using cloud technologies Flashcards
cloud vs traditional (differences)
cost, ownership, security, os/software & applications, upgrading/patches
cost (cloud vs traditional)
cloud: rent part of hardware
traditional: need to purchase servers and hardware
ownership (cloud vs traditional)
cloud: owned by 3rd party company
traditional: owned by company
security (cloud vs traditional)
cloud: 3rd party company employs experts in this field
traditional: someone needs to be employed to deal with this
os, software/applications
cloud: installation and configuration completed by 3rd party
traditional: installed & configured in house, need to employ someone to install
upgrading/patches
cloud: 3rd party company automatically will apply patches and upgrades
traditional: patches and upgrades applied to each machine in the house
notifications
notifications are used to make users aware of new information and important actions they need to take such as;
- security updates
- patches
synchronisation
file synchronisation allows the same files to be copied to multiple devices via the cloud
- files are also backed up to servers on the cloud
products that support file synchronisation
- microsoft onedrive
- google drive
- dropbox
choosing cloud technologies
data security – it is important that cloud service providers are storing data securely
- a major breach in security for a cloud provider could mean a massive loss of customers
- cloud providers will employ experts in their field to help keep data secure
when using cloud technologies it is important that they are compatible with existing devices and hardware
maintenance
cloud providers will perform software updates for all users
- this means that every user has the most up to date and secure version of the software
cloud providers have millions of customers
- they cannot have downtime whilst they perform updates
engineers will often be experts and highly experienced
speed of installation
a traditional server can take days to get working:
- decide what hardware is needed and order it
- wait for delivery
- install operating system and software
cloud servers and storage are much faster to get working
- a new Amazon Web Services (AWS) virtual machine ‘spins up’ in less than five minutes
performance considerations
cloud services need a fast and reliable internet connection to work
- if a computing task is complex it may be faster for it to happen on a user’s machine
the type of device used will limit what software can be run
disaster recovery policies
organisations need to plan for how they can recover systems and data in the event of a disaster
- backups of data need to be available
- hardware and alternative premises may also need to be purchased and rented
cloud software and data is stored at remote locations
- it is usually easier to restore in the event of a disaster
people in the organisations should be assigned roles
- they will then know exactly what to do in a disaster
a disaster recovery plan might consider what a company does in a flood
- this could include lifting all IT equipment to a higher floor
a company that relies heavily on computers needs them to work even if the electricity supply fails
- UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) uses batteries to keep computers working
- back up generators will generate electricity from diesel fuel
data backups
cloud service providers often make backups of data as part of their service
- in some cases they may charge extra for this service, or extra for higher quality backups
traditional software requires an organisation to make backups of their data
- they often need to employ someone to take on this responsibility
- backups will usually be made daily
responsive
people expect web sites and services to respond in seconds or they will leave for another site
- many web hosting companies will offer uptime guarantees of 99.9% or higher
video editing happens on a user’s computer so it is responsive
- the final rendering may happen in the cloud so that many computers can work at processing it
