Security+: Cloud and Virtualization Concepts
The world is very well-known about cloud computing, only for the right reasons. Cloud computing has its involvement in a lot more industries than just in the IT industry. Specially, business is the field that has become a big fan of cloud computing, and rightly so. It has a lot of benefits for the business community, and these benefits are the same for small size business or big size business. Well, to seize the opportunity and take advantage of cloud computing, we must adapt it to our business.
According to a study, there are only 10% of companies that believe their existing system and infrastructure are ready to address the transformation to cloud computing. In the past, responsibilities like social media handling, mobile devices, computing, and data analytics were tagged with the IT department. Now, it is not like that, as company owners and decision-makers have realized how important cloud computing is for their business, and there are several reasons for that, but we will get back to that later. For now, let's see what should a company consider before opting for cloud solutions for their business.
What to Consider Before Going For Cloud Solutions
Indeed there are countless benefits of cloud computing, and every business would love to have those benefits, but it is not that easy to go for cloud solutions, and you cannot just go for that. There are some things you need to consider before going for it, so the transition becomes more manageable for you.
- Set Clear Objectives
The main thing is to set objectives before you fully migrate to cloud computing. Always try to go with short term goals, as they look achievable, and your team does not get frustrated. Keep in mind the best results, but always be ready for the worst results.
- Consider When to Go For Integration
It is an essential thing to know when you should integrate your system and processes with the cloud. It is not a feasible option to go all out and integrate completely at once. As it can damage your reputation in your customers due to the delay in production.
- Look For Free Cloud Solutions Online to Try
It is a great option to look to find a free cloud solution online, just to get to know the process. You can also go for the free trials as a lot of service providers are offering free trials. All you need to invest in your time and you will learn if you are ready or not.
- Consider the Complete Cost
Before opting for cloud computing for your business, you should consider all the costs and not only the initial cost of the solution. There are service providers that tell you about the price reduction, but it is only the reduction in initial cost, and you are fooled by that statement. Lifetime costs according to scalability and services you use are the same.
Cloud Computing and Its Types
We have discussed how significant cloud computing can be for a business that runs in traditional ways and wants to transform itself into a cloud-based business. Cloud computing is all about data. It is in fact data that we store on an online cloud-based database and access whenever we want, and it is data we want to save by storing it on cloud-based storage. And this process is called cloud computing. There are different service models and deployment models of cloud computing, and we are going to discuss them in detail here.
Service Models of Cloud Computing
Talking about service models, there are four in cloud computing. Let's discuss all four of them further.
- IaaS
In this service model, a consumer can access and run the application on the service provider's infrastructure but cannot manage them or make an application for them.
- PaaS
In this service model, a consumer can also create his customized application, host it, and manage it, as it is a complete platform.
- SaaS
In this service model, as the name tells, a consumer can access all the applications of service providers over the internet and use them for his benefits.
- SecaaS
It is a service model in which a consumer can use the security services of service providers. These services are scalable, robust, and cost-effective. Well, it is a service based on the subscription that makes it cost-effective.
Deployment Models of Cloud Computing
Deployment models are the different types of clouds, and you have to select one of those if you want to deploy cloud computing. There are mainly four types available right now, which are private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. Let's look at them in detail.
- Private Cloud
It is a cloud model that is solely owned by an organization for its business use. It can be managed by the organization or the service provider. It has very tight security, and only authorized persons can have access to the data in it.
- Community Cloud
Community cloud, as the name implies, it belongs to a community of mutual concerns. It is a shared cloud for organizations that have the same objectives and concerns. Their mission, policies, security requirements, and even compliance considerations can be the same. One of those organizations can manage it or the service providers can manage the cloud for them.
- Public Cloud
It is the most common kind of cloud that can be accessed by anyone. It is open for all the public, so security risks are very high with this cloud model. Organizations with general products for the general public own this cloud.
- Hybrid Cloud
It is a cloud made by combining two clouds. If a company needs a public cloud for something and a private cloud for something, they will go for a hybrid cloud with a combination of public and private cloud, and likewise with the community cloud. We cannot just judge the security of this cloud model as the combination is what decides the level of security in this one.
What is Virtualization?
There are different theories in everyone's mind when it comes to virtualization. Some think it is cloud computing, while some think it is not, although it is an essential principle that helps cloud computing a lot. It is due to virtualization we can create multiple virtual versions of a single physical server. People from different places can access a virtual machine that is run by single hardware with high memory, graphics, and processing powers. It requires some kind of special software for creating virtual versions from a single machine. It is with the help of virtualization that we can run multiple operating systems and applications all at once.
We can also say that it is a technique cloud service providers use to reduce cost, hardware and save energy. It is done by assigning a name to the physical storage, and then they provide pointers to that physical storage whenever demanded and all the pointers point at the same origin. Mostly we use the word virtualization for hardware's virtual shapes. It plays a vital role in infrastructure as a service model of cloud computing. It is great to provide a virtual environment for applications, memory, storage, and networking. The hardware machine that is used to create a virtual machine is called the host machine, and all other virtual ones are called guest machines.
Virtualization’s Types
Talking about the different types of virtualization, there are mainly four of them. It includes virtualization with the application, network, desktop, and storage. Let's discuss them a bit in detail.
- Application’s Virtualization
In this type of virtualization, there are applications stored on the server on a remote location that users access through the internet. All the information and everything else will be stored on the server, but it can be from anywhere through the internet. There are technologies like hosted applications that use application virtualization.
- Network Virtualization
It is a type of virtualization in which we can have multiple networks running on different machines, but from the same physical machine. All of these networks can be operated by different individual parties. It is exceptional at sharing workloads.
- Desktop Virtualization
By doing desktop virtualization, we can store our operating system on a server that is placed on a data center far away. And, we can access that desktop from any remote location. It is very beneficial in software management and installation.
- Storage Virtualization
It is a type of virtualization in which data is stored in an array of servers, and a virtual machine manages those servers. Management of storage becomes easy in this, as all the servers are considered as the same repository.
Benefits of Virtualization
As we discussed the types of virtualization, they can be counted as the benefits as well, but there are many more benefits of virtualization. Let's look into those benefits in detail.
- Security
Security becomes the main concern as we set our foot out in the world of virtualization. But there are solutions as well. There is firewall protection available in virtualization, and we can also use data encryption that can safeguard the data. For doing that, you need to know how to do it, and you need to take some training or do some certifications for that. CompTIA Security+ certification is the best, as far as virtualization and cloud computing is concerned.
- Flexible Operations
Virtual networks are making life easier for IT professionals, and their work has become more efficient and agile than it ever was. The network and other operations are flexible and fast-paced, and it is easy to solve problems due to the virtual network.
- Economical
Virtualization is a very cost-effective option because when we use virtualization in cloud computing, we do not need any hardware or server. We just access the services and use them for the purpose we need it for.
There are a lot of other benefits of virtualization like it almost eliminates the risk of system failures, and data transfer is also flexible in it.
Cloud Computing vs Virtualization
Although there are similarities in cloud computing and virtualization and at the same time, they are not the same. It can be very hard for an organization to decide which is the one they need according to their needs. If you have an organization that has a small business, you should go for cloud computing, because you can have the services provided to you with a ready-made option and you just have to start working. There are a lot of small businesses that are turning towards cloud computing for their operations like hosted voice over IP customer relationship management, and data storage.
If we compare them based on expanses, cloud computing is a cheaper option. You have to implement virtualization, and that will cost much more than having services from cloud service providers. Other than investment, there are some complications in virtualization. There is no stress of setting up the hardware, then the software in cloud computing, whereas in virtualization you have to do all by yourself. And, when it comes to the security of data, in cloud computing you have nothing to worry about, as all the security and everything is managed by the service provider, you just have to know a little bit security at your end. On the other hand, in virtualization, you have to take care of security and everything all by yourself, and for that, you must know all about security.
Get your hands on one of the best information security certifications i.e CompTIA Security+ certification to initiate your career.
This is all we have about cloud computing and virtualization, and it is more than enough for anyone to understand the basic concepts of it. We can use them individually and even with each other if needed. Both of these technologies are going to be a must-have for organizations as we are moving towards a completely digital world very quickly. Well, that was all from our side. All the best!