High-availability computing
The ability to keep services up and running for long periods of time, with very little downtime, depending on the service in
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Scalability
The ability to increase or decrease resources for any given workload. You can add additional resources to service a workload (known as scaling out), or add additional capabilities to manage an increase in demand to the existing resource (known as scaling up). Scalability doesn't have to be done automatically.
Elasticity
The ability to automatically or dynamically increase or decrease resources as needed. Elastic resources match the current needs, and resources are added or removed automatically to meet future needs when it's needed, and from the most advantageous geographic location. A distinction between scalability and elasticity is that elasticity is done automatically.
Scaling Out
Traditionally adding more resources (such as webservers).
Scaling Up
To add additional capabilities to manage an increase in demand to the existing resource
Agility
The ability to react quickly. Cloud services can allocate and deallocate resources quickly. They are provided on-demand via self-service, so vast amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes. There is no manual intervention in provisioning or deprovisioning services.
Fault tolerance
The ability to remain up and running even in the event of a component or service no longer functioning. Typically, redundancy is built into cloud services architecture so if one component fails, a backup component takes its place. The type of service is said to be tolerant of faults.
Disaster recovery
The ability to recover from an event which has taken down a cloud service. Cloud services disaster recovery can happen very quickly with automation and services being readily available to use.
Global reach
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Customer latency capabilities
If customers are experiencing slowness with a particular cloud service, they are said to be experiencing some latency. Even though modern fiber optics are fast, it can still take time for services to react to customer actions if the service is not local to the customer. Cloud services have the ability deploy resources in datacenters around the globe, thus addressing customer latency issues.
Technical skill requirements and considerations
Cloud services can provide and manage hardware and software for workloads. Therefore, getting a workload up and running with cloud services demands less technical resources than having IT teams build and maintain physical infrastructure for handling the same workload. A user can be expert in the application they want to run without having to need skills to build and maintain the underlying hardware and software infrastructure.
Increased productivity
On-site datacenters typically require a lot of hardware setup (otherwise known as racking and stacking), software patching, and other time-consuming IT management chores. Cloud computing eliminates the need for many of these tasks, so IT teams can spend time on achieving more important business goals.
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Cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies, controls, and expert technology skills that can provide better security than most organizations can otherwise achieve. The result is strengthened security, which helps to protect data, apps, and infrastructure from potential threats.
Business analytics tools
Tools that extract data from business systems and integrate it into a repository, such as a data warehouse, where it can be analyzed. Analytics tools range from spreadsheets with statistical functions to sophisticated data mining and predictive modeling tools.
BI Tools
Tools that process large amounts of unstructured data in books, journals, documents, health records, images, files, email, video, and so forth, to help you discover meaningful trends and identify new business opportunities.
Database sharding
A type of partitioning that lets you divide your large database into smaller databases, which can be managed faster more easily across servers
Cloud Bursting
A configuration that's set up between a private cloud and a public cloud. If 100 percent of the resource capacity in a private cloud is used, then overflow traffic is directed to the public cloud using cloud bursting.
DevOps
The union of people, process, and technology to enable continuous delivery of value to customers. The practice of DevOps brings development and operations teams together to speed software delivery and make products more secure and reliable.
Private Cloud
serves only one customer or organization and can be located on the customer's premises or off the customer's premises
Public Cloud
promotes massive, global, and industry wide applications offered to the general public
Virtual Machine
One or more logical machines created within one physical machine. A computer file (typically called an image) that behaves like an actual computer. Multiple virtual machines can run simultaneously on the same physical computer.
Capital Expenditure (CapEx)
This is the spending of money on physical infrastructure up front, and then deducting that expense from your tax bill over time. CapEx is an upfront cost which has a value that reduces over time.
Operational Expenditure (OpEx)
This is spending money on services or products now and being billed for them now. You can deduct this expense from your tax bill in the same year. There is no upfront cost, you pay for a service or product as you use it.
Public Cloud Characteristics
Ownership by CSP, multiple end users in multiple organizations, public access, availability, connectivity via web browser, skills; not deep technical.
Private Cloud Characteristics
Ownership: owner and user are the same. Hardware: owner is responsible. Users are all from one org. Connection over private network. Deep technical knowledge to setup and maintain.
Hybrid Cloud Characteristics
Resource location can be private or public depending on needs. Allows leverage of cost and efficiency of public while having security of private. The org retains management and control in the private clouds. Tech skills are same as the other two.
Advantages of Public Cloud
No CapEx, Agility, Consumption based, no maintenance, less skills needed.
Disadvantages of Public Cloud
Security and compliance, you can't manage as you wish, and specific scenarios like legacy apps
Advantages of Private Cloud
Security and compliance, maintenance of specifics [Show Less]