Let’s start dissecting the cloud:-
What is cloud?
Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.
Cloud services can be classified into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). In this article we will talk about Infrastructure services.
Though many companies are jumping into cloud service provider bandwagon but Amazon has been one of the oldest in the business and provides services which support innumerable functionalities and are easy to use.
Infrastructure Services by Amazon provides virtual server instances with unique IP addresses and blocks of storage on demand. Customers use application program interface (API) to start, stop, access and configure their virtual servers and storage.
Overview of Amazon Infrastructure Services
It provides the following services:-
Simple Storage Service (S3): This service provides secure online storage space for any kind of data. There is no limit how much data you can store in S3. You can also control the bandwidth to use for transfer of data. The important point is that you do not need to pay upfront for large storage space. As your data grows you pay more.
S3 is scalable and distributed and stores your data reliably across multiple data centers of Amazon.
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2):
This service allows you to run multiple virtual machines (Linux or Windows) on demand. The service allows you to create resizable pool of servers for handling computing tasks. You can increase or decrease the number of servers as per demand. The cost will be calculated based upon the usage of the servers on hourly basis. The APIs to start, stop and configure the virtual machines are very simple and you can easily control them.
EC2 helps startups companies and online entrepreneurs to build applications that can scale from 0 to 5 million hits in just few weeks without worrying how to manage the scalability and reliability of the application. As the load increases you can add more servers and delete when not required. Suppose you are hosting an event and that is expected large number of hits; so you can add more servers and release when event is over.
Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS):
SQS delivers messages between computers/ systems allowing distributed applications to communicate reliably. SQS is implemented as a distributed application in Amazon and your messages are stored redundantly across multiple servers and data centers.
Amazon SimpleDB
Amazon SimpleDB stores the small pieces of information in a database structure that is easy to manage, modify and search. It indexes every piece of information you store so all your queries run quickly.
All the services provided by Amazon are easy to use and have benefits for all categories of organizations (small, large etc.).
Startup companies can go to market fast by deploying their applications on the Cloud (EC2). Imagine you can have your Web Server ready in 10-15 minutes without spending time to think on which machine to buy, placing an order and then worrying about having it installed and hiring a person to look after it.
Well, the services are cheap and are absolutely in reach of the startups.
For Large companies whose applications are already used by millions of users and whose users are continuously growing; it provides an enormously large storage capacity. They needn’t to fall into buying and installing data server troubles. They can host the applications on the cloud and get benefits of scalability and reliability EC2 provides. EC2 lets you to host your applications in
A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting.
- It is sold on demand, typically by the minute or the hour.
- It is elastic; a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time.
- Significant innovations in virtualization and distributed computing, as well as improved access to high-speed Internet and a weak economy, have accelerated interest in cloud computing.
The "Elastic" nature of the service allows developers to instantly scale to meet spikes in traffic or demand. When computing requirements unexpectedly change (up or down), Amazon EC2 can instantly respond, meaning that developers have the ability to control how many resources are in use at any given point in time.
Ashwani Kumar
Solutions Architect
Globallogic Inc.
