{"id":1780,"date":"2011-09-21T08:12:10","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T13:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=1780"},"modified":"2011-09-21T18:31:43","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T23:31:43","slug":"demystifying-the-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2011\/09\/demystifying-the-cloud\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying the cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Although we have published a few articles on cloud computing, people still seem intimidated by the concept. The post offers a primer on the topic.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Over the last several months, much has been said about \u201cthe cloud\u201d, i.e. cloud computing. It is an area that has generated quite a bit excitement and some industry experts claim that it will revolutionise computing and how we use the Internet. For the average person, all of this hype suggests that cloud computing is a somewhat esoteric phenomenon, which is highly complicated and specialised. Many do not realise that they have been using\u00a0cloud services for a number of years, and the intimidation that is now emerging is really not warranted. This post hopes to demystify cloud computing and to show that it is already being used by the average consumer.<\/p>\n<h3>What is cloud computing?<\/h3>\n<p>As discussed in an earlier post, <strong><em><a title=\"Is it really in the Clouds? How 5 stated trends in Cloud Computing really stack up\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/2011\/01\/is-it-really-in-the-clouds-how-5-stated-trends-in-cloud-computing-really-stack-up\/\" target=\"_blank\">Is it really in the Clouds?<\/a>,<\/em><\/strong> the term \u201ccloud computing\u201d was derived from voice telephony jargon, when networks moved from being circuit-switched to packet-switched, and the image of a \u201ccloud\u201d was frequently used in diagrams to represent the Internet component of a network.\u00a0 Simply put, cloud computing speaks to the ability to access computer resources over the Internet, i.e. via the cloud.<\/p>\n<p>Besides a compatible web browser, users are not normally required to install any additional software or hardware on their computing devices to access cloud services. However, reliable Internet access is\u00a0essential to minimise loss of information while cloud applications or resources are being used.<\/p>\n<h3>Types of cloud services<\/h3>\n<p>Cloud services typically fall into the following three categories, which are outlined in Table 1:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Software as a Service (SaaS) <\/strong>\u2013 where software applications are accessed and used over the Internet.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platform as a Service (PaaS)<\/strong> \u2013 computing platforms usually used by programme developers to create and test computing applications.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Infrastructure as a Service<\/strong> <strong>(IaaS)<\/strong>, also known as<strong> Hardware as a Service (HasS) <\/strong>\u2013 allows a range of computing resources, such as storage, website hosting, and virtual servers, to be accessed and used over the Internet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1786\" style=\"width: 493px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1786\" data-attachment-id=\"1786\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2011\/09\/demystifying-the-cloud\/slide1-5\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg?fit=483%2C431&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"483,431\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Slide1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Table 1: Key categories of cloud services (Source: ICT Pulse)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg?fit=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg?fit=483%2C431&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1786 \" title=\"Slide1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg?resize=483%2C431\" alt=\"\" width=\"483\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg?w=483&amp;ssl=1 483w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Slide11.jpg?resize=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 483px) 100vw, 483px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1786\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Table 1: Key categories of cloud services (Source: ICT Pulse)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>From the examples provided in the above table, the average person\u00a0should already be familiar with some cloud services, and might even\u00a0be using some of them quite regularly, to the point where they are taken for granted. Since some of these services are free, or at the very least economically priced, we are often quite eager to use them. However, it is still important for you\u00a0(the\u00a0individual user) to read the fine print and to think about whether the service truly suits your needs.<\/p>\n<h3>Key considerations<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Although cloud services can offer consumers convenient access to a variety of resources, and to varying degrees can be highly cost effective, as a starting point,\u00a0the following issues should be carefully considered.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. \u00a0Privacy and security.<\/strong>\u00a0 It is important to determine how secure and what privacy rules your data might be subject to.\u00a0For free services in particular, some providers include clauses that allow them to access and use a customer\u2019s data,\u00a0especially for marketing purposes, or to retain that data even after the customer is no longer using their services. Additionally, depending on the country in which the data is being stored, there might be highly intrusive laws that allow government agencies to intercept messages and other forms of data.\u00a0 Although you might not necessarily have anything to hide, you may still feel violated if you become aware of such matters after the fact.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. \u00a0Reliability of cloud provider. \u00a0<\/strong>Due to the relatively low cost and availability of computing and Internet resources, there are numerous businesses offering cloud services. However, there have been examples of cloud businesses closing down, sometimes without giving\u00a0 their customers any notice. Hence customers find that the service has been terminated, but they have little or no opportunity to retrieve or remove their data. It is therefore critical to research cloud providers to determine, among other things, their reputation and the quality of the services they offer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. \u00a0Lock-in.<\/strong>\u00a0Depending on the service, cloud providers regularly\u00a0store data in a proprietary format. If data must entered directly into the programme, in particular, a customer may find him\/herself locked-in to a specific provider. The format might not be used by other providers or off the shelf software application, or there might be no way easy way to retrieve the data off the provider\u2019s server, in order for it to be imported into another application.<\/p>\n<p>The above points address some of the key matters that should be considered by the individual consumer. However, for further information on cloud computing, please refer to some of our earlier posts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em><a title=\"Is it really in the Clouds? How 5 stated trends in Cloud Computing really stack up\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/2011\/01\/is-it-really-in-the-clouds-how-5-stated-trends-in-cloud-computing-really-stack-up\/\" target=\"_blank\">Is it really in the Clouds? How 5 stated trends in Cloud Computing really stack up<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em><a title=\"10 things to consider before you migrate to cloud services\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/2011\/02\/10-things-to-consider-before-you-migrate-to-cloud-services\/\" target=\"_blank\">10 things to consider before you migrate to cloud services<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em><a title=\"25 questions to ask before you sign up for cloud services\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/2011\/06\/25-questions-to-ask-before-you-sign-up-for-cloud-services\/\" target=\"_blank\">25 questions to ask before you sign up for cloud services<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">_______________<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although we have published a few articles on cloud computing, people still seem intimidated by the concept. The post offers a primer on the topic. Over the last several months, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,11,6],"tags":[3,48],"class_list":["post-1780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computing","category-ict-tech","category-internet","tag-cloud-computing","tag-infrastructure","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-sI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1780"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1797,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions\/1797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}