Tech Bytes: Cloud Technology And How It Works

tech bytes

Cloud Computing: Do I Lose My Data If It Rains?

By Hassan Farhat

Cloud computing is the practice of providing cloud services on demand as IT resources and infrastructure.

It has grown over the past 15 or so years to account for more than 35% of annual computer services spending, worldwide.

Cloud computing systems — whether hosted on a private cloud, public cloud or hybrid cloud — have changed the way we think about our IT resource infrastructures.

Here’s a definition: “Cloud computing is the practice of delivering IT services remotely, hosting them in one or more external data centres, rather than through on-premises dedicated servers.”

One of the main advantages of cloud computing is flexibility.

Rather than purchasing and deploying the hardware resources required inhouse, these resources can be accessed remotely via a cloud provider, on a pay-asyou-go basis.

Employees can work from anywhere, and all they need is an Internet connection and the proper access authorization to access the files and data that are stored, shared and organized on a cloud-based network.

Cloud services are usually on a pay-asyou- go basis, and they can be adapted to suit your business needs.

Organizations can drop or add resources such as processing power, memory and cloud storage, as needed.

Cloud computing is also scalable and deploying new resources can be done very quickly with just a few clicks.

This scalability enables businesses and organizations to expand their IT infrastructure and resources to align IT with their business goals.

Cost control must be considered as well when planning for the proper cloud that will power your IT infrastructure. You only pay for what you use, when you need it.

Data location is an important factor to consider as there are a few compliance issues to consider.

Different industries have different requirements in terms of where the data should be stored and how it should be accessed (refer to Canada Cloud Act) for your industry.

Moving to the cloud entails a few different approaches.

There are a few different types of cloud computing — Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Security and data backup must be included in the migration to the cloud plan because it is the data owner’s responsibility to provide the proper protection and backup solution, to protect their data. Tech Bytes is powered by WEtech Alliance (WEtech-Alliance.com). The columnist for this edition, Hassan Farhat, is an I.T. Business Analyst at AlphaKOR Group, an instructor at St. Clair College in the Mobile App Development program, and has over 25 years of experience in I.T. Learn more at: AlphaKOR.com.