Cloud Hosting
The term cloud hosting is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the industry today. It can be applied to a wide range of offerings and capabilities. Services as diverse as Internet-based electronic mail, online music stores, shopping websites and full-function enterprise computing capability delivered via the Internet all qualify as forms of cloud hosting. It is very important to understand the context of the discussion when considering the benefits and costs associated with cloud hosting.
What is Cloud Hosting?
A cloud can be thought of as any set of accessible computing resources that provide services to consumers. One important aspect of cloud hosting is that the set of services is operated and maintained by a service provider and not the consumer. Traditionally, companies have built and maintained their own computing infrastructures to deliver the capabilities they need. This requires huge capital outlays to purchase equipment and software, lease adequate operational space, provide staffing and ensure operations continuity during outage events. Costs are recurring and returns are fluid. The attraction of cloud services is that companies can purchase only the amount of cloud computing capability they need and leave the additional capital outlay to the service provider. Consumers get reliable access with dynamic capacity and automatic fault repair. They never need to worry about the technical aspects of system operation. They pay only for what they consume - very similar to paying for other services such as electricity and telephones.
How is Cloud Hosting Delivered?
Cloud hosting is typically delivered in two general scenarios: public and private clouds. The worldwide Internet is the most prominent example of a public cloud computing environment. Businesses all over the globe leverage the ubiquitous scope of the Internet to deliver services to their customers. Other examples of a public cloud are software application services such as sales management and reporting, and consumer services such as online music stores or shopping websites. Private clouds, by contrast, deliver all of the capabilities that consumers expect from cloud hosting, except that the cloud is owned and operated by a specific organization - often the same organization that serves the consumers. Private clouds are typically built and maintained by organizations on their own premises or within those of a hosting service provider. Either way, cloud hosting is delivered as a dedicated set of cloud services for the use of a single organization. The organization either takes on the operational responsibility for the private cloud or contracts with a hosting provider for these services.
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