">OpenFlow</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/OSPF-Open-Shortest-Path-First">Open Shortest Path First</a>. Other protocols available for southbound APIs include <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/NETCONF">Network Configuration Protocol</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/Multiprotocol-Label-Switching-MPLS">Multiprotocol Label Switching</a> and Intermediate System to Intermediate System.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IRPRX2fVJYY?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Examples of northbound and southbound interfaces"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Examples of northbound and southbound interfaces</h2> <p>An example of how the northbound and southbound interfaces are used is a network engineer defining a specific data route with network orchestration software. The orchestration software sends the instructions to the SDN controller over the northbound interface. The SDN controller then sends the specific configurations to the physical <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/switch">switches</a> over the southbound interface.</p> <p>A more detailed example is Microsoft Azure software load balancing. The network controller is at the center layer and runs the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/load-balancing">software load balancer</a> (SLB). The network operator sits at the application layer and uses <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/definition/Microsoft-Project-Honolulu">Windows Admin Center</a> to set the desired state. Windows Admin Center uses <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/definition/PowerShell">PowerShell</a> as the northbound interface to send the commands to the SLB. The SLB then sends Border Gateway Protocol (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/BGP-Border-Gateway-Protocol">BGP</a>) updates as the southbound interface to the virtual routers on the data layer. If the SLB finds an error in a router, it can automatically send the new configurations to the other routers through the southbound interface BGP, and then send a notification through the northbound interface to alert the operator of the issue.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Northbound and southbound interfaces in other systems"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Northbound and southbound interfaces in other systems</h2> <p>The concept of northbound and southbound interfaces can also be used in systems with automated control systems and nodes. It can be used when components communicate with different APIs or where an orchestrator is used. The use of separate interfaces contrasts with using a bus architecture.</p> <p><em>In a software-defined network, the data center controllers are essential components. When evaluating controller options, consider factors such as performance and compatibility. Learn what <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Learn-what-SDN-data-center-controllers-do-in-a-network">SDN data center controllers do in a network</a>.</em></p> </section> A northbound interface (NBI) is an application programming interface (API) or protocol that allows a lower-level network component to communicate with a higher-level or more central component; conversely, a southbound interface (SBI) allows a higher-level component to send commands to lower-level network components. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/2.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/northbound-interface-southbound-interface Wed, 02 Apr 2025 14:00:00 GMT <p>A subscription-based pricing model is a payment structure that allows a customer or organization to purchase or subscribe to a vendor's IT services for a specific period for an agreed-upon set price. Subscribers typically commit to the services on a monthly or annual basis.</p> <p>Subscription-based pricing is commonly used for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-computing">cloud computing</a>. In a subscription-based model, cloud customers pay upfront, before receiving access to cloud services. Prices are often based on the subscription's length. A longer subscription frequently translates to a lower cost.</p> <p>Cloud customers that use significant resources can benefit from a subscription-based model. However, if a customer only uses a small amount of computing resources, a subscription-based pricing model may not be ideal. Some cloud providers offer a subscription-based model that can adjust to reflect actual usage. Subscription pricing terms are documented in the provider's service-level agreement (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/service-level-agreement">SLA</a>).</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hpNGxrPtBGU?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Types of subscription-based pricing models"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Types of subscription-based pricing models</h2> <p>The types of five subscription-based pricing models include:</p> <p><b>Flat-rate pricing</b>. Also known as fixed pricing, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Learn-the-basics-of-SaaS-licensing-and-pricing-models">this model</a> offers a predictable billing process as customers pay for a single product with a fixed set of features for a flat rate. It is the simplest of all the models for the business and customer, but it is not always the most cost-effective.</p> <p><b>Tiered pricing</b>. Tiered pricing refers to multiple packages that have different price points. Typically, in the form of basic, standard and premium, this model offers combinations of added features and products for additional pricing. If an organization's needs change, it can upgrade or choose a lower tier.</p> <p><b>Per-user pricing</b>. The pricing for this model is based on the number of people using the product; it scales with the business. The more users, the more it costs. A variant of this model is the per-unit model, which refers to a base product with the option to add units. For each added unit, customers could pay a higher price for an upgraded level of functionality. For instance, collaboration tools such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/answer/How-does-Microsoft-365-Copilot-pricing-and-licensing-work">Microsoft 365</a> or Slack charge businesses based on the number of active users.</p> <p><b>Usage-based.</b> Also referred to as the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">pay-as-you-go model</a>, cloud providers such as AWS and Microsoft Azure commonly employ <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/usage-based-pricing">usage-based pricing</a>. This pricing offers low upfront costs and flexibility. Customers are only charged for what they use.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Advantages and disadvantages of subscription-based pricing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Advantages and disadvantages of subscription-based pricing</h2> <p>Here are some advantages and disadvantages of subscription-based pricing.</p> <h3>Advantages</h3> <ol type="1" start="1" class="default-list"> <li><b>Predictable revenue streams:</b> Subscription models provide consistent income for providers.</li> <li><b><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/tip/How-to-create-a-customer-loyalty-program-in-9-steps">Customer loyalty</a>:</b> Regular interactions foster long-term relationships with customers.</li> <li><b>Cost management for customers:</b> Customers can budget effectively with predictable costs.</li> <li><b>Upselling opportunities:</b> Providers can encourage customers to upgrade to higher-tier plans.</li> </ol> <figure class="main-article-image half-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/storage-pay_as_you_go_challenges-h.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/storage-pay_as_you_go_challenges-h_half_column_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/storage-pay_as_you_go_challenges-h_half_column_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/storage-pay_as_you_go_challenges-h.png 1280w" alt="Infographic of 5 pay-as-you-go challenges"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Subscription-based models such as pay-as-you-go (or usage-based) pricing is common among cloud service providers. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <h3>Disadvantages</h3> <ol type="1" start="1" class="default-list"> <li><b><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/customer-churn-customer-attrition">Churn</a> risk:</b> Providers face potential revenue loss if customers cancel subscriptions.</li> <li><b>Complexity for niche needs:</b> Customers with specific requirements may find tiered or flat-rate pricing less effective.</li> <li><b>Delayed <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/ROI">ROI</a>:</b> It often takes time for providers to recover the costs of acquiring new subscribers.</li> </ol> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Emerging trends in subscription-based pricing models"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Emerging trends in subscription-based pricing models</h2> <p>In addition to its advantages and disadvantages, the subscription-based model continues to evolve, introducing features to enhance flexibility and customer satisfaction:</p> <ol type="1" start="1" class="default-list"> <li><b>Hybrid pricing models:</b> Vendors increasingly offer a combination of subscription and usage-based pricing, enabling customers to pay for baseline services with adjustments for actual usage.</li> <li><b>AI-driven pricing:</b> Cloud vendors use AI tools to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/answer/Why-is-personalization-important">personalize subscription packages</a> based on customer behavior and preferences.</li> <li><b>Bundled services:</b> Providers now offer bundled plans with value-added features such as enhanced customer support, training and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/definition/business-analytics-BA">analytics</a> to differentiate their offerings.</li> <li><b>Freemium-to-premium conversion:</b> Businesses use free plans to attract users, encouraging them to upgrade to paid tiers for additional functionality.</li> </ol> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How to choose between subscription models"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How to choose between subscription models</h2> <p>Choosing the right subscription model involves balancing organizational needs, customer preferences and budget constraints. For example, flat-rate pricing might suit small businesses seeking simplicity, while enterprise clients with varying needs might benefit more from tiered or hybrid models.</p> <p>Organizations should also consider the total cost of ownership (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/TCO">TCO</a>), including maintenance, upgrades and customer support. Ultimately, the decision should align with the business's growth strategy and ensure<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/scalability"> scalability</a>.</p> <p><i>Cloud computing is the ideal platform for building and deploying modern applications. Discover its </i><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/7-key-characteristics-of-cloud-computing"><i>key characteristics</i></a><i>, including scalability, flexibility, multi-tenant architecture and on-demand resource access.</i></p> </section> A subscription-based pricing model is a payment structure that allows a customer or organization to purchase or subscribe to a vendor's IT services for a specific period for an agreed-upon set price. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/1.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/subscription-based-pricing-model Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:19:00 GMT <p>IBM Cloud is a suite of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-computing">cloud computing</a> services from IBM that offers software as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Software-as-a-Service">SaaS</a>), platform as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Platform-as-a-Service-PaaS">PaaS</a>) and infrastructure as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">IaaS</a>) models. The platform provides modern cloud platform capabilities, including artificial intelligence (AI) for analytics or automation, advanced security, compliance, data protection and scalability.</p> <p>IBM Cloud is suitable for various enterprise cloud environments. It works for <a href="https://techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/hybrid-cloud">hybrid clouds</a>, where customers combine on-premises cloud infrastructure with virtual cloud services, and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/multi-cloud-strategy">multi-cloud</a> approaches, which combine cloud services from different providers. IBM describes the platform as "open by design," meaning it can integrate with other vendors' products and services if needed.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Why is IBM Cloud used?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Why is IBM Cloud used?</h2> <p>With IBM Cloud's IaaS functionality, organizations can deploy and access virtualized IT resources, such as compute power, storage and networking, over the internet. For compute, organizations can choose between bare-metal physical hardware or virtual servers.</p> <p>IBM Cloud's PaaS functionality is based on open source cloud platform <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Cloud-Foundry">Cloud Foundry</a>. It lets developers use IBM services to create, manage, run and deploy various types of applications for the public cloud, as well as for local or on-premises cloud environments. IBM Cloud supports several programming languages, including Java, Node.js, PHP and Python.</p> <p>IBM Cloud offers security, risk management and compliance features that make it suitable for regulated industries, such as healthcare, finance and government. In healthcare, for example, care providers of any size can quickly store and manage large patient data volumes, while adhering to standards such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. For financial institutions, the platform adheres to IBM Cloud Framework for Financial Services to meet the industry's high regulatory standards.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f.png 1280w" alt="Bar graph showing top cloud providers by market share" height="276" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>The top players in the cloud market are Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, Oracle, IBM and Tencent. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IBM Cloud products and services"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IBM Cloud products and services</h2> <p>IBM Cloud supports a variety of tools and services, including IBM Cloud managed services, preconfigured software and consulting. It also supports access to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/IBM-Watson-supercomputer">IBM Watson</a>, IBM Cloud Functions for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/serverless-computing">serverless computing</a>, IBM Databases, IBM Integration Bus and IBM WebSphere Application Server. In addition, IBM Cloud works with various products from third-party cloud providers.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IBM Cloud features"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IBM Cloud features</h2> <p>IBM Cloud services are grouped into 15 categories:</p> <ol class="default-list"> <li><b>AI and machine learning.</b> The platform offers a collection of Watson-based offerings that are AI resources and tools for building generative AI models, such as IBM Watson Assistant or IBM Watson Discovery.</li> <li><b>Analytics.</b> IBM Cloud offers IBM Analytics Engine to build analytics applications on Apache Spark and Hadoop, as well as analytics tools for streaming data.</li> <li><b>Automation.</b> Resources are available to automate business workflows and processes. These include Cloud Paks, which exist for business automation, data, integration, multi-cloud management, network automation, cloud security, Watson AIOps, and IBM Z and Cloud Modernization Stack.</li> <li><b>Blockchain.</b> IBM Blockchain Platform is a SaaS offering to develop apps, enforce governance and monitor a blockchain network.</li> <li><b>Compute.</b> IBM offers various compute resources, including bare-metal servers, virtual servers and IBM Cloud Functions for serverless computing, on which enterprises can host their workloads.</li> <li><b>Containers.</b> IBM offers IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, as well as access to its private container registry, Red Hat OpenShift and Istio, a service mesh for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/microservices">microservices</a>.</li> <li><b>Cybersecurity.</b> IBM Cloud includes services for activity tracking, identity and access management, and authentication.</li> <li><b>Databases.</b> IBM provides a variety of Structured Query Language and NoSQL databases, as well as data querying, warehousing and migration tools.</li> <li><b>Developer tools.</b> This includes a command-line interface, as well as tools for continuous delivery, continuous release and application pipelines.</li> <li><b>Integration.</b> IBM Cloud services integrate cloud and on-premises systems and various applications, such as IBM API Connect, IBM App Connect and IBM Cloud Satellite.</li> <li><b>Internet of things. </b>IBM Watson IoT Platform works with IBM Cloud to provide services that connect and manage <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT">IoT</a> devices and analyze the data they produce.</li> <li><b>Logging and monitoring.</b> IBM provides tools to log, manage and monitor cloud deployments, including IBM Cloud Monitoring and IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps.</li> <li><b>Networking.</b> The platform provides cloud networking services, such as a load balancer, a content delivery network, virtual private network (VPN) tunnels and firewalls.</li> <li><b>Quantum.</b> IBM Cloud lets developers run workloads on quantum systems through the Qiskit software development kit.</li> <li><b>Storage.</b> IBM's cloud storage offerings include <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Object-storage-vs-file-storage-for-cloud-applications">block, file and object storage</a> for cloud data.</li> </ol> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/ibm_cloud_pak_system_architecture-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/ibm_cloud_pak_system_architecture-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/ibm_cloud_pak_system_architecture-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/ibm_cloud_pak_system_architecture-f.png 1280w" alt="Diagram of IBM Cloud Pak architecture" height="297" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>The IBM Cloud Pak architecture consists of four layers. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IBM Cloud deployment models"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IBM Cloud deployment models</h2> <p>IBM offers four deployment models for its cloud platform:</p> <ol class="default-list"> <li><b>Public.</b> A public cloud provides access to virtual servers in a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/multi-tenancy">multi-tenant</a> environment. An enterprise can choose to deploy its applications in one or multiple geographical regions.</li> <li><b>Dedicated.</b> This is a single-tenant private cloud that IBM hosts in one of its data centers. An enterprise can connect to the environment using a direct network connection or VPN, and IBM manages the platform.</li> <li><b>Hybrid.</b> This version is deployed as a combination of on-premises private cloud and public cloud infrastructure. IBM's hybrid cloud deployment supports public cloud offerings from third-party vendors, such as Google and Microsoft.</li> <li><b>Multi-cloud.</b> This deployment model creates cloud infrastructures that mix and match cloud offerings from multiple vendors. This is the most flexible approach, enabling user organizations to avoid vendor lock-in.</li> </ol> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IBM Cloud rebranding and competitors"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IBM Cloud rebranding and competitors</h2> <p>In 2013, IBM acquired SoftLayer, a public cloud platform, to serve as the foundation for its IaaS offering. In 2016, IBM rolled the SoftLayer brand into its Bluemix brand of PaaS offerings, giving users access to both IaaS and PaaS resources from a single console. IBM then rebranded its entire cloud portfolio as IBM Cloud in 2017.</p> <p>IBM's main competitors in the cloud market include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. AWS is considered the top vendor in this market with an extensive list of services. Azure is useful in enterprises using Microsoft 365 applications. Google Cloud is strong in AI and machine learning capabilities.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">More on public cloud</h3> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-Key-benefits-and-differences">Public vs. private vs. hybrid cloud: Key differences explained</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Choose-the-right-on-premises-to-cloud-migration-method">On-premises-to-cloud migration: Top methods and tools to use</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/Breaking-Down-the-Cost-of-Cloud-Computing">Breaking down the cost of cloud computing</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-7-cloud-computing-careers-and-how-to-get-started">Top cloud computing careers and how to get started</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-20-cloud-computing-skills-to-boost-your-career">Top cloud computing skills to boost your career</a></p> </div> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="IBM Cloud pricing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>IBM Cloud pricing</h2> <p>The cost of IBM Cloud services varies depending on resource use, deployment model, support and other factors. IBM offers a free tier, plus four pay-for-use pricing models.</p> <p>The first of the four pricing options is IBM's basic pay-as-you-go account, where customers are billed monthly based on the resources they use. The Enterprise Savings Plan is also based on monthly resource consumption, where users commit to spending a certain amount on the platform to receive discounts.</p> <p>The third option is IBM Cloud Reservations. In this model, the customer organization reserves cloud capacity in advance for one- or three-year terms and guarantees that capacity, which is billed monthly at discounted pricing.</p> <p>The final account tier is a subscription account that's similar to the pay-as-you-go approach, where organizations commit to a certain spending amount. IBM offers discounted pricing for its services based on the monthly spending commitment, with larger commitments earning bigger discounts.</p> <p>To better estimate costs, organizations have access to the IBM Cloud <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibm.com/cloud/cloud-calculator" rel="noopener">cost estimator</a>.</p> <p><em>IBM Cloud's list of services spanning AI, machine learning, cybersecurity and automation previews the future of cloud computing. Learn more about <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/The-future-of-cloud-computing-Top-trends-and-predictions">future cloud trends and predictions</a>.</em></p> </section> IBM Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services from IBM that offers software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) models. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/1.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/IBM-Bluemix Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT <p>Cloud computing is a general term for the on-demand delivery of hosted computing and IT services over the internet with <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">pay-as-you-go pricing</a>. Users can obtain technology services such as processing power, storage and databases from a cloud provider, eliminating the need to purchase, operate and maintain on-premises physical data centers and servers.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Table of Contents"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Table of Contents</h2> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="#how">How does cloud computing work?</a></li> <li><a href="#benefits">What are the benefits of cloud computing?</a></li> <li><a href="#types">What are the different types of cloud computing services?</a></li> <li><a href="#models">Cloud computing deployment models</a></li> <li><a href="#characteristics">Characteristics of cloud computing</a></li> <li><a href="#disadvantages">What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?</a></li> <li><a href="#examples">What are some examples of cloud computing?</a></li> <li><a href="#cases">Cloud computing use cases</a></li> <li><a href="#versus">Cloud computing vs. traditional web hosting</a></li> <li><a href="#service">Cloud computing service providers</a></li> <li><a href="#security">Cloud computing security</a></li> <li><a href="#future">Future of cloud computing and emerging technologies</a></li> </ul> <p>A <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-Key-benefits-and-differences">cloud can be private, public or a hybrid</a>. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the internet. A private cloud is a proprietary network or a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/data-center">data center</a> that supplies hosted services to a limited number of people, with certain access and permissions settings. A hybrid cloud offers a mixed computing environment where data and resources can be shared between public and private clouds. Regardless of the type, the goal of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services.</p> <p>Cloud infrastructure involves the hardware and software components required for the proper deployment of a cloud computing model. Cloud computing can also be thought of as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/utility-computing">utility computing</a> or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/on-demand-computing">on-demand computing</a>.</p> <p>The name <i>cloud computing</i> was inspired by the cloud symbol often used to represent the internet in flowcharts and diagrams.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n9i52Eu-Ivs?si=ixpgPTAzN2fryMML?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How does cloud computing work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="how"></a>How does cloud computing work?</h2> <p>Cloud computing lets client devices access rented computing resources, such as data, analytics and cloud applications over the internet. It relies on a network of remote data centers, servers and storage systems that are owned and operated by cloud service providers (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/cloud-service-provider-cloud-provider">CSPs</a>). The providers are responsible for the storage capacity, security and computing power needed to maintain the data users send to the cloud.</p> <p>An internet network connection links the front end -- the accessing client device, browser, network and cloud software applications -- with the back end, which consists of databases, servers, operating systems and computers. The back end functions as a repository, storing data accessed by the front end.</p> <p>A central server manages communication between the front and back ends. It relies on protocols to facilitate the exchange of data. The central server uses both software and middleware to manage connectivity between different client devices and cloud servers. Typically, there's a dedicated server for each application or workload.</p> <p>The following steps are generally involved in cloud computing.</p> <ol class="default-list"> <li>A customer initiates a request for a cloud service, such as storing a file, running an application or analyzing data. This request is sent to a cloud provider through the internet.</li> <li>The request reaches a large data center, managed by the cloud provider, containing thousands of servers, storage systems and networking equipment.</li> <li>The cloud provider's software allocates the necessary resources such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/virtual-server">virtual servers</a>, storage space and network bandwidth to fulfill the customer's request. This allocation is dynamic as the resources are assigned and de-allocated as needed.</li> <li>The allocated resources process the request. For example, if a file is being stored, it is uploaded to a designated storage location; if an application is being run, it's executed on a virtual server.</li> <li>Once the task is complete, the result is sent back to the customer over the internet. This could be the stored file, the output of the application or the results of the data analysis.</li> </ol> <p>The cloud provider typically charges the customer based on the resources consumed, such as storage space used, compute time or network bandwidth.</p> <p>Cloud computing relies heavily on <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtualization">virtualization</a> and automation technologies. Virtualization lets IT organizations create <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/tip/Virtual-servers-vs-physical-servers-What-are-the-differences">virtual instances of servers</a>, storage and other resources that enable multiple virtual machines (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VMs</a>) or cloud environments run on a single physical server using software known as a <i><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/hypervisor">hypervisor</a></i>. This simplifies the abstraction and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/provisioning">provisioning</a> of cloud resources into logical entities, letting users easily request and use these resources. Automation and accompanying orchestration capabilities provide users with a high degree of self-service to provision resources, connect services and deploy workloads without direct intervention from the cloud provider's IT staff.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the benefits of cloud computing?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="benefits"></a>What are the benefits of cloud computing?</h2> <p>Cloud computing provides a variety of benefits for modern business, including the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><strong>Cost management. </strong>Using cloud infrastructure can reduce capital costs, as organizations don't have to spend massive amounts of money buying and maintaining equipment; investing in hardware, facilities or utilities; or building large data centers to accommodate their growing businesses. In addition, companies don't need large IT teams to handle cloud data center operations because they can rely on the expertise of their cloud providers' teams. Cloud computing also cuts costs related to downtime. Since downtime rarely happens in cloud computing, companies don't have to spend time and money to fix issues that might be related to downtime.</li> <li><strong>Data and workload mobility. </strong>Storing information in the cloud means users can access it from anywhere with any device with just an internet connection. That means users don't have to carry around <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/USB-drive">USB</a> drives, an external hard drive or multiple CDs to access their data. They can access corporate data via smartphones and other mobile devices, letting remote employees stay current with co-workers and customers. End users can easily process, store, retrieve and recover resources in the cloud. In addition, cloud vendors provide all the upgrades and updates automatically, saving time and effort.</li> <li><strong>Business continuity and disaster recovery. </strong>All organizations worry about data loss. Storing data in the cloud guarantees that users can always access their data even if their devices, such as laptops or smartphones, are inoperable. With cloud-based services, organizations can quickly recover their data in the event of natural disasters or power outages. This benefits <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/Business-Continuity-and-Disaster-Recovery-BCDR">BCDR</a> and helps ensure that workloads and data are available even if the business suffers damage or disruption.</li> <li><strong>Speed and agility. </strong>Cloud computing facilitates rapid deployment of applications and services, letting developers swiftly provision resources and test new ideas. This eliminates the need for time-consuming hardware procurement processes, thereby accelerating time to market.</li> <li><strong>Environmental sustainability. </strong>By maximizing resource utilization, cloud computing can help promote environmental sustainability. Cloud providers can save energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint by consolidating workloads onto shared infrastructure. These providers often operate large-scale data centers designed for energy efficiency.</li> <li><b>Automatic updates.</b> Cloud services often include automatic updates so users always have access to the latest features and security patches without manual intervention.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the different types of cloud computing services?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="types"></a>What are the different types of cloud computing services?</h2> <p>Cloud services can be classified into the following general delivery categories:</p> <h3>Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)</h3> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">IaaS</a> providers, such as Amazon Web Services (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-Web-Services">AWS</a>), supply a virtual server instance and storage, as well as application programming interfaces (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-program-interface-API">APIs</a>) that let users migrate workloads to a VM. Users have an allocated storage capacity and can start, stop, access and configure the VM and storage as desired. IaaS providers offer small, medium, large, extra-large, and memory- or compute-optimized instances, in addition to customization of instances for various workload needs. The IaaS cloud model is closest to a remote data center for business users.</p> <h3>Platform as a service (PaaS)</h3> <p>In the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Platform-as-a-Service-PaaS">PaaS</a> model, cloud providers host development tools on their infrastructures. Users access these tools over the internet using APIs, web portals or gateway software. PaaS is used for general software development and many PaaS providers host the software after it's developed. Examples of PaaS products include Salesforce Lightning, AWS Elastic Beanstalk and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Google-App-Engine">Google App Engine</a>.</p> <h3>Software as a service (SaaS)</h3> <p>A <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Software-as-a-Service">SaaS</a> distribution model delivers software applications over the internet; these applications are often called <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/Web-services"><i>web services</i></a>. Users can access SaaS applications and services from any location using a computer or mobile device with internet access. In the SaaS model, users gain access to application software and databases. An example of a SaaS application is Microsoft 365 for productivity and email services.</p> <h3>Function as a service (FaaS)</h3> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/function-as-a-service-FaaS">FaaS</a>, also known as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/serverless-computing"><i>serverless computing</i></a>, lets users run code in the cloud without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. Users can create and deploy functions that respond to events or triggers. FaaS abstracts server and infrastructure management, letting developers concentrate solely on code creation.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories.jpg 1280w" alt="Cloud computing services can be classified into SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and FaaS." height="322" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>The main types of cloud computing. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cloud computing deployment models"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="models"></a>Cloud computing deployment models</h2> <p>There are several cloud computing deployment methods, including the following:</p> <h3>Private cloud</h3> <p>A business's data center delivers <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/private-cloud">private cloud</a> services to internal users. With a private cloud, an organization builds and maintains its own underlying cloud infrastructure. This model offers the versatility and convenience of the cloud while preserving the management, control and security common to local data centers. Internal users might be billed for services through <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/IT-chargeback-showback">IT chargeback</a>.</p> <p>Examples of private cloud technologies and vendors include AWS, Citrix Cloud, IBM Cloud, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/OpenStack">OpenStack</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvmware/definition/VMware">VMware</a>.</p> <h3>Public cloud</h3> <p>In the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/public-cloud">public cloud</a> model, a third-party CSP delivers the cloud service over the internet. The resources are shared between multiple organizations to implement cost efficiency and scalability.</p> <p>Public cloud services are sold on demand, typically by the minute or hour, though long-term commitments are available for many services. Customers only pay for the central processing unit cycles, storage or bandwidth they consume. Examples of public CSPs include AWS, Google Cloud Platform (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform">GCP</a>), IBM, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Windows-Azure">Microsoft Azure</a>, Oracle and Tencent Cloud.</p> <h3>Hybrid cloud</h3> <p>A <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/hybrid-cloud">hybrid cloud</a> is a combination of public cloud services and an on-premises private cloud, with orchestration and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-automation">automation</a> between the two. Companies can run mission-critical workloads or sensitive applications on the private cloud and use the public cloud to handle workload <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-bursting">bursts</a> or spikes in demand.</p> <p>The goal of a hybrid cloud is to create a unified, automated and scalable environment that takes advantage of all that a public cloud infrastructure can provide, while still maintaining control over mission-critical data.</p> <h3>Multi-cloud</h3> <p>Organizations are increasingly embracing a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/multi-cloud-strategy">multi-cloud</a> model or the use of multiple IaaS providers. This lets applications migrate between different cloud providers or operate concurrently across two or more cloud providers.</p> <p>Organizations adopt multi-cloud for various reasons, including to help them minimize the risk of a cloud service outage or to take advantage of more competitive pricing from a particular provider. It also helps organizations avoid <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/vendor-lock-in">vendor lock-in</a>, letting them switch from one provider to another if needed.</p> <p>However, multi-cloud deployment and application development can be a challenge because of the differences between cloud providers' services and APIs.</p> <p>Multi-cloud deployments should become easier as cloud providers work to standardize and converge their services and APIs. Industry initiatives such as the Open Cloud Computing Interface aim to promote interoperability and simplify multi-cloud deployments.</p> <h3>Community cloud</h3> <p>A community cloud supports a particular community that has the same concerns, mission, policy, security requirements and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/regulatory-compliance">compliance</a> considerations. A community cloud is either managed by these organizations or a third-party vendor and can be on- or off-premises.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Characteristics of cloud computing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="characteristics"></a>Characteristics of cloud computing</h2> <p>Cloud computing has been around for several decades and today's cloud computing infrastructure demonstrates an array of characteristics that have brought meaningful benefits to businesses of all sizes.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-1" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hpNGxrPtBGU?si=N5Y5yYQlsDubk6fC?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> <p>Common characteristics of cloud computing include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Self-service provisioning. </b>End users can spin up compute resources for almost any type of workload on demand. An end user can provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, eliminating the traditional need for IT administrators to provision and manage compute resources.</li> <li><b>Elasticity. </b>Companies can freely scale up as computing needs increase and scale down as demands decrease. This eliminates the need for massive investments in local infrastructure, which might not remain active.</li> <li><b>Pay per use. </b>Compute resources are measured at a granular level, letting users pay only for the resources and workloads they use.</li> <li><b>Workload resilience. </b>CSPs often deploy redundant resources to ensure resilient storage and to keep users' important workloads running -- often across multiple global regions.</li> <li><b>Migration flexibility. </b>Organizations can <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Choose-the-right-on-premises-to-cloud-migration-method">move certain workloads to or from the cloud</a> or to different cloud platforms automatically.</li> <li><b>Broad network access. </b>A user can access cloud data or upload data to the cloud from anywhere with an internet connection using any device.</li> <li><b>Multi-tenancy and resource pooling. </b>Multi-tenancy lets several customers share the same physical infrastructures or the same applications, and still retain privacy and security over their own data. With resource pooling, cloud providers service numerous customers from the same physical resources. The cloud provider resource pools should be large and flexible enough so they can meet the requirements of multiple customers.</li> <li><b>Security.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Key-factors-to-achieve-data-security-in-cloud-computing">Security is integral in cloud computing</a> and most providers prioritize the application and maintenance of security measures to ensure the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Confidentiality-integrity-and-availability-CIA">confidentiality, integrity and availability</a> of data being hosted on their platforms. Along with strong security features, providers also offer various compliance certifications to guarantee their services adhere to industry standards and regulations.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="disadvantages"></a>What are the disadvantages of cloud computing?</h2> <p>Despite the clear upsides to relying on cloud services, cloud computing also comes with certain challenges, such as the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Security challenges.</b> Security is often considered the greatest challenge organizations face with cloud computing. When relying on the cloud, organizations risk data breaches, hacking of APIs and interfaces, compromised credentials and authentication issues. Furthermore, there's a lack of transparency regarding how and where sensitive information entrusted to a cloud provider is handled. Security demands careful attention to cloud configurations and business policy and practice.</li> <li><strong>Unpredictable costs. </strong>Pay-as-you-go subscription plans for cloud use, along with scaling resources to accommodate fluctuating workload demands, can make it difficult to define and predict final costs. Cloud costs are also frequently interdependent, with one cloud service often using one or more other cloud services -- all of which appear in the recurring monthly bill. This can create additional unplanned cloud costs.</li> <li><strong>Lack of expertise. </strong>With cloud-supporting technologies rapidly advancing, organizations are struggling to keep up with the growing demand for tools, as well as employees with the proper skills and knowledge needed to architect, deploy and manage workloads and data in a cloud.</li> <li><strong>IT governance difficulties. </strong>The emphasis on do-it-yourself in cloud computing can make IT governance difficult, as there's no control over<b> </b>provisioning, deprovisioning and management of infrastructure operations. This can make it challenging for organizations to properly manage risks and security, IT compliance and data quality.</li> <li><strong>Compliance with industry laws. </strong>When transferring data from on-premises local storage to cloud storage, it can be difficult to manage compliance with industry regulations through a third party. It's important to know where data and workloads are hosted to maintain regulatory compliance and proper business governance.</li> <li><strong>Management of multiple clouds. </strong>Every cloud is different, so multi-cloud deployments can disjoint efforts to address more general cloud computing challenges.</li> <li><strong>Cloud performance. </strong>Performance -- such as<b> </b><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/latency">latency</a><b> </b>-- is largely beyond the control of the organization contracting for cloud services with a provider. Network and provider outages can interfere with productivity and disrupt business processes if organizations aren't prepared with contingency plans.</li> <li><strong>Cloud migration. </strong>Moving applications and other data to the cloud<b> </b>often causes complications. Migration projects frequently take longer than anticipated and go over budget. The issue of workload and data repatriation -- moving from the cloud back to a local data center -- is often overlooked until unforeseen costs or performance problems arise.</li> <li><strong>Vendor lock-in. </strong>Switching between cloud providers can cause significant issues. This includes technical incompatibility, legal and regulatory limitations and substantial costs incurred from sizable data migrations.</li> <li><strong>Integration challenges.</strong> Integrating cloud systems with existing systems can pose compatibility challenges. For example, certain legacy systems might not be easily compatible with cloud technologies, requiring significant adjustments or updates to integrate them effectively.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are some examples of cloud computing?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="examples"></a>What are some examples of cloud computing?</h2> <p>Cloud computing has evolved and diversified into a wide array of offerings and capabilities designed to suit almost any business need. Examples of cloud computing capabilities and diversity include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Google Docs, Microsoft 365. </b>Users can access <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Google-Docs">Google Docs</a> and Microsoft 365 via the internet. Users can be more productive because they can access work presentations and spreadsheets stored in the cloud anytime from anywhere on any device.</li> <li><b>Email, Calendar, Skype, WhatsApp. </b>Emails, calendars, Skype and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/definition/WhatsApp">WhatsApp</a> take advantage of the cloud's ability to provide access to data remotely so users can examine their data on any device, whenever and wherever they want.</li> <li><b>Zoom, Microsoft Teams.</b> Zoom is a cloud-based software platform for video and audio conferencing that records meetings and saves them to the cloud, letting users access them anywhere and at any time. Another common communication and collaboration platform is Microsoft Teams.</li> <li><b>AWS Lambda. </b><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/AWS-Lambda-Amazon-Web-Services-Lambda">Lambda</a> lets developers run code for applications or back-end services without provisioning or managing servers. The pay-as-you-go model accommodates real-time changes in data usage and data storage. Other examples of major cloud providers that also support serverless computing capabilities include Google Cloud Run Functions and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Microsoft-Azure-Functions">Microsoft Azure Functions</a>.</li> <li><b>Salesforce.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/Salesforcecom">Salesforce</a> is a cloud-centric <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/CRM-customer-relationship-management">customer relationship management</a> platform that helps businesses oversee their sales, marketing and customer service operations.</li> <li><b>Dropbox. </b>This is a cloud storage service that lets users store files online and access them from any device. Dropbox also supports file sharing and collaboration.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cloud computing use cases"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="cases"></a>Cloud computing use cases</h2> <p>How is the cloud actually used? The myriad services and capabilities found in modern public clouds have been applied across countless use cases, such as the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Testing and development.</b> Ready-made, tailored environments can expedite timelines and milestones.</li> <li><b>Production workload hosting.</b> Organizations use the public cloud to host live production workloads. This requires careful design and architecture of the cloud resources and services needed to create an operational environment for the workload and its required level of resilience.</li> <li><b>Big data analytics.</b> Remote data centers using cloud storage are flexible, scalable and provide valuable data-driven insights. Major cloud providers offer services tailored to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/definition/big-data-analytics">big data analytics</a> and projects, such as Amazon EMR and Google Cloud Dataproc.</li> <li><b>IaaS.</b> IaaS lets companies host IT infrastructures and access compute, storage and network capabilities in a scalable manner. Pay-as-you-go subscription models are cost-effective, as they can help companies save on upfront IT costs.</li> <li><b>PaaS.</b> PaaS can help companies develop, run and manage applications more easily, flexibly and at a lower cost than maintaining a platform on-premises. PaaS services can also increase the development speed for applications and enable higher-level programming.</li> <li><b>Hybrid cloud.</b> Organizations have the option to use the appropriate cloud -- private or public -- for different workloads and applications to optimize cost and efficiency.</li> <li><b>Multi-cloud.</b> Using multiple different cloud services from separate cloud providers can help subscribers find the best cloud service fit for diverse workloads with specific requirements.</li> <li><b>Storage.</b> Large amounts of data can be stored remotely and accessed easily. Clients only have to pay for the storage they use.</li> <li><b>Disaster recovery.</b> Cloud offers faster recovery than traditional on-premises <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/disaster-recovery">DR</a>. Furthermore, it's offered at lower costs.</li> <li><b>Data backup.</b> Cloud backup options are generally easier to use. Users don't have to worry about availability and computing capacity, and the cloud provider manages data security.</li> <li><b>Artificial intelligence as a service.</b> Cloud computing lets individuals without formal knowledge or expertise in data sciences reap the benefits of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/Artificial-Intelligence-as-a-Service-AIaaS">AIaaS</a>. For example, a web developer might create a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/facial-recognition">facial recognition</a> app with their web development skills. AI is available as a service in the cloud and accessible via the API. This lets users automate routine tasks, saving time and personnel costs. Businesses can also enhance decision-making by using AI to predict outcomes based on historical data sets.</li> <li><b>Internet of things.</b> Cloud computing simplifies the processing and management of data from <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT">IoT</a> devices. Cloud platforms offer the scalability and processing capacity required to handle the enormous amounts of data produced by IoT devices, facilitating real-time analytics and decision-making. For example, an IoT device system such as Google Nest or Amazon Alexa can collect data on how much energy is used inside a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/smart-home-or-building">smart home</a>. The device can then use cloud computing to analyze the gathered data and make recommendations to the homeowner on how to reduce energy consumption.</li> <li><b>Social networking.</b> While cloud computing is often associated with enterprise use cases, it's also widely used in <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/social-networking">social networking</a>. For example, platforms such as Meta, X and LinkedIn exemplify the SaaS model of cloud computing, which lets users connect and share through tweets, photos, messages and social media posts.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cloud computing vs. traditional web hosting"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="versus"></a>Cloud computing vs. traditional web hosting</h2> <p>Given the many different services and capabilities of the public cloud, there has been some confusion between cloud computing and major uses, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/hosting-Web-site-hosting-Web-hosting-and-Webhosting">web hosting</a>. While the public cloud is often used for web hosting, the two are quite different. Significant innovations in virtualization and distributed computing, as well as improved access to high-speed internet have accelerated interest in cloud computing.</p> <p>The distinct characteristics of cloud computing that differentiate it from traditional web hosting include the following:</p> <ol class="default-list"> <li>Cloud computing lets users access large amounts of computing power on demand -- typically sold by the minute or hour. With traditional hosting, users typically pay for a set amount of storage and processing power. Since resources are limited, businesses can look into <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-private-server-VPS-or-virtual-dedicated-server-VDS">virtual private server</a>s or dedicated hosting as their demands grow.</li> <li>Cloud computing is elastic, meaning users can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time. Traditional hosting often constrains scalability, particularly in shared hosting. Shared hosting involves multiple websites sharing resources on a single server, which can potentially cause performance issues and slower website speeds if a site encounters a sudden surge in traffic.</li> <li>Service is fully managed by the provider on cloud computing platforms; the consumer needs nothing but a PC and internet access. While shared traditional hosting is also fully managed by the provider, typically users are required to control their website from a user-friendly interface such as cPanel.</li> <li>Cloud hosting is more reliable than traditional hosting. Cloud providers maintain redundant infrastructure and operate across numerous data centers, reducing downtime and increasing availability. Traditional hosting is based on a single server, making it more prone to hardware failures and higher downtime threats.</li> <li>Both cloud hosting and traditional hosting have security considerations. Cloud hosting providers make significant investments in security to safeguard data and infrastructure. However, certain organizations might find traditional hosting more suitable, as it provides greater control over security and can accommodate specific security requirements.</li> <li>Cloud computing generally provides better performance than traditional web hosting by distributing workloads across multiple servers, ensuring faster load times and an enhanced user experience. Traditional web hosting performance can be affected by the number of users sharing the same server resources, leading to slower load times during peak usage.</li> </ol> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cloud computing service providers"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="service"></a>Cloud computing service providers</h2> <p>The cloud service market has no shortage of providers. According to Gartner's Magic Quadrant 2024, the eight top cloud platform service providers hold 97% of the global market share. The three public CSPs -- AWS, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure -- rank at the top, followed by other leading vendors including Oracle, Alibaba, IBM, Huawei and Tencent.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f.png 1280w" alt="Top cloud providers." height="276" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Public cloud providers AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform rank as the top three leaders in the industry. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>When selecting a cloud service vendor, organizations should consider the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>The intended use case.</b> The suite of services can vary between providers, and business users must select a provider offering services -- such as big data analytics or AI services -- that support their use case.</li> <li><b>Pricing.</b> Cloud services typically rely on a pay-per-use model, but providers often have variations in their pricing plans.</li> <li><b>Location of the CSP's physical servers.</b> If the cloud provider will be storing sensitive data, an organization should consider the physical location of the provider's servers.</li> <li><b>Reliability and security.</b> A provider's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/service-level-agreement">service-level agreement</a> should specify a level of service uptime that's satisfactory to client business needs. Organizations should also pay close attention to what technologies and configuration settings are used to secure sensitive information.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cloud computing security"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="security"></a>Cloud computing security</h2> <p>Security remains a primary concern for businesses contemplating cloud adoption -- especially public cloud adoption. Public CSPs share their underlying hardware infrastructure among numerous customers, as the public cloud is a multi-tenant environment. This environment demands significant isolation between logical compute resources. At the same time, access to public cloud storage and compute resources is guarded by account login credentials.</p> <p>Many organizations bound by complex regulatory obligations and governance standards are still hesitant to place data or workloads in the public cloud for fear of outages, loss or theft. However, this resistance is fading, as logical isolation has proven reliable and the addition of data <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/encryption">encryption</a> and various <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/identity-access-management-IAM-system">identity and access management</a> tools have improved security within the public cloud.</p> <p>Ultimately, the responsibility for establishing and maintaining a secure cloud environment falls to the individual business user responsible for building the workload's architecture -- the combination of cloud resources and services in which the workload runs -- and using the security features offered by the cloud provider.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Future of cloud computing and emerging technologies"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><a id="future"></a>Future of cloud computing and emerging technologies</h2> <p>Cloud computing is expected to see substantial breakthroughs and the adoption of new technologies. According to a Grand View Research <a target="_blank" href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/cloud-computing-industry" rel="noopener">report</a>, the worldwide public cloud services market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 21.2 % from 2024 to 2030.</p> <p>Some major trends and key points shaping the future of cloud computing include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Digital transformation.</b> Organizations are increasingly migrating mission-critical workloads to public clouds. One reason for this shift is that business executives who want their companies to compete in the new world of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/digital-transformation">digital transformation</a> are demanding the public cloud.</li> <li><b>Fewer barriers to adoption. </b>Business leaders are also looking to the public cloud to take advantage of its elasticity, modernize internal computer systems, and empower critical business units and their DevOps teams. Cloud providers, such as IBM and VMware, are concentrating on meeting the needs of enterprise IT, in part by removing the barriers to public cloud adoption that caused IT decision-makers to previously shy away from fully embracing the public cloud.</li> <li><b>Public cloud is ready for mission-critical apps.</b> Generally, when contemplating cloud adoption, many enterprises mainly focused on new <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-native-application">cloud-native applications</a> -- designing and building applications specifically intended to use cloud services – as they haven't been willing to move their most mission-critical apps into the public cloud. However, these organizations are beginning to realize the cloud is ready for the enterprise if they select the right cloud platforms.</li> <li><b>Advanced FinOps cost controls. </b>Advanced FinOps for controlling cloud computing costs is emerging as a key trend in cloud computing. As cloud environments become more complex and costs rise, organizations are adopting AI-driven tools and strategies to optimize spending. By using analytics, automation and machine learning, advanced FinOps helps identify inefficiencies, predict future costs and provide proactive measures to maximize cloud investment value.</li> <li><b>Expansion of serverless offerings.</b> Cloud providers are locked in ongoing competition for cloud <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/chart/18819/worldwide-market-share-of-leading-cloud-infrastructure-service-providers/" rel="noopener">market share</a>, so the public cloud continues to evolve, expand and diversify its range of services. This has resulted in public IaaS providers offering more than common compute and storage instances. For example, serverless, or event-driven, computing is a cloud service that executes specific functions, such as image processing and database updates. Traditional cloud deployments require users to establish a compute instance and load code into that instance. The user then decides how long to run -- and pay for -- that instance. With serverless computing, developers simply create code and the cloud provider loads and executes that code in response to real-world events so users don't have to worry about the server or instance aspect of the cloud deployment. Users only pay for the number of transactions the function executes. AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Run Functions and Azure Functions are examples of serverless computing services.</li> <li><b>Big data services.</b> Public cloud computing also lends itself well to big data processing, which demands enormous compute resources for relatively short durations. Cloud providers have responded with big data services, including Google BigQuery for large-scale data warehousing and Microsoft Azure Data Lake Analytics for processing huge data sets.</li> <li><b>Growth of edge computing. </b>The demand for faster data processing and real-time analytics is driving the rise of edge computing. By processing data closer to its source, edge computing reduces latency and enhances response times. This is especially beneficial for applications that require immediate data processing, such as IoT devices, autonomous vehicles and real-time analytics. The integration of edge computing with AI enables real-time decision-making and advanced analytics at the edge, without relying on constant cloud connectivity.</li> <li><b>Ready to use machine learning and large language model offerings.</b> Another crop of emerging cloud technologies and services relates to AI, machine learning and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/large-language-model-LLM">LLMs</a>. These technologies provide a range of cloud-based, ready-to-use AI and machine learning services for client needs. Examples of these services include Amazon Machine Learning, Amazon Lex, Amazon Polly, Google Cloud Machine Learning Engine and Google Cloud Speech API.</li> <li><b>Blockchain.</b> The connection between <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/blockchain-storage">blockchain</a> and cloud computing is poised to strengthen, as companies recognize blockchain's potential to improve operational efficiency, security and transparency. This trend is further supported by increased investment and the expansion of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/feature/8-blockchain-as-a-service-providers-to-have-on-your-radar">blockchain-as-a-service platforms</a>.</li> </ul> <p><i>When contemplating a move to the cloud, businesses must assess key factors such as latency, bandwidth, quality of service and security. Explore the </i><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/tip/Network-requirements-for-cloud-computing"><i>top five network requirements</i></a><i> for effective cloud computing.</i></p> </section> Cloud computing is a general term for the on-demand delivery of hosted computing and IT services over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/6.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-computing Fri, 31 Jan 2025 14:00:00 GMT <p>Private cloud is a type of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-computing">cloud computing</a> that delivers advantages similar to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/public-cloud-storage">public cloud</a>, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture. A private cloud, also known as an <i>internal </i>or <i>corporate cloud</i>, is dedicated to the needs and goals of a single organization, whereas public cloud services deliver services to multiple organizations.</p> <p>Private clouds are often deployed when public clouds are deemed inappropriate or inadequate for the needs of a business. For example, a public cloud might not provide the level of service availability or uptime that an organization needs.</p> <p>In other cases, the risk of hosting a mission-critical workload in the public cloud might exceed an organization's risk tolerance. Security or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/regulatory-compliance">regulatory compliance</a> concerns related to the use of a multi-tenant environment also spur private cloud adoption. In these cases, an enterprise might invest in a private cloud to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-11-benefits-of-cloud-computing">realize the benefits of cloud computing</a> while maintaining complete control and ownership of its environment.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How do private clouds work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How do private clouds work?</h2> <p>A private cloud is a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/single-tenancy">single-tenant</a> computing infrastructure and environment, meaning the organization using it -- the tenant -- doesn't share resources with other users. An organization can host and manage private cloud resources in a variety of ways.</p> <p>The private cloud might be based on resources and infrastructure already present in an organization's on-premises data center. Conversely, it might be implemented on new or separate infrastructure, which is provided by the organization or a third-party organization. In some cases, the private cloud is a single-tenant environment enabled solely by <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtualization">virtualization</a> software. In any case, the private cloud and its resources are dedicated to a single user or tenant.</p> <p>The private cloud is one of three general models for cloud deployment in an organization; the other two are <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-Key-benefits-and-differences">public and hybrid cloud</a> models. There's also multi-cloud, which is any combination of the three. All three models share common elements of cloud infrastructure. For example, all clouds need an operating system to function. However, the various types of software -- including virtualization and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/container-containerization-or-container-based-virtualization">container software</a> -- stacked on top of the operating system determine how the cloud functions and distinguish the three main models.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DIeTEFtg-Zw?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The architecture of a private cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The architecture of a private cloud</h2> <p>A private cloud architecture is similar to other types of clouds, but it's used specifically for provisioning or isolating resources in private hardware environments. Private cloud features include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Dedicated hardware resources.</b> Dedicated hardware ensures full security and isolation of a private cloud, and these resources work in addition to the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/How-to-ensure-public-cloud-services-are-used-safely-and-securely">broader security measures</a> applied to a full cloud infrastructure or data center.</li> <li><b>Virtualization. </b>This is important to cloud tech in general, as multiple instances of computing, storage, memory and networking resources based on the same underlying physical hardware are used by multiple users at once.</li> <li><b>Automation. </b>Tasks involved in setting up private cloud infrastructures, which administrators would have to perform manually, are often automated with modern private cloud technology to simplify and speed up processes.</li> <li><b>Management software tools. </b>Managers and administrators overseeing private clouds need centralized control, which they get through this software. These tools let them optimize security and give employees the permissions they need to access and use different resources.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is the difference between a private cloud and a public cloud?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What is the difference between a private cloud and a public cloud?</h2> <p>A public cloud involves an independent third-party provider, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure, owning and maintaining compute resources that customers can access over the internet. Public cloud users share these resources in a model known as a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/multi-tenant-cloud"><i>multi-tenant</i></a><i> environment</i>. For example, public could users can provision virtual machine (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VM</a>) instances that share the same physical server, and they can create storage volumes that coexist on the same storage subsystem.</p> <p>The private cloud fundamentally removes the sharing aspect of cloud computing, instead dedicating infrastructure and services to a single user. This is most easily and effectively accomplished by a business building its own private cloud. The goal is to provide the business with cloud-like flexibility, scalability and self-service while ensuring that only the business can use those private cloud resources.</p> <p>However, public clouds have advantages. A public cloud is cost-effective because computing is provisioned as a <i>utility</i>, where customers only pay for the resources they use. Public cloud is also simpler to implement because the provider is responsible for most of the infrastructure.</p> <p>Organizations that implement a private cloud are responsible for all of the ownership and management responsibilities present in a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/How-to-design-and-build-a-data-center">traditional data center design</a>, such as power, cooling and hardware costs. Private clouds also face practical limitations in scalability and services because a single business might not have the finances or technical expertise to implement a full-featured cloud for private use.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-deployment_models.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-deployment_models_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-deployment_models_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-deployment_models.jpg 1280w" alt="Table comparing private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud" height="324" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>The three main cloud deployment models are private, hybrid and public. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is the difference between a private cloud and a hybrid cloud?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What is the difference between a private cloud and a hybrid cloud?</h2> <p>A <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/hybrid-cloud">hybrid cloud</a> is a model in which a private cloud connects with public cloud infrastructure, enabling an organization to orchestrate workloads -- seamlessly, ideally -- across the two environments. In this model, the public cloud becomes an extension of the private cloud to form a single, uniform cloud. A hybrid cloud deployment requires a high level of compatibility between the underlying software and services that the public and private clouds use.</p> <p>This model can provide a business with greater flexibility than a private or public cloud because it lets workloads move between private and public clouds as computing needs and costs change.</p> <p>A hybrid cloud is suitable for businesses with highly dynamic workloads, as well as businesses that deal in <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/big-data">big data</a> processing. In both scenarios, the business can split the workloads between the clouds for efficiency, dedicating host-sensitive workloads to the private cloud and more demanding, less specific distributed computing tasks to the public cloud.</p> <p>While the hybrid model is more flexible, it sacrifices the total control of the private cloud and the simplicity and convenience of the public cloud.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Types of private clouds"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Types of private clouds</h2> <p>Private clouds can differ in how they're hosted and managed, providing different functions depending on the needs of the enterprise:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Virtual.</b> A virtual private cloud (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/virtual-private-cloud-VPC">VPC</a>) is a walled-off environment within a public cloud that enables an organization to run its workloads in logical isolation from every other user of the public cloud. Even though other organizations share the server, the virtual logic ensures that the VPC user's computing resources are private. Organizations can use a VPC to enable hybrid cloud deployment.</li> <li><b>Hosted. </b>In a hosted private cloud computing environment, the servers aren't shared with other organizations. The service provider configures the network, maintains the hardware and upgrades the software, but a single organization occupies the server.</li> <li><b>Managed.</b> This environment is a hosted environment in which the provider manages every aspect of the cloud for the organization, including deploying additional services such as identity management and storage. This option is appropriate for organizations that don't have staff equipped to manage private cloud environments alone.</li> </ul> <p>The above list categorizes different types of private clouds by the way they're hosted and to what extent the provider manages them. Infrastructure is also a way to categorize different types of private clouds:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Software-only.</b> The vendor provides only the software necessary for the private cloud environment, which runs on an organization's preexisting hardware. A software-only option, such as OpenStack, is often used in highly virtualized environments.</li> <li><b>Software and hardware.</b> Some vendors sell private clouds as an all-in-one bundle of hardware and software. It's generally a simple cloud platform that exists on the user's premises and might or might not be provider-managed environments. Examples include HPE GreenLake and Azure Stack.</li> </ul> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/server_virt-virtual_private_cloud.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/server_virt-virtual_private_cloud_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/server_virt-virtual_private_cloud_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/server_virt-virtual_private_cloud.png 1280w" alt="Diagram comparing virtual and on-premises private clouds" height="523" width="520"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Virtual private clouds and on-premises private clouds have key differences. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Advantages of a private cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Advantages of a private cloud</h2> <p>The main benefit of a private cloud is that users don't share resources. Because of its proprietary nature, a private model is best for businesses with dynamic or unpredictable computing needs that require direct control over their environments. This model helps users meet security, business governance and regulatory compliance requirements.</p> <p>When an organization properly architects and implements a private cloud, it can provide most of the same benefits found in public clouds. These include user self-service and scalability, as well as the ability to provision and configure VMs and change or optimize computing resources on demand. An organization can also implement chargeback or showback tools to track computing use and ensure business units pay only for the resources or services they use.</p> <p>In addition to those core <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Explore-the-pros-and-cons-of-cloud-computing">benefits inherent to both cloud deployment models</a>, private clouds offer the following advantages:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Increased security of an isolated network.</li> <li>Increased performance due to resources being solely dedicated to one organization.</li> <li>Increased capability for customization, such as specialized services or applications that suit the company.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Disadvantages of a private cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Disadvantages of a private cloud</h2> <p>Private clouds typically come with challenges and aren't perfect for every cloud implementation. These challenges include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Complexity.</b> Private cloud technologies, such as increased automation and user self-service, result in considerable complexity. These technologies typically require an IT team to rearchitect some of its data center infrastructure and adopt additional software layers and management tools. As a result, an organization might have to adjust or even increase its IT staff.</li> <li><b>Expenses. </b>When a business owns its private cloud, it usually bears the acquisition, deployment, support and maintenance costs. Hosted private clouds, while not outright owned by the user, can also be costly. The service provider takes care of basic network maintenance and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/configuration-management-CM">configuration management</a> in a hosted deployment, which means the user needs to subscribe and pay regularly for that offered service. This can end up being more expensive than the upfront cost of complete ownership in the long run. It also sacrifices some control over maintenance that complete ownership guarantees.</li> <li><b>Unreliability. </b>Although users will still be operating in a single-tenant environment, providers are likely serving multiple clients and promising them each a catered, custom environment. If an incident occurs on the provider's end -- an improperly maintained or overburdened server, for example -- users might face the same problems that the public cloud presents: unreliability and lack of control.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Real-life examples of private cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Real-life examples of private cloud</h2> <p>Practical uses of private clouds are often found in industries that manage sensitive customer or patient data. In these cases, a business can host a private cloud in an on-premises data center or buy a private cloud service from major providers, such as AWS or Microsoft. Industries that rely on private clouds to maintain their <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/data-privacy-information-privacy">data privacy</a> and security include healthcare, finance and the government or public sector.</p> <p>For example, banks are highly regulated and must comply with various laws when managing sensitive data. A private cloud secures customers' financial data, ensuring compliance with regulations that exist in the areas they operate. Some government agencies also require secure environments to manage data pertaining to private citizens, making private clouds a viable option.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Major private cloud vendors"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Major private cloud vendors</h2> <p>A private cloud is commonly deployed on-premises in much the same way a business would build and operate its own traditional data center. However, an increasing number of vendors offer private cloud services that can bolster or even replace on-premises infrastructure.</p> <p>Some of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/private-cloud-services-market-5087" rel="noopener">key players</a> in the private cloud market, according to Market Research Future, include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>AWS.</b> Amazon Virtual Private Cloud lets users launch AWS resources in an isolated virtual network, either on-premises or through a remote managed provider, to create a private instance of public AWS resources.</li> <li><b>Cisco.</b> The vendor provides private cloud security offerings, including Cisco Firepower and Cisco Secure Workload, plus other tools for optimization, container management and application performance management.</li> <li><b>Dell.</b> In addition to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-management">cloud management</a> and cloud security software, Dell EMC offers VPC services through its Apex Private and Hybrid Cloud.</li> <li><b>HPE.</b> The vendor's GreenLake offering provides a set of cloud services compatible with OpenStack, SAP, VMware and other components.</li> <li><b>IBM.</b> IBM offers private cloud hardware along with its cloud security, management and orchestration tools. IBM owns Red Hat, along with its private cloud capabilities.</li> <li><b>Microsoft.</b> Azure Stack helps build and run apps across data centers and edge locations, including remote offices and even the public cloud.</li> <li><b>Oracle.</b> Private Cloud Appliance by Oracle enables compute and storage capabilities optimized for private cloud deployment.</li> <li><b>Rackspace Technology. </b>Rackspace offers both public and private cloud approaches that can be customized for different use cases, such as data center consolidation or expansion.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Managed private cloud pricing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Managed private cloud pricing</h2> <p>Operating a private cloud on-premises is generally more expensive upfront than using a public cloud for computing as a utility. This is because of the back-end maintenance expenses that come with owning a private infrastructure and the capital expense of implementing one. However, a managed private cloud can mitigate those costs and, in some cases, even be cheaper than a standard public cloud implementation.</p> <p>Vendors offer a few different pricing models for managed private clouds. The pricing model and price itself varies depending on the private cloud hardware and software offered and the level of management the vendor provides. Often the pricing is based on packages of hardware, software and services used in private cloud deployments. For example, VMware prices its virtualization platform <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvmware/definition/VMware-vSphere">vSphere</a> using a yearly subscription and support model, with one annual price for vSphere Standard and a higher annual price for a production-level subscription, vSphere Foundation.</p> <p>Rackspace, in partnership with HPE, offers a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">pay-as-you-go</a> model for its private cloud, charging users on a service-to-service basis. The popularity of this pricing model is growing because of the rapid expansion in the cloud-based infrastructure market. This is driving the need for a more flexible and efficient pricing model.</p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/Breaking-Down-the-Cost-of-Cloud-Computing">Pricing models for managed private cloud deployments</a> can get complicated. Many vendors don't offer a straightforward private cloud package. Instead, they sell a spectrum of different hardware, software and services that customers can use to deploy a private cloud. Often, the pricing for these products isn't clear on vendor websites, and buyers are prompted to speak with a salesperson. This is likely because private clouds -- and managed clouds, especially -- need to be tailored to an organization's needs. Buyers must understand which business processes require flexible and scalable cloud infrastructure to make informed choices when purchasing products.</p> <p><i>As cloud computing advances, enterprises must understand cloud security management and its challenges. Learn how enterprises should tackle </i><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Guide-to-cloud-security-management-and-best-practices"><i>cloud security management</i></a><i>.</i></p> </section> Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers advantages similar to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/6.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/private-cloud Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT <p>Noisy neighbor is a phrase that describes a cloud computing infrastructure co-tenant that monopolizes <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/bandwidth">bandwidth</a>, disk input/output (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/input-output-I-O">I/O</a>), processor (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/processor">CPU</a>) and other resources which can negatively affect other users' cloud performance. The noisy neighbor effect causes other virtual machines (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VMs</a>) and applications that share the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/infrastructure">infrastructure</a> with the noisy neighbor to suffer from uneven cloud network performance.</p> <p>The cloud is a multi-tenant environment, which means that a single architecture hosts multiple customers' applications and data. The noisy neighbor effect occurs when an application or VM uses the majority of available resources and causes network performance issues for others on the shared infrastructure.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant.png 1280w" alt="Single-tenant vs multi-tenant environments." height="392" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Compare single-tenant and multi-tenant environments. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>A lack of bandwidth is one cause of network performance issues. Bandwidth carries data throughout a network, so when one application or instance uses too much, other applications suffer from slow speeds or latency. A noisy neighbor can affect the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/hosting-Web-site-hosting-Web-hosting-and-Webhosting">Web hosting</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/database">Databases</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/network">Networks</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/storage">Storage</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/server">Servers</a>.</li> </ul> <p>To help detect a noisy neighbor issue, keep an eye on a spike in resource usage, track resource consumption and pay attention to metrics such as server CPU and memory usage.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How to avoid noisy neighbors"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How to avoid noisy neighbors</h2> <p>One way to avoid the noisy neighbor effect is to use a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/bare-metal-cloud">bare-metal cloud</a>. The bare-metal cloud runs one application at a time directly on the hardware. This creates a single-tenant environment and eliminates noisy neighbors. While single-tenant environments avoid the noisy neighbor effect, they do not solve the problem. Infrastructure over-commitment, or when an environment is shared by too many applications, limits overall cloud performance.</p> <p>Another way to avoid noisy neighbors in the cloud is to ensure an application receives the necessary resources by moving workloads across physical servers. In addition, storage quality of service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchunifiedcommunications/definition/QoS-Quality-of-Service">QoS</a>) controls a VM's input/output operations per second (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/IOPS-input-output-operations-per-second">IOPS</a>), which can limit the noisy neighbor effect. Set IOPS limits can control the amount of resources each VM receives. Therefore, no single VM, application or instance monopolizes resources and hinders the performance of others.</p> </section> Noisy neighbor is a phrase that describes a cloud computing infrastructure co-tenant that monopolizes bandwidth, disk input/output (I/O), processor (CPU) and other resources which can negatively affect other users' cloud performance. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/2.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/noisy-neighbor-cloud-computing-performance Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:23:00 GMT <p>Google Cloud Coldline storage is a public cloud <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/cold-storage">cold storage</a> class for infrequently accessed data. It is specifically designed to store data that organizations access once a quarter.</p> <p>The Coldline storage class requires a 90-day minimum storage duration. It provides slightly lower monthly availability than the standard storage class, with only 99.95% in multi- and dual-regions, as well as 99.9% in regions.</p> <p>Coldline is one of four cloud storage classes within the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/Google-Cloud-Storage">Google Cloud Storage</a> platform. The other three classes are the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Google Cloud Standard storage.</b> For frequently accessed data, also known as <i>hot data</i>.</li> <li><b>Google Cloud Nearline storage.</b> For infrequently accessed data and a 30-day minimum storage duration.</li> <li><b>Google Cloud Archive storage.</b> For data archiving, online backup and disaster recovery with a 365-day minimum storage duration.</li> </ul> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f.png 1280w" alt="Compare the Google Cloud storage classes." height="290" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Review the differences between Google storage classes. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>All storage classes include features such as the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Unlimited storage with no minimum object size.</li> <li>Worldwide accessibility and storage locations.</li> <li>Low latency with no offline data retrieval.</li> <li>99.999999999% annual durability.</li> <li>Cross-region redundancy.</li> </ul> <p>Coldline storage pricing is based on a pay-per-usage model, and as of this writing, it starts at $0.004 per GB per month in the <span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier, monospace;">us-central1</span> location -- price varies by region. Additionally, a data retrieval fee of $0.02 per GB is applied when the organization reads, copies, moves or rewrites object data or metadata.</p> <p>The Coldline storage class is used primarily by cloud administrators, archive managers, compliance officers and any other IT professional that needs to store data that's infrequently accessed by enterprise applications and users.</p> <p>In addition, the Coldline storage class is able to integrate with other services within <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform">Google Cloud</a>, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Google-Compute-Engine">Google Compute Engine</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Google-App-Engine">Google App Engine</a>.</p> Google Cloud Coldline storage is a public cloud cold storage class for infrequently accessed data. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/2.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Storage-Coldline Tue, 21 Jan 2025 15:34:00 GMT <p>Google Cloud Nearline storage is a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/public-cloud-storage">public cloud storage</a> class intended for storing infrequently accessed data. It is best suited for storing data that users access no more than once a month. This type of storage is known as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/cold-storage">cold storage</a>.</p> <p>The Nearline storage class requires a 30-day minimum storage duration. It provides slightly lower availability than other storage classes, with only 99.95% in multi- and dual-regions, as well as 99.9% in regions.</p> <p>Nearline is one of four cloud storage classes within the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/Google-Cloud-Storage" rel="noopener">Google Cloud Storage</a> platform. The other three classes are as follows:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Google Cloud Standard storage.</b> For frequently accessed data, also known as <em>hot data</em>.</li> <li><b><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Storage-Coldline">Google Cloud Coldline storage</a>.</b> For infrequently accessed data and a 90-day minimum storage duration.</li> <li><b>Google Cloud Archive storage.</b> For data archiving, online backup and disaster recovery with a 365-day minimum storage duration.</li> </ul> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/compare_google_cloud_storage_classes-f.png 1280w" alt="Comparison chart of the different Google Cloud storage classes." height="290" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Review the differences between Google storage classes. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>All storage classes include features such as the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Unlimited storage with no minimum object size.</li> <li>Worldwide accessibility and storage locations.</li> <li>Low latency with no offline data retrieval.</li> <li>99.999999999% annual durability.</li> <li>Cross-region redundancy.</li> </ul> <p>Nearline storage pricing is based on a pay-per-usage model, and as of this writing, it starts at $0.010 per GB, per month in the us-central1 location -- price varies by region. Additionally, there is a data retrieval fee of $0.01 per GB when the organization reads, copies, moves or rewrites object data or metadata.</p> <p>The Nearline storage class is used primarily by cloud administrators, archive managers, compliance officers and any other IT professional who needs to store data that's infrequently accessed by enterprise applications and users.</p> <p>Nearline storage shares the same infrastructure as other services within <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform">Google Cloud</a>, which enables it to integrate with services such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Google-Compute-Engine">Google Compute Engine</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Google-App-Engine">Google App Engine</a>.</p> Google Cloud Nearline storage is a public cloud storage class intended for storing infrequently accessed data. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/5.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Storage-Nearline Fri, 17 Jan 2025 13:42:00 GMT <p>Microsoft Azure, formerly known as Windows Azure, is Microsoft's public <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-computing">cloud computing</a> platform. It provides a broad range of cloud services, including compute, analytics, storage and networking. Users can choose from these services to develop and scale new applications or run existing applications in the public cloud.</p> <p>The Azure cloud platform aims to help businesses manage challenges and meet their organizational goals. It offers tools that support all industries -- including <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/e-commerce">e-commerce</a>, finance and a variety of Fortune 500 companies -- and is compatible with open source technologies. This gives users the flexibility to use their preferred tools and technologies.</p> <p>In addition, Azure offers four different forms of cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">IaaS</a>), platform as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Platform-as-a-Service-PaaS">PaaS</a>), software as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Software-as-a-Service">SaaS</a>) and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/serverless-computing">serverless</a> functions.</p> <p>Microsoft charges for Azure on a pay-as-you-go (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">PAYG</a>) basis, meaning subscribers receive a bill each month that only charges them for the specific resources and services they have used.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories.jpg 1280w" alt="Chart comparing SaaS, PaaS, Iaas and FaaS cloud computing services. " height="322" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Types of cloud computing services offered by Microsoft Azure. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How does Microsoft Azure work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How does Microsoft Azure work?</h2> <p>Microsoft Azure operates through a vast network of global data centers that ensure high availability and reliability for applications. Once customers subscribe to Azure, they have access to all the services included in the Azure portal. Subscribers can use these services to create cloud-based resources, such as virtual machines (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VMs</a>) and databases. Azure resources and services can then be assembled into running environments used to host workloads and store data.</p> <p>In addition to the services that Microsoft offers through the Azure portal, a number of third-party vendors also make software directly available through Azure. The cost billed for third-party applications varies widely but might involve paying a subscription fee for the application, plus a usage fee for the infrastructure used to host the application.</p> <p>Microsoft provides the following five different customer support options for Azure:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Basic.</li> <li>Developer.</li> <li>Standard.</li> <li>Professional Direct.</li> <li>Enterprise (Premier).</li> </ul> <p>These customer support plans vary in terms of scope and price. Basic support is available to all Azure accounts, but Microsoft charges a fee for the other support offerings. Developer support costs $29 per month, while Standard support costs $100 per month and Professional Direct support is $1,000 per month. Microsoft does not disclose the pricing for Enterprise support.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l9JkLhvaKA8?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is Microsoft Azure used for?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What is Microsoft Azure used for?</h2> <p>Because Microsoft Azure consists of widely varied resource and service offerings, its use cases are extremely diverse. Some common use cases of Azure include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Running containers.</b> Running VMs or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/container-containerization-or-container-based-virtualization">containers</a> in the Microsoft cloud is one of the most popular uses for Microsoft Azure. These compute resources can host infrastructure components, such as domain name system (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/domain-name-system">DNS</a>) servers; Windows Server services, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/definition/IIS">Internet Information Services</a>; networking services, such as firewalls; or third-party applications. Microsoft also supports the use of third-party operating systems, such as Linux.</li> <li><b>Hosting databases.</b> Azure is also commonly used as a platform for hosting databases in the cloud. Microsoft offers serverless relational databases, such as Azure SQL, and nonrelational databases, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/NoSQL-Not-Only-SQL">NoSQL</a>.</li> <li><b>Backup and disaster recovery.</b> The Azure platform is frequently used for backup and disaster recovery. Many organizations use Azure for archival storage in order to meet their long-term data retention or disaster recovery requirements.</li> <li><b>Developing and hosting applications.</b> The Azure platform is utilized for application development, hosting and testing. With Azure's PaaS capabilities, developers can instantly deploy and scale apps without managing the underlying infrastructure or code.</li> <li><b>Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).</b> Azure offers various <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/machine-learning-ML">ML</a> tools, including Azure Machine Learning and Azure AI Studio, that businesses can utilize to build, deploy and train ML models. These tools are especially beneficial for organizations adopting ML and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/AI-Artificial-Intelligence">AI</a> for predictive analytics, customer insights and automation.</li> <li><b>Internet of Things (IoT).</b> Azure provides a comprehensive suite of services designed specifically for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT">IoT</a> applications, including Azure IoT Hub and Azure Stream Analytics. These tools assist organizations in connecting, monitoring and managing IoT devices and facilitate real-time data collection and analysis.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the benefits of Azure for modern businesses?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What are the benefits of Azure for modern businesses?</h2> <p>Microsoft Azure provides numerous advantages that are specifically designed to meet the needs of contemporary businesses.</p> <p>Here are some of the key benefits:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Scalability.</b> Azure enables businesses to quickly adjust resources based on their demand. For example, the resources can be scaled up or down during rapid business growth or seasonal shifts.</li> <li><b>Cost efficiency.</b> Migrating to Azure can substantially lower the IT costs for businesses compared to maintaining their own on-premises infrastructure. With a PAYG pricing model, organizations only pay for the resources they use, helping them manage budgets and reduce capital expenses.</li> <li><b>AI and advanced analytics.</b> Azure offers <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/feature/The-top-augmented-analytics-tools-vendors-are-offering">advanced analytics tools</a> and AI services that help businesses extract valuable insights from their data and enhance their decision-making processes.</li> <li><b>Global reach and high availability.</b> Azure's global infrastructure enables businesses to access applications and data from anywhere and also ensures high availability and redundancy. For example, even if one component fails, applications and data remain accessible to the end users.</li> <li><b>Security and compliance.</b> Azure provides enhanced security through its multilayered protection across its data centers and infrastructure. The platform includes various security measures and compliance certifications, enabling businesses to safeguard their data from threats, maintain customer trust and meet regulatory standards.</li> <li><b>Modern development processes.</b> Azure accommodates a range of development frameworks and tools, facilitating the adoption of modern practices such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/DevOps">DevOps</a>. This fosters collaboration and also speeds up the application development lifecycle.</li> <li><b>Hybrid cloud capabilities.</b> Azure facilitates hybrid cloud environments, enabling organizations to effortlessly combine on-premises resources with cloud services. This setup is especially helpful for businesses that require a blend of both compliance and performance needs.</li> <li><b>Support for open source technologies. </b>To provide organizations with the flexibility to utilize their preferred systems and frameworks, Azure is compatible with a broad range of open source tools and technologies, such as Linux and Kubernetes.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Azure features and services"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Azure features and services</h2> <p>Microsoft sorts Azure cloud services into nearly two dozen categories, which are typically categorized into three main types: foundational, mainstream and strategic. This classification helps users understand the maturity and usage level of each service. Generally, services begin as strategic and progress to mainstream and foundational as their demand and usage increase, and each category can include numerous specific instances or service types.</p> <p>The most popular service categories include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Compute.</b> The compute services enable a user to deploy and manage VMs, containers and batch jobs, as well as support remote application access. Compute resources created within the Azure cloud can be configured with either public <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/IP-address-Internet-Protocol-Address">Internet Protocol (IP) addresses</a> or private IP addresses, depending on whether the resource needs to be accessible to the outside world.</li> <li><b>Mobile.</b> These products help developers build cloud applications for mobile devices, providing notification services, support for back-end tasks, tools for building application programming interfaces (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-program-interface-API">APIs</a>) and the ability to couple geospatial context with data.</li> <li><b>Web.</b> These services support the development and deployment of web apps. They also offer features for search, content delivery, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/API-management">API management</a>, notification and reporting.</li> <li><b>Storage.</b> This category of services provides scalable <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/cloud-storage">cloud storage</a> for structured and unstructured data. It also supports big data projects, persistent storage and archival storage.</li> <li><b>Analytics.</b> These services provide distributed analytics and storage, as well as features for real-time analytics, big data analytics, data lakes, machine learning, business intelligence, IoT data streams and data warehousing.</li> <li><b>Networking.</b> This group includes virtual networks, dedicated connections and gateways as well as services for traffic management and diagnostics, load balancing, DNS hosting and network protection against distributed denial-of-service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/distributed-denial-of-service-attack">DDoS</a>) attacks.</li> <li><b>Media and content delivery network (CDN).</b> These <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/CDN-content-delivery-network">CDN</a> services include on-demand streaming, digital rights protection, encoding, and media playback and indexing.</li> <li><b>Integration.</b> These are services for server backup, site recovery and connecting private and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/public-cloud">public clouds</a>.</li> <li><b>Serverless computing.</b> Azure supports serverless computing and architectures that let developers build applications without managing servers. This helps with the automatic scaling of resources and enables the developers to focus on coding instead of managing the underlying infrastructure. For example, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Microsoft-Azure-Functions">Azure Functions</a> enables developers to write and execute code in their preferred language without managing servers.</li> <li><b>Identity.</b> These offerings ensure only authorized users can access Azure services and help protect encryption keys and other sensitive information in the cloud. Services include support for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/How-to-secure-Azure-Functions-with-Entra-ID">Microsoft Entra ID</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/multifactor-authentication-MFA">multifactor authentication</a>.</li> <li><b>IoT.</b> These services help users capture, monitor and analyze IoT data from sensors and other devices. Services include notifications, analytics, monitoring and support for coding and execution.</li> <li><b>DevOps.</b> This group provides project and collaboration tools, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/definition/Azure-DevOps-formerly-Visual-Studio-Team-Services">Azure DevOps</a> -- formerly Visual Studio Team Services -- that facilitate DevOps software development processes. It also offers features for application diagnostics, DevOps tool integrations and test labs for build tests and experimentation.</li> <li><b>Development.</b> These services help application developers share code, test applications and track potential issues. Azure supports a range of application programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, .NET, Go and Node.js. Tools in this category also include support for Azure DevOps, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/software-developers-kit-SDK">software development kits</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/blockchain">blockchain</a>.</li> <li><b>Security and identity management.</b> These products provide capabilities to identify and respond to cloud security threats as well as manage encryption keys and other sensitive assets.</li> <li><b>AI and machine learning.</b> This is a wide range of services that a developer can use to infuse AI, ML and cognitive computing capabilities into applications and data sets.</li> <li><b>Containers.</b> These services help an enterprise create, register, orchestrate and manage huge volumes of containers in the Azure cloud, using common container platforms such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Docker">Docker</a> and orchestration platforms including Kubernetes.</li> <li><b>Databases.</b> This category includes <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/database-as-a-service-DBaaS">database-as-a-service</a> offerings for SQL and NoSQL, as well as other database instances -- such as Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Database for PostgreSQL. It also includes Azure Synapse Analytics support, caching, and hybrid database integration and migration features. Azure SQL is the platform's flagship database service. It is a relational database that provides SQL functionality without the need for deploying a SQL server.</li> <li><b>Migration.</b> This suite of tools helps an organization estimate workload migration costs and perform the actual <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Choose-the-right-on-premises-to-cloud-migration-method">migration of workloads from local data centers to the Azure cloud</a>.</li> <li><b>Management and governance.</b> These services provide a range of backup, recovery, compliance, automation, scheduling and monitoring tools that can help a cloud administrator manage an Azure deployment.</li> <li><b>Mixed reality.</b> These services are designed to help developers create content for the Windows Mixed Reality environment.</li> <li><b>Intune.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/Microsoft-Intune">Microsoft Intune</a> can be used to enroll user devices, thereby making it possible to push security policies and mobile apps to those devices. Mobile apps can be deployed either to groups of users or to a collection of devices. Intune also provides tools for tracking which apps are being used. A remote wipe feature enables the organization's data to be securely removed from devices without removing a user's mobile apps in the process.</li> </ul> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_azure_and_azure_stack_offerings-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_azure_and_azure_stack_offerings-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_azure_and_azure_stack_offerings-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_azure_and_azure_stack_offerings-f.png 1280w" alt="Chart comparing Azure Stack offerings: Azure Stack Edge, Azure, Azure Stack Hub and Azure Stack HCI." height="342" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Examine how Azure and the Azure Stack variations compare. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Azure for DR and backup"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Azure for DR and backup</h2> <p>Some organizations use Azure for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatabackup/definition/backup">data backup</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/disaster-recovery">disaster recovery</a>. Organizations can also use Azure as an alternative to their own data center storage. Public clouds have proven ideal for high-volume, short-duration tasks such as data analytics. Organizations can use almost limitless storage capacity in the cloud to store vast data sets, perform analytics tasks and then dismiss data as it ages or becomes unusable -- all without procuring or deploying hardware in a local data center. This type of <i>utility computing</i> has been a fundamental driver behind public cloud adoption since its inception.</p> <p>Rather than invest in local servers and storage, increasing numbers of organizations choose to run some, or all, of their business applications in Azure. To ensure availability, Microsoft has Azure data centers located around the world. At the time of writing, Microsoft Azure services are available in more than 60 regions with 300-plus data centers spread globally. Unfortunately, not all services are available in all regions. Therefore, Azure users must confirm that workload and data storage locations comply with all prevailing compliance requirements or other legislation.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Privacy and Microsoft Azure"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Privacy and Microsoft Azure</h2> <p>Data security concerns and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/regulatory-compliance">regulatory compliance</a> requirements make privacy a major issue for cloud subscribers. To address these worries, Microsoft has created the online Trust Center, which provides detailed information about the company's security, privacy and compliance initiatives.</p> <p>According to the Trust Center, Microsoft will only use customer data if it is necessary to provide the agreed-upon services and it will never disclose customer data to government agencies unless it is required by law.</p> <p>At the same time, Azure provides numerous security services, such as identity and access management (IAM) and firewalls, to help Azure users establish a secure infrastructure and monitor for intrusion in a timely manner. Security services are critical to public cloud adoption by helping users safeguard the privacy of sensitive data and important workloads.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Azure pricing and costs"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Azure pricing and costs</h2> <p>Similar to other public cloud providers, Azure primarily uses a PAYG pricing model that charges based on usage. However, if a single application uses multiple Azure services, each service might involve multiple pricing tiers. It's common for one service to use a subset of other services -- each adding to the total cost of the intended service.</p> <p>For example, a common application running in a VM might incur one cost. The storage instance associated with the workload might incur a second cost. Networking services and reporting tools might all drive <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Breaking-down-the-cost-of-cloud-computing">additional costs for the workload</a>. Alternatively, services such as Azure Functions are free, but users pay for the compute and other resources needed to run the function for the duration of the function's execution -- usually to the closest second.</p> <p>In addition, if a user makes a long-term commitment to certain services, such as compute instances, Microsoft offers a discounted rate. For example, Azure reserved VM instances claim to save users up to 80% on VM costs.</p> <p>Even simple applications can involve many interdependent cloud services and resources. Given the many factors involved in cloud service pricing, an organization should review and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/5-ways-to-reduce-cloud-costs">manage its cloud usage to minimize costs</a>. Azure-native tools, such as Microsoft Cost Management, can help monitor, visualize and optimize cloud spending. It's also possible to use third-party tools, such as IBM Cloudability, along with emerging FinOps practices to manage Azure resource usage and associated costs.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Significant Azure outages"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Significant Azure outages</h2> <p>Microsoft Azure has a history of major outages dating back to early 2012. Following are some of the more significant outages that have occurred over the years:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Feb. 29, 2012.</b> A disruption occurred as a result of the leap day bug.</li> <li><b>July 26, 2012.</b> The West Europe region experienced an interruption that lasted for about two and a half hours.</li> <li><b>Feb. 22, 2013.</b> A major outage prevented customers across all regions from being able to access Windows Azure Storage Blobs, tables and queues using <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/HTTPS">HTTPS</a>.</li> <li><b>Oct. 30, 2013.</b> Users across the United States, Europe and Asia experienced an outage lasting for about eight hours. This outage was attributed to an issue with swapping virtual IP addresses.</li> <li><b>Nov. 18, 2014.</b> An outage lasting for nearly 10 hours caused storage connectivity issues.</li> <li><b>Dec. 3, 2015.</b> Many customers in Europe were unable to access Office 365 for approximately four hours.</li> <li><b>Sept. 15, 2016.</b> A DNS issue caused problems for Azure users around the world for several hours.</li> <li><b>March 15, 2017.</b> An issue in one of Microsoft's data centers spread around the world and ultimately affected 26 of Microsoft's 28 data centers, resulting in a worldwide outage that lasted for about seven hours.</li> <li><b>Sept. 29, 2017.</b> A seven-hour outage occurred in northern Europe due to the accidental discharge of a fire suppression system.</li> <li><b>June 20, 2018.</b> Customers in northern Europe experienced an outage lasting nearly 11 hours following a temperature issue at one of the data centers.</li> <li><b>Sept. 4, 2018.</b> Lightning strikes caused a voltage increase in a south-central United States data center, resulting in issues with the cooling system. Customers across 10 regions were ultimately affected because of service dependencies.</li> <li><b>May 2, 2019.</b> A DNS outage caused several Azure services to become unavailable for nearly three hours.</li> <li><b>March 15, 2021.</b> An Azure Active Directory outage caused a 14-hour outage in multiple Microsoft services, including Azure, Office, Teams, Dynamics 365, Xbox Live and more. A smaller DNS outage followed on April 1, 2021.</li> <li><b>Oct. 13, 2021.</b> Azure VM services and some other Azure services became unavailable for about eight hours.</li> <li><b>Jan. 23, 2023.</b> Azure faced a three-hour outage affecting its core Microsoft 365 offerings, including services such as Outlook and Teams. This disruption was attributed to network issues within Azure, which affected a wide range of users and organizations relying on these services.</li> <li><b>July 30, 2024.</b> Azure suffered a major global outage lasting for almost eight hours, which affected various Microsoft services, including Azure, Microsoft 365 products and LinkedIn. This global <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/366599523/Microsoft-confirms-DDoS-attack-disrupted-cloud-services">outage was a result of a sophisticated DDoS attack</a>, which was worsened by a vulnerability in Microsoft's DDoS Protection Standard.</li> </ul> <p>Microsoft maintains a complete index of all outages/issues for the last five years. Users can research specific outages, detailed implications, underlying causes and fixes at Microsoft's Azure <a target="_blank" href="https://status.azure.com/en-us/status/history/" rel="noopener">status history page</a>.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Azure competition"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Azure competition</h2> <p>Microsoft Azure is one of several <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-public-cloud-providers-A-brief-comparison">major public cloud service providers</a> operating on a large global scale. Other major clouds include <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform">Google Cloud</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-Web-Services">AWS</a>, Oracle, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/IBM-Bluemix">IBM Cloud</a> and Alibaba Cloud. Currently, there is a lack of standardization among cloud services and capabilities.</p> <p>Most cloud providers offer a broad suite of similar services, but no two cloud providers offer the same service in the exact same way. Cloud providers rely on APIs and other integrations to handle provisioning and services programmatically. Because each provider uses unique APIs, the onus is on users to accommodate differences between cloud providers. Thus, migrating a workload from one cloud to another might require significant recoding of the application or rearchitecting of the cloud environment to support the workload. This makes it difficult for a business to use more than one public cloud provider when pursuing a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/multi-cloud-strategy">multi-cloud strategy</a>. Third-party cloud management tools can reduce some of these challenges.</p> <p>In addition to major cloud providers, Azure faces competition in the small to midsize sector. For example, DigitalOcean is a popular alternative for small to midsize companies looking for cloud services.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/oracle_cloud_vs_aws_vs_microsoft_azure_vs_google_cloud-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/oracle_cloud_vs_aws_vs_microsoft_azure_vs_google_cloud-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/oracle_cloud_vs_aws_vs_microsoft_azure_vs_google_cloud-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/oracle_cloud_vs_aws_vs_microsoft_azure_vs_google_cloud-f.png 1280w" alt="Chart comparing Oracle, AWS, Azure and Google cloud platforms and their services." height="403" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Compare the always-free and free-tier offerings from major cloud providers. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Azure history"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Azure history</h2> <p>Microsoft first unveiled its plans to introduce a cloud computing service called Windows Azure in 2008. Preview versions of the service became available and developed, leading to its commercial launch in early 2010. Although early iterations of Azure cloud services fell behind more established offerings, such as AWS, the portfolio continued to evolve and support a larger base of programming languages, frameworks and operating systems.</p> <p>In 2014, Microsoft rebranded Windows Azure to Microsoft Azure, reflecting its broader scope beyond just Windows-based services. By early 2014, Microsoft had added and updated a wide range of services including Azure SQL, Windows Azure CTP, Windows Azure Connect, Traffic Manager and HPC scheduler. Microsoft recognized that the implications of cloud computing stretched far beyond Windows, and the service was rebranded as Microsoft Azure. In addition, Azure rolled out the first public previews of Machine Learning services.</p> <p>In the following years, Azure introduced Sonic (a cross-platform Linux distribution), Azure Resource Manager Portal (2015), Azure Service Fabric (2016), Azure Service Fabric Mesh (2018) and Azure IoT Central (2018). Today, Azure is regarded as a strong commercial competitor to other public cloud providers.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-1" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hpNGxrPtBGU?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> <p><em>All major cloud providers, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS and Google Cloud, offer robust IAM frameworks, but they differ in their features, configuration, resource hierarchy and pricing models. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Compare-AWS-Azure-and-Google-Cloud-IAM-services">Compare these IAM differences</a> to help select the best option for your organizational needs and technology ecosystems.</em></p> </section> Microsoft Azure, formerly known as Windows Azure, is Microsoft's public cloud computing platform. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/5.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Windows-Azure Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT <p>Data segregation, also commonly referred to as data separation, involves the policies and practices for isolating data and workloads based on specific criteria.</p> <p>Data can be separated based on several different traits, including access rights, sensitivity, type, purpose and functionality. It's separated either physically using different physical systems or logically by storing the data in logical <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/partition">partitions</a> on a single system.</p> <p>Data segregation is a key strategy in managing and protecting data. The goal is to improve data security and privacy by limiting access to it. Although data segregation is essential for many who work with data, the concept is a critical practice within cloud environments.</p> <p>Cloud computing lets organizations run workloads and manage data anywhere, without significant computing resources residing in their data centers. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-public-cloud-providers-A-brief-comparison">Public cloud providers</a> use <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/multi-tenancy">multi-tenant</a> infrastructures, which are efficient and cost-effective, but such multi-tenancy raises concerns about data management and control in the cloud.</p> <p>Data segregation addresses the need to prevent one consumer of cloud services from disrupting or compromising the work or associated data of other consumers of cloud services. In effect, this acknowledges the potential risks of multi-tenant environments, where hypervisor flaws, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/10-common-types-of-malware-attacks-and-how-to-prevent-them">malicious code running in the applications</a>, excess workload demands and other factors can compromise workloads.</p> <p>Thus, data segregation in cloud computing involves knowing exactly where workloads and data are running -- even though the very nature of a public cloud is intended to obscure such granular notions -- and then implementing decisions to relocate data so that security and performance are optimized.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hpNGxrPtBGU?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Why is data segregation important?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Why is data segregation important?</h2> <p>Consider the <i>noisy neighbor</i> syndrome in which a virtual machine (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VM</a>) instance is running in a public cloud alongside a handful of VMs from myriad other users, all packed onto the same cloud server. Technically, this won't cause any issues until one of the neighboring VMs picks up traffic and takes excess network bandwidth or storage I/O, leaving other VMs struggling to maintain performance requirements.</p> <p>Data segregation can rely on workload performance analytics to identify flagging performance and prompt cloud administrators to scale or migrate a stressed workload to another resource to alleviate contention and improve performance.</p> <p>Beyond malicious code and performance sensitivity, today's legal and geopolitical landscape places serious boundaries on where a cloud customer's workloads and data can reside. A public cloud -- such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure -- possesses a global presence comprised of data centers and other points of presence that operate in different countries around the world. In the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/The-history-of-cloud-computing-explained">early days of the public cloud</a>, the physical location of servers and storage was largely opaque to users; the very idea of utility computing made such physical distinctions irrelevant.</p> <p>However, as cloud use has expanded, governments, regulatory bodies and other organizations have become sensitive to the physical realities of global computing infrastructures. Some businesses and government agencies can be severely restricted by cloud region and tenancy. To address these data segregation challenges, cloud providers have given users more control over workload, data placement and reporting.</p> <p>For example, a business located in the U.S. but with operations in the European Union might be obliged to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/tip/Ways-to-collect-customer-data-that-keep-you-compliant">isolate the data collected from EU customers</a> and keep that separated data located on storage resources within an EU cloud region. This helps meet compliance and legislative demands for businesses operating in the cloud.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant.png 1280w" alt="A chart comparing multi-tenant vs. single-tenant customers." height="392" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>A comparison of multi-tenancy and single-tenancy architectures per customer. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the benefits of data segregation?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What are the benefits of data segregation?</h2> <p>Data segregation offers the following three principal benefits:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Improves compliance.</b> Users know exactly where data and workloads are running, such as specific regions or resource instances.</li> <li><b>Increases security.</b> Data and workloads are separated to help prevent potential multi-tenancy issues.</li> <li><b>Enhances performance.</b> Data and workloads can be migrated to varied service levels or tiers based on performance and access frequency needs.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the challenges of data segregation?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What are the challenges of data segregation?</h2> <p>Data segregation also has a host of potential challenges as well, including the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Complexity.</b> It can be difficult for a business to organize and manage its data if it's spread across multiple servers or databases. This also increases the amount of required overhead concerning data policies, configurations and monitoring.</li> <li><b>Cost. </b>Operational expenses can increase, considering an organization must maintain separate storage environments. Organizations dealing with cloud vendors don't have to deal with this consideration as much, as the vendor typically takes care of maintaining and updating its storage infrastructure.</li> <li><b>Integration.</b> It's more difficult to bring together data that's spread across multiple databases or servers for analysis and reporting.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How to implement a data segregation strategy"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How to implement a data segregation strategy</h2> <p>For organizations, the key to optimizing data segregation is to exercise more control over the physical placement of workloads and data. However, the following three essential elements are needed to implement data segregation successfully:</p> <h3>1. Needs assessment</h3> <p>Data segregation can take many forms, so the first area of concern is a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/needs-assessment">needs assessment</a> to determine the desired goals or results from a data segregation strategy. What should data segregation look like for the business? This involves strong collaboration among business leaders, technology experts and legal teams.</p> <h3>2. Data insight</h3> <p>Organizations can host bewildering volumes of data across local, colocation and cloud resources. It's impossible to implement a comprehensive data segregation strategy unless the business has<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/opinion/Empower-decision-making-with-real-time-insights"> clear insight into the data available</a> and its importance to the business. What data does the business have, where is it located now and why is it important to the business? Once that becomes clear, the business can start prioritizing the resources needed to improve availability, resilience and performance. This might involve relocating or tiering data, as well as implementing a storage and retention policy.</p> <h3>3. Data security</h3> <p>In terms of data security and better compliance posture, IT teams must understand that public clouds operate on the basis of a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/shared-responsibility-model">shared responsibility model</a>. The cloud provider is responsible for securing the physical infrastructure, while the user is responsible for securing the workloads and data. Thus, a cloud user's responsibility starts with configuration.</p> <p>Overlooked or incorrect configuration settings could expose a workload or data and potentially leave the business vulnerable to compliance violations. To avoid this issue, it's important to become familiar with the many different configuration options and best practices for the cloud provider's services. Proper configurations can be streamlined through cloud services -- such as AWS CloudFormation or HashiCorp Terraform Cloud -- that automatically provision and secure cloud resources across regions and accounts using templates or policies.</p> <p>Another common practice to guard against the risks of multi-tenancy is the extensive use of strong <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/cloud-encryption-cloud-storage-encryption">encryption for any data housed within the public cloud</a>. If the data is exposed through misconfiguration or malicious actions, the content remains secure. Ideally, encryption is applied to data both at rest and in transit.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The importance of geolocation"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The importance of geolocation</h2> <p>The question of geolocation -- knowing and ensuring the physical area of the world where applications and data reside -- is a more important consideration than ever before. Cloud architects must assemble a suitable infrastructure for a cloud workload that is provisioned in a suitable physical location with the necessary resources and services. Although simply selecting a specific region is not a tenancy discussion, location can affect workload performance, compliance and tenancy.</p> <p>A region can be selected to improve workload performance, since the physical proximity to the workload's users can significantly reduce network latency. This placement of data can boost the workload's apparent performance and improve user satisfaction.</p> <p>Services also vary by region, and not all cloud services might be available in all global regions. This could make it more difficult to deploy or secure workloads or application stacks in some regions. For example, if a needed service or resource isn't currently available in a particular cloud provider's region, the business might be unable to deploy the required environment and run its workload in that region. In that case, it would need to rearchitect the environment or select another suitable region.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Data segregation is a team effort"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Data segregation is a team effort</h2> <p>There's no single driver or implementation for data segregation, and businesses must approach data segregation based on their unique needs. Consequently, it's important to involve a team in any data segregation strategy. Business, IT and legal leaders should all have a place in any data segregation discussion to ensure that business goals, technical requirements for workload and data performance, and legal obligations for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/corporate-governance">corporate governance</a> and compliance are met for every jurisdiction in which the business operates.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Regulatory compliance"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Regulatory compliance</h2> <p>Data segregation also plays an important role in regulatory compliance. Many countries and industry standards have some form of data privacy regulations that require organizations to protect sensitive data.</p> <p>For example, the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/General-Data-Protection-Regulation-GDPR">General Data Protection Regulation</a> in the EU requires businesses to better protect customer data. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.edps.europa.eu/data-protection/data-protection/legislation/history-general-data-protection-regulation_en" rel="noopener">GDPR was created</a> to focus on expanding the privacy rights of data subjects while also keeping businesses more transparent. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the U.S. is another example of a regulation that focuses on implementing stringent controls over how personally identifiable information is accessed and shared in the health field.</p> <p>Keeping data separated in these instances helps comply with data privacy laws and regulations. Data segregation is meant to protect data privacy and ensure that only those who need to access specific data can do so.</p> <p>Data segregation needs and strategies should be reviewed and updated regularly to evaluate changing workload demands and evolving legislative and regulatory landscapes. Special circumstances, such as new regulatory legislation or a data breach, should spark immediate reviews.</p> <p>Data segregation also makes it easier to monitor and document data access and usage in multi-tenant cloud environments. This is useful for auditing and helps adhere to different compliance frameworks.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cloud service tools and technologies for data segregation"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Cloud service tools and technologies for data segregation</h2> <p>Additional strategies to implement data segregation include the use of various enhanced cloud services intended to bolster security and control over cloud content. For example, users can employ a virtual private cloud, which provisions a logically isolated portion of the public cloud to create a user-defined infrastructure with full control over networking, subnets and other network characteristics. Although <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/virtual-private-cloud-VPC">VPCs</a> aren't physically isolated and are still multi-tenant environments, the level of security is much greater for the organization.</p> <p>Tiering strategies can help enhance data quality and access needs. For example, products such as Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically move data to a suitable cost-effective access tier as access patterns change. Data that's accessed less frequently over time can automatically be moved to less expensive -- and, as such, lower performing -- storage resources. This type of capability can handle vast quantities of data, including data lakes, data analytics repositories and customer content.</p> <p>Cloud providers are also developing and expanding specialized cloud offerings for performance and security-sensitive users. For example, products such as AWS GovCloud and Microsoft Azure Government support numerous U.S. federal standards, including the Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations. For additional security and oversight, AWS GovCloud is operated by U.S. citizens within the U.S. and is only accessible to U.S. organizations and prescreened account holders.</p> <p>Similarly, both products support the architecting and implementation of storage and workloads for HIPAA-sensitive tasks. Many AWS component services support HIPAA compliance and can help cloud architects develop secure operational environments for medical usage and related tasks.</p> <p>Several cloud providers, including AWS, Microsoft and IBM, offer an array of dedicated, single-tenant servers and cloud options to help improve workload performance and compliance. This can also be referred to as a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/bare-metal-cloud"><i>bare metal cloud</i></a>. Similarly, Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances can be run in a VPC on hardware that's dedicated to a single customer.</p> <p><em>Data segregation in the cloud is an important aspect of regulatory compliance. Learn more about <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Tips-to-achieve-compliance-with-GDPR-in-cloud-storage">GDPR compliance in the cloud</a>. </em></p> </section> Data segregation, also commonly referred to as data separation, involves the policies and practices for isolating data and workloads based on specific criteria. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/searchCloudComputing/development/cloudcomputing_article_009.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/answer/What-is-data-separation-and-why-is-it-important-in-the-cloud Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT <p>Google Cloud is a suite of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/public-cloud">public cloud</a> computing services offered by Google. The platform includes a range of hosted services for compute, storage, machine learning (ML), <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/big-data">big data</a> analytics, networking and application development that run on Google hardware.</p> <p>Software developers, cloud administrators and other enterprise IT professionals can access Google Cloud services over the internet or through a dedicated network connection.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Differences between Google Cloud and Google Cloud Platform"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Differences between Google Cloud and Google Cloud Platform</h2> <p>Although the terms <i>Google Cloud</i> and <i>Google Cloud Platform</i> (GCP) are frequently used interchangeably, the following key distinctions set them apart:</p> <p><b>Google Cloud</b> is a general umbrella term that encompasses all of Google's cloud-based services. This includes GCP and products related to Google's ecosystem, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchunifiedcommunications/feature/Extend-collaboration-tools-with-Google-Workspace-User-Guide">Google Workspace</a> -- formerly G Suite -- and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Google-Maps">Google Maps</a>, which are readily available for users globally.</p> <p><b>Google Cloud Platform</b> specifically pertains to Google's suite of cloud computing services. This includes offerings such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchCloudComputing/definition/Google-App-Engine">App Engine</a>, Cloud Storage, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/Google-BigQuery">BigQuery</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/366615533/Googles-Looker-taking-an-agentic-approach-to-generative-AI">Looker Studio</a>, which are designed for developers and businesses seeking to build, manage and analyze applications and data in the cloud.</p> <p>While Google Cloud refers to the entire range of Google's cloud services, GCP focuses specifically on the infrastructure and tools for cloud computing.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Overview of Google Cloud offerings"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Overview of Google Cloud offerings</h2> <p>Google Cloud offers services for compute, storage, networking, big data, ML and internet of things (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT">IoT</a>), as well as cloud management, security and developer tools. The cloud computing products in Google Cloud include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Google Compute Engine.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Google-Compute-Engine">Google Compute Engine</a> is an <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">infrastructure-as-a-service</a> offering that provides users with virtual machine (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VM</a>) instances for workload hosting.</li> <li><b>Google App Engine.</b> Google App Engine is a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Platform-as-a-Service-PaaS">platform-as-a-service</a> offering that gives software developers access to Google's scalable hosting. Developers can also use a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/software-developers-kit-SDK">software development kit</a> to develop software products that run on App Engine.</li> <li><b>Google Cloud Storage.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Compare-Google-Cloud-Storage-vs-Google-Drive-for-enterprises">Google Cloud Storage</a> is a cloud storage platform designed to store large, unstructured data sets. Google also offers database storage options, including Cloud Datastore for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/NoSQL-Not-Only-SQL">NoSQL</a> nonrelational storage, Cloud SQL for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchoracle/definition/MySQL">MySQL</a> fully relational storage and Google's native Cloud Bigtable database.</li> <li><b>Google Kubernetes Engine.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Google-Container-Engine-GKE">GKE</a> is a management and orchestration system for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Docker">Docker</a> container and container clusters that run within Google's public cloud services. GKE is based on <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Google-Kubernetes">Kubernetes</a>, Google's open source container management system.</li> <li><b>Google Cloud's operations suite. </b>Formerly Stackdriver, this set of integrated tools is for cloud monitoring, logging and reporting on the managed services driving applications and systems on Google Cloud.</li> <li><b>Serverless computing.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/serverless-computing">Serverless computing</a> provides tools and services for event-based workload execution, such as Cloud Run Functions for creating functions that handle cloud events, Cloud Run for managing and running containerized applications and Workflows to orchestrate serverless products and application programming interfaces (APIs).</li> <li><b>Databases.</b> A suite of database products delivered as completely managed services, including Cloud Bigtable for large-scale, low-latency workloads; Firestore for documents; CloudSpanner as a highly scalable, highly reliable relational database; and CloudSQL as a fully managed database for MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server.</li> </ul> <p>Google Cloud offers application development and integration services. For example, Google Cloud Pub/Sub is a managed real-time messaging service that enables messages to be exchanged between applications. In addition, Google Cloud Endpoints enables developers to create services based on <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/RESTful-API">RESTful APIs</a> and then make those services accessible to Apple iOS, Android and JavaScript clients.</p> <p>Other offerings include Anycast <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/domain-name-system">domain name systems</a>, direct network interconnections, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/load-balancing">load balancing</a>, monitoring and logging services. Products such as Gmail and the generative AI Google chatbot <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/Google-Gemini">Gemini </a>also run on Google Cloud.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Higher-level services"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Higher-level services</h2> <p>Google continues to add higher-level services, such as those related to big data and ML, to its cloud platform. Google big data services include those for data processing and analytics, such as Google BigQuery for SQL-like queries made against multi-terabyte data sets. In addition, Google Cloud Dataflow is a data processing service intended for analytics; extract, transform and load; and real-time computational projects. The platform also includes Google Cloud Dataproc, which offers Apache Spark and Hadoop services for big data processing.</p> <p>For artificial intelligence (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/AI-Artificial-Intelligence">AI</a>), Google offers its Cloud Machine Learning Engine, a managed service that enables users to build and train ML models. Various APIs are also available for translating and analyzing speech, text, images and videos.</p> <p>Google also provides services for IoT, including Google Cloud IoT Core. These managed services enable users to consume and manage data from IoT devices. The Edge Tensor Processing Unit provides dedicated hardware designed to accelerate ML and AI at the IoT edge.</p> <p>Google Cloud provides the following tools to assist with data and workload migrations:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Application Migration to the cloud.</li> <li>BigQuery Data Transfer Service to schedule and move data into BigQuery.</li> <li>Database Migration Service to enable easy migrations to Cloud SQL.</li> <li>Migrate for Anthos to help migrate VMs into containers on GKE.</li> <li>Migrate for Compute Engine to bring VMs and physical servers to Compute Engine.</li> <li>Storage Transfer Service to handle data transfers to Cloud Storage.</li> </ul> <p>The Google Cloud suite of services is evolving, and Google periodically introduces, changes or discontinues services based on user demand or competitive pressures. Google's main competitors in the public cloud computing market are Amazon Web Services (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-Web-Services">AWS</a>) and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Windows-Azure">Microsoft Azure</a>.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/gcp_suite_of_services-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/gcp_suite_of_services-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/gcp_suite_of_services-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/gcp_suite_of_services-f.png 1280w" alt="A table showing services available on the Google Cloud platform." height="756" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Google Cloud offers numerous services. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Benefits of Google Cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Benefits of Google Cloud</h2> <p>Google Cloud offers numerous benefits, making it an attractive choice for businesses and developers. Some key benefits of Google Cloud include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Flexible pricing.</b> GCP provides significant cost savings by offering a flexible pricing model that enables businesses to pay only for the resources they use. It offers sustained use discounts and committed use contracts, which can further reduce costs for long-term projects. New customers also receive $300 in free credit to explore Google Cloud products and build a proof of concept.</li> <li><b>Helpful documentation.</b> Google Cloud provides extensive documentation, including detailed guides, quick starts and tutorials to help users get started with various services. Each document is structured with an overview and a hands-on guide that walks the user through the feature or service.</li> <li><b>Scaling.</b> With Google Cloud, it's easy to scale resources up or down based on demand. This is especially helpful for businesses with fluctuating traffic, as it ensures the resources aren't over-provisioned and extra resources are always available.</li> <li><b>Advanced data analytics and ML.</b> Google Cloud provides strong data analytics and machine learning capabilities. For example, tools such as BigQuery enable data analysis, while services including AutoML and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/TensorFlow">TensorFlow</a> make it easier for developers to build and deploy ML models.</li> <li><b>Security and compliance.</b> Google Cloud employs a multilayered security approach, including data encryption both in transit and at rest. The company regularly updates its security protocols, conducts routine checks and trains staff to ensure strong data protection. In the event of a breach, users are quickly notified and managed access features enable tracking of revisions and activities. Tools such as<b> </b>BeyondCorp and Confidential Computing protect data, minimize risk and assist businesses in maintaining compliance with industry regulations.</li> <li><b>Live migration.</b> Google Cloud's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/live-migration">live migration</a> feature enables VMs to move between physical hosts without downtime, ensuring high availability and reliability. This is ideal for businesses that require consistent uptime and performance.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Challenges of Google Cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Challenges of Google Cloud</h2> <p>Along with its many benefits, Google Cloud also faces some challenges in the competitive cloud market.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Key challenges of Google Cloud include the following:"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Key challenges of Google Cloud include the following:</h2> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Cost management and optimization.</b> Google Cloud's pricing structure can be complex, making it difficult for businesses to budget and manage cloud computing costs accurately. Since a VM doesn't include all necessary components, such as storage and bandwidth, quotes can be misleading if businesses aren't aware of all the resources they will be using. To optimize spending, businesses should assess their storage needs thoroughly, utilize lifecycle management to transition data to more affordable or archival classes, and monitor usage regularly.</li> <li><b>Limited support options for enterprise tools.</b> While Google Cloud is a strong contender in AI, ML and big data, it can lack the same extensive support for enterprise software integrations and legacy tools as platforms such as AWS and Azure.</li> <li><b>Compliance and data governance complexities.</b> As with any cloud vendor, ensuring data governance and compliance in Google Cloud can be complex. Organizations must align data with regulatory and internal policies, including access controls and privacy regulations. Additionally, businesses should understand <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/366615313/Google-Cloud-to-roll-out-mandatory-MFA-for-all-users">Google's security frameworks</a>, document data practices and conduct regular audits to maintain compliance.</li> <li><b>Limited customization.</b> GCP caters to a broad range of users, which can result in less granular control over certain services compared to more highly customizable platforms.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Google Cloud use cases"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Google Cloud use cases</h2> <p>Google Cloud supports a wide range of use cases across various industries. The following are some notable applications of Google Cloud:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Application hosting and development.</b> The Google Cloud platform is used extensively in application development and hosting. With tools such as Google App Engine and Google Kubernetes, users can build scalable apps, deploy web applications and manage containerized applications effectively.</li> <li><b>Data storage and management.</b> Organizations use Google Cloud for secure and scalable data storage. The platform offers tools such as BigQuery and Cloud Dataflow for data analytics and management, enabling businesses to efficiently store, analyze and derive insights from large data sets.</li> <li><b>Hybrid and multi-cloud options.</b> Google Cloud supports hybrid cloud environments, enabling organizations to integrate on-premises infrastructure with cloud resources seamlessly. This flexibility enables businesses to optimize their cloud strategy and also <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/4-best-practices-to-avoid-cloud-vendor-lock-in">avoid the risk of vendor lock-in</a>.</li> <li><b>Google Distributed Cloud.</b> GDC extends Google's cloud services to locations outside traditional data centers, enabling businesses to deploy and manage applications closer to their data sources. In 2024, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/news/366596173/Google-launches-Distributed-Cloud-Edge-hardware">Google launched its first distributed cloud-edge air-gapped appliance</a>. GDC meets data residency, compliance and low-latency requirements while integrating seamlessly with Google Cloud services.</li> <li><b>IoT.</b> GCP facilitates the development of IoT applications by providing workflows that securely connect, manage and ingest data from multiple devices. This enables businesses to harness real-time data to support various use cases, including <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/smart-manufacturing-SM">smart manufacturing</a>, connected vehicles and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searcherp/feature/Predictive-maintenance-Definition-benefits-example-strategy">predictive maintenance</a>.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Google Cloud pricing options"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Google Cloud pricing options</h2> <p>Like other public cloud offerings, most Google Cloud services follow a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">pay-as-you-go</a> model with no upfront payments; users only pay for the cloud resources they consume. Specific terms and rates, however, vary from service to service.</p> <p>Discounts are available for some services with long-term commitments. For example, committed use discounts on Compute Engine resources such as instance types or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/GPU-graphics-processing-unit">graphics processing units</a> can yield discounts of up to 50%, with discounts of up to 70% for memory-optimized machine types. Google Cloud adopters should consult with Google sales staff and in-house cloud architects and use cloud pricing estimation tools, such as Google Cloud <a target="_blank" href="https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator" rel="noopener">pricing calculator</a>, to estimate the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/Breaking-Down-the-Cost-of-Cloud-Computing">pricing of prospective cloud deployments</a>.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Google Cloud competitors"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Google Cloud competitors</h2> <p>Google Cloud faces strong competition from other public cloud providers -- mainly AWS and Microsoft Azure. The following are the key differences among AWS, Azure and Google Cloud:</p> <h3>AWS</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li>AWS is the oldest and most mature public cloud that emerged as a public service in 2006.</li> <li>It typically offers the broadest range of general tools and services and possesses the largest market share by appealing to a broad customer base ranging from individual developers to major enterprises to government agencies.</li> <li>AWS offers essential services such as computing, storage, databases, ML and analytics, catering to various applications and industries.</li> <li>AWS employs a pay-as-you-go pricing model and various pricing tiers along with discounts for long-term commitments.</li> </ul> <h3>Microsoft Azure</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Microsoft Azure appeared in 2010 and has proven particularly attractive to Windows and Microsoft-based environments. This has made it easier to transition workloads from data centers to Azure, and even build hybrid environments.</li> <li>Azure is the second-largest public cloud, often catering to larger enterprise users.</li> <li>Its pricing is competitive and often aligns closely with AWS. It provides discounts for enterprise agreements and offers a free tier for certain services, making it accessible for startups and small businesses.</li> <li>Azure is favored by enterprises, especially those with existing investments in Microsoft technologies.</li> </ul> <h3>Google Cloud</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Google Cloud also appeared in 2010 and is currently the smallest of the three major public clouds. However, it has developed a strong reputation for its compute, network, big data and ML and AI services.</li> <li>Google Cloud is known for its straightforward pricing structure and sustained use discounts, which automatically apply as usage increases.</li> <li>Google Cloud is often preferred by organizations focused on data analytics and ML. It can be a popular option among tech-savvy companies and startups as they prioritize cutting-edge technology.</li> </ul> <p>However, the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/A-cloud-services-cheat-sheet-for-AWS-Azure-and-Google-Cloud">differences among providers</a> are eroding, as all three public clouds are evolving to offer similar suites of services and capabilities. For example, Google Cloud's Config Connector used for app modernization is matched by AWS Controllers for Kubernetes and Azure Service Operator. There are only a handful of Google Cloud services not matched by an AWS and/or Azure analog. As examples, Google Cloud's Binary Authorization service for container security and the Error Reporting tool for software developers currently have no matching services from AWS or Azure.</p> <p>Cloud adopters should carefully investigate and experiment with the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-public-cloud-providers-A-brief-comparison">suite of services each cloud provider offers</a> before committing to a particular platform. However, multi-cloud environments are increasingly common among enterprise users.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/google_cloud_vs_amazon_web_services_vs_microsoft_azure-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/google_cloud_vs_amazon_web_services_vs_microsoft_azure-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/google_cloud_vs_amazon_web_services_vs_microsoft_azure-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/google_cloud_vs_amazon_web_services_vs_microsoft_azure-f.png 1280w" alt="A chart comparing GCP vs. AWS vs. Azure." height="327" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Comparison between the three big cloud service vendors. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Google Cloud certification paths"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Google Cloud certification paths</h2> <p>Public clouds offer hundreds of individual services, enabling users to assemble comprehensive cloud infrastructures capable of deploying, securing and monitoring complex enterprise workloads. Effective use of cloud services depends on the users' knowledge and expertise surrounding those offerings. This has driven the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-20-cloud-computing-skills-to-boost-your-career">need for cloud training</a> and certification, and Google offers training programs and certifications related to Google Cloud.</p> <p>Training options offer free or low-cost onramps to Google Cloud services and approaches. Cloud users can explore a range of training options, including the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Cloud infrastructure.</li> <li>Application development.</li> <li>Kubernetes, hybrid and multi-cloud.</li> <li>Data engineering and analytics.</li> <li>API management.</li> <li>Networking and security.</li> <li>Machine learning and AI.</li> <li>Cloud business leadership.</li> <li>Google Workspace.</li> </ul> <p>Google also promotes and endorses certifications for cloud users who choose to validate their expertise on a professional level. Certification paths are typical for cloud professionals as part of ongoing professional development or as a requirement for professional cloud employment. Employers also use certifications as vital benchmarks for measuring prospective candidates' capabilities and knowledge levels for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-7-cloud-computing-careers-and-how-to-get-started">cloud-related jobs</a>. Google currently offers the following three levels of Google Cloud certification:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Foundational certification.</b> This introductory certification conveys a wide range of basic knowledge and concepts of Google Cloud resources, tools and services. It's suited to new or non-technical cloud users with little experience with Google Cloud.</li> <li><b>Associate certification.</b> This main practical certification for Google Cloud enables users to focus on issues such as deployment, monitoring and maintenance of workloads running in Google Cloud. This certification is suited for cloud engineer roles.</li> <li><b>Professional certifications.</b> These top-tier certifications validate advanced concepts and skills in design, execution and management within Google Cloud. Participants seeking a professional certification should have at least three years of industry experience, including at least one year of hands-on experience with Google Cloud. Professional certifications currently cover the following nine specializations: Cloud Architect, Cloud Database Engineer, Cloud Developer, Data Engineer, Cloud DevOps Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer, Cloud Network Engineer, Google Professional Workspace Administrator and Machine Learning Engineer.</li> </ul> <p><em>Google Cloud Storage and Google Drive are the two primary storage options offered by Google. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Compare-Google-Cloud-Storage-vs-Google-Drive-for-enterprises">Compare their key differences</a> including storage types, space and features to determine which is best suited for your business needs.</em></p> </section> Google Cloud is a suite of public cloud computing services offered by Google. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/5.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform Wed, 11 Dec 2024 09:30:00 GMT <p>Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a cloud provider hosts applications and makes them available to end users over the internet. In this model, an independent software vendor (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/ISV">ISV</a>) can contract a third-party cloud provider to host the application. Or, with larger companies, such as Microsoft, the cloud provider might also be the software vendor.</p> <p>SaaS is one of three main categories of cloud computing services, alongside infrastructure as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">IaaS</a>) and platform as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Platform-as-a-Service-PaaS">PaaS</a>). A range of IT professionals, business users and personal consumers use SaaS applications. Products range from personal entertainment, such as Netflix, to advanced IT tools. Unlike IaaS and PaaS, SaaS products are frequently marketed to both business-to-business (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/B2B">B2B</a>) and business-to-consumer (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/B2C">B2C</a>) users.</p> <p>With a SaaS offering, users only need to focus on utilizing the software, as maintenance and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/infrastructure">infrastructure</a> management are typically handled by the provider.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How does software as a service work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How does software as a service work?</h2> <p>SaaS works through the cloud delivery model, where users can access software applications through the internet instead of installing them on their local devices. A software provider hosts the application and related data using its own <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/server">servers</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/database">databases</a>, networks and computing resources, or an ISV contracts a cloud provider to host the application in the provider's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/data-center">data center</a>. The application is accessible to any device with a network connection.</p> <p>SaaS applications are typically accessed via web browsers. As a result, companies using SaaS applications are not tasked with the setup and maintenance of the software. Users simply pay a subscription fee to gain access to the software, which is a ready-made option.</p> <p>SaaS is closely related to the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-service-provider-ASP">application service provider</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/on-demand-computing">on-demand computing</a> software delivery models, where the provider hosts the customer's software and delivers it to approved end users over the internet.</p> <p>In the software-on-demand SaaS model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application that the provider created specifically for SaaS distribution. The application's source code is the same for all customers, and when new features or functionalities are released, they are rolled out to all customers. Depending on the service-level agreement (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/service-level-agreement">SLA</a>), the customer's data for each model can be stored locally, in the cloud, or both locally and in the cloud infrastructure.</p> <p>Organizations can integrate SaaS applications with other software using application programming interfaces (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-program-interface-API">APIs</a>). For example, a business can write its own software tools and use the SaaS provider's APIs to integrate those tools with the SaaS offering.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pLsdKM57CP8?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="SaaS architecture"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>SaaS architecture</h2> <p>In a SaaS system, each customer is regarded as a tenant and accesses the platform by paying a subscription fee. SaaS architectures generally fall into the following two types.</p> <h3>Multi-tenant architecture</h3> <p>SaaS applications and services typically use a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/multi-tenant-cloud">multi-tenant</a> approach, which means a single instance of the SaaS application is running on the host servers and that single instance serves each subscribing customer or cloud tenant. The application runs on a single version and configuration across all customers, or tenants. Though different subscribing customers run on the same cloud instance with a common infrastructure and platform, the data from different customers is still segregated.</p> <p>The typical multi-tenant architecture of SaaS applications means the cloud service provider (CSP) can manage maintenance, updates and bug fixes faster, easier and more efficiently. Rather than having to execute changes in multiple instances, engineers can make necessary changes for all customers by maintaining one shared instance. Furthermore, multi-tenancy enables a greater pool of resources to be available to a larger group of people without compromising <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/7-key-characteristics-of-cloud-computing">important cloud characteristics and functions</a>, such as security, speed and privacy.</p> <h3>Single-tenant architecture</h3> <p>In a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/single-tenancy">single-tenant</a> architecture, each customer has its own instance of the software. This instance operates on a separate server, while sharing a single infrastructure and database. This means resources are not shared between tenants and each customer's data is kept distinct.</p> <p>While this setup offers greater control and customization options, it can be more costly for the provider to maintain as it requires it to manage multiple instances.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-single_vs_multi-tenant.png 1280w" alt="multi-tenancy and single-tenancy diagram" height="392" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>A comparison of multi-tenancy and single-tenancy architectures per customer </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the advantages of SaaS?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What are the advantages of SaaS?</h2> <p>SaaS removes the need for organizations to install and run applications on their computers or in their data centers. This eliminates the expense of hardware acquisition, provisioning and maintenance, as well as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/software-license">software licensing</a>, installation and support.</p> <p>Other benefits of the SaaS model include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Flexible payments. </b>Rather than purchasing software to install, or additional hardware to support it, customers subscribe to a SaaS offering. Transitioning costs to a recurring operating expense enables many businesses to exercise better and more predictable budgeting. Users can also terminate SaaS offerings at any time to stop those recurring costs.</li> <li><b>Scalable usage. </b>Cloud services such as SaaS offer high vertical scalability, which gives customers the option to access more or fewer services or features on demand.</li> <li><b>Reduced workload on IT. </b>Outsourcing software development and management to a SaaS provider alleviates pressure on internal IT teams, enabling them to concentrate on strategic initiatives instead of routine maintenance tasks.</li> <li><b>Automatic updates. </b>Rather than purchasing new software, customers can rely on a SaaS provider to automatically perform updates and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/definition/patch-management">patch management</a>. This further reduces the burden on in-house IT staff.</li> <li><b>Accessibility and persistence. </b>Since SaaS vendors deliver applications over the internet, users can access them from any internet-enabled device and location.</li> <li><b>Customization. </b>SaaS applications are often customizable and can be integrated with other business applications, especially across applications from a common software provider.</li> <li><b>Improved collaboration. </b>Various SaaS applications are designed with collaboration in mind, which enables multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously. This enhances teamwork and improves productivity.</li> <li><b>Reliability.</b> It's typical for SaaS vendors to invest in rigorous cybersecurity protocols and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/disaster-recovery">disaster recovery</a> capabilities. Many of these vendors promise 99% or even 99.9% uptime, indicating that users only need a reliable internet connection for swift operations.</li> <li><b>Improved security.</b> The centralized nature of SaaS helps with consistent security management. Most SaaS providers invest significantly in advanced <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/The-ultimate-guide-to-cybersecurity-planning-for-businesses">cybersecurity planning</a> and measures, such as encryption, regular updates and strong <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/access-control">access controls</a>. They also have dedicated security teams that comply with industry standards and regulations.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What are the challenges and risks of SaaS?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What are the challenges and risks of SaaS?</h2> <p>SaaS also poses some potential risks and challenges, as businesses must rely on outside vendors to provide the software, keep that software up and running, track and report accurate billing, and facilitate a secure environment for the business's data. Those risks and challenges include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Issues beyond customer control. </b>Issues can arise when providers experience service disruptions, impose unwanted changes to service offerings or experience a security breach -- all of which can have a profound effect on customers' ability to use the SaaS offering. To proactively mitigate these issues, customers should understand their SaaS provider's SLA and make sure it is enforced.</li> <li><b>Lost control over versioning. </b>If the provider adopts a new version of an application, it rolls out to all its customers, regardless of whether or not the customer wants the newer version. This can require the organization to provide extra time and resources for training.</li> <li><b>Difficulty switching vendors. </b>As with <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-public-cloud-providers-A-brief-comparison">using any CSP</a>, switching vendors can be difficult. To switch vendors, customers must migrate large amounts of data. Furthermore, some vendors use proprietary technologies and data types, which can further complicate customer data transfer between different cloud providers. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/vendor-lock-in">Vendor lock-in</a> is when a customer cannot easily transition between service providers due to these conditions.</li> <li><b>Security. </b>Cloud security is often cited as a significant challenge for SaaS applications. This is primarily due to the shared responsibility model that SaaS offers, where both the provider and the customer must ensure security, leading to potential gaps in protection. Additionally, complexities such as data breaches, misconfigurations and lack of visibility into cloud environments can expose sensitive information and increase vulnerability to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/cyber-attack">cyberattacks</a>.</li> <li><b>Cost management. </b>While SaaS can be cost-effective, managing expenses can be complex. Organizations can incur unexpected costs from overprovisioning resources or inadequate usage monitoring, which can quickly outweigh the financial benefits.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="SaaS security and privacy"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>SaaS security and privacy</h2> <p>The cybersecurity risks associated with software as a service are different from those associated with traditional software. With traditional software, the software vendor is responsible for eliminating code-based vulnerabilities, while the user is responsible for running the software on a secure infrastructure and network. As a result, security is more the responsibility of the ISV and third-party cloud provider.</p> <p>Despite the rapid adoption of cloud-based models for fully serviced software products, organizations still have certain reservations about SaaS products when it comes to security and privacy. These concerns include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Encryption and key management.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/identity-access-management-IAM-system">Identity and access management</a>.</li> <li>Security monitoring.</li> <li>Incident response.</li> <li>Poor integration into broader, company-specific security environments.</li> <li>Fulfillment of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/data-residency">data residency</a> requirements.</li> <li>Data privacy.</li> <li>Cost of investing in third-party tools to offset the SaaS security risk.</li> <li>Lack of communication with technical and security experts during the sales process.</li> </ul> <p>To keep SaaS secure, organizations should conduct the following best practices:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Adopt a multilayered security strategy, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/multifactor-authentication-MFA">multifactor authentication</a>, to ensure that only authorized users can access the system.</li> <li>Regularly update software, and apply security patches to protect against vulnerabilities.</li> <li>Employ strict access controls through a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/zero-trust-model-zero-trust-network">zero-trust</a> approach. This ensures that all user traffic is verified thoroughly, irrespective of its origin. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Best-practices-to-secure-data-at-rest-in-use-and-in-motion">Encrypt data both in transit and at rest</a> to help safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access.</li> <li>Conduct regular security audits and risk assessments to identify potential weaknesses in the system.</li> <li>Educate employees about security best practices, such as recognizing <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/phishing">phishing</a> attempts and using secure passwords to help enhance overall security posture.</li> <li>Establish clear and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/tip/7-best-practices-for-successful-data-governance-programs">successful data governance policies</a> and compliance with relevant regulations to ensure data is handled responsibly and securely.</li> </ul> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">For more on public cloud</h3> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-Key-benefits-and-differences">Public vs. private vs. hybrid cloud: Key differences explained</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Choose-the-right-on-premises-to-cloud-migration-method">Choose the right on-premises-to-cloud migration method</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/Breaking-Down-the-Cost-of-Cloud-Computing">Breaking down the cost of cloud computing</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-7-cloud-computing-careers-and-how-to-get-started">Top cloud computing careers and how to get started</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-20-cloud-computing-skills-to-boost-your-career">Top cloud computing skills to boost your career</a><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-20-cloud-computing-skills-to-boost-your-career"></a></p> </div> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="SaaS vs. IaaS vs. PaaS"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>SaaS vs. IaaS vs. PaaS</h2> <p>SaaS is one of the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/SaaS-IaaS-PaaS-Comparing-Cloud-Service-Models">three major cloud service models</a>, along with IaaS and PaaS. All three models involve cloud providers that deliver their own hosted data center resources to customers over the internet. Where the models differ is in the completeness of the product.</p> <p>SaaS products are complete and fully managed applications. The application users do not have to download software, manage any existing IT infrastructure or deal with any aspect of software management. Vendors handle maintenance, upgrades, support, security and all other aspects of managing the software.</p> <p>IaaS is used by companies that want to outsource their data center and computer resources to a cloud provider. IaaS providers host infrastructure components, such as servers, storage, networking hardware and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtualization">virtualization</a> resources. Customer organizations using IaaS services must still manage their data use, applications and operating systems (OSes).</p> <p>PaaS provides a framework of resources and development tools for an organization's in-house developers. This hosted platform enables developers to create customized applications. The vendor manages the data center resources that support the tools. Customer organizations using PaaS services do not have to manage their OSes, but must manage applications and data use.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/itops-pizza_as_a_service.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/itops-pizza_as_a_service_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/itops-pizza_as_a_service_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/itops-pizza_as_a_service.png 1280w" alt="cloud service model diagram" height="312" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Comparing cloud service types using pizza as a metaphor for cloud delivery </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="SaaS vendors and examples"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>SaaS vendors and examples</h2> <p>The SaaS market includes a variety of software vendors and products that optimize operations across different sectors. Industry players include small, single-product vendors all the way up to cloud giants, such as Amazon Web Services (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-Web-Services">AWS</a>) and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform">Google Cloud</a>.</p> <p>SaaS apps and products are also diverse, ranging from video streaming services and messaging apps to IT business analytics tools. There are SaaS applications for fundamental business applications, such as email, sales management, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/CRM-customer-relationship-management">customer relationship management</a>, financial management, human resource management, billing and collaboration. Enterprise SaaS products for specific industries, such as insurance or medical, are known as vertical SaaS products.</p> <p>SaaS products can be primarily marketed to B2B, B2C markets or both. Some commonly used examples of current SaaS products are the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Adobe Creative Cloud.</li> <li>AWS products.</li> <li>Atlassian.</li> <li>DocuSign.</li> <li>Dropbox.</li> <li>GitHub.</li> <li>Google Workspace apps.</li> <li>HubSpot.</li> <li>LinkedIn Premium.</li> <li>Mailchimp.</li> <li>Microsoft 365.</li> <li>Netflix.</li> <li>Salesforce.</li> <li>Shopify.</li> <li>Slack.</li> <li>Trello.</li> <li>Zendesk.</li> <li>Zoom.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="SaaS pricing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>SaaS pricing</h2> <p>Generally, using a SaaS product is more cost-effective than a traditional software license for enterprise software, as setup and installation onto hardware are not necessary. SaaS providers typically use one of many subscription-based pricing models for customers. By analyzing the available components and business models, companies can craft a pricing strategy that aligns with their goals and fulfills customer expectations.</p> <p>Common SaaS pricing models include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Free, or ad-based.</b> A service can be free for users, with the SaaS provider generating revenue through selling advertisement space. In this model, there is typically an option to upgrade to a paid tier that doesn't include intrusive ads.</li> <li><b>Flat rate. </b>Customers are granted access to the software's full suite of features for a fixed monthly or annual subscription fee.</li> <li><b>Per user. </b>Pricing is determined by how many people are using the service for each subscription. There is a fixed price for every user.</li> <li><b>Per-user tiers. </b>Pricing tiers are based on a range of how many active users can exist on a single subscription.</li> <li><b>Storage tiers. </b>Customers can have free access to a service but are required to pay for storage if they wish to continue using the product after they pass the free limit.</li> <li><b>Pay as you go, or usage-based.</b> The more customers use the service, the more they are billed and vice versa in the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">pay-as-you-go</a> model.</li> <li><b>Per active user. </b>This incorporates aspects of the per-user and pay-as-you-go strategies. Subscribers are billed per user -- but only if the user has been actively using the service beyond a defined threshold.</li> <li><b>Feature-based tiers.</b> Price tiers are determined by the amount of features the subscriber seeks. In this model, reduced versions of the software with limited features are available for a lower price than the maximum functionality tier. Additional feature tiers in between the minimum and maximum functionality tiers can also exist.</li> <li><b>Freemium. </b>The service is generally free to use with an entry-level tier. However, there are typically functional restrictions in place that are designed to upsell customers to a paid tier.</li> </ul> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The future of SaaS"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The future of SaaS</h2> <p>The SaaS market is expected to grow considerably, with one <a href="https://pages.bettercloud.com/rs/719-KZY-706/images/2020_StateofSaaSOpsReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> suggesting that 70% of business applications in use today are SaaS-based. This number is projected to rise to 85% by 2025. Key trends shaping the future of SaaS include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Adoption of artificial intelligence.</b> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/AI-Artificial-Intelligence">AI</a> is increasing SaaS adoption by automating management processes. For example, AI automates routine tasks, improves decision-making and provides valuable insights into customer behavior. It also enhances user experience with tools such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/chatbot">chatbots</a> and personalizes interactions through advanced algorithms.</li> <li><strong>Vertical SaaS options.</strong> There is a growing demand for vertical SaaS options tailored to specific industries, such as healthcare, real estate and manufacturing. These specialized applications address unique industry challenges and requirements, enabling businesses to benefit from more relevant features and functionalities.</li> <li><b>Personalized experiences.</b> Businesses are starting to realize how important it is to provide personalized client experiences. Data-driven customization and AI integration enable SaaS companies to meet individual user needs, which, in turn, fosters loyalty and encourages higher customer spending.</li> <li><strong>Cybersecurity enhancements.</strong> As cyberthreats evolve, SaaS providers are making significant investments in cybersecurity to safeguard sensitive data and uphold customer trust. They are achieving this goal by utilizing advanced security protocols for their offerings and ensuring compliance with regulations.</li> <li><b>Development of white-label SaaS.</b> White-label software is an application created by one company that can be rebranded, resold or licensed by another company. By rebranding and reselling preexisting software, white-label software enables businesses to join the market more quickly and affordably than they might by creating proprietary products.</li> <li><b>Focus on customer success.</b> Customer success is essential in today's SaaS landscape and is becoming a top priority for most businesses. A Salesforce <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/ap/blog/what-is-good-customer-service/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> indicated that 67% of customers report having high standards than ever for good experiences, emphasizing the need for SaaS companies to invest in customer success initiatives to meet these expectations. By prioritizing customer outcomes and success, companies can not only enhance user satisfaction, but also drive retention and increase profitability.</li> <li><b>Push for environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.</b> Companies are increasingly integrating and adopting <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/environmental-social-and-governance-ESG">ESG</a> practices that not only minimize their ecological footprint, but also enhance their reputation and appeal to socially conscious customers and investors. Some examples of ESG initiatives include <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/esg-global/research-report/securing-saas-ecosystems/">securing SaaS ecosystems</a>, adopting sustainability initiatives for data center energy use and designing SaaS products with sustainability in mind to reduce consumption and waste throughout their lifecycle.</li> </ul> <p><em>Discover key factors to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/opinion/What-to-consider-when-creating-a-SaaS-security-strategy">consider when crafting a SaaS security policy</a>. Look into attributes that focus on effective SaaS strategy, such as visibility, user experience and workflow, for enhanced protection.</em></p> </section> Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a cloud provider hosts applications and makes them available to end users over the internet. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/5.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Software-as-a-Service Wed, 27 Nov 2024 09:00:00 GMT <p>A public cloud is a third-party managed platform that uses the standard cloud computing model to make resources, applications and services available on demand to remote users around the world. Public cloud resources typically include conventional IT infrastructure elements, such as VMs, containers, serverless instances, applications and storage.</p> <p>Services can include an array of workloads, including databases, firewalls, load balancers, management tools and other <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/private-PaaS-private-platform-as-a-service">PaaS</a> or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Software-as-a-Service">SaaS</a> elements. Users then assemble resources and services to build an infrastructure capable of deploying and operating enterprise workloads. Public cloud services can be free or offered through a variety of subscription or on-demand pricing schemes, including pay-per-usage or pay-as-you-go (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing">PAYG</a>) models. Extended-use models can typically qualify for pricing discounts, such as committed-use discounts, reserved instances or savings plans.</p> <p>Public cloud provides the following primary benefits:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>A reduced need for businesses to invest in and maintain their own on-premises IT resources.</li> <li>Scalability to quickly meet workload and user demands.</li> <li>Fewer wasted resources, as businesses only pay for what they use.</li> </ul> <p>This comprehensive guide examines all aspects of public cloud, including benefits, challenges, technologies and trends. Readers will also get a big-picture analysis of what businesses must do to comply with proliferating local, national and regional data privacy, protection and sovereignty laws. Hyperlinks presented throughout this page connect to related articles that provide additional insights, new developments and advice from industry experts critical to planning, building, implementing and managing a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/How-to-plan-a-cloud-strategy-Complete-guide-and-template">successful public cloud strategy</a>.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How does public cloud work?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How does public cloud work?</h2> <p>A public cloud -- an omnipresent virtual place for hosting platforms, services and applications -- is an alternative deployment approach to traditional on-premises IT architectures. In the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/quiz/Quiz-Cloud-computing-basics">basic public cloud computing model</a>, a third-party provider hosts scalable, on-demand IT resources and delivers them to users over a network connection through the public internet or a dedicated network. Public cloud computing is often viewed as <i>utility computing</i>, in which computing capabilities are delivered to users on demand, just as any other utility, such as water, gas and telecommunications.</p> <p>The public cloud model encompasses many different technologies, capabilities and features. At its core, however, a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/7-key-characteristics-of-cloud-computing">public cloud consists of several key characteristics</a>:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>On-demand computing and self-service provisioning with high levels of automation.</li> <li>Multi-tenant architecture.</li> <li>Broad network access.</li> <li>Scalability and rapid elasticity.</li> <li>Resiliency and availability.</li> <li>Resource pooling.</li> <li>Sustainability.</li> <li>Pay-per-use pricing with discounts available.</li> <li>Measured service.</li> <li>Security using a shared responsibility security paradigm.</li> </ul> <p>The public cloud provider supplies the infrastructure needed to host and deploy workloads in the cloud. It also offers tools and services to help customers manage cloud applications, including data storage, security and various monitoring and reporting capabilities.</p> <p>When selecting a cloud service provider (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/definition/cloud-service-provider-cloud-provider">CSP</a>), businesses can opt for a large general-use provider, such as Amazon Web Services (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-Web-Services">AWS</a>), <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Windows-Azure">Microsoft Azure</a> or Google Cloud Platform (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Platform">GCP</a>), or a smaller provider, like Alibaba Cloud, Salesforce, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/IBM-Bluemix">IBM Cloud</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Oracle-Cloud">Oracle Cloud</a> and Tencent Cloud. General cloud providers offer broad availability and integration options and are desirable for multipurpose cloud tasks. Niche providers offer more customization or focus on specific cloud capabilities.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/components_of_a_cloud_strategy-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/components_of_a_cloud_strategy-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/components_of_a_cloud_strategy-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/components_of_a_cloud_strategy-f.png 1280w" alt="Graphic showing a list of cloud strategy components." height="316" width="559"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Effective migration and management in a public cloud requires a well-devised plan. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <h3>Migration to public cloud</h3> <p>Myriad factors drive businesses to migrate from on-premises facilities to public cloud. Some businesses, for example, require support for more diverse workload types that data centers can't provide, while other companies might need scalability for tasks like big data analytics that current on-premises IT infrastructure can't handle. Cost considerations, less overhead, lower direct maintenance and readily available redundancy options are other common reasons to vacate the premises and migrate to the cloud.</p> <p>After choosing a provider, the IT team must select a cloud migration method to move data and workloads into the CSP's cloud. Offline migration requires IT teams to copy local data onto a portable device and physically transport that hardware to the cloud provider. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/answer/Cloud-networking-vs-cloud-computing-Whats-the-difference">Online data migration occurs via a network connection</a> over the public internet or a CSP's networking service.</p> <p>When the amount of data to transfer is significant, offline migration is typically faster and less expensive. Online migration is a good fit for organizations that don't move high volumes of data.</p> <p>Businesses also can onboard existing on-premises applications into the cloud using different approaches, including the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Move the application to the cloud as is without redesign -- a fast approach known as a <i><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/lift-and-shift">lift-and-shift</a></i> that's subject to performance and cost issues.</li> <li>Refactor on-premises applications ahead of the migration, which takes IT teams more time and planning but ensures the applications will function effectively in the cloud.</li> <li>Redesign and rebuild the software entirely as a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-native-application">cloud-native application</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Regardless of the migration approach selected, a range of cloud-native and third-party migration tools, including AWS Application Migration Service and AWS Migration Evaluator, can help manage the move to a public cloud.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud architecture"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud architecture</h2> <p>A public cloud is a fully virtualized environment that relies on high-bandwidth network connectivity to access resources and exchange data. CSPs use a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/multi-tenancy">multi-tenant</a> architecture that enables users -- or <i>tenants</i> -- to run workloads on shared infrastructure and use the same physical computing resources. Each tenant's data and workloads in a public cloud are logically separated and remain isolated from the data of other tenants through virtualization technologies.</p> <p>CSPs operate cloud services in <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Understand-AWS-Regions-vs-Availability-Zones">logically isolated locations within public cloud regions</a>. These locations, called <i>availability zones</i>, typically consist of two or more connected, highly available physical data centers. Businesses select availability zones based on compliance and proximity to end users. Cloud resources can be replicated across multiple availability zones for redundancy and protection against outages.</p> <figure class="main-article-image half-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/the_10_key_characteristics_of_cloud-h.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/the_10_key_characteristics_of_cloud-h_half_column_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/the_10_key_characteristics_of_cloud-h_half_column_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/the_10_key_characteristics_of_cloud-h.png 1280w" alt="Graphic showing list of 10 key cloud computing characteristics." height="316" width="279"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Cloud architectures host a litany of distinguishing characteristics. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-architecture">Public cloud architecture</a> can be further categorized by service model. The following are the three most common service models:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>IaaS.</b> A third-party provider hosts infrastructure components, such as servers and storage, as well as a virtualization layer. The <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS">IaaS</a> provider offers virtualized computing resources, such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/virtual-machine-VM">VMs</a>, over the internet or through dedicated connections.</li> <li><b>PaaS.</b> A third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools as a service to its users -- usually needed for application development, including OSes.</li> <li><b>SaaS.</b> A third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the internet.</li> </ul> <p>The service model determines the amount of control businesses have over certain aspects of the cloud. In IaaS deployments, for example, cloud customers create VMs, install OSes and manage cloud networking configurations. But in PaaS and SaaS models, the CSP fully manages the cloud networking architecture.</p> <p>Another service model, function as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/function-as-a-service-FaaS">FaaS</a>), further abstracts cloud infrastructure and resources. It's based on <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/serverless-computing">serverless computing</a>, a mechanism that breaks workloads into small, event-driven resource components and runs the code without deliberately creating and managing VMs. Businesses can execute code-based tasks on demand when trigged. The components exist only as long as the assigned task runs. As with all other cloud models, the provider handles the underlying <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-server">cloud server</a> maintenance.</p> <p>Businesses also can opt for a storage-as-a-service provider in public cloud. The provider delivers a storage platform with offerings such as bare-metal storage capacity, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/cloud-storage">object storage</a>, file storage, block storage and storage applications like backup and archiving.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud automation"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud automation</h2> <p>Cloud automation in <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Public-cloud-vs-private-cloud-Key-benefits-and-differences">private, public and hybrid cloud environments</a> embraces processes and tools that reduce or eliminate the manual efforts used to deploy and manage <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-computing">cloud computing</a> workloads and services. IT teams use <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/cloud-orchestrator">orchestration</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/IT-automation">automation</a> tools that run on top of a virtualized environment.</p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-automation">Cloud automation</a> can improve several aspects of business operations, including quality control, efficiency, and performance and cost management. It eliminates functions subject to human error and frees up engineers and developers to focus on innovation instead of repetitive, time-consuming tasks during the deployment and operation of business workloads. Those tasks include cloud deployment procedures; sizing, provisioning and configuring resources, such as VMs; establishing VM clusters and load balancing; creating storage <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/logical-unit-number">logical unit numbers</a>; invoking virtual networks; and monitoring and managing availability and performance.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-cloud_automation.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-cloud_automation_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-cloud_automation_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-cloud_automation.jpg 1280w" alt="Graphic showing cloud computing tasks aided by automation." height="617" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Automation brings speed, efficiency and reliability to myriad cloud computing tasks. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>Cloud automation provides relief in several key areas of workload deployment and operations:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Implementation is simpler compared to on-premises deployment and requires less IT intervention.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/autoscaling">Autoscaling</a> the use of compute, memory or networking resources to match demand provides elasticity in resource usage and supports PAYG practices.</li> <li>Infrastructure configurations defined through templates and code and implemented automatically increase integration opportunities with associated cloud services.</li> <li>Continuous software development relies on automation functions ranging from code scans and version control to testing and deployment.</li> <li>Assets can be tagged automatically based on specific criteria, context and conditions of operation.</li> <li>Automated security controls in cloud environments enable or restrict access to applications or data and scan for vulnerabilities and unusual performance levels.</li> <li>Cloud tools and functions can automatically log all activity involving services and workloads, and monitoring filters can detect anomalies or unexpected events.</li> <li>Continuous automatic backup secures data in the event of an unexpected shutdown or cyberattack.</li> <li>Smoother, automatic, less error-prone processes contribute to improved IT and corporate governance practices.</li> </ul> <p>Operating in the cloud is subject to several inherent challenges that can affect cloud automation, including the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Public cloud services are only as dependable as the internet connection.</li> <li>Access to back-end data is limited and can make maintenance problematic.</li> <li>Cloud automation security options can be limited without the ability to customize.</li> <li>Vendor lock-in can prove risky when cloud automation depends on one platform.</li> </ul> <p>In recent years, AI and machine learning (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/machine-learning-ML">ML</a>) techniques have significantly advanced cloud automation by enabling more complex tasks, improving monitoring and maintenance, helping businesses personalize their customers' experience and supporting real-time intelligent decision-making, among other benefits. A significant portion of large enterprises are using their CSP's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/Ultimate-guide-to-artificial-intelligence-in-the-enterprise">advanced AI technologies</a> and pretrained ML models for proof-of-concept applications, decision-making analytics and data-driven task automation.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/where_cloud_shines-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/where_cloud_shines-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/where_cloud_shines-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/where_cloud_shines-f.png 1280w" alt="Graphic showing the benefits of public cloud in business operations." height="374" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Cloud scalability, flexibility and technologies benefit all aspects of business operations. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Benefits and challenges of public cloud computing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Benefits and challenges of public cloud computing</h2> <p>Enterprises must weigh the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Explore-the-pros-and-cons-of-cloud-computing">advantages and drawbacks of public cloud adoption</a> to determine whether it's the right fit.</p> <h3>Benefits</h3> <p>The cloud has many advantages over on-premises IT, including fast technology and application updates, scalability and flexibility, and AI and data analytics democratization.</p> <p><b>Access to new technologies.</b> Businesses using large cloud providers get early and instant access to the IT industry's latest technologies, ranging from automatic application updates to complex analytics, AI and ML. Many cloud customers lack the resources -- typically money or in-house expertise -- to develop such capabilities on their own.</p> <p><b>Virtually unlimited scalability.</b> Cloud capacity and resources rapidly expand to meet business demands and traffic spikes. Public cloud users also achieve greater redundancy and high availability due to the CSP's various, logically separated cloud locations. In addition to redundancy and availability, businesses achieve faster connectivity between cloud services and end users through their CSP's network interfaces.</p> <p><b>Flexibility.</b> The flexible and scalable nature of public cloud resources enables businesses to store high volumes of data and easily access them for computing or retrieval. Many enterprises rely on the cloud for disaster recovery to back up data and applications in case of an emergency or outage. It's tempting to store all data indefinitely, but users should set up a data retention policy that regularly deletes old data from storage to avoid long-term storage costs, maintain privacy and meet appropriate regulatory obligations.</p> <p><b>Analytics.</b> Businesses should gather useful metrics on the data they store and resources they use to take full advantage of cloud data analytics. Public cloud services can perform analytics on resource and service usage to determine utilization and cost trends and yield better business insights.</p> <p>Public cloud benefits also include access to the service provider's reliable infrastructure and a reduction in overhead management tasks, enabling IT staff to focus on functions that are more important to the company, such as writing code for vital business applications.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/two_sides_to_every_cloud-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/two_sides_to_every_cloud-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/two_sides_to_every_cloud-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/two_sides_to_every_cloud-f.png 1280w" alt="Industry experts compare public cloud benefits and challenges." height="314" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <h3>Challenges</h3> <p>Businesses that use the cloud also face a range of challenges, including pervasive network bandwidth and latency issues as well as internet disruptions.</p> <p><b>Runaway costs.</b> Tracking IT spending is becoming increasingly difficult due to complex cloud costs and pricing models. A regular bill from a CSP can consist of thousands of line items that don't correlate to business applications, departments or users. The cloud is often cheaper than on-premises options, but enterprises sometimes exceed their budget because of pricey data egress fees.</p> <p><b>Scarce cloud expertise.</b> Companies struggle to hire and retain staff with expertise in building and managing modern cloud applications. IT professionals who hope to fill these roles can <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-7-cloud-computing-careers-and-how-to-get-started">better prepare for career opportunities</a> by fine-tuning their cloud skills in areas such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-architect">architecture</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-engineer">engineering</a>, operations and coding.</p> <p><b>Limited transparency and controls.</b> Public cloud users have limited control over their IT stack since the CSP can decide when and how to manage configurations.</p> <p><b>Data separation.</b> The benefits of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/answer/What-is-data-separation-and-why-is-it-important-in-the-cloud">data separation</a> can be diminished due to multi-tenancy and latency issues for remote users and adherence to industry- and country-specific regulations.</p> <p><b>Vendor lock-in.</b> All clouds are not created equal. Although each public cloud offers similar resources and services, the controls and delivery of those assets can vary significantly among CSPs, making it difficult for one data set or application to migrate easily between providers. Vendor dependency can raise costs and limit capabilities for businesses.</p> <p>Cloud management tools and strategies can help businesses address some of these public cloud challenges and optimize their use of cloud resources and costs.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lc-hY-uHgUU?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud trends to watch"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud trends to watch</h2> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/The-future-of-cloud-computing-Top-trends-and-predictions">Public cloud is trending in expected and unexpected ways</a>. Developments such as IoT, FinOps and the GDPR that have influenced various aspects of business operations over the past several years will continue to play significant roles in public cloud's future. Then there are the disruptors, including generative AI (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/generative-AI">GenAI</a>), large language models (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/large-language-model-LLM">LLMs</a>) and edge computing, which could further elevate public cloud's position as the most popular deployment model among enterprises. The key determinant will be whether public clouds can meet the burgeoning demands of power-hungry data centers and data-hungry LLMs.</p> <p>Characterizing 2024 as the year when "adoption and proliferation of cloud-based AI products reached fever pitch," a Forrester Research report on the top 10 cloud trends, released in August, revealed that "AI is entering the mainstream of enterprise cloud consumption." According to a September survey by TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group, 76% of organizations worldwide are running their GenAI workloads on public cloud provider platforms, "likely driven by the availability of best-in-class assets and the lower initial cost to experiment."</p> <p>The public cloud IaaS market reached $140 billion worldwide in 2023, with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba and Huawei as the top five CSP beneficiaries, Gartner reported. "Cloud technologies continue to be a major business disruptor, partly due to the focus on hyperscalers looking to support offerings related to sovereignty, ethics, privacy and sustainability," said Gartner analyst Sid Nag in a July <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-07-22-gartner-says-worldwide-iaas-public-cloud-services-revenue-grew-16-point-2-percent-in-2023#:~:text=Gartner%20Says%20Worldwide%20IaaS%20Public%20Cloud%20Services%20Revenue%20Grew%2016.2%25%20in%202023,-STAMFORD%2C%20Conn.%2C&amp;text=The%20worldwide%20infrastructure%20as%20a,Amazon%20retained%20the%20No" rel="noopener">press release</a>. "This should continue to drive exponential growth into the future with these offerings being spurred by generative AI investments for 2024 and beyond." While the major CSPs "continue to grow their IaaS offerings in the shadow of GenAI," he added, "we should also see other areas, such as SaaS and PaaS, grow as well. IaaS is the tide that lifts all boats."</p> <p>Several trends are propelling public cloud computing into the future.</p> <p><b>The GenAI effect on infrastructure.</b> To support and capitalize on the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/AI-in-cloud-computing-Benefits-and-concerns">integration of AI and GenAI tools into cloud services</a>, CSPs are optimizing their infrastructure and vendors are offering a wider selection of prebuilt and pretrained models, reducing the need for businesses to acquire in-house AI expertise and capabilities. Although cloud vendors stress their LLMs are secure, businesses will need to step up governance and oversight efforts to ensure their AI system components are carefully architected to prevent data leakage. Also, increased integration of AI into <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-management">cloud management</a> will improve automation, cost optimization, data analysis and IT support.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_advances_gen_ai_in_business-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_advances_gen_ai_in_business-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_advances_gen_ai_in_business-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_advances_gen_ai_in_business-f.png 1280w" alt="Bar chart showing public cloud as the top choice for GenAI applications." height="238" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Businesses see public cloud as the best vehicle for GenAI applications. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p><b>FinOps permeates all aspects of cloud cost management.</b> The scalability and PAYG attributes of cloud services can be quickly offset by unchecked monthly charges, investments in cloud technologies and the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Top-20-cloud-computing-skills-to-boost-your-career">need for highly skilled professionals</a>. To manage public cloud costs, FinOps practices can ensure financial accountability among IT, finance and business teams to maximize a cloud's value. FOCUS, the FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification, will provide CSPs and businesses with consistent cloud cost and usage data sets.</p> <p><b>Edge-to-cloud transfer decentralizes centralization.</b> The old approach of transferring IoT data to a centralized location for processing is being replaced by edge computing in distributed cloud environments. As a result, businesses are moving their processing power to the edge of the network and closer to the endpoints for greater efficiency. "The edge-to-cloud play," Forrester reported, "flips the script and positions edge providers as equals to the hyperscalers in the hunt for lucrative enterprise edge business."</p> <p><b>WASI-based cloud platforms.</b> Some of the limitations of microservice and serverless approaches will be overcome by using the WebAssembly (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/WebAssembly">Wasm</a>) open standard along with the WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) to run high-performance applications efficiently across cloud platforms and browsers, leading to more modular, portable and scalable development.</p> <p><b>New and old sources of energy to feed power-hungry data centers.</b> CSPs and businesses are looking for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/feature/Generative-AI-energy-consumption-grows-but-ROI-role-unclear">energy alternatives to power modernized data centers</a> and proliferating GenAI applications. Expect an escalation of conversation around green cloud initiatives, hybrid cloud ecosystems, hyperautomation in those systems and nuclear power.</p> <p><b>Governance and compliance pressures mount on cloud management.</b> Stricter enforcement of local, national and regional data privacy laws driven by GenAI's infiltration of business operations are forcing companies to monitor how they use and secure their AI platforms as well as the data feeding AI models. Regulations geared toward data privacy, and AI in particular, are expected to impact SaaS architectures, cloud pricing and use cases.</p> <p><b>New and evolving cloud computing skills.</b> Managing operations in the cloud will require new computing skills, including prompt engineering, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/hyperscale-cloud">data center modernization</a>, DevOps, cloud security, risk management, cost management and a better understanding of how a system achieves desired business outcomes.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-four_cloud_options.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-four_cloud_options_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-four_cloud_options_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/storage-four_cloud_options.png 1280w" alt="Chart comparing the four main cloud deployment options: private, public, hybrid and multi-cloud." height="286" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Comparing the characteristics of the four main cloud deployment models. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Differences among public clouds, private clouds and hybrid clouds"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Differences among public clouds, private clouds and hybrid clouds</h2> <p>The term <i>public cloud</i> arose to differentiate between the standard cloud computing model and the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/private-cloud">private cloud</a> model, a proprietary cloud computing architecture dedicated to a single organization. Public and private clouds offer similar services -- compute, storage and networking -- and capabilities such as automation and scalability, but they differ significantly in the way they operate and provide those services.</p> <p>Public cloud resources run on multi-tenant, shared infrastructure and are available globally to users over the internet. Conversely, private cloud consists of a single-tenant architecture that runs on a company's privately owned on-premises IT infrastructure and is accessible only by the company. It builds on an enterprise's traditional local data center infrastructure by adding layers of virtualization, cloud-type management and services such as resource pooling and on-demand provisioning.</p> <p>Beyond architectural differences, public and private cloud models differ in price, performance, security and compliance. A private cloud requires a large upfront investment for cloud infrastructure, as opposed to the public cloud's PAYG model. A public cloud can be subject to network bandwidth and connectivity issues, since it largely relies on the public internet. Private cloud can provide more consistent performance and reliability since it's typically a single localized site.</p> <p>Public and private cloud models can provide extensive security offerings. But private cloud offers more fine-grained control over configurations and physical isolation. It also poses fewer compliance and sovereignty issues, since data doesn't leave the on-premises facility. Organizations with strict compliance needs and cloud aspirations often choose private cloud.</p> <p>These differences apply to the standard on-premises private cloud. Alternative private cloud models blur the lines between public and private computing. Cloud providers now offer on-premises versions of their public cloud services. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/AWS-Outposts">AWS Outposts</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/definition/Microsoft-Azure-Stack">Azure Stack</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Google-Cloud-Anthos">Google Anthos</a>, for example, bring physical hardware or bundled software services into an enterprise's physical data center. These distributed deployments act as isolated private clouds, but they're tied to the CSP's cloud and form a type of hybrid cloud implementation.</p> <h3>Hybrid and multi-cloud services</h3> <p>A third model, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/hybrid-cloud"><i>hybrid cloud</i></a>, is a combination of public and private cloud services maintained by internal and external providers, with careful orchestration between them. Hybrid cloud enables businesses to tap into the benefits of public cloud for certain workloads but also maintain their own private cloud for sensitive, critical or highly regulated data and applications. Hybrid cloud benefits include flexible deployment options, greater cost control and the ability to move between environments.</p> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Multi-cloud-vs-hybrid-cloud-and-how-to-know-the-difference">A related option is a multi-cloud architecture</a>, in which an enterprise uses more than one cloud. Most often, it refers to the use of multiple public clouds like AWS, Azure and Google. Depending on its needs, a company might use both hybrid and multi-cloud models. But multi-cloud environments are rarely seamless and require careful attention to the unique capabilities and limitations of each cloud provider.</p> <p>Local computing, public cloud, hybrid cloud and even multi-cloud implementations aren't mutually exclusive. Each infrastructure offers tools that enable a company to host and operate various workloads. It's possible to adopt any mix of infrastructure to meet workload needs and business goals. Yet some alternatives, such as hybrid and multi-cloud options, can be extremely complex and demand high levels of engineering and management expertise.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cc_101_top_cloud_providers-f.png 1280w" alt="Bar chart showing AWS, Microsoft and Google as top public cloud providers by market share." height="276" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>The big three own the lion's share of the CSP market. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud providers and adoption"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud providers and adoption</h2> <p>Estimates of public cloud usage vary widely across different countries, but most market research and analyst firms expect continued growth in worldwide adoption and cloud revenues. Data from Synergy Research Group <a target="_blank" href="https://www.srgresearch.com/articles/first-half-numbers-show-a-427-billion-cloud-ecosystem-in-rude-good-health" rel="noopener">showed</a> that cloud operator and vendor revenues for the first half of 2024 reached $427 billion, an increase of 23% compared to the first half of 2023.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Top-public-cloud-providers-A-brief-comparison">big three CSPs</a>, AWS, Microsoft and Google, have captured the lion's share of the public cloud market, with several other providers focusing on specialized smaller segments. CSPs deliver their services over the internet or through dedicated connections, and they use a fundamental pay-per-use approach. Each provider offers a range of products oriented toward different workloads and enterprise needs:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>AWS.</b> The leading public cloud vendor with the largest customer base, AWS was one of the earliest companies to provide scalable PAYG cloud services. The company initially launched its cloud services platform to support the resource demands of Amazon's retail business. It has since expanded to provide cloud services to users worldwide. AWS offers more than 200 products for compute, databases and infrastructure management, as well as more advanced application development services for AI, ML and IoT.</li> <li><b>Microsoft Azure.</b> The second largest public cloud provider, Azure offers the same types of computing services as its main competitor, AWS. Azure has a well-established PaaS portfolio grouped in the Azure App Service.</li> <li><b>Google Cloud Platform.</b> GCP has a less extensive list of cloud offerings than AWS and Azure, but it has a growing user base and continues to add services mainly focused on data analytics, AI and ML tasks.</li> </ul> <p>Similar to the emergence of AWS from Amazon, Alibaba Cloud was created to support the Alibaba e-commerce parent company, which operates in international regions but is primarily focused on domestic Chinese and other Asian markets, offering infrastructure, storage, networking and other application services.</p> <p>Salesforce, known primarily for its CRM products, offers various types of cloud platforms geared to specific business functions, including sales management, marketing automation, customer service, commercial transactions and data analytics.</p> <p>IBM Cloud provides IaaS and PaaS offerings. Big Blue acquired open source software company Red Hat in 2019 to provide users with more flexible service options and extended hybrid cloud capabilities.</p> <p>Oracle, primarily known for its database offerings, provides public cloud services with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The IaaS offering targets businesses requiring custom, high-performance computing and specialization.</p> <p>Tencent Cloud is an IaaS cloud provider based in Shenzhen, China, offering individual products and services within its cloud, ranging from streaming media to compute and container services.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/cloud_computing-service_categories.jpg 1280w" alt="A comparison chart of the four main cloud service models: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and FaaS." height="322" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Differences among software, platform, infrastructure and function as a service. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <h3>Categories of available public cloud services</h3> <p>Each cloud provider offers tools and services across many categories, including compute, storage, container management and serverless computing. Although these offerings generally work the same, they're not identical, so businesses must be mindful of any unique requirements or dependencies.</p> <p><b>Compute.</b> Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is an IaaS service that provides compute capacity for AWS deployments on virtual servers, known as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-EC2-instances"><i>EC2 instances</i></a>. There are various EC2 instance types and sizes designed for different user needs, including memory, storage and compute-optimized instances. Microsoft's primary compute service is Azure Virtual Machines, which similarly varies for compute, memory and general use. GCP's IaaS compute service is called Google Compute Engine.</p> <p><b>Storage.</b> Each provider offers various storage types, such as block, object and file. The Amazon S3 object storage service is available in storage tiers that vary by access frequency. Other storage offerings on AWS include Amazon Elastic Block Store and Elastic File System. Microsoft storage offerings include Azure Blob Storage for object storage, Files for file storage and Managed Disks for block storage. Google offers Cloud Storage buckets for object storage; Filestore for file storage; and Zonal Persistent Disk, Regional Persistent Disk and Local SSD for block storage.</p> <p><b>Containers.</b> AWS has four container management offerings: Amazon Elastic Container Service, Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service, Amazon Elastic Container Registry and AWS Fargate. AWS containers can also be manually deployed on EC2 instances. Microsoft's container management services include Azure Kubernetes Service, Container Registry and Container Instances. GCP containers can run on Google Kubernetes Engine, Cloud Run and Compute Engine.</p> <p><b>Serverless.</b> The primary serverless products from the big three providers are AWS Lambda, Azure Functions and Google Cloud Functions.</p> <p><b>Database.</b> Public cloud providers routinely provide major back-end enterprise applications as managed services, such as database applications. Examples include Amazon Relational Database Service and DynamoDB, Google Cloud SQL and BigQuery, and Azure SQL and Cosmos DB. Employing a cloud provider's database service alleviates the need for a business to deploy and maintain its own database application in the public cloud.</p> <p><b>AI and ML.</b> The rapid growth of AI and ML in business has spawned a range of cloud-based services to support these technologies. Examples include Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Polly, Azure Machine Learning Studio and Google Vertex AI Studio. These services help businesses ingest and process data and provide the ability to build and deploy AI/ML platforms for businesses.</p> <p>Public cloud providers also offer various tools and services for networking, monitoring, analytics, IoT, big data support and human-machine interaction, such as text-to-speech technology.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/reining_in_burgeoning_cloud_costs-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/reining_in_burgeoning_cloud_costs-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/reining_in_burgeoning_cloud_costs-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/reining_in_burgeoning_cloud_costs-f.png 1280w" alt="Experts discuss cloud pricing and the need to control costs." height="314" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud pricing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud pricing</h2> <p>Public cloud pricing is <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/Breaking-Down-the-Cost-of-Cloud-Computing">typically billed on a pay-per-use or PAYG structure</a>, in which cloud users pay only for the resources they consume. This option can help reduce IT expenses, since a company no longer needs to purchase and maintain physical infrastructure for the parts of its business deployed to a public cloud IaaS. Also, a company can account for public cloud expenditures as operational or variable costs rather than capital or fixed costs. Operational spending decisions typically require less-intensive reviews or budget planning.</p> <p>These cost benefits can be easily erased because of the difficulty in accurately tracking cloud service usage in the self-service model. Businesses can suffer sticker shock from unexpected charges. Common public cloud cost pitfalls include the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Overprovisioning resources.</li> <li>Inability to correlate cloud spend to specific business workloads or departments.</li> <li>Cloud sprawl, or failure to decommission idle workloads.</li> <li>Unnecessary data egress fees.</li> </ul> <p>In addition, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Cloud-licensing-explained-What-businesses-need-to-know">public cloud providers have complex pricing models</a> with rates that vary by region and service. These models can contain hidden costs that drive up the cloud usage bill.</p> <p>All usage in the cloud is metered. CSPs consider several cost factors when determining how much to charge businesses, including costs for application migration, networking, computing, data transfers, storage, resource consumption, database services, software licensing, security services and the products to manage and maintain the environment.</p> <p>Ironically, the principal challenge is self-service. Since every cloud user is free to establish public cloud accounts, there's a natural lack of oversight and centralization to organize and track costs. One department, for example, might not know what another department is doing in the cloud, leading to redundancy and waste. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/What-are-FinOps-tools-and-how-do-I-choose-one">Recent initiatives, such as cloud FinOps, are emerging</a> to help enterprises oversee and centralize public cloud use across the business and maximize cloud utilization and benefits.</p> <h3>Cost optimization strategies</h3> <p>To rein in cloud costs, enterprises should consistently monitor their cloud bill and reevaluate deployment models to ensure the most cost-efficient approach.</p> <p>There are visibility tools and strategies that estimate costs and identify spending patterns. Cloud providers offer pricing calculators and cost monitoring tools, such as AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Pricing Calculator and Google Cloud Cost Management.</p> <figure class="main-article-image half-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cost_optimization.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cost_optimization_half_column_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cost_optimization_half_column_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing-cost_optimization.png 1280w" alt="Graphic emphasizing the need for a cloud cost optimization strategy." height="234" width="279"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Avoiding the money pit. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>CSPs offer various discount programs, such as cheaper alternatives to on-demand resources. AWS and Azure, for example, offer reserved instances at a lower price in exchange for a company's commitment to use a certain amount of capacity within a specified time period.</p> <p>Autoscaling features can help control costs by adjusting application scale to meet demand and avoid paying for unnecessary capacity. With proper visibility into the cloud environment, IT teams can identify and shut down idle workloads to avoid paying for unused resources and prevent cloud sprawl.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud security"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud security</h2> <p>The ongoing security concern for many businesses is the multi-tenancy inherent in the public cloud model. Since companies host sensitive data and critical workloads in the cloud, protecting their assets in this shared space is a top priority. CSPs offer various security services and technologies, but security in the cloud requires diligence from both the provider and the enterprise.</p> <h3>Shared responsibility</h3> <p>Public cloud security responsibilities are split between the provider and cloud user as outlined in a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/shared-responsibility-model">shared responsibility model</a>. This framework designates the specific aspects of security and accountability shared by the CSP and the enterprise. The specific tasks in a security agreement differ depending on the provider and public cloud model.</p> <p>Typically, a cloud provider is expected to secure the infrastructure that supports the cloud environment, including the hardware, software, network, storage and on-premises facilities used to run cloud services. The enterprise is responsible for establishing and maintaining security for data and workloads. It's like renting a home, where the landlord maintains the property, while the tenant locks the doors and closes the windows.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_security_challenges-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_security_challenges-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_security_challenges-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/public_cloud_security_challenges-f.png 1280w" alt="Graphic listing eight public cloud security issues." height="305" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Integration, visibility, governance and threat management are among public cloud security issues. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <h3>Public cloud security challenges</h3> <p>Securing cloud-hosted applications requires protection against external threats, such as malicious attacks and data breaches, and internal security risks, like misconfigured resources and weak access management policies. It's also important to map data flows, ensure traceability, use encryption and understand how data is protected in transit and at rest.</p> <h3>Security tools and practices</h3> <p>CSP security services and technologies include encryption, identity and access management (IAM), and identity governance and administration (IGA) tools. Security monitoring tools scan and observe the services and resources in the cloud environment and generate alerts when a potential security issue arises. Access control is also critical to public cloud security. Strong IAM and IGA policies should allot only the necessary level of permissions, such as zero-trust policies. It's important to consistently update IAM policies and remove access for users that no longer require certain permissions. Multifactor authentication bolsters user verification.</p> <p>A well-trained IT staff also ensures a safe cloud environment. Many vulnerabilities are the result of resource misconfigurations due to human error. IT staff should monitor and maintain local and cloud configurations and be up to date on security policies.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Governance and compliance in public cloud"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Governance and compliance in public cloud</h2> <p>Businesses operating in the cloud face significant governance and compliance challenges, heightened by the growing use of AI and increasingly strict cloud data privacy regulations. According to a Forrester Research August 2024 trends report, an "exponential increase in third-party risk [is] due to the embrace of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/black-box-AI">black box AI</a> models and mounting pressure to align with regulatory and compliance requirements for localization."</p> <p>Even more so in the cloud than on-premises, a well-devised governance framework and clear guidelines are essential. On-premises, governance practices are in a somewhat controlled environment. In the cloud and among distributed clouds, data and workloads are constantly in motion or stored in locations not necessarily controlled by the enterprise.</p> <p>Governance sets policies for cloud usage, outlines enforcement of those policies, and should align with and support business needs. Due to the nature of cloud environments, governance practices can change frequently and directly influence a company's overall cloud strategy.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/six_principles_of_a_cloud_governance_framework-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/six_principles_of_a_cloud_governance_framework-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/six_principles_of_a_cloud_governance_framework-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/six_principles_of_a_cloud_governance_framework-f.png 1280w" alt="Graphic showing six main principles of a governance framework." height="470" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Good governance requires sound cloud management of data, finance, security, compliance and operations. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/How-to-design-and-implement-a-cloud-governance-framework">A governance framework should permeate the entire business</a> and typically includes guidance on data management and protection, security and regulatory compliance, operations and performance management, access to cloud resources and cost optimization. It can also involve the assignment of roles and responsibilities, procedures for backup and disaster recovery, and policies surrounding provisioning, performance monitoring and deprovisioning.</p> <p>Amid proliferating local, national and regional data privacy regulations as well as data sovereignty issues, a company's compliance policies should set standards for meeting regulatory requirements involving data storage, processing and protection in the cloud.</p> <p>Cloud providers are increasingly tailoring resources and services to industry sectors that require adherence to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-compliance">specific compliance requirements</a>, such as HIPAA and the GDPR. Businesses without specific industry obligations can also implement cloud usage, data protection, security and business continuance policies that meet general regulatory requirements.</p> <p>Businesses should be aware that compliance measures for encryption, access control and monitoring that are effective for an on-premises infrastructure might not necessarily translate to the CSP's infrastructure and potentially lead to gaps in security and compliance. Enterprises also must determine whether the CSP's practices can properly support the company's security and compliance needs.</p> <p>Public cloud providers offer compliance frameworks that can detect anomalies in real time. Many companies that adopt cloud data storage running on the CSP's infrastructure keep their sensitive data on-premises to meet data compliance requirements. Businesses that use public cloud AI services should perform regular audits for compliance.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing_timeline-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing_timeline-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing_timeline-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_computing_timeline-f.png 1280w" alt="Timeline graphic showing the public cloud's historical landmarks from the 1960s to 2020 and beyond." height="301" width="559"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>The seeds of public cloud were planted in mainframe computing seven decades ago. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Public cloud's milestones in history"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Public cloud's milestones in history</h2> <p>While the concept of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/The-history-of-cloud-computing-explained">cloud computing has been around since the 1960s</a>, it didn't reach public popularity for enterprises until the 1990s. Salesforce, now a top SaaS provider, entered the market in 1999 by delivering applications through a website. Browser-based applications that could be accessed by numerous users, such as G Suite, soon followed.</p> <p>In 2006, Amazon launched its EC2 IaaS platform for public use. Under its AWS cloud division, enterprises could "rent" virtual computers but use their own systems and applications. Soon after, Google released its PaaS service, App Engine, for application development, and Microsoft released its Azure PaaS offering. Over time, all three CSPs built IaaS, PaaS and SaaS offerings. Legacy hardware vendors, such as IBM and Oracle, also entered the market.</p> <p>But not all vendors that entered the market succeeded. Verizon, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell, VMware and others ultimately shut down their public clouds, and some of them have refocused on hybrid cloud and cloud management.</p> <p>Public cloud adoption continues to rise as providers expand their portfolios of services and support. Technology developments, such as AI, ML, IoT and edge computing, have infiltrated public cloud service portfolios. More diverse cloud app development approaches have also emerged as businesses embrace microservices, containers and serverless architectures.</p> <p>The next wave of public cloud computing is expected to involve more automation and specialization. CSPs will offer more granular and interconnected services to meet broader business needs. Emerging technologies and IT developments, such as quantum computing, will shape the future of the public cloud.</p> <p><b>Editor's note:</b> <i>This article was updated from 2023 to reflect the latest issues and developments in public cloud computing.</i></p> <p><i>Stephen J. Bigelow, senior technology editor at TechTarget, has more than 20 years of technical writing experience in the PC and technology industry.</i></p> <p><i>Kathleen Casey is site editor for TechTarget Cloud Computing. She plans and oversees the site and covers various cloud subjects, including infrastructure management, development and security.</i></p> <p><i>Ron Karjian is an industry editor and writer at TechTarget covering business analytics, artificial intelligence, data management, security and enterprise applications.</i></p> </section> A public cloud is a third-party managed platform that uses the standard cloud computing model to make resources, applications and services available on demand to remote users around the world. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/digdeeper/5.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/public-cloud Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT <p>Making a business case for cloud migration is an exercise all IT managers and CIOs should prepare for. Even companies that have a large cloud environment might need to, for example, migrate workloads, applications or a recently acquired business unit to the cloud. Whether the project is big or small, migration teams have a lot to consider when presenting their case to decision-makers and stakeholders.</p> <p>Your business case will need to do more than just quantify the benefits of a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-migration">cloud migration</a>. It will have to answer questions about costs, risks, timelines and potential disruptions to the business. That's a tall order, but the task is much easier if you have a game plan for building the business case.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Why you need a cloud migration business case"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Why you need a cloud migration business case</h2> <p>As with any project, you need to sell cloud migration to the stakeholders and decision-makers based on its value to the company. The value might seem obvious, but you need to quantify it as much as possible to paint a clear picture.</p> <p>The value might be cost savings, more scalability and flexibility, enhanced security, improved collaboration and accessibility, or addressing <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/Business-Continuity-and-Disaster-Recovery-BCDR">business continuity and disaster recovery</a> concerns, said Meghna Shah, technology and transformation partner at PwC. "Whatever the mandate may be, it has to be a north star or combination of north stars that influence and contribute to your cloud migration journey," she said.</p> <p>The plan also serves as a template for executing the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/Understanding-SaaS-migration-benefits-and-best-practices">cloud migration project</a> by establishing expected timelines, costs, resources and risk mitigations. "You don't want to focus on the migration and then later on find out that you should have done an analysis first," said Vikas Ganoorkar, global cloud migration practice leader at IBM Consulting.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Steps for producing a cloud migration plan"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Steps for producing a cloud migration plan</h2> <p>These are the core steps typically required to build a cloud migration business case.</p> <h3>1. Ensure buy-in from key stakeholders to begin a business plan</h3> <p>This step typically starts with a key stakeholder who can be a sponsor or project champion, someone whose line of business or workloads can most benefit from a move to the cloud. That person will be instrumental in lining up other stakeholders whose collaboration will be needed.</p> <p>You want key stakeholders to at least be open to the idea of moving to the cloud because you'll need their cooperation when building the plan. Getting initial buy-in to explore a cloud migration plan results in better feedback and access to data. Make it clear that they haven't committed to the cloud quite yet and can make a go/no-go decision after seeing the completed plan.</p> <p>Some stakeholders, such as IT operations, line-of-business owners and finance will be obvious, but it's also important to include human resources (HR), risk and compliance management, security and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/change-management">change management</a> teams.</p> <p>Moving even small workloads to the cloud could require retraining or hiring, and bringing HR onboard early ensures the skills will be available when you need them. Moving workloads to the cloud might change or create risks, especially in highly regulated industries. Involving risk and compliance teams from the start means you won't have to do mitigation after the fact.</p> <p>It's a similar situation with security. The cloud changes your security posture, and your security team can help avoid introducing new security vulnerabilities. Finally, change management can help you with some key tasks, particularly training, upskilling and communication, according to Shah. It can also help people prepare for the new way of working, which is a critical part of adoption, she said.</p> <p>Ganoorkar emphasized that vendor partners are important stakeholders. "[A cloud migration] might start as a very simple migration engagement, but then we realize at time of execution that the workloads are such that different entities and different organizations have to be on board," he said. "Their rules are required; their collaboration is required. If not, that causes significant delays later."</p> <h3>2. Identify and clearly explain the business benefits</h3> <p>You need to tie the cloud migration project to a business need or benefit. "What is the motivation?" Ganoorkar asked. "Why do you want to make a change? What are the business drivers? What is the core rationale for making the change?" The motivation might be a need for more speed or to be more competitive, or introducing new technology such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/generative-AI">generative AI</a>. An acquisition, merger or divestment might also spur an organization to consider a cloud migration or modernization, he added.</p> <h3>3. Map the current environment and compare against the cloud</h3> <p>Inventory all in-house assets and assess staffing and other resources that support the systems you hope to migrate. A technical assessment should include an evaluation of the current IT infrastructure, including hardware, software and networking capabilities. It should also include the compatibility of your current applications and workloads with cloud platforms, Shah said. You also need to know the performance metrics for the current system, which will serve as a baseline against projected performance in the cloud.</p> <p>You will need to know the annual cost of the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Running your current environment.</li> <li>Servers and other equipment.</li> <li>Relevant data center services.</li> <li>Staff and contractor services.</li> </ul> <p>Once you understand the in-house environment, you can begin to map it to the cloud. The cloud comes in several forms, so you'll need to explain to stakeholders why you chose the type of cloud you're recommending.</p> <p>In some cases, the migration is from one cloud platform to another. "It's not just on-prem to cloud. I would say in the past six or seven years we saw primarily business cases where clients moved their on-prem to cloud [to reduce costs]," Ganoorkar said. "Now, we are seeing clients thinking about reshuffling their public cloud workloads," and asking if they're better off sticking with one public cloud or moving to another, he said.</p> <h3>4. Measure and monitor cloud performance and ROI against existing environments</h3> <p>Here are the most common items to track and measure.</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Speed of service.</b> The business plan might need to show how you plan to track performance against the expectations you've set. Shah said stakeholders will be especially concerned about this if you are moving applications that require low latency to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Cloud-vs-traditional-data-center-Which-is-right-for-you">cloud data centers</a> that are geographically distant. In that case, the business should address potential issues with data center reliability and proximity as well as potential bandwidth limitations on the network.</li> <li><b>Cost control.</b> Predicting cloud costs and savings compared to running an in-house system can be a challenge. Stakeholders will want to anticipate worst-case scenarios caused by things like delays or mistakes due to mismanagement, additional cloud resource requirements or underestimating the complexity of the project, according to Shah. She suggested focusing on constant cost monitoring and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/What-is-cloud-cost-optimization-Best-practices-to-embrace">cloud resource optimization</a> for cost control.</li> <li><b>Staffing and training. </b>Map existing in-house skill sets against those needed for the cloud and include a plan to acquire talent where necessary and train existing staff.</li> </ul> <h3>5. Plan for cloud migration risks and challenges</h3> <p>Any business plan should identify potential migration risks and explain how your team will respond. These are the common risks associated with cloud migration:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Inadequate training or missing skill sets.</b> Explain how you plan to upscale your talent to provide the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/cloud-engineer">cloud engineering</a> and other skills needed during cloud migration and after it goes live.</li> <li><b>Security. </b>Anytime you move workloads, there are <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/9-cloud-migration-security-considerations-and-challenges">security risks</a> from the big physical move to the target state, Ganoorkar said. "How do you make sure that your data is secure, your access is secure and that everything else is taken care of in a strong manner?" Describe what security responsibilities will remain in-house after the cloud migration and how you're prepared to fulfill them.</li> <li><b>Compliance.</b> When you move workloads, data and applications to the cloud, you risk falling out of regulatory compliance. For example,<b> </b>Ganoorkar cited a client case where the organization wanted to move to a public cloud but had on-premises applications where the data, database and applications needed to be in one location. "If you don't have it in one place [in the cloud] and you're not managing it, then that becomes a problem," he said. Outline the laws and regulations relevant to the cloud migration and how you will ensure compliance.</li> <li><b>Data privacy. </b>Explain how you will protect and maintain control over sensitive customer, partner and employee data once it's in the cloud.</li> <li><b>Vendor lock-in.</b> Both Shah and Ganoorkar identified cloud vendor lock-in as a key concern among decision-makers, especially if the recommendation is to go with a single cloud provider. You will need to explain how the organization could move to a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/multi-cloud-strategy">multi-cloud</a> environment or another cloud host if necessary. If you go with a single cloud host, make sure the terms of the contract and service agreement don't create barriers to switching platforms in the future.</li> <li><b>Complexity.</b> Ganoorkar said 20% of projects have complex workloads, large applications or monolithic legacy applications. The business plan should explain how you will add value by simplifying that complexity. "If I'm able to balance that, I have high velocity and low cost for simple workloads, and I have a mechanism and a robust methodology to help take care of the complex situations," he said.</li> </ul> <h3>6. Explain how you will measure cloud performance against ROI promises</h3> <p>Your migration plan should outline how you will <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Best-practices-for-defining-a-cloud-monitoring-strategy">monitor cloud performance</a> and provide metrics for how it delivers on the benefits. "It's a whole lifecycle when it comes to the migration factory," Shah said. "It's not just a one-step thing. You're going to have the diagnostics, the design, the move to the cloud and DevOps."</p> <p>Shah recommended creating dashboard reports to show how each workload is going through the process, as well as tracking and reporting the value the migration is delivering as defined in the business case. "Obviously, the big one is cost drivers. How is [the cloud] affecting your Capex cost? How is it impacting your Opex costs? Those are some of the pieces that will be big from a reporting standpoint."</p> <p>Shah believes you should also report on how people will be affected. "[Don't] just look at it from a technology standpoint, but [from a] human aspect: The number of people who have been upscaled and trained. That becomes an important metric as well. Evaluate how the technology not only affects the business but is also improving [the] lives of people."</p> <p><i>Michael Nadeau is an award-winning journalist and editor who covers IT and energy tech. He has held senior positions at CSO Online, BYTE magazine, SAP Experts/SAP Insider and 80 Micro.</i></p> </section> Successful cloud migrations start with a solid business plan that details the costs, benefits, risks and challenges to key stakeholders and decision-makers. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/cloud_g1135435124.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/How-to-build-a-business-case-for-cloud-migration Fri, 15 Nov 2024 15:09:00 GMT <p>Cloud computing is a popular technology model in which a provider hosts IT resources and delivers them to users via a network connection.</p> <p>Almost all cloud offerings provide self-service capabilities for end users, scalability to meet dynamic computing needs, resiliency to keep workloads running and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/pay-as-you-go-cloud-computing-PAYG-cloud-computing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pay-per-use pricing</a>. However, there are differences in the numerous deployment models and services an enterprise can choose from. A foundational knowledge of cloud computing helps enterprises make informed adoption decisions.</p> <p>Assess your knowledge of general cloud concepts with this brief cloud computing quiz.</p> <p> <script src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/editorial/cloud_computing_basics_102424.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/quiz/quiz.js"></script> </p> To grasp a technology, it's best to start with the basics. Take this brief cloud computing quiz to gauge your knowledge of providers, deployment models and other 101-level topics. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/searchAWS/cloud_development/aws_article_005.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/quiz/Quiz-Cloud-computing-basics Fri, 25 Oct 2024 09:00:00 GMT 60 webmaster@techtarget.com