Cloud computing :
Cloud computing is on-demand access, via the internet, to
computing resources—applications, servers (physical servers and virtual servers), data
storage, development tools, networking capabilities, and more—hosted at a remote data
center managed by a cloud services provider (or CSP).
TYPES OF CLOUD COMPUTING:
1. On-demand self-service. A consumer can unilaterally provision computing
capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically
without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
2. Broad network access. Capabilities are available over the network and accessed
through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick
client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations).
3. 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.
4. Rapid elasticity. Capabilities can be elastically provisioned and released, in some
cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with
demand. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear
unlimited and can be appropriated in any quantity at any time.
5. Measured service. Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use
by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the
type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts).
Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency
for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.
AWS in cloud computing:
The Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform provides more than 200 fully featured
services from data centers located all over the world, and is the world's most
comprehensive cloud platform. Amazon web service is an online platform that provides
scalable and cost-effective cloud computing solutions.
Cloud services:
The type of cloud services are so many but the main cloud services are:
Software as a service(SaaS)
Platform as a service(PaaS)
Infrastructure as a service(IaaS)
Software as a Service(SaaS)
1. SaaS is a way of delivering services and applications over the Internet. Instead of
installing and maintaining software, we simply access it via the Internet, freeing
ourselves from the complex software and hardware management.
2. SaaS provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-as-you-
go basis from a cloud service provider.
3) Most SaaS applications can be run directly from a web browser without any
downloads or installations required .
3. The SaaS applications are sometimes called Web-based software, on-demand
software, or hosted software.
Advantages of SaaS
1. Cost-Effective: Pay only for what you use.
2. Reduced time: Users can run most SaaS apps directly from their web browser
without needing to download and install any software. This reduces the time spent
in installation and configuration and can reduce the issues that can get in the way
of the software deployment.
3. Accessibility: We can Access app data from anywhere.
4. Automatic updates: Rather than purchasing new software, customers rely on a
SaaS provider to automatically perform the updates.
5. Scalability : It allows the users to access the services and features on-demand.
Platform as a Service :
PaaS is a category of cloud computing that provides a platform and environment to
allow developers to build applications and services over the internet. PaaS services are
hosted in the cloud and accessed by users simply via their web browser.
As a result, PaaS frees users from having to install in-house hardware and software to
develop or run a new application. Thus, the development and deployment of the
application take place independent of the hardware.
Advantages of PaaS:
1. Simple and convenient for users: It provides much of the infrastructure and
other IT services, which users can access anywhere via a web browser.
2. Cost-Effective: It charges for the services provided on a per-use basis thus
eliminating the expenses one may have for on-premises hardware and software.
3. Efficiently managing the life cycle: It is designed to support the complete web
application life cycle: building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating.
4. Efficiency: It allows for higher-level programming with reduced complexity thus,
the overall development of the application can be more effective.
Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS):
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a service model that delivers compute infrastructure
on an outsourced basis to support various operations. Typically IaaS is a service where
infrastructure is provided as outsourcing to enterprises such as networking equipment,
devices, database, and web servers. It is also known as Hardware as a Service
(Haas). IaaS customers pay on a per-user basis, typically by the hour, week, or month.
Some providers also charge customers based on the amount of virtual machine space
they use. It simply provides the underlying operating systems, security, networking, and
servers for developing such applications, and services, and deploying development
tools, databases, etc.
Advantages of IaaS:
1. Cost-Effective: Eliminates capital expense and reduces ongoing cost and IaaS
customers pay on a per-user basis, typically by the hour, week, or month.
2. Website hosting: Running websites using IaaS can be less expensive than
traditional web hosting.
3. Security: The IaaS Cloud Provider may provide better security than your existing
software.
4. Maintenance: There is no need to manage the underlying data center or the
introduction of new releases of the development or underlying software. This is all
handled by the IaaS Cloud Provider.
AWS Benefits
1. USER FRIENDLY:
AWS is easy to use as the platform is specially designed for quick and secure access.
Users can modify their data whenever they want, wherever they want. Most companies
find starting with AWS as their cloud provider much easier than using other providers,
namely, Azure or Google Cloud Platform.
2. Flexible
Flexibility is also the reason why many companies prefer AWS. It always lets you use those
operating systems, programming languages, and web application platforms that you are
comfortable with. With a service like AWS EC2, you can build your virtual computing
environment by setting up your preferable operating systems and applications. AWS benefits
provide all the best services that your application requires to function seamlessly. It can also ease
the migration process, and you can work on new solutions simultaneously.
3. Secure
Security is one of the best benefits of AWS cloud computing. As we know, security is the
uppermost priority for any company that is data-driven. AWS provides a highly secure
infrastructure to ensure the privacy of your data. Security professionals at AWS follow
different layers of data surveillance such as:
Data protection
Identity and access management
Infrastructure protection
Threat detection and continuous monitoring
Compliance and data privacy
4) Cost-effective
If you follow traditional methods, then you should build your own servers for storing your data
and applications, which consumes a good amount of both your time and money. So instead of
building your own expensive servers, you can use AWS where you need to pay only for the tools
and services that you use. It is the same as paying your electricity bill; you only pay for the units
you have consumed. These AWS services are unique and cheaper than the traditional computing
method.Moreover, AWS is a no-commitment service. It does not ask for any time commitment
before you start using AWS benefits, so you can start or stop using it at any time without hassles.
5) Reliable
Amazon offers the highest reliability for its customers. AWS serves over a million active
clients in more than 200 nations all over the world. An ultimate team of tech professionals
is working on data security. AWS performs its tasks accurately when it is required and
offers many services that make it more reliable like the capability to automatically recover
from failure..
6) Highly Performant :
High-performance computing (HPC) is the ability to process a massive amount of data at
high speed. Companies find it more crucial for productivity and to compete with other
companies. AWS offers a high-performance computing service so that the companies
need not worry about the speed.
Disadvantages of AWS
1. Lack of Experts
AWS is the latest invention with a complex infrastructure. Companies using AWS as
their Cloud Computing platform are looking to hire professionals to work on the cloud
infrastructure. However, only a few professionals are skilled in AWS or any cloud
provider. Companies are ready to invest in them but are facing difficulty in finding the
right professionals to work on AWS who can lead these organizations to better
performance. This can be a disadvantage of AWS in terms of time and money.
2. Price Variations
The price of AWS services varies based on factors such as the cost of land, fiber,
electricity, and taxes from region to region. Variations also occur when you need
additional tech support. Developer, Business, and Enterprise are the three available
packages you can choose from, and the price varies accordingly. This will impact your
monthly bill. But with services like Amazon CloudWatch, you can monitor your service
consumption, and Server less Data Lake helps you calculate the cost of the services in
your region.
3. General Issues
Amazon is a huge family with millions of customers, so it has some temporary Cloud
Computing issues. Users sometimes face downtime with servers. It may be because of
the power loss or network connectivity with the cloud provider. Anyway, it can be rectified
eventually.
History of AWS:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing platform that was launched by
Amazon in 2006. AWS was initially designed to support the needs of Amazon's own
e-commerce business but was soon made available to other businesses as a way to
build, deploy, and scale applications in the cloud.
AWS is now the leading cloud computing platform, serving millions of customers
worldwide. It offers over 200 different services across various categories, including
computing, storage, database, networking, analytics, machine learning, security, and
more.
The early years of AWS were marked by rapid innovation and growth. In 2007, AWS
launched its first major service, Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), which provided
a scalable and durable storage solution for businesses. This was followed by the
launch of Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) in 2008, which provided scalable
computing resources in the cloud. Over the years, AWS has continued to expand and
introduce new services and features to meet the evolving needs of its customers.
Some of the notable milestones in the history of AWS include:
2009: Launch of Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) and Amazon Elastic
Map Reduce (EMR).
2010: Launch of Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) and Amazon CloudWatch.
2011: Launch of Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon Elastic
Beanstalk 2012: Launch of Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) and Amazon SNS
(Simple Notification Service).
2013: Launch of Amazon Kinesis, Amazon Machine Learning, and AWS Lambda
2014: Launch of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) and Amazon ECS (Elastic
Container Service).
2015: Launch of Amazon Aurora and Amazon Lex.
2016: Launch of Amazon Athena, Amazon EC2 Container Registry, and Amazon
EC2 Container Service for Kubernetes (EKS).
Today, AWS is used by millions of businesses around the world and is considered the
leading cloud computing platform. It continues to innovate and introduce new services
and features to meet the changing needs of its customers.
Revenue of AWS:
Amazon said Thursday that revenue from its cloud unit increased 12% year over year in
the second quarter, a speedier pace than analysts had predicted.
Revenue for the quarter came to $22.1 billion, beating the $21.79 billion consensus
among analysts surveyed by Street Account. Revenue grew almost 16% in the first
quarter.
Of Amazon’s $7.7 billion in operating profit, 70% of it came from Amazon Web Services,
which led the cloud infrastructure market with 40% share in 2022, technology industry
researcher Gartner said last month.
AWS generated $5.4 billion in operating income, which is down 5% year over year but
higher than the Street Account consensus of $5.24 billion. AWS operating income has
now declined for three consecutive quarters.
AWS services:
Service #1. Amazon EC2 [Elastic Compute Cloud]
Amazon EC2 is one of the fastest-growing cloud computing AWS services, which offers
virtual servers to manage any kind of workload. It facilitates the computing infrastructure
with the best suitable processors, networking facilities, and storage systems. As a result,
it supports adapting to the workloads precisely. Amazon EC2 provides a highly secure,
reliable, performing computing infrastructure meeting business demands. And, it helps
you to access resources quickly and dynamically scale capacities as per demands.
Service #2. Amazon S3
Another popular addition to the AWS services list is Amazon S3, which is an object
storage AWS service, which is highly scalable. It mainly helps users to access any
quantity of data from anywhere. Here, data is stored in ‘storage classes’ to reduce costs
without any extra investment and manage it comfortably. The data is highly secured and
supports meeting audit and compliance requirements. You can handle any volume of
data with Amazon S3’s robust access controls, replication tools, and higher visibility.
Moreover, it supports maintaining data version controls and preventing accidental
deletion.
Service #3. Amazon DynamoDB
DynamoDB is a promising addition to this list of AWS services. DynamoDB is a fully
managed and server-less No-SQL database AWS service. And it is a fast and flexible
database system that provides innovative opportunities to developers at low costs. It
gives you single-digit millisecond performance with unlimited throughput and storage.
DynamoDB has in-built tools to generate actionable insights, useful analytics, and
monitor traffic trends in applications.
Service #4. Amazon CloudFront:
Amazon CloudFront is another credible mention in the list of renowned Amazon Web
Services. This AWS service delivers content globally, which offers high performance and
security. Mainly, it delivers data with high speed and low latency. Here, content is
delivered to destinations successfully with automated network mapping and intelligent
routing mechanisms. The security of data is enhanced with traffic encryption methods
and access controls. Also, data can be transferred within milliseconds with its in-built
data compression, edge computing capabilities, and field-level encryption. Besides, you
gear up streaming high-quality video using AWS media services to any device quickly
and consistently using Amazon CloudFront.
References:
1) http://aws.amazon.com
2) https://www.mygreatlearning.com/aws/tutorials/history-of-aws
3) https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/03/aws-q2-earnings-report-2023.html
