Cloud Services

Cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosted services over the Internet.

Thinking about making a move to the cloud? Explore with us at Cactoz to discover the key considerations you need to know before taking the plunge into cloud and questions to ask before using cloud services.

Cloud computing enables companies to consume compute resources as a utility ‘just like electricity’ rather than having to build and maintain computing infrastructures in-house. It also promises several attractive benefits for businesses and end users.

Cloud computing services can be private and public.

Private cloud services are delivered from a business’ data center to internal users. This model offers versatility and convenience, while preserving management, control and security. Internal customers may or may not be billed for services through IT chargeback.

In the public cloud model, a third-party provider delivers cloud services over the Internet. Public cloud services are sold on-demand, typically by the minute or the hour. Customers only pay for the CPU cycles, storage or bandwidth they consume.  Cactoz works with leading public cloud providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and IBM/SoftLayer to provide IaaS or SaaS for our customer.

cloud hosting hybrid azure aws

MAIN BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Self-service provisioning

You are able to spin up computing resources for almost any type of workload on-demand.

Elasticity

Able to scale up as computing needs increase and then scale down again as demands decrease.

Pay per user

Computing resources are measured at a granular level, allowing users to pay only for the resources and workloads they use.

WHAT IS IAAS (INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE)?

In IaaS model, a third-party provider hosts hardware, software, servers, storage and other infrastructure components on behalf of its users. IaaS providers also host user applications and handle tasks including system maintenance, backup and resiliency planning.

IaaS platforms offer highly scalable resources that can be adjusted on-demand. This makes IaaS well-suited for workloads that are temporary, or may change unexpectedly. IaaS allows customers to pay on a per-use basis, typically by the hour, week or month. Some providers also charge customers based on virtual machine usage. This pay-as-you-go model eliminates the capital expense of deploying in-house hardware and software.

Other use cases of IaaS environments include the automation of administrative tasks, dynamic scaling, desktop virtualization and policy-based services.

At Cactoz, we work with leading IaaS providers including IBM/Softlayer, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

WHAT IS SAAS (SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE)?

SaaS is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network. It is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that support Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) mature and broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world.

Microsoft Office 365 is a SaaS offering for productivity software and email services. Users can access SaaS applications and services from any location using a computer or mobile device.

Benefits of the SaaS model include:

  • Easier administration
  • Automatic updates and patch management
  • Compatibility and compliance, ensuring all users have the same version of software
  • Global accessibility