What comes into your mind when u think of the word “cloud computing” ?

Cloud computing is the on- demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the internet . Large cloud predominant today, often have functions distribute over multiple locations from central servers. It may be designated an edge server. Cloud may be limited to a single organisation , or be available to many organisations (public cloud). Advocates of public and hybrid cloud computing allows companies to avoid or minimize up –front “IT infrastructure” costs . Proponent also claim that cloud computing allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with improve manageability and less maintenance ,and that it enables IT teams to more rapidly adjust resource to meet fluctuating and unpredictable demand. Cloud providers typically use a “pay- as –you-go” model, which can lead to unexpected operating expenses if administrators are not familiarized with cloud pricing models.

If we talk about the history of cloud computing ?

“Cloud computing” was popularized  with Amazon.com releasing its Elastic Compute Cloud product in 2006, reference to the phrase “cloud computing” appeared as early as 1996 with first known mention in a Compaq internal document. The cloud symbol was used to represent networks of computing equipment in the original ARPANET by as early as 1977 , and the CSNET by 1981 – both predecessors to the internet itself. The word cloud was used as a metaphor  for the internet and a standardised cloud – like shape was used to denote a network on telephony schematics . With this simplification , the implication that the specifics of how the end points of a network are connected are not relevant for the purpose of understanding the diagram. The term cloud was used to refer to platform for distributed computing as early as 1993 , when Apple spin – of “general magic” and “AT&T” used it in describing their Telescript  and personal link technologies . in Wired’s april  1994 feature “Bill and Andy’s excellent adventure , Andy Hertzfeld commented on telescript, general magic’s distributed programming language.

Early history

During the 1960s , the initial concepts of time sharing became popularized via RJE(remote job entry) this terminology was mostly associated with large vendors such s IBM & DEC . Full time sharing solutions were available by the early 1970s on such platforms as Multics  (on GE hardware) , camnbridge  CTSS, and the earliest UNIX ports. Yet the data center model where users submitted jobs to overwhelmingly predominant.

In  the 1990s telecommunications companies who previously offered primarily dedicated point – to – point data circuits , began offering  virtual private network (VPN) service with comparable quality of service , but at a lower cost. By switching traffic as they saw fit to balance server use, they could use overall network bandwidth more effectively. They begin to use the cloud symbol  to donate the demarcation point between what the provider was responsible for and what users were responsible for. Cloud computing extended this boundary to cover all severs as well as the network infrastructure. As computers became more diffused , scientists and technologists explored ways to make large  scale computing power available to more users through time sharing . they experimented with algorithms to optimized the infrastructure , platform ,applications to prioritized CPUs  and increase efficiency for end users.

2000s

Cloud computing has been  in existence since 2000. In august 2006 , Amazon created subsidiary “Amazon web services” and introduced its Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2). In April 2006 Google released Google app engine. In early 2008 , Gartner saw an opportunity for cloud computing “to shape the relationship among  consumers of IT service, those who use IT service and those who sell them and observe that “organisation are switching from company –owned hardware and software assets to pre- use service – based models” so that the projected shift to computing ….will result in dramatic growth in IT products in some areas and significant reductions in other areas. In 2008 , the U.S. National Science Foundation began the Cluster Exploratory program to fund academic research using Google –IBM cluster technology to analyze massive amounts of data. In February  2010 , Microsoft  released Microsoft Azure, which was announced in October 2008. In July 2010 ,Rackspace Hosting and NASA jointly launched an open – source cloud – software initiative known as ‘OpenStack’. The openstack project intended to help organisation offering cloud computing service running on standard hardware. The early code come from NASA’s Nebula Platform  as well as from RackSpace’s Cloud Files platform. As an open source offering and along with other open – source solutions such as  CloudStack ,Ganeti  and OpenNebula , it has attracted attention by several key communities. Several studies aim at comparing these open sources offerings based on a set of criteria. On march 1, 2011 ,IBM announced the IBM smart cloud framework to support smarter planet. Among the various components of the smarter computing foundation , cloud computing is  a critical part. On june 7, 2012 , oracle announced the oracle cloud . this cloud offering is poised to be the first to provide users with access to an integrated set of IT solutions , including the applications (SaaS), platform (PaaS) and infrastructure (laaS) layers. In may 2012, Google Computer Engine was released in preview , before being rolled out into General Availability in December 2013. In 2019 , it was revealed that Linux is most used on Microsoft Azure.

Now let’s talk about the characteristics of cloud computing ?

So the characteristics of cloud computing are…….

• Agility……

The cloud works in the distributed computing environment . it shares resources among users and works very fast.

• High availability and reliability……..

Availability of servers in high and more reliable , because chance of infrastructure failure are minimal.

• High scalability…..

Means “on demand” provisioning of resources on a large scale , without having engineers for peak loads.

• Multi – sharing …….

With help of cloud computing ,multiple users and applications can work more efficiently with cost reductions by sharing common infrastructure.

• Device and location independence…..

Cloud computing enables the users to access system using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they use eg PC , mobile etc. as infrastructure is off –site and accessed via the internet , users can connect from anywhere.

• Maintenance…….

Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier since they do not need to be installed on each user’s computer and can be accessed from different places. So. It reduce the cost also.

• Low cost…….

By using cloud computing , the cost will be reduced because to take the service of cloud computing ,IT company need to be set its own infrastructure and pay- as –per usage of resources.

• Services in pay- per- use mode…….

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are provided to the users so that they can access service on the cloud by using these APIs and pay the charges as per the usage of services.

What are the disadvantage of cloud computing ?

Disadvantages of cloud computing explained…….

• Downtime: downtime is often cited as one of the biggest disadvantages of cloud computing . since cloud computing systems are internet –based ,service outages are always an unfortunate possibility and can occur for any reason. Can your business afford the impacts of an outage or slowdown? An outage on amazon web services in 2017 cost publicly traded companies up to $150 million dollar and no organization is immune, especially when critical business processes cannot afford to be interrupted . in june and july of 2019 , a whole slew of companies and services were hit by outages , including  Cloudflare (a major web service provider ) ,Google ,Amazon, Shopify ,Reddit, Verizon ,and Spectrum.
• Security and privacy: although cloud service providers implement the best security standards and industry certifications ,storing data and important files on external service providers always opens up risks. Any discussion involving data must address open up risks . any discussion involving data must address security and privacy ,especially when it comes to managing sensitive data. We must not forget what happened at code space and the hacking of their AWS EC2 console, which led to data deletion and the eventual shutdown of the company . their dependence on remote cloud – based infrastructure meant taking on the risk of outsourcing everything. Of course any cloud service provider is expected to manage and safeguard the underlying hardware infrastructure of a deployment . however , your responsibilities lie in the realm of users access management , and it’s up to you to carefully weigh all the risk scenarios. Though recent breaches of credit card data and user login credentials are still fresh in the minds of the public , steps have been taken to ensure the safety of data. One such example is the ‘general data protection rules’(GDPR), recently enacted in the European Union to provide users more control over their data. Nonetheless , you still need to be aware of your responsibilities and follow best practices.
• Limited control and flexibility: since the cloud infrastructure is entirely owned , managed and monitored by the service provider, it transfers minimal control over to the customer. To varying degrees (depending on the particular service ) cloud users may find they have less control over the function and execution of service within a cloud- hosted infrastructure . a cloud provider’s end users license agreement (EULA) and management policies might impose limits on what customers can do with their deployments. Customers retains control of their applications , data, and service but may not have the same level of control over their backend infrastructure.
• Vendor lock –in : vendor lock- in is another perceived disadvantage of cloud computing .easy switching between cloud service is a service that hasn’t yet completely evolved ,and organisations may find it difficult to migrate their service from one vendor to another. Difference between vendor platform may create difficulties in migrating from one cloud platform to another , which could equate to additional costs and configuration complexities . gaps or compromises made during migration could also expose your data to additional security and privacy vulnerabilities .
• Cost saving: adopting cloud solutions on a small acale for short- term project can be perceived as being expensive. Perhaps the most significant cloud computing benefits is in terms of IT cost savings. Pay- as – you- go cloud service can provide more flexibility and lower hardware costs, however ,the overall price tag could end up being higher than you expected . until you are sure of what will work best for you. It’s a good idea to experiment with a variety of offerings. You might also make use of the cost calculators made available by providers like Amazon Web Service and Google Cloud Platform.    

Is cloud computing a good career ?

Cloud computing is one of the hottest technologies with a high demand for qualified professionals. The median salary for IT pros currently in a cloud computing career in the U.S. is $124,300 . however it is not the easiest of job to acquire because it is a specially area. To secure a job in the field a candidate must have a number of specific skills. Let’s see what they are so you can get your cloud computing career started.

• Skill 1:coding and database management

Coding skill: cloud computing unlocks a new dimension in software development . the cloud allows programmes to create , host and execute applications that can scale up much faster due to the environment’s capacity to handle large volumes. Some recent additions to the cloud ecosystem are programming languages like Python , Perl, and Ruby . they are open source and becoming more prevalent with each passing years, other conventional favorities are PHP, Java and NET. Python, a high – level language with simple syntax , is an excellent place to begin as far as programming skills in the cloud are concerned.

• Skill 2 :courses and certifications

The IT industry is renowned for its emphasis on industry and vendor certifications. The cloud domain has also joined the fray in this field . all major service provider including Amazon and Microsoft offer training and certifications that could jump- start your cloud computing career. The most popular ones includes:

AWS CERTIFICATION

AZURE CERTIFICATION

GOOGLE CLOUD CERTIFIED

Though certifications add value to the resume, they cannot , by themselves, help a professional grow in his or her career . certifications complement practical experience . gaining the necessary hands – on experience is more important ,but certification can be a vital first step in the right direction.

• Skill 3 : Multicloud environments and data integration

A complex mix of cloud service and cloud types – public , private ,and hybrid are becoming the norm in modern organisations. This means that cloud professional need to know how to manage these multi cloud  environment

Organisation use data obtained from:

Multiple vendors

Diverse platform

Different datacenters

Unifying these database to make data utilization possible is a mammoth exercise. The complexities compound when cloud systems have to interact with legacy systems. For professional specializing in cloud architecture ,integration is a must – have skill.