Basic Cloud Terminology
1. First things first: What is Cloud?
Cloud refers to server infrastructure that is typically accessed over the network, and the software and services that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers (DC) across the world and its resources can be consumed on demand and scaled up or down as needed. Cloud providers commonly offer Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) and follow “Pay-as-you-go” model.
Cloud users do not have to do data center management and take care of physical servers or Internet-access themselves.
2. Types of Cloud:
Public ☁️: Typically offered by a provider and available to the general public over the internet. It is billed based on the actual usage of the CPU, memory, storage, or network bandwidth consumed.
Private ☁️: It could be managed internally or by a third party, and hosted either in company managed DC or externally in a collocated fashion. It is not a publicly available Cloud platform.
Hybrid ☁️: Combines two or more different types of clouds. This offers the benefits of multiple deployment models and allows a greater elasticity, yet adds complexity.
Multi ☁️: Combines different clouds of the same type, typically from different providers.
3. Open Cloud
Open ☁️: A philosophy of using open protocols, open source software, or open standards to avoid cloud lock-in. Has a developer community that collaborates on developing the cloud infrastructure or platform environment.
☁️lock-in: Occurs when a customer must continue to use a particular cloud provider because its proprietary services, APIs, or protocols make it difficult to move or migrate a workload, making customers more dependent (locked-in) on a single cloud provider.
☁️ billing: Metering actual cloud resources usage and charging for them monthly.
4. Types of Services
IaaS: Infrastructure as a service. The ability to programmatically consume compute, network, or storage resources as a cloud service.
PaaS: Platform as a service. The delivery of a framework that allows customers to create applications or run business services on a standardised platform.
SaaS: Software as a service. Applications or components of applications delivered by a third party over a network.
5. Cloud Technology
Serverless: An execution model where the cloud provider is responsible for executing a piece of code by dynamically allocating the resources. The ability to run workloads without a dedicated host.
Customers don’t have to worry about infrastructure and are charged based on the resources required to complete each function or request.
Containers: A standard unit of software that packages up code and all its dependencies as a single unit allowing application to run quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another.
Containers on a host share the operating environment.
Kubernetes: Is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It’s designed for production use and to help users to deploy and manage containers at a scale.
Edge computing: A distributed computing paradigm that brings computation and data storage closer to the sources of data. It collects and processes data at remote locations, improving response times and saving bandwidth. Often data at the edge is consolidated into a cloud.
IoT: Internet of Things. The billions of devices that are now connected to the internet. Typical examples include sensors, smart devices, and connected vehicles. With data collected from the devices, companies can optimize cost or predict failures and improve customer experiences.
Make sure to check out our Cloud Basics page now to learn more cloud terminology and keep up-to-date with the cloud terms that you need to know for every conversation!