Cloud Server Solutions for your Data and Applications

What is the Cloud?

In a nutshell, cloud computing is storing, retrieving or processing data and accessing applications on a remote server over the Internet. This moves the burden of maintaining servers and managing applications to an offsite location, and usually to a specialized provider. These facilities, generally referred to as data centers, are basically massive temperature and environment controlled server warehouses. The economy of scale allows for lower cost hosting and maintenance than a business can achieve managing their own servers. The three main components to the cloud are as follows: 

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): The online hardware and hosting providers that are the foundation of cloud computing. Major providers include Amazon Web Service (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine (GCE) and Rackspace.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): The online computing environments that live on top of the Infrastructure (IaaS) such as Operating Systems, Web Servers, etc.. Major providers include AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Windows Azure, Force.com, Google App Engine and Apache Stratos.

Software as a Service (SaaS): The online applications that typical users will interact with, and powered by IaaS and PaaS, such as software, e-mail and file storage. Major offerings include Microsoft’s Office 365, Adobe’s Creative Cloud, Google G-Suite, Quickbooks online and Dropbox.

Should I Move to the Cloud? 

Every day more businesses are enjoying the flexibility and cost savings that moving to the cloud offers. Scalability and elasticity offer you the ability to pay only for what you need while allowing for instant increases in storage and speed when your growth demands it. Fixed monthly costs are also easier to plan for, with the cloud providers bearing the cost associated with natural disaster, breakage and constant technology improvements.

While cloud solutions offer robust protections, there are still valid reasons for on-premise servers. Government agencies and heavily regulated industries, such as finance and healthcare, often times require high levels of security that businesses prefer to be handled by a dedicated internal IT team managing their own data centers. Some business owners may also just want the control associated with having physical hardware located onsite.

Speed issues with cloud computing have been made nearly obsolete. There are, however, areas of the country that still suffer from slower than optimal internet service which can impact cloud performance. It is always recommended to consult with a professional IT provider to determine whether your available internet service can meet your technology needs before migrating to the cloud.