Introduction
Nowadays, cloud computing technology has become very widespread. The popularity of this technology is determined by the large number of IT vendors, including such companies as IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Google, HP and NEC. Cloud technologies began their development when they appeared on the market in 2008 under the term "cloud computing". Today, cloud computing makes it possible to run applications over the Internet through special computing resources managed by a provider. There are three main ways of providing cloud computing: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.
IaaS stands for Infrastructure as a Service. This type of service makes it possible to use a full-fledged server with a dedicated amount of data and a unique address in virtual space. PaaS stands for Platform as a Service. This type of service makes it possible to use a virtual server on which an operating system and the necessary programs are installed. SaaS stands for Software as a Service. This type of service makes it possible to use individual programs over the Internet. Using these categories allows the user to use already configured, maintained equipment without spending money on hardware and software.
Advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing technology
All categories of cloud computing have an invaluable advantage in being accessible from anywhere on the planet given the availability of the Internet, a computer and a browser. To gain access, it is not necessary to have an expensive computer; all information is stored and processed on a remote server, and access to it is opened through a web interface.
The use of cloud computing technology makes it possible to access your information from any place at any time. Data is automatically copied by the provider and encrypted, which allows the user not to worry about the safety and confidentiality of information.
The provider offers round-the-clock support for virtual machines and various tariff plans for any required level. Usually the servers of average companies are loaded at 10-15%, while the rest of the time, except for rare moments, the resources stand idle. Cloud computing technology makes it possible to redistribute expenses and not overpay for additional costs of equipment and its maintenance. Hardware resources are paid for strictly on the basis of actual consumption, which allows the customer not to buy or rent equipment, but to use virtual resources as needed.
Payment for software resources also has a flexible system. Instead of software packages, the company purchases individual software products for each separate local user. The cost of product versions for cloud computing is significantly lower than the cost of applications for personal computers. There is also the possibility of paying for software by the hour, which makes it possible to save money in case of rare use. Cloud use of programs also eliminates the time spent on installation, updating and technical support.
Software suppliers also gain an economic benefit from the cloud provision of resources. Maintaining a large homogeneous data center is more profitable than the same volume of smaller heterogeneous ones. Also, when a single server is distributed among several users, the load is smoothed out, since the chance of simultaneous peak load is very low.
Among other things, cloud technologies are an effective tool for expanding sales channels and increasing profits for independent software vendors in the form of software as a service. This approach organizes a dynamic provision of services, in which users pay for the fact of the provision of services and regulate the volume of consumed resources depending on their personal needs.
Using cloud computing does not require the purchase and configuration of equipment and software. Reducing the number of physical servers improves the processes of maintaining them. At any moment when the user launches any software product, there is full confidence that the latest configured version of the program is installed, without the need for reinstallation and payment for updates.
Cloud computing also offers users additional work tools, such as collaborative work on documents. When using this tool, there is no need to send new versions of a file and edit sequentially. When using cloud services, all changes made by one user are instantly displayed to other users.
Cloud tools have standard open application programming interfaces (API), through which applications are developed and connected to each other.
When developing applications with a complex structure, cloud computing makes it possible to use an unlimited amount of computing resources as needed. The provision of these resources is limited only by the capabilities of the cloud. More complex tasks performed by users receive a greater amount of memory and computing power at the moments when this is necessary. Using this tool makes it possible to run several copies of an application for testing and debugging; the scalability of a virtual machine makes it possible to do this almost instantly.
Just like computing resources, the amount of available memory when using cloud technologies also has the ability to increase as needed. When storing data in a cloud service, users are not limited by the amount of disk space, since the volume of the cloud is calculated in billions of gigabytes of available space.
All these advantages of cloud technologies are a convenient tool for creating software startups. Developers have no need to acquire hardware and software and maintain it.
Nevertheless, cloud computing technology also has disadvantages. The most significant of them is the need for a constant Internet connection. Without a network connection, there is no access to the documents and software needed for work. In addition to simple access, some programs require a high connection speed with great bandwidth. In the absence of a quality connection, cloud programs may work more slowly than desktop applications on a personal computer. It is precisely this disadvantage that is the main obstacle to the development of cloud technologies in the IT environment of Russia.
Theoretically, the security of cloud data may also be at risk. Not all data can be entrusted to a third-party provider, not only for storage, but also for processing. Data can also be intercepted during its transmission to the provider. In addition to confidentiality, legal problems may also arise, for example those related to meeting the requirements for the protection of personal data.
The aspect of the state's access to data is important. By law, the state in whose territory the data is stored has full-fledged access to the information. For example, under US laws, the provider does not even have the right to disclose the fact of the transfer of confidential information to the state to anyone other than its lawyers.
There are several options for solving this problem. One of them is the preliminary encryption of data before sending it to cloud storage. When the user of a cloud resource is a company, the method of using cloud technologies is written as a separate item in the list of information security issues.
Some providers independently implement data encryption services.
Another significant disadvantage is the cut-down functionality of cloud applications. In order to use the main functionality through the web interface, many applications are deprived of additional work tools. In some cloud software products the functionality is almost identical to the desktop ones, while in some it loses significantly on many parameters. So, for example, desktop Microsoft Excel has many more functions than Google Docs spreadsheets or the Office web application.
When choosing a cloud service provider, it is first of all worth thinking about the long term. Working with any provider implies full trust of all resources and the choice of methods for processing information. A provider can make mistakes, fail to make timely backups, and fail to maintain its hardware. The freedom to choose any version of a software product other than the latest is also limited.
In his article "The Best-Kept Secret of the Clouds", Hugh MacLeod claims that cloud computing leads to the creation of a huge, previously unseen monopoly. The aggregation of resources at a single most popular provider could lead to the exorbitant power of that corporation. But today there already exist several trusted corporations competing with each other, such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and none of them holds dominance
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be noted that the active use of cloud computing technology is not a solution to all problems in the field of information technology.
Cloud computing is not so much a new principle of using information technology, as it is the result of convergence in the process of the development of a number of technologies, such as high-speed networks, high-performance processors and virtualization.
The need to reassess investments in the field of information technology in today's economic situation is an additional factor that prompts companies to explore the possibilities of cloud computing for reducing costs. But it is undesirable for organizations to choose an exclusively cloud infrastructure, relying only on various private and public cloud architectures and services - first of all for reasons of personalization, availability and security of information systems. Cloud computing service providers and large enterprises wishing to deploy an effective cloud infrastructure can gain advantages.
