Cloud hosting: All you need to know about it

The fact goes without a saying that cloud computing has been a game changer in the transformation of the digital space. Using this new trend, users can work from remote areas, share information, send messages to each other, and retrieve data without any obstacle. If you are relatively new to the concept of cloud, here is a brief and informative guide about cloud hosting service.

What should you know about cloud hosting?

Cloud hosting is a powerful and smart technology that performs on the code of shared storage and processing. When you invest in cloud hosting, you don’t host the data on a single server. Instead, you host it on multiple servers which safeguard the information from any kind of issues like system failures. You also get to enjoy automated data access while choosing cloud hosting. Broadly speaking, there are three major kind of cloud hosting services: public, private and hybrid cloud.
 
Public cloud – This cloud infrastructure is available on the internet and is open to all. These environments are quite economical and also easy to setup. The only major concern for this environment is that you can’t expect any kind of customizations. This doesn’t prove to be beneficial for business purposes at times.

Private cloud – If you are looking for tailor made solutions that would be perfect for your exact business needs, this would be the ideal choice for you. This can be owned and operated by a single user and you can have complete control over your data. By opting for this type of hosting, you can also enjoy improved security for your data.

Hybrid cloud – This is a perfect combination of both the type of hosting. While ensuring complete control over data just like a private cloud environment, this also offers the software as a service so that it can be used as public cloud. Cloud is a smart technology that offers companies complete control over their business data in such a way that they don’t need to worry about it. Instead, they can concentrate on their core functions and improve the organizational profitability and productivity.

However, it’s needless to say that in the present scenario, it’s a must for businesses to opt for cloud hosting so that their business data is properly taken care of.

What you need to learn about the virtual blind spots of a data centre & how to avoid those?

There is no doubt regarding the fact that virtualization is one of the major trends of cloud computing since the last decade. By differentiating the elements of the computing platform, the users have gradually done away with the traditional model of ‘one app, one server’. Instead of following the conventional process, they have moved to virtual machines so that they can realize the full potential of both their employees and their servers. Simply put, ignoring the benefits of virtualization is no longer an option for any organization that belongs to the competitive industry.

Since many of the machines handle traffic on a single server, it has quite a remarkable downside, i.e., traffic visibility. Since the VMs are built on depending on a lot of factors, it can turn out to be a problem to analyse the packet flow or trace a packet. It’s an important task as this helps understand exactly how a network is actually performing at a given point of time.

In most of the deployments, the lack of visibility into the virtual data centre security and performance might not become absolutely apparent until and unless it’s too late. For instance, when a vital performance problem occurs, especially with a mission critical networked application, it becomes difficult to track the exact problem due to lack of visibility. This is why administrators should make the right choices in network architecture. This will help them achieve the complete business benefits of virtualization. In this way, they can also meet the demand of packet-level visibility.

As far as avoiding the virtual blind spots is concerned, gaining access to the packet-level data is only half of the mission. In order to ensure end to end visibility into both the virtual and physical infrastructure, the traffic that comes from the virtual data centres must be analysed, filtered and broadcasted. This ensures the full suite of performance security monitoring tool of the company receives exactly the packet flow at the right time. This helps organizations do their job in the best possible way and in a timely fashion.

Avoiding the virtual blind spots is a concern for the entire data centre industry and hence, the largest data centres of the industry are investing in network monitoring switches. This is basically an emerging class of technology which connects the data centre network with the monitoring tools efficiently. Just as that of a physical network, load balancing and filtering for packets is extremely critical in a virtual environment as well. This is where the network monitoring switch helps one best as its job is to deliver exactly the data that is needed for analysis to each of the network tools.

This helps improve the overall productivity of the data centres by making all the monitoring tools run more accurately and more efficiently. There are many other benefits of this kind of an environment. Make sure you have a thorough knowledge of all these so that you can make utilization of all the features in the best possible way.

What are the potential security issues of cloud computing and how to overcome those?

In the present time, Cloud is undoubtedly one of the most talked about topics of the IT industry. No matter whether you are associated with a small business organization or a large scale enterprise, you must have heard about the importance of adapting cloud for improving the business processes. Well, there is no doubt regarding the fact that cloud is a boon for small as well as medium scale business enterprises as it allows them to cater to a large number of audience at a minimum cost. Cloud computing is basically the practice of using a wide network of remote servers that are hosted on the internet. These servers are used to manage, store and process data.

While the hype about cloud computing is completely justified, there are also a lot of concerns regarding security issues. One of the main reasons of the security issues with cloud computing is the great exposure that it gets. Since more data is transferred online, the chances of security breaches get higher. But this should not restrict the organizations from opting for cloud solutions. Instead of that, they should address the different security concerns individually and check how they can manage the risks more effectively. Here some of the most obvious security issues are discussed, going through which will enable you to understand how to overcome these issues –

·         Lack of control – The IT security experts who are most efficient to interact with the servers get extremely anxious while moving to the cloud. This is mainly due to the lack of control that they sense for not being physically present at the location.  However, this is not quite the case as the professional service providers usually have a very strong sense of responsibility. In fact, when the IT team of a company gets rid of the task of solving the hardware problems, they can be allocated for more productive functions. They too, will be able to utilize the extra time for log analysis, compliance management and threat remediation.

·         Loss of ownership – There is a common perception that when the data is stored in the cloud, the organization loses its ownership to a great extent. At times, professionals are also worried about the compliance implications for different standards like PCI-DSS and HIPAA. However, how much control of the data will be with you completely depends upon the partner that you choose. Just as you need to select a contractor to work on your premise, you have to be very wise while selecting a partner for a cloud solution. Make sure you check whether the service level agreement (SLA) offers full ownership of data or not.

While these are the two most important security issues with cloud computing, lack of maturity is another concern. There is a common belief among most business leaders that cloud is not mature enough to deal with the security demands that has been increasing at a constant pace. However, if you can choose the right cloud solution, you can rest assured of the required maturity. 

Top 2 aspects of cloud computing you need to consider before investing in cloud

If you are planning to invest in a cloud computing environment, you are not alone. In the present era, majority of business owners prefer to invest in cloud and data centre services in order to provide their customers with improved services. Although the large enterprises can plan to invest in personalized data centres, it’s hardly possible for SMEs. However, in order to cater to their target audience in a better way, they need to upgrade the quality of their services and products. This is where a cloud solution seems to be the most reliable option.

With the emergence of big data, each and every company needs a proper data storage facility in order to continue with their business initiatives properly. Cloud is a cost effective solution to store all the business critical data securely. But is it completely secure to store your mission critical data in cloud? Well, that is where you need to do a thorough research on your own business requirements and identify what kind of a cloud solution can meet your needs. At the same time, you should also be aware of the probable risk factors while investing in a cloud solution as this will help you deal with the situations tactfully in future. According to the industry experts, there are some aspects that you need to consider thoroughly and then determine whether or not you should opt for a cloud based solution. Here are two of the most relevant aspects of storing data in cloud that you should give a thought well in advance –

·         Shared access – If you decide to store data in a public cloud environment, then this is one of the most vital aspects that you should consider. This is because multi-tenancy is one of the core features of a public cloud environment. This means multiple customers, belonging to different domains, share the similar computing resources. If you are going to store valuable business data in a shared server space, make sure you know all the intricate details of a server. Additionally, consider using a VPN tunnel as it helps protect the public cloud data, in order to safeguard the valuable data perfectly.

·         Virtual exploits – All the large cloud service providers use the technology of virtualization. However, this holds the risks that are posed by virtual machines. Moreover, there are certain exploits who target the visual server hosts and the guests. Basically, there are four major virtual exploit risks including guest to guest, server host only, guest to host and host to guest. While these are the major probable risks, most of the times these are unknown. Therefore, most service provider don’t count these in the risk model that they plan to handle.

If you are planning to invest in a cloud environment, make sure you have a clear understanding of all the core features of it. This will help you make a better utilization of the service you invest in. 

What are the reasons behind so much buzz around Private Cloud?

If you are the owner of a SMBU or you run a large scale enterprise, you must have felt the requirement of a cloud service. However, if you don’t have a very clear idea about cloud service, you must know about private cloud at the first place. This is a specific model of cloud computing which involves a secure and distinct cloud environment. This type of cloud environment is designed in a way so that only a specific client can operate. Just like some of the other cloud models, the private cloud model, too, provides computing power in a particular way. The service is provided within an environment with the help of a pool of computing resources.

Over the past few years, the popularity of private cloud has sky rocketed, and there are significant reasons for that. The most remarkable feature of this type of cloud environment is that only a single organization can access this. If you would like to know the reason behind its popularity, here are some of them –

• Improved control – Since a private cloud is accessible only to a single organization, it ensures added control over the system. If you opt for a private cloud environment for your business, you will be able to configure it according to your own requirement. You can also manage it on your own terms and ensure a customized network solution.
• Higher privacy and security – Unlike public cloud models, private cloud models ensure that all the valuable information and operations are kept absolutely secure. This added security is ensured using a lot of techniques like distinct pools of resources, on-site internal hosting and dedicated leased lines.
• Cost effective option – By implementing a private cloud model you can utilize your resources better within the organization. Since resources will be available to the individual business functions or departments, they will be able to respond to any sort of demand promptly. Although this type of cloud environment is not as affordable as that of public cloud services, it helps make better use of the available computing resources. With this environment, you can be assured of minimized investment into unused capacity.
• Integration with public cloud – If needed, you can integrate the existing cloud environment with the public one and create hybrid clouds. In this system, the non-sensitive functions are placed on the public cloud, ensuring the best possible efficiency.
• Cloud bursting – If you have been looking for cloud bursting services, opting for a private cloud environment might prove to be quite beneficial for you. There are many providers who allow you to employ cloud busting in a private cloud environment. In order to provide more free space within this type of cloud environment, the service provider moves certain functions, basically which are not so sensitive, to a public cloud. This ensures the sensitive functions that require a lot of space to function properly, have enough space.

These are some of the key reasons why there is so much buzz around private cloud. If you are looking for a secure, yet cost effective cloud solution for your business and would also like to enjoy the benefits of virtualization, opting for a private cloud environment would be quite beneficial for you.

Top 3 significant business problems that you can solve using a cloud hosting solution

Over the past few decades, cloud computing has contributed to the improvement of the IT industry to a great extent. It not only provides immediate access to a lot of tools and resources, but also enables the users to pursue their goals that are extremely complicated in nature. Keeping a close eye on the rapid increase in the demand of cloud solutions, the service providers are refining their solutions based on the exact business needs. This, undoubtedly, is a great scenario for the entire industry and companies can capitalize on the advancements of cloud computing in this way.

All businesses, irrespective of their size, language, or industry, face certain problems that are similar in nature. For instance, it’s common for all those professionals who hold a managerial post, to ask questions like how to balance the budget. This is where a cloud solution helps well. Although it might seem initially that there is no direct connection between the ground level problems and a cloud solution, this helps you solve all these problems from a very basic level.

Here are some of the basic business problems that can be solved with the help of a cloud hosting solution–

• • Lack of security – Although many consider cloud hosting as not so safe an option for information storage, it’s a highly secure option for storing important data. There are certain advance features which help increase the privacy of the important business data. With proactive security engineering measures, all the sensitive business information remains absolutely secure. With a robust cloud hosting solution, the integrity and confidentiality of data remains intact. Once you invest in a hosting solution, you can rest assured of the security of data.
  • Deficiency of storage space – Cloud hosting is space saving and there is no doubt about that. While storing all the important documents in their physical format, you are surely going to run out of space after a certain point of time. Moreover, if you attempt to store all the documents in a single place, and in an organized way, you must appoint someone to keep a close eye on all the documents and maintain those properly. This will not only cost you a lot of money, but also a considerable amount of space and time. This is where relying on a cloud solution seems to be a wise decision as you can store unlimited amount of data in a cloud environment, without worrying about its security.
  • Problem in collaboration – There are times, when you need to collaborate with a group of team members who are working from a remote location. With the help of a cloud solution, you can easily share documents and files with employees, working from different locations, and thus, collaborate with them easily. This also enables all the employees to access the important information as and when needed.
  
  
  These are the most common and relevant business problems that can be solved with the help of a cloud hosting solution. So if your business is facing any of these troubles, this might be the high time to invest in a cloud hosting solution.

Have you considered these benefits of cloud storage for your business?

Cloud computing as well as cloud storage is quite a well-known topic of the IT industry in the present era. Right from the small scale business owners to the large enterprises, everyone is aware of the fact that opting for a cloud based solution will prove to be beneficial for their business in a number of ways. This is why a lot of business owners have migrated to cloud based environment over the past few years. Well, there are significant reasons for such a trend. After all a cloud environment enables the small and medium scale business owners to continue with their business ventures. With a cloud based solution, these businesses can store their vital data securely, without spending a lot on private servers.

Cloud storage is basically a service that allows the users to store different files over the web and thus enables them to access those files from anywhere, at any point of time. In this service all the data are remotely managed, backed up and maintained. According to a recent survey that was conducted with over 800 business owners, located across the globe, the number of enterprises that have been benefitted through cloud adoption, has been doubled over the last few years. It has also been predicted that by 2017, the market of public cloud services will probably exceed $244 billion. If you are not sure whether or not to invest in a cloud based solution, here are some of the most significant benefits of cloud storage –

·         Disaster recovery – This is probably one of the most important aspects of a cloud based storage. For any business, having a strong emergency backup plan is extremely important and a cloud storage offers an easily accessible back up plan. Once you store some data in cloud, you can rest assured of its back up files. This ensures you don’t have to worry about the security of the important data.

·         Saved bandwidth – While running a business, you need to be calculative enough to measure in what ways you can cut the operational costs and invest the saved amount of money in some core functions. With a cloud storage, you can simply send a web link to the recipients through your mail, instead of emailing the files to the individuals. In this way, all of the recipients will be able to access the same information and at the same time, you will be able to save a considerable amount of bandwidth.

·         Wide accessibility – All the files that you store in a cloud storage can be accessed whenever you need to. Since you store all these files in a space that can be accessed over the web, there is no limitation regarding when or from where you can access these files.  Right from the day to day business records to the important organizational data, you can save anything and everything in a cloud storage and access it as and when required.

These are some of the most important benefits of a cloud storage solution that you need to consider if you are planning to invest in such a solution.