subject: Understanding Cloud Computing And Public Cloud [print this page] To understand public cloud and Software as a Service, we need to know few preliminary yet significant terms of Information technology. Lets start with cloud computing. Cloud Computing is one umbrella term for the hosted services that take place over the Internet. You may be wondering that we have been doing traditional hosting since long then why do we actually need cloud computing? The answer is flexibility. It is an on demand service. The client just needs to have a computer and Internet access, everything else- from services to the maintenance is managed by the provider.
Further divided into three categories of Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service (SaaS), the word cloud denotes the figure generally used in diagrams and computing flowchart. Sometimes also called as Software on Demand, Software as a Service is also a pay as you go model of cloud computing. You take software services from a provider based on your usage. You have access to expensive yet widely used business software which you could not afford otherwise. Moreover, you do not have to worry about paying for the modification, maintenance and upgrade versions for software. You take features you want and leave the rest of it. The benefits of using Software on Demand services are immense such as you do not have to invest in servers. You do not have to manage a bulky infrastructure. The money you save can be used to gain competitive advantage over others.
Having said that, lets dig out public cloud . It is one of the components of cloud computing. It is different than standard cloud model and private cloud. In public cloud, the resources, be it application or storage data are available for public. The providers share the services with many of clients. The set up is inexpensive as the costs are divided between many consumers. The sharing of application or bandwidth does not effect on the scalability or flexibility of service.
So, whether it is SaaS or public computing, the benefits of flexibility, scalability and reliability of the services remain same. You have the flexibility of opting a performance based model and the ability to expand the server in accordance of your needs.
