The main purpose is the storage and management of data, the execution of applications or even the provision of content or service. In this way, instead of accessing files and data through a local or personal computer, you access it only from a device with internet, that the information will be available anytime and anywhere.
The Cloud has numerous advantages such as:
- Cost reduction;
- Faster planning speed;
- Availability of access on any platform and device, anywhere;
- Higher productivity;
- Higher performance;
- High reliability;
- Ease in making and restoring backups;
- Greater security.
The only disadvantage, which nowadays cannot even be considered a complete disadvantage, is the need for an Internet connection. Not all Clouds are the same, each Cloud being suited to a different service or need of the person / company, to help provide the right solution for specific needs. Thus, there are 3 types of Cloud:
Public Cloud
It is the most common type of implementation of cloud computing. These are owned and operated by external cloud service providers, who provide their computer resources, such as servers and storage, over the Internet and are responsible for maintaining, hosting, managing and securing customer data. Thus, the hardware, software and other supporting infrastructure are owned and managed by the cloud service provider. Access to these services and account management is done through a browser.
The main advantages of the Public Cloud are:
- Reduced costs, since there is no longer a need to buy hardware or software, paying only for the service to be used;
- No maintenance, since it is the service provider that provides it;
- Almost unlimited scalability, since resources are available on request to meet the required needs;
- High reliability, as it contains a wide network of servers that protects against failures.
It is concluded, then, that this is the indicated model for companies looking for modernization, without compromising the available budget.
Private Cloud
It is exclusive to the company, that is, the computer resources are used only by the entity. Private Clouds can be physically located in the companies’ data center or can be hosted by an external service provider. Here, the services and infrastructures are maintained in a private network, with the hardware and software dedicated only to the company.
Main advantages of Private Cloud:
- Greater flexibility, given that it is possible to customize the environment in the Cloud, to meet the various specific needs;
- Greater control, when resources are not shared, they increase the level of control and privacy;
- Greater scalability, since private Clouds generally offer more scalability compared to an on-site infrastructure.
In this way, these Clouds are mostly applied by financial institutions, government agencies and other medium and large companies with critical operations that seek an improved control of the environment, as well as greater data protection.
Hybrid Cloud
This, summed up, is the combination of the Public and Private Cloud. In this sense, the company has a Private Cloud for confidential and strategic information and a Public Cloud for common data and processes. In this way, data and applications can be shared between the two environments. This model is often chosen, due to business imperatives, such as meeting regulatory and data sovereignty requirements, making the most of on-site technology investments or dealing with low latency issues.
Advantages of the Hybrid Cloud:
- Control, there is the possibility for the organization to maintain a private infrastructure for confidential resources or workloads that require low latency;
- Flexibility, possible use of additional resources in the Public Cloud, as soon as needed;
- Cost-Efficiency Ratio, there is the ability to scale to the Public Cloud, therefore, the additional payment refers to the computing power, when necessary;
- Ease, since migration between Clouds can be done in a phased manner of workloads, over time;
- More deployment options;
- Optimization of existing infrastructure, security and compliance;
- Obtaining more value from the existing infrastructure. Possibility of scaling IT resources;
- Ability to scale infrastructure on-site to the Public Cloud, supporting any exceeded capacity, without providing access to third-party data centers.
Cloud service providers not only host but manage the software application and the underlying infrastructure, taking care of all maintenance, such as software updates. It is also possible to choose the level of information control and the types of services needed.
Most cloud computing services, sometimes called the IT stack in the Cloud because they are created on top of each other, fall into three broad categories:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Considered as the most basic category of services, it is a model in which the user contracts the necessary infrastructure to store their applications. In this case, the company that requests this model, is responsible for the selection, installation and configuration of the necessary resources for the system to operate in the desired way.
Main benefits:
- Cost optimization;
- Increased application performance;
- Flexibility;
- Agility to implement changes and correct failures;
- Greater data security.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
This category emerged with the aim of allowing programmers to create, develop and operate quickly, web or mobile applications, without having to worry about configuring or managing the underlying infrastructure of servers, storage, network and databases necessary for the development . On the other hand, the company responsible for providing the service must deliver the infrastructure and environment necessary for efficient development.
Benefits:
- Less time to implement the platform;
- Cost reduction for systems development;
- Less infrastructure spending;
- Adaptation to the needs of the company;
- Possibility to focus on your core business.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Method used to deliver software applications over the Internet, on request and, generally, according to a subscription model. Through this model, cloud providers host and manage the software application and the underlying infrastructure and are responsible for all maintenance. Users connect to the application via the Internet, usually with a browser on any device, allowing them to have the same application on all devices at once, when accessing it in the Cloud.
Benefits:
- Cost reduction, given that the company hires only what it needs;
- Reduction of the Information Technology infrastructure;
- High Availability;
- Greater mobility for employees;
- Less bureaucratic and time-consuming updates;
- Ease of customization;
- Business scalability, since it can be accessed by anyone, anywhere.
In this sense, ActiveSys provides Cloud Services services, which were designed to support companies, public and private, in their transformation and migration strategy to the Cloud, covering the stages of diagnosis, design, management and implementation of the migration process. for the Cloud, public, private or hybrid, according to the reality of each company or entity.