Tag: cloud computing

Cloud Computing in India: Seeing Explosive Growth

The adoption rate for Cloud Computing In India may not be as high as other developed nations such as the US and the UK, but interest in the technology is building. Many of IT’s major players are focusing on the Indian market, and with around 2m small-to-medium size businesses in the country all keen for cheaper, more flexible IT alternatives, it makes sense that interest in the Cloud Computing World Forum should be increasing.

Cloud hosting has become very popular recently, opening up new opportunities for suppliers and bringing about a shift in traditional IT offerings. By the year 2012, global spending on cloud hosting will touch the $42 billion mark, which will be almost three times more than the present spending, as predicted by IDC. Cloud Computing In India is still in its very early stages and enterprises are yet to fully comprehend the actual benefits of private clouds, public clouds or even IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

In simple terms, cloud computing/hosting, or enterprise cloud, is a service provided by a network of servers. These servers are placed at various data centers which are situated at different geographical locations. A simple application of cloud hosting is Internet service, which is provided by a host of computers, all operating under a cloud.

The dedicated servers in India such as web servers, mail servers, application or database servers, or corporate intranets, all work towards providing state-of-the-art infrastructure with multiple fast connectivity, 24/7 support, customizable plans and service level agreements (SLAs). Small and medium enterprises who cannot invest in their own data centers and dedicated hosting servers can take advantage by using the services provided by these data centers. This is so because in cloud computing, multiple servers are used as a single platform through a digital network.

An impressive future for Cloud Computing In India has been forecast by most of the research analysts through various surveys. These surveys show that the growth of digital data in India would range from 40.000 petabytes in 2010 to 2.3-million petabytes in 2020 which would make the companies look out for methods to curb operational costs. This would leverage the usage of cloud computing facilities. Studies conducted have shown that with the speed at which the Indian companies are turning to cloud computing services, a majority of IT companies would be running on cloud in the next four years. Further Indian cloud computing market … Read More

Does Cloud Computing for Small Businesses Make Sense?

The world is trending toward cloud computing and the many benefits it offers. As a small business owner, is this the right choice for your business? What are the benefits and drawbacks and what, if any, are the risks? Andrew Mein from Pisys.net – a leading IT support company in Aberdeen, Scotland explains.

Most would argue that there are more advantages to cloud computing for small businesses than there are disadvantages. The the majority of these lie in the level of flexibility and cost savings of using cloud computing.

On the most basic level,SMEs can save capital with cloud computing. Without the need to spend on infrastructure as well as savings on IT support you are in a position to utilize enterprise class software and store large amounts of data that you may not be able to afford to buy, install and integrate. You are essentially outsourcing the infrastructure (and getting better quality while you’re at it) and paying as you go based on usage.

When enterprises switch to cloud computing they often have the project of installing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and integrating it with existing systems. This isn’t the case for small businesses and start-ups. as they are usually able to simply use cloud based Software as a Service (SaaS) eliminating the need for IT.

The scalability of cloud computer services is another great advantage for small businesses. The cloud can handle peak service requirements easily. It can also take the addition of users and adjust to meet the changing needs of a growing and evolving company.

With cloud computing you need only a connection to the network (usually the Internet) to access your data. This means that you don’t have to be in the office to work. You can access the cloud from anywhere at any time which is a big plus for most small companies.

Updating and licensing software is a thing of the past once you are on the cloud. All updates are taken care of automatically. Also, while there are breakdowns in cloud computing as there are in any computer system and you will have to wait until it’s fixed, you don’t have to hire someone to come in and repair it (or keep someone on staff) as it will be repaired on the back end, usually within half the time, or less.

On the subject of risk, there is one area … Read More

How Does Cloud Computing Work?

Everyone talks about cloud computing, but not about how does cloud computing work. This is because the end user does not need to know how does cloud computing work in order to use it. You do not need to understand how does cloud computing work behind Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and Google Docs to use them in your business. For the curious, how does cloud computing work is as simple as you want to make it, and it all extends from what the word cloud refers to.

So, how does cloud computing work? It mostly involves banks of computers working together as a single machine. It is this grid of computers that the term cloud actually refers to. This is not a new concept either. The cloud has been with us since the beginning of computers in various forms. What is different is that this collective virtual computer acts like a single machine.

How does cloud computing work with these clusters of computers? Since we are dealing with a virtual machine, the cloud computer utilizes the resources of the cluster of physical computers underneath it. The virtual computer then uses these resources to run your applications. These applications run independently of the server cluster underneath which is why you can scale the virtual computer with ease. The virtual computer and its applications are basically floating in a cloud of resources free of the physical world.

So, how does cloud computing work these server clusters to create the end user experience? To answer that, we must split the cloud into two layers. The first layer is the front-end, or public/end user layer. The front-end is what you interact with. This is the virtual machine. It thinks it is a normal computer so it acts like one. All cloud applications run on the front-end.

The back-end is where the magic happens. It is the how does cloud computing work. The back-end of cloud computing consists of the physical hardware clusters and the software that runs them. This also includes the networking technologies that connect them. These computers are designed to work together. They share resources. They share processes. They act collectively as a single machine: the virtual cloud computer. They are designed to be hot-swappable which means you can connect or disconnect them without turning them or the cluster off. If you need more resources, you just need to plug in a new … Read More