Listening to all the great features and benefits of the public cloud, it's easy to get caught up in the allure of public clouds. Not only is there the attraction of powerful never-been-done before cloud apps, but also the sense that the public cloud will eliminate all your IT headaches, drama and costs.
According to recent studies (1) this is not always the case. But in all things cloud, it depends on the company and who you talk to. And it also depends on the public cloud you use. Many companies, that are IT savvy, have come to realize that they actually save quite a bit of money with a private cloud, even when considering the cost of IT upgrades and IT staff.
Apparently it's not uncommon after switching to a public cloud to wince once the monthly bills start arriving. Bills ranging in the $40,000 to $100,000 a month range cause many CIOs to think twice. And what they think about is how big of a colocation private cloud that can buy with that amount of money. And they think whether or not its worth it to have their business records in a public cloud.
Even with those considerations, CIOs must still pause and think. Will public cloud costs come down in the future? As well, just like there are hidden public costs are there also hidden application benefits of a public cloud? Finally, there is a question of whether or not a company wants to remove itself to far from the evolving world of cloud technology? CIOs might also see some value of having first class cloud professionals on-board, especially if there isn't much of a cost difference between private and public clouds
The cost debate between public and private clouds tends to end after a private cloud reaches a certain size. If a company has a huge data center, its difficult for a public cloud to beat the cost of a private cloud (2). Then again, that's not to say that even the biggest private clouds can make some use of a public cloud to save money and reduce risk.
The competing benefits of private clouds and public clouds will always tilt depending on the application and the company. Such competing benefits is what is driving the growth of hybrid cloud architectures. The hybrid model, which is part public and part private cloud. may offer the best cloud cost/performance ratios. However, again, that will depend on who you talk to, what they know and what the cloud is used for.
Cloud Learning Links
(1) Public vs. private cloud cost comparison finds enterprise winners, TechTarget, Aug 2017, Robert Gates
(2) The Complete Cloud Buy VS Build Calculator, TheCalculator,
(3) Google Cloud Pricing Calculator, Google
Showing posts with label Public. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public. Show all posts
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Friday, September 1, 2017
What is a cloud computing platform?
The definition of a cloud computing platform expands and changes with time. How can it not? Cloud computing extends over the never-ending and evolving expanse of computer architecture and technology. Instead of trying to define a cloud computing platform in a narrow domain, a broader definition is needed: A cloud computing platform is a human and computer accessible network of configurable computer hardware components and interconnected software applications.
A cloud computing platform may also be viewed as a user-accessible data center in which a user can control, apply and configure for what ever purpose they see fit. Cloud computer platforms can be public, meaning that a business or the general public can buy a subscription to access it. Cloud computer platforms can also be private This meaning that only a select group of people can access it. For example, many governments and companies have private cloud computing platforms. Finally, a cloud computing platform can be a hybrid. A hybrid cloud computing platform is in general a private cloud platform that can be configured to interact with a public computer platform.
For the real business world, and the world of cloud service providers, cloud platforms are classified into more specific categories. There are for example, PaaS platforms also known as Platforms as a Service. These cloud platforms are targeted at software developers. Software developers that want to develop specific applications, built with specific programming languages, such as Java, PHP or Ruby, are the end-users of PaaS cloud platforms. Developers often prefer PaaS platforms over in-house software development platforms. This is because a PaaS cloud platform provides an unlimited number of processors, servers, data storage, operating systems, and applications specific development software and tools to create their application in.
For a business or consumer, a cloud platform often means a place to store data. It can also mean a place where different software programs can be accessed. For a company, a cloud platform is a place where all members of the company can access software programs, store files and share information with others. For companies that don't want to have the hardware and software needed for a cloud on-site (a private cloud), they are more and more often,selecting a public cloud computing platform for their entire company. If the right type of public cloud or clouds are chosen, this can often mean significant savings for the company. And this is because, with the right type of clouds, a company no longer has to support in-house hardware and software upgrades for all the members of the company.
Learning Links
Nine Cloud Development Platforms on the Rise, InfoWorld
Debating the Definition of Cloud Computing Platforms, Forbes
The 20 Coolest Cloud Platforms & Vendors, CRN
A Short Introduction to Cloud Platforms, An Enterprise Oriented View, Chapman and Associates
What is PaaS?, Microsoft
A cloud computing platform may also be viewed as a user-accessible data center in which a user can control, apply and configure for what ever purpose they see fit. Cloud computer platforms can be public, meaning that a business or the general public can buy a subscription to access it. Cloud computer platforms can also be private This meaning that only a select group of people can access it. For example, many governments and companies have private cloud computing platforms. Finally, a cloud computing platform can be a hybrid. A hybrid cloud computing platform is in general a private cloud platform that can be configured to interact with a public computer platform.
For the real business world, and the world of cloud service providers, cloud platforms are classified into more specific categories. There are for example, PaaS platforms also known as Platforms as a Service. These cloud platforms are targeted at software developers. Software developers that want to develop specific applications, built with specific programming languages, such as Java, PHP or Ruby, are the end-users of PaaS cloud platforms. Developers often prefer PaaS platforms over in-house software development platforms. This is because a PaaS cloud platform provides an unlimited number of processors, servers, data storage, operating systems, and applications specific development software and tools to create their application in.
For a business or consumer, a cloud platform often means a place to store data. It can also mean a place where different software programs can be accessed. For a company, a cloud platform is a place where all members of the company can access software programs, store files and share information with others. For companies that don't want to have the hardware and software needed for a cloud on-site (a private cloud), they are more and more often,selecting a public cloud computing platform for their entire company. If the right type of public cloud or clouds are chosen, this can often mean significant savings for the company. And this is because, with the right type of clouds, a company no longer has to support in-house hardware and software upgrades for all the members of the company.
Learning Links
Nine Cloud Development Platforms on the Rise, InfoWorld
Debating the Definition of Cloud Computing Platforms, Forbes
The 20 Coolest Cloud Platforms & Vendors, CRN
A Short Introduction to Cloud Platforms, An Enterprise Oriented View, Chapman and Associates
What is PaaS?, Microsoft
Choosing the Right Clouds for Your Business; Public, Private or Hybrid?
Choosing the right cloud configuration for your business is critical for lowering IT costs, managing company growth, and protecting against calamities. Companies that are overly dependent on their own private cloud face rising IT costs and vulnerability to IT business calamities. On the other hand, companies that are overly dependent on public clouds, place their IT future in the hands of strangers. Companies that make judicious use of a hybrid cloud architecture, minimize the risks and maximize the gains that can be obtained from both private and public clouds.
Private business clouds, swaths of interconnected servers and software and computers, were what many companies of the new millennia were built on. IT staffs in the early 2000s, built up on-site networks which connected the companies' computers together. They installed software on the servers for the employees to share, backed up data on the network to hard drives and tape drives, and developed software that glued the company' IT operations together and kept it running. As the company's IT needs grew, so did the complexity and problems of running the in-house network. Computer crashes, data thefts, and breakdowns on infrastructure software as well as the time to maintain that software all became bigger issues as well as IT costs. What once were small networks, grew into large networks that constantly needed hardware and software upgrades, which constantly needed larger IT budgets, new computers and new software, and higher levels of professional staff to maintain.
Public clouds today present a solution to the problems, costs and complexities of on-site private clouds. With a public cloud, a company no longer needs to have an on-site network and associated IT staff to support the companies IT network. With a public cloud, all hardware (hardware as a service, HAAS) and software (software as a service, SAAS) that a company needs, in theory, can be accessed over the Internet. All the company needs are terminals to access the software and hardware at the off-site public cloud.
For example, with a subscription to Microsoft's public cloud, all of a companies employees, can have complete access to Microsoft;s vast data center and Microsoft's vast number of software products. With additional configurations a company can utilize Microsoft's Azure cloud as a supercomputer that will run massively complex and data intensive calculations that they could never do, in a practical manner, with an on-site private cloud. Furthermore, all of a company's files and data can be stored in Microsoft's cloud with relatively little risk that the data will be lost or broken into. Finally, all this can be done without a costly IT staff and without the need to consider the costs of on-site hardware and software upgrades.
The theory is great when it comes to the public cloud. Lower IT costs, access to the latest software instantly, worldwide company connectivity, and no more worries about company-wide hardware and software upgrades. In practice though, companies don't always want all their data and all their software on the cloud. There are also security issues, and laws and regulations when considering a public cloud. Furthermore, companies may have already made a substantial investment in their own private cloud. As well, its often not practical for employees to access software programs on the cloud over the Internet. It is often just much more convenient and efficient to keep the software on their own personal computer then access it over the cloud.
For those in this situation, a hybrid cloud is the solution. A hybrid cloud consists of an interconnected public cloud and private cloud. In a hybrid cloud architecture, a company uses its internal data center and IT staff to manage part of the companies IT needs and a public cloud, or for that matter several public clouds, for a different set of IT needs. Often though, a company can opt for a cloud architecture that interconnects a private cloud with a public cloud. In these cases, data files may be backed up in real time to a public cloud, offsetting the need for the IT staff to back-up their private cloud. Persistent data backup schemes make this task very efficient. A persistent data back-up scheme scheme doesn't back up all the data, but only the data that has changed. For example, in a persistent data scheme, only data files that had changed since the last backup are saved.
As time matches on, the idea of private clouds and even hybrid clouds may drift into just the concept of a public cloud. Startups for example, may just not have the motivation for establishing an in-house network complete with servers, routers and gateways and an expensive IT staff. If a public cloud provides the horsepower of a million computers, the ability to interconnect tens of thousands of employees, and data backup in a more and more reliable and trusted manner all without the need of costly IT staff, the risks and costs of a private cloud and even a hybrid cloud outweigh the risks and costs of a public cloud.
Private business clouds, swaths of interconnected servers and software and computers, were what many companies of the new millennia were built on. IT staffs in the early 2000s, built up on-site networks which connected the companies' computers together. They installed software on the servers for the employees to share, backed up data on the network to hard drives and tape drives, and developed software that glued the company' IT operations together and kept it running. As the company's IT needs grew, so did the complexity and problems of running the in-house network. Computer crashes, data thefts, and breakdowns on infrastructure software as well as the time to maintain that software all became bigger issues as well as IT costs. What once were small networks, grew into large networks that constantly needed hardware and software upgrades, which constantly needed larger IT budgets, new computers and new software, and higher levels of professional staff to maintain.
Public clouds today present a solution to the problems, costs and complexities of on-site private clouds. With a public cloud, a company no longer needs to have an on-site network and associated IT staff to support the companies IT network. With a public cloud, all hardware (hardware as a service, HAAS) and software (software as a service, SAAS) that a company needs, in theory, can be accessed over the Internet. All the company needs are terminals to access the software and hardware at the off-site public cloud.
For example, with a subscription to Microsoft's public cloud, all of a companies employees, can have complete access to Microsoft;s vast data center and Microsoft's vast number of software products. With additional configurations a company can utilize Microsoft's Azure cloud as a supercomputer that will run massively complex and data intensive calculations that they could never do, in a practical manner, with an on-site private cloud. Furthermore, all of a company's files and data can be stored in Microsoft's cloud with relatively little risk that the data will be lost or broken into. Finally, all this can be done without a costly IT staff and without the need to consider the costs of on-site hardware and software upgrades.
The theory is great when it comes to the public cloud. Lower IT costs, access to the latest software instantly, worldwide company connectivity, and no more worries about company-wide hardware and software upgrades. In practice though, companies don't always want all their data and all their software on the cloud. There are also security issues, and laws and regulations when considering a public cloud. Furthermore, companies may have already made a substantial investment in their own private cloud. As well, its often not practical for employees to access software programs on the cloud over the Internet. It is often just much more convenient and efficient to keep the software on their own personal computer then access it over the cloud.
For those in this situation, a hybrid cloud is the solution. A hybrid cloud consists of an interconnected public cloud and private cloud. In a hybrid cloud architecture, a company uses its internal data center and IT staff to manage part of the companies IT needs and a public cloud, or for that matter several public clouds, for a different set of IT needs. Often though, a company can opt for a cloud architecture that interconnects a private cloud with a public cloud. In these cases, data files may be backed up in real time to a public cloud, offsetting the need for the IT staff to back-up their private cloud. Persistent data backup schemes make this task very efficient. A persistent data back-up scheme scheme doesn't back up all the data, but only the data that has changed. For example, in a persistent data scheme, only data files that had changed since the last backup are saved.
As time matches on, the idea of private clouds and even hybrid clouds may drift into just the concept of a public cloud. Startups for example, may just not have the motivation for establishing an in-house network complete with servers, routers and gateways and an expensive IT staff. If a public cloud provides the horsepower of a million computers, the ability to interconnect tens of thousands of employees, and data backup in a more and more reliable and trusted manner all without the need of costly IT staff, the risks and costs of a private cloud and even a hybrid cloud outweigh the risks and costs of a public cloud.
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