Cloud-based backup services have been around for some time now, albeit without the ‘Cloud’ prefix. Many of these managed services are mature and worth considering.
What do you need to consider before taking the jump?
If you are contemplating hosting some of your applications and data in one of the large public clouds, you are probably wondering what the performance and availability is like.
Up to now, the only way has been to trust the vendors claims or to sign-up to the services and test them yourself.
If you are considering hosting your application(s) with a cloud service provider …. read this first.
SaaS is an acronym for Software as a Service.
SaaS is an outsourced service offering in which a service provider hosts one or more software applications that can licensed to and used by many different clients with their data securely partitioned.
Traditionally if you need to use software, it is installed on your desktop PC and/or on your company’s servers. With SaaS, the software is installed and run on the service provider’s infrastructure. This not only avoids the need for the infrastructure to run and support the system, it also takes on responsibility for upgrades, backups and data storage.
SaaS service providers can provide just one application through to complete application suites.
“Shared computing resources that can be dynamically scaled according to business requirements, faster than traditional computing environments.”
It’s easy to come-up with a one line description, but what does it mean and why is there so much hype about cloud computing? The term ‘cloud computing’ has been in use for some years now, but is now getting increased publicity as it enters the mainstream.
Generally, when people refer to ‘Cloud Computing’, they are referring to rented computing services from a service provider, accessed across the internet. Using this service means the client needs less IT infrastructure on their own premises and reduced costs because the underlying infrastructure is shared between many clients.
