The word “cloud” is considered same as “the Internet,” thus cloud computing is a Internet-based computing, where several services like including servers, applications and storage are delivered to an organization’s devices and computers through the Internet and making them operational outside an organizations firewall on shared systems. Cloud computing is an on-demand service that has attained mass appeal in corporate data centres. The cloud enables the data centre to work like the Internet and enables computing resources to be shared and accessed as virtual resources in a scalable and secure manner.
Applications and services are accessed through the Web, instead of your hard drive. In cloud computing, the services are provided and deployed over the Internet that are paid for by cloud customer. Its infrastructure is provided by the cloud service provider, not by the individual cloud customer.
Also Cloud computing networks are large groups of servers with cloud service providers that usually take edge of low-cost computing technology, with specially designed connections to extend data-processing facilities across them. This shared IT infrastructure contains large quantity of systems that are linked together.
Small Business Cloud Computing:
The benefits of cloud computing is also driving small and medium size business (SMB) for adoption of the same. In SMB sector there is mainly lack of time and financial resources to deploy, purchase, and maintain an infrastructure like software, server and storage. You can expand (or shrink) services as per the changes in your business needs. The common pay-as-you-go subscription model is designed to let SMBs add or remove services and you will only pay for what you use.
Public Cloud vs Private Cloud:
Cloud computing signifies a cloud computing platform that is non-resident of an organizations’ firewall on shared systems. A private cloud is the same platform, however it is implemented inside the corporate firewall, with having the control of the organization.
Private cloud is designed in a way that it offers the same features and benefits of public cloud systems, also it removes numerous objections to the cloud computing model comprising control over corporate and customer data, concerns regarding security and issues related to regulatory compliance.
Cloud Computing Security:
Cloud computing opens up a new level of opportunities for businesses, but along with these opportunities also comes certain security challenges which are required to be considered and addressed prior the commitment of a cloud computing strategy.
Following are the three broad categories of challenges in security of Cloud computing:
- Data Protection: Securing your all data at rest and also in transit
- Disaster and Data Breach: Contingency Planning
- User Authentication: Limiting access of data to user and monitoring who accesses the data
A company while considering cloud computing providers taking all key security challenges in account must ensure that your data is securely protected whether it is at rest or in transit, monitoring and restricting access to data via access logging and user authentication, and proper planning for the real possibilities of inaccessible or compromised data due to natural disasters or data breaches.