Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
Key Concepts
On-Demand Self-Service: Consumers can provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
Broad Network Access: Resources are available over the network and can be accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms.
Resource Pooling: The provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand.
Rapid Elasticity: Capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly release to meet fluctuating demand.
Measured Service: Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the used resources.
Benefits
Cost Efficiency: Reduces IT costs by paying only for what you use.
Scalability: Scale up or down as your needs change.
Flexibility: Access your resources from anywhere, on any device.
Disaster Recovery: Back up your data and applications in the cloud to protect against disasters.
Types of Cloud Computing Services
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Provides virtualized computing resources over the Internet.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): Provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure involved.
Software as a Service (SaaS): Delivers software applications over the Internet on a subscription basis.
For more information about cloud computing, you can visit our cloud services page.