Which architecture helps to use applications as a service for other applications regardless type of vendor product or technology explain in details?

Cloud Computing is the Hot cake in the current IT industry. However, the concepts of Cloud Computing dates to 1950 when mainframe computers became accessible via thin/static clients. Since then Cloud Computing has gradually evolved to the Cloud we are familiar today.

Definition of Cloud Computing:

As per the National Institute of Standards and Technology. – “Cloud computing can be defined as a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.”

As per the Oxford Dictionary – “a way of using computers in which data and software are stored or managed on a network of servers (=computers that control or supply information to other computers), to which users have access over the Internet.”

In My words – “Cloud refers to a Network or Internet. And any form of computation relying over the cloud is Cloud Computing. For Example: If the Computation is related to Infrastructure it is IAS (Infrastructure as a Service).”

Deployment Models of Cloud Computing

Public Cloud: A public cloud allows the resources to be accessed publicly to all. A fundamental characteristic of the public cloud is that it is meant to serve the multitude of users, not a single user. This model is the cost-effective solution as compared to other deployment models

Private Cloud: Private cloud or internal cloud is a model which is implemented exclusively for any customer or organization to meet the high customization needs of the customer in terms of Policy, Security, Business Strategy, etc. The private cloud can be installed on premise or off site.

Hybrid Cloud: The hybrid model is an integration of two or more cloud deployment model i.e. public, private and community cloud. These Cloud offerings may vary Business to Business.

Community Cloud: community cloud is a model in which the setup is mutually shared among multiple organizations having similar policies and compliance considerations.

Service Models

Generally, a Cloud service providers will offer their services to cloud consumers based on the following three service models.

Software–as-a-Service (SaaS)

This model provides software application as a service to the end users. It refers to a software that is deployed on a host service and is accessible via Internet. Serveries like Human Capital Management Offerings (HCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, Billing and Charging Systems, etc. are most popular Cloud offerings in SaaS.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

This model of delivers processing power, storage, network, and other fundamental resources to the consumer. The consumer does not have the control of infrastructure but has control over the operating system and the software installed over the infrastructure.

Platform-as-a-service (PaaS)

In this model the Cloud Service provider delivers the Platform/Engineered System (hardware and software) as a cloud offering. In simple words this model offers the run-time environment, development and deployment tools required to develop applications.

Technologies behind Cloud Computing

Any cloud Computing Service Provider is basically dependent on the following four technologies that work behind the Cloud Computing Platforms:

• Virtualization – Virtualization is an integrated solution to increase the resource utilization in a data center, allows to share single physical instance of a Hardware, Database, Software, etc. among multiple segregated units. The Multi-tenant architecture offers virtual isolation among the multiple units.

• Service Oriented Architecture(SOA) – Service-Oriented Architecture helps to use applications as a service for other applications regardless the type of vendor, product, or technology.

• Grid Computing – This is an advanced type of distributed computing, in which a group of computers from multiple locations are connected to each other to achieve a common objective.

• Utility Computing – Utility computing is a service delivering model in which a service provider makes available the required resources to the customer and charges them for usage rather than a fixed rate. Basically it is a Pay-per-Use model.

Popular Cloud Service Providers

This list elaborates the popular offerings. However almost every Service Providers have Multiple offerings on Cloud Computing.

From the Author

This article gives the readers a significant understand of Cloud Computing spoken today in and around the Information Technology World. Feedbacks and comments shall be highly appreciated to improve my take on the subject.

Stay tuned for my other tutorials and articles.

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