Cloud Computing: The Future of Scalable Infrastructure

Cloud computing delivers on demand computing services including servers, storage, databases, networking, AI, and analytics over the internet ("the cloud") with pay as you go pricing. Instead of owning physical data centers, businesses rent cloud resources from providers like AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.

Why Cloud Computing? Key Benefits

✔ Cost Savings: Eliminate upfront hardware costs; pay only for what you use. ✔ Scalability: Instantly scale resources up or down based on demand. ✔ Global Availability: Deploy apps closer to users with multi region cloud data centers. ✔ Disaster Recovery & Backup: - Built-in redundancy ensures high availability (99.9% uptime SLA). ✔ Security & Compliance: Enterprise-grade encryption, zero trust security, and compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2. ✔ Faster Innovation:  Leverage AI, serverless and Kubernetes without managing infrastructure.

Types of Cloud Computing Services

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

• Rent virtualized computing resources (servers, storage, networking).

• Example: AWS EC2, Azure Virtual Machines, Google Compute Engine.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

• Develop, run, and manage apps without maintaining infrastructure.

• Example: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service, Google App Engine.

3. Software as a Service (SaaS)

• Ready-to-use cloud-hosted software (no installation required).

• Example: Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace.

4. Serverless Computing (FaaS  Function as a Service)

• Run code without managing servers (auto scaling, event driven).

• Example: AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions.

Cloud Deployment Models

1. Public Cloud

• Shared infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP).

• Best for: Startups, scalable web apps, cost efficiency.

2. Private Cloud

• Dedicated infrastructure (on-premises or hosted).

• Best for: Enterprises with strict security & compliance needs.

3. Hybrid Cloud

• Combines public + private cloud for flexibility.

• Best for: Data-sensitive workloads with cloud scalability.

4. Multi-Cloud

• Uses multiple cloud providers (AWS + Azure + GCP).

• Best for: Avoiding vendor lock in, optimizing costs.

Leading Cloud Platforms

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

• Dominates 33% market share

• Key Services: EC2, S3, Lambda and RDS

• Best for startups & enterprises

Microsoft Azure

• Ideal for Windows-based & hybrid cloud

• Key Services: Azure Functions, Blob Storage and AKS

• Strong enterprise & AI integrations

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

• Leader in AI/ML & data analytics

• Key Services: BigQuery, Kubernetes Engine and Firebase

• Best for scalable data driven apps