Hey there! Today, we're diving into the basics of cloud technologies. If you’ve ever wondered what "the cloud" is and how it can help your business, you're in the right place. This is the first part of our series, where we’ll keep things straightforward and easy to understand.
Your time is precious, so we have broken this up into four separate chunks for you to ready as you have the time:
- (This Article) Introduction
- (Next) Accessing the Cloud
- (Later) What's in it for me?
- (Last) What else do I need to know
What is the Cloud?
Think of the cloud as a way to store and access data and applications over the internet instead of on your computer’s hard drive. Imagine your business files, software, and services floating in a secure, virtual space that you can access anytime, anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection.
Why Should You Care?
Here’s why the cloud is a game-changer for businesses like yours:
- Flexibility: Need to work from home or on the go? The cloud makes it easy to access your files and applications from any device.
- Cost-Efficiency: No more spending big bucks on hardware and maintenance. With the cloud, you pay for what you use.
- Scalability: As your business grows, your cloud services can grow with you. No need to worry about running out of storage or processing power.
Types of Clouds
While the term 'Cloud' is somewhat ambiguous, there is, however, agreement that there are different types of clouds - and no, none of them are "thunderclouds"!
The clearest and easy distinction can be drawn using an "ownership" distinction - this gives us the first cut of defining clouds - private, public and hybrid!
- Private Cloud: your data and/or infrastructure is maintained or managed by you (or someone else on your behalf!) on equipment that is dedicated to your organisation. This used to be called a "Data Centre".
- Public Cloud: Generally hosted on shared servers and accessed via the public internet. Applications such as Office 365 and Xero accounting software are deployed using Public cloud services. With a public Cloud, management and maintenance of the servers and storage is undertaken by the provider of ‘the Cloud’ service rather than your own IT people.
- Hybrid Cloud: A combination of private and public clouds - most typically used when certain applications/data need the enhanced security requirements that a private cloud offers, but the cost advantages of a public cloud are used for certain applications such as email.
Types of Cloud Services
Building on the "Types of Clouds", there are a number of service models that are used commercially- each serving a unique purpose:
- Software as a Service (SaaS): Think of applications like Google Docs or Microsoft Office 365. You use these tools via the internet without needing to install anything on your computer.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): This is more for developers. It provides a platform to build, test, and deploy applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This is like renting virtual machines and storage from providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure. It’s great if you need a lot of computing power but don’t want to invest in physical hardware.
Security in the Cloud
Security is a big deal, and cloud providers take it seriously. They offer robust security measures, including data encryption and regular backups. However, it’s still essential to follow best practices, like using strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication.
What’s Next?
In our upcoming articles, we’ll dive deeper into how you can access cloud services, the benefits they bring, and what qualifications you might need to get started. Stay tuned! Hope this gives you a clearer picture of what cloud technologies are all about. If you have any questions or want to learn more, keep an eye out for our next posts!
Read on to see how the cloud is delivered to you!