Cloud Computing

CLOUD COMPUTING

• It is the supply of computer services over the Internet (“the cloud”), including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, in order to provide speedier innovation, more flexible resources, and economies of scale.

Types

• Public clouds: Cloud environments known as public clouds are usually built using IT infrastructure that is not end-user owned. Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and

Microsoft Azure are a few of the biggest public cloud service providers.

• Private clouds: A private cloud is, in general, a cloud environment that is exclusively used by one end user or group and is typically located behind the firewall of that user or group. When the underlying IT infrastructure is allocated to a single customer with totally segregated access, all clouds turn into private clouds.

• Hybrid clouds: A hybrid cloud is an artificial intelligence (AI) environment that appears to be a single one, but is actually made up of several environments connected by virtual private networks (VPNs),wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and/or APIs.

• Multiclouds: Multiclouds are cloud computing strategies composed of many cloud services from multiple cloud vendors, either private or public.

SERVICE MODELS

Cloud Service Models: There are three types of cloud service models -

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

• Software as a Service (SaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

It’s    aninternet-based     computing infrastructure management system. The primary benefit of utilizing IaaS is that it relieves customers of the burden and expense associated with owning and maintaining physical servers.

Characteristics of IaaS

There are the following characteristics of IaaS –

Resources are available as a service

Services are highly scalable

Dynamic and flexible

GUI and API-based access

Automated administrative tasks

Example: DigitalOcean, Linode, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine (GCE), Rackspace, and Cisco Metacloud.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

A platform for PaaS cloud computing was developed so that programmers may create, test, execute, and oversee applications.

Characteristics of PaaS

Following are the characteristics of PaaS -

Accessible to various users via the same development application.

Integrates with web services and databases.

Builds on virtualization technology, so resources can

easily be scaled up or down as per the organization’s need.

• Support multiple languages and frameworks.

• Provides an ability to “Auto-scale”.

Example:AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Windows Azure, Heroku, Force.com, Google App Engine, Apache Stratos, Magento Commerce Cloud, and OpenShift.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is also known as “on-demand software”. It’s a software where a cloud service provider hosts the apps. With the help of a web browser and an internet connection, users can access these apps.

Characteristics of SaaS

There are the following characteristics of SaaS -

• Managed from a central location

• Hosted on a remote server

• Accessible over the internet

• Users are not responsible for hardware and software updates. Updates are applied automatically.

• The services are purchased on the pay-as-per-use basis

Example:BigCommerce, Google Apps, Salesforce, Dropbox, ZenDesk, Cisco WebEx, ZenDesk, Slack, and GoToMeeting.

Initiatives by Government of India

• E-Gram Panchayat

• To increase and streamline internal government activities, the Indian government launched the ePanchayat e-governance project in an effort to improve the quality of governance.

• Indian Railways on Cloud

• According to a study done by the railway ministry, just 1 million of the 17 million passengers who travel by train each day have confirmed tickets. There is a significant financial loss as a result. The Indian government made the decision to use cloud computing for Indian railways in order to prevent loss. These days, train data is kept up to date on the cloud by the central government.

• Kisan Suvidha

• The Indian government launched the Kisan Suvidha portal to provide farmers with immediate access to pertinent information. It provides farmers with comprehensive information about the climate, crop protection, market pricing, seeds, fertilizers,

pesticides, agricultural machinery, dealers, agro

advisories, and integrated pest management techniques.

• DigiLocker

• DigiLocker is a public cloud storage service made available to Indian people by the Indian government. It is much more than just an online drive where you can store and retrieve documents as needed.

• MeghRaj

In order to utilize and harness the benefits of Cloud Computing, Government of India embarked upon an ambitious initiative – “GI Cloud” which has been coined as ‘Meghraj’.

The focus of this initiative is to accelerate delivery of e-services in the country while optimizing ICT spending of the Government

Regulatory framework of Cloud computing

• Because cloud computing is multifaceted, regulators must examine it closely.

• Because of issues regarding cloud services, including data privacy, data protection, data ownership, multi- jurisdictional problems, disclosure and cross-border data transfer, legal frameworks ought to be required.

• The Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000 is more pertinent for regulating this industry than the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, the Civil Procedure Code of 1908, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act of 1997, which all deal with it indirectly.

• The IT Act of 2000 contains measures pertaining to fines for privacy and data breaches. The Act addresses data privacy and protection as well as e-commerce and cybercrime in general.

• Although the laws listed above address some legal concerns related to cloud computing, they do not address the whole range of cloud computing services or the problems that result from them.

Advantages of Cloud Computing

• Seamless Connectivity: Using software from any device through a browser or native app is only one of the many advantages that cloud-based software provides to businesses of all sizes. Consequently, users can effortlessly transfer their files and preferences to

different devices.

• Higher Accessibility: There is much more to cloud computing than merely allowing file access across several devices. Users may utilize services like Dropbox and Google Drive to store files and check their email on any computer, all thanks to cloud computing services.

• Improved Disaster Recovery: Users of cloud computing services can also back up their files, music and pictures, which guarantees that those files will be accessible right away in the case of a hard drive failure.

•
Cost-Saving: It also has enormous potential to save costs for large businesses. Prior to the cloud becoming a practical substitute, businesses had to invest in, build, and maintain expensive infrastructure and information management technology.

Limitations of Cloud Computing

• With the speed, efficiencies and innovations that come with cloud computing, there are associated natural risks.

• Cloud security has always been an important concern, particularly when it comes to private financial and medical data.

• Although laws compel cloud computing companies to strengthen their security and compliance protocols, the problem still exists. Important data is protected by encryption, but if the encryption key is lost, the data is also lost.