Cloud Computing
Where does my file live when I save it 'to the cloud'?
- Define cloud computing
- Explain IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
- List benefits and risks of the cloud
Overview
'The cloud' just means someone else's computer, rented over the Internet. Instead of buying a server, you pay a company like Google, Microsoft or Amazon for compute, storage, or a ready-made service.
Three service models
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) — you rent virtual servers and storage; you still install everything. PaaS (Platform as a Service) — you rent a ready platform and just deploy code. SaaS (Software as a Service) — you use a finished application over the web. Gmail and Google Docs are SaaS.
Benefits
No hardware to buy, pay for what you use, scale up in minutes, access from anywhere. For a small PNG school, cloud storage is often cheaper and safer than a local server.
Risks
You depend on the Internet link and on the provider. Data privacy laws differ between countries. If the account is hacked, everything is exposed. Plan for outages and back up important data locally too.
Classify Services
- For each service, label IaaS, PaaS or SaaS: Amazon EC2, Google Docs, Heroku, Dropbox, Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, Netflix.
- Justify one of your choices.
- Google Docs is which model?
Reveal answer
SaaS.
- Give one benefit and one risk of cloud storage.
Reveal answer
Benefit: access anywhere. Risk: depends on Internet / provider outages.
- What does IaaS stand for?
Reveal answer
Infrastructure as a Service.
List every cloud service you personally use in a week. Which are free and which cost money?