Organizations, companies irrespective of their type, size, and industry make use of the cloud for a range of use cases, such as disaster recovery, email, data backup, software development and testing, virtual desktops, big data analytics, and customer-facing web applications. For instance, healthcare companies use the cloud to develop more personalized treatments for patients, financial services to power real-time fraud detection and prevention and video gaming companies to deliver online games to millions of players around the world. So, what exactly is ‘cloud computing’ and how does ‘virtualization’ fits in, let’s begin with…
‘Cloud Computing’ In Simple Terms
Think about IT resources such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence being available on-demand and delivered over the Internet (“the cloud”). This is what ‘cloud computing’ does. With ‘cloud computing’ you typically pay only for cloud services you use, and it helps you lower your operating costs, run your infrastructure more efficiently and scale your business as need be.
Most common cloud services are Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) - computing resources in the form of a virtual infrastructure. It includes servers, storage systems, virtual routers, and switches and is a full-fledged copy of the physical environment.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) a full-fledged virtual platform that a customer receives and includes various tools and services. It can be configured according to customer needs thus making it a site for software testing or a system for automating the management system. Mostly popular with developers.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a software delivery model that allows customers to receive software products through subscription over the Internet. Customers get to use the product without the hassle of having to spend time on its installation and training.
‘Virtualization’ In Simple Terms
Coming to virtualization, one cannot deny that it is one of the most important advancements in the field of cloud computing and has been around for years. So, for the uninitiated, virtualization can be defined as the process of creating a virtual version of a physical environment or resource. The technology allows for a single hardware platform to function as multiple virtual machines, which is especially useful in cloud computing.
It has made possible for businesses to operate more efficiently and effectively. Increased flexibility and agility are among the hallmarks of cloud computing, and virtualization has been essential in making these possible. As businesses move more of their operations to the cloud, virtualization will play an even more important role in their success.
The use of virtualization in cloud computing has led to improved efficiency and elasticity. Virtualization allows multiple operating systems and applications to run on a single physical server, which helps to reduce the total number of servers needed and improve resource utilization. Businesses can also virtualize their infrastructure, software, or platforms to deliver a range of services to end-users.
The use of virtualization in cloud computing has led to improved efficiency and elasticity. Virtualization allows multiple operating systems and applications to run on a single physical server, which helps to reduce the total number of servers needed and improve resource utilization.
Its cost-effectiveness makes it indispensable:
The role of virtualization in the evolving landscape of Cloud Computing is a hot topic. With cloud computing, enterprises can now rent resources such as storage, computing power and software in a pay-as-you-go model and be more flexible, agile, and cost effective. But how does virtualization fit into the picture? Is it possible to use virtualization to cut down on the costs of cloud computing? Some companies are already doing this, but many others are still unsure of the benefits of virtualization in cloud computing.
Virtualization removes cost associated with physical hardware and allows companies to use virtual infrastructure, rather than physical hardware, to run its applications and software. By enabling pooled resources, assets are fully utilized, which means less hardware is required.
Its ability to reduce data centre operating costs associated with storage space, power, heating, and cooling that are required to keep hardware running optimally, makes it an obvious choice for businesses.
It enhances Security:
The advent of cloud computing has brought forth new benefits and challenges to the IT industry and the businesses that use it. Among these challenges is the issue of increased security concerns. Cloud services are an attractive target for cyber-attacks. Moreover, due to the highly elastic nature of cloud services, cloud providers must ensure that their infrastructure is highly available and fault tolerant.
Virtualization is a great way to improve the security of data. With virtualization we create a virtual, rather than actual, version of a computer system. This means that a particular piece of software or hardware is simulated by a computer, rather than having a physical version of the item.
Virtualization has been used for a long time, in a range of different situations; for example, developers use virtual machines for testing purposes and IT professionals create virtual servers to test upgrades or patches on a computer before installing the update on a live server. In the cloud, virtualization helps improve security by ensuring that the servers hosting your data are kept in a secure location and their data is protected; for example, by using a virtual private network (VPN).
Provides continuity in operation:
The cloud is all about flexibility and elasticity, but what happens when your cloud-based applications are down? Many cloud providers offer continuity in operation, which means that your applications will be backed up in a remote location, which can be accessed as soon as a problem arises. This ensures that you can always access your applications, even if the main data centre goes down.
The most significant benefit of virtualization is the impact that it has on business continuity. Implementing a disaster recovery plan with a virtual system, server Infrastructure on a virtualized environment allows the capacity of existing servers to be better utilized, energy conservation, makes management easy as with virtualization hardware upgrades can be made from a single point, instead of repeating the process for each individual machine.
As organizations transition from physical to virtualized environments, they need to be able to ensure that their continuity in operation is not interrupted. The ability to gracefully handle the migration of workloads from the physical to virtualized environment is essential for a successful transition.
So, final thoughts…
With the increasing popularity of cloud computing, virtualization has emerged as an important aspect of cloud computing. Organizations are adopting virtualization solutions to simplify computing infrastructure and reduce operational costs. With the cost effectiveness and enhanced security that virtualization offers, it has become an important aspect of cloud computing.
Virtualization is a powerful technology that is enabling more efficient and cost-effective cloud computing. As virtualization continues to evolve and improve, enterprises are looking to virtualization technology to help them address the increasingly complex demands of their cloud computing environments.
Levantine is a one-stop destination servicing both local and remote customers. Dedicated to providing the best support and resources to help align your technical network implementations with your business goals. We offer a vast range of services and have expertise across all kinds of networking solutions. We appreciate your time and welcome your thoughts.
Comments