What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is a term referred to storing and accessing data over the internet. It doesn’t store any data on the hard disk of your personal computer. In cloud computing, you can access data from a remote server. Now, we will learn the advantages and disadvantages of Cloud Computing.
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What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing is revolutionizing our lifestyles and work environments, assuming a prominent role in our daily routines. Regardless of personal preferences, it has seamlessly integrated into our lives, commanding the attention of companies and businesses across all sectors. However, as with any technology, cloud computing is not without its imperfections. While its benefits are substantial, it is crucial to acknowledge the associated risks and concerns. In this tutorial section, we will thoroughly examine the advantages and disadvantages of Cloud Computing, shedding light on its intricacies and potential challenges.
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Advantages of Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing is an emerging technology that almost every company is being switched to from its on-premise technologies. Whether it is public, private, or hybrid, Cloud Computing has become an essential factor for companies to rise up to the competition. Let us find out the advantages of Cloud Computing over other on-premise technologies.
Cost efficiency
The biggest reason behind companies shifting to Cloud Computing is that it takes considerably lesser cost than any on-premise technology. Now, companies need not store data in disks anymore as the cloud offers enormous storage space, saving money and resources.
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High speed
Cloud Computing lets us deploy the service quickly with fewer clicks. This quick deployment lets us get the resources required for our system within minutes.
Excellent accessibility
Storing information in the cloud allows us to access it anywhere and anytime, regardless of the machine making it a highly accessible and flexible technology of the present time.
Back-up and restore data
Once data is stored in the cloud, it is easier to get its backup and recovery, which is quite a time-consuming process in on-premise technology.
Manageability
Cloud Computing eliminates the need for IT infrastructure updates and maintenance since the service provider ensures timely, guaranteed, and seamless delivery of our services and also takes care of all the maintenance and management of our IT services according to the service-level agreement (SLA).
Sporadic batch processing
Cloud computing lets us add or subtract resources and services according to our needs. So, if the workload is not 24/7, we need not worry about the resources and services getting wasted, and we won’t end up stuck with unused services.
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Strategic Edge
Cloud computing provides a company with a competitive edge over its competitors when it comes to accessing the latest and most mission-critical applications that it needs without having to invest its time and money in its installations. It lets the company focus on keeping up with the business competition by offering access to the most trending and in-demand applications and doing all the manual work of installing and maintaining the applications for the company.
Easy implementation
With cloud hosting, businesses can retain the same applications and processes without having to deal with the backend technicalities. Cloud infrastructure can be accessed easily.
No hardware required
Since the cloud hosts everything, there is no requirement for a physical storage center. However, a backup is recommended for disaster management and business continuity.
Automatic Software Integration
In the cloud, software integration occurs automatically. No additional efforts are necessary for the customization and integration of applications to meet preferences.
Reliability
Cloud hosting comes with the biggest advantage of reliability. One doesn’t have to worry about changes due to instant updates.
Mobility
Employees working on-premises or from remote locations can easily access all the cloud services as long as they have an internet connection.
Unlimited storage capacity
The cloud comes with an almost limitless storage capacity, which can be expanded at any time for a very nominal monthly fee.
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Collaboration
Cloud computing platforms help employees located in different locations to conveniently and securely collaborate with each other.
Apart from these, some more Cloud Computing advantages are:
- On-demand self-service
- Multi-tenancy
- Resilient computing
- Fast and effective virtualization
- Low-cost software
- Advanced online security
- Always available
- Automatic scaling to suit demands
- Pay-per-use
- Web-based control & interfaces
- API access available
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Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
Every technology has both positive and negative aspects that are highly important to be discussed before implementing it. The aforementioned points highlight the benefits of using cloud technology and the following discussion will outline the potential cons or disadvantages of cloud computing.
Vulnerability to attacks
Storing data in the cloud may pose serious challenges in terms of information theft since every company’s data is online. A security breach is something that even the best organizations have suffered from, and it’s a potential risk in the cloud as well. Although advanced security measures are deployed on the cloud, still storing confidential data in the cloud can be a risky affair, and hence vulnerability to attacks shall be considered.
Network connectivity dependency
Cloud computing is entirely dependent on the Internet. This direct tie-up with the Internet means that a company needs to have reliable and consistent Internet service as well as a fast connection and bandwidth to reap the benefits of cloud computing.
Downtime
Downtime is considered as one of the biggest potential downsides of using cloud computing. Cloud providers may sometimes face technical outages that can happen due to various reasons, such as loss of power, low Internet connectivity, data centers going out of service for maintenance, etc. This can lead to temporary downtime in the cloud service.
Vendor lock-in
When a company needs to migrate from one cloud platform to another, it might face some serious challenges because of the differences between vendor platforms. Hosting and running the applications of the current cloud platform on some other platform may cause support issues, configuration complexities, and additional expenses. The company’s data might also be left vulnerable to security attacks due to compromises that might have been made during migrations.
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Limited control
Cloud customers may face limited control over their deployments. Cloud services run on remote servers that are completely owned and managed by service providers, which makes it hard for the companies to have the level of control that they would want over their back-end infrastructure.
May not get all the features
Some cloud providers offer only limited versions with the most popular features. Before signing up, it is important to know what cloud services are provided.
Can’t do away with servers altogether
While there may be fewer servers to handle, it is not recommended to entirely let go of all your servers and staff because redundancy is key for cloud backup and recovery.
No Redundancy
A cloud server is not redundant or backed up. Although it is an extra expense, make sure to invest in a redundancy plan as in most cases, it will be well worth it. Technology does sometimes seem to fail.
Bandwidth issues
For better performance, it is advisable not to pack large numbers of storage devices and servers into a small set of data centers. The additional charges could, however, be significantly costly.
Lacks Support
Cloud computing companies do not provide proper support to their customers and expect them to depend on FAQs or online help.
Varied Performances
In a cloud environment, applications run on the server, which also provides resources to other businesses. This means that any attack or harmful activity by a tenant could affect the performance of the shared resources.
Technical Issues
Cloud technology is known to experience outages and other technical issues. Despite high standards of maintenance, there are possibilities of technical issues.
Conclusion
The above article highlights all the key advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing and its application as well as its influence in the real market. Enroll for the Cloud Computing courses to learn the basics of cloud infrastructure, expand your knowledge of the AWS environment, and learn to develop and deploy cost-effective, secure, scalable, and resilient systems.