Cloud computing is a new model for the delivery and consumption
of IT Services. It has gained considerable currency as
businesses face the economic uncertainties of the future whilst
recognising that continued investment in IT enables business
innovation. As a result, many business leaders are looking for new
ways to service their IT needs, whilst driving efficiency in
service delivery and establishing a predictable cost base upon
which to build.
Cloud services respond to these imperatives by offering an
alternative to owning and operating some or all of an
organisation’s IT services. There are a number of cloud
models available, offering different types of services.
Cloud computing models fall into four categories:
- Public clouds are typically internet based
services that enable on-demand or utility based user access to
computing, storage and software applications. The
applications are securely hosted on remote data centres, rather
than on site – many organisations may use the same base
applications though they are customised at the point of delivery,
whilst application data is not shared and remains private. Some
cloud service providers offer access to public cloud services via
secure private connections, rather than the Internet, thereby
providing a higher level of service to business customers.
- Private clouds are dedicated services (not
shared as with pubic cloud services) located either within data
centres inside the user organisations, or dedicated resource and
space within a cloud provider’s data centre. Private clouds
deliver virtualisation and service automation efficiencies, but for
a specific customer organisation.
- Community clouds are private cloud services
that are shared between several organisations, usually drawn from a
specific community or sharing common concerns, such as academic
research, or public service provision. As with public clouds,
community clouds are multi-tenant (applications, but not data, are
shared by user organisations).
- Hybrid clouds provide a combination of some or
all of the attributes of public, private and community clouds,
enabling additional flexibility for organisations looking for
enhanced Disaster Recovery, access to resource for shorter periods
of time for applications that experience seasonal bursts, or for
non-production services, such as Test and Development.
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