Cloud Computing: Types, Advantages and Disadvantages

This article discusses the types of cloud computing services, including PAAS, SAAS and IAAS. It explores the advantages of cloud computing, such as cost-saving, reliability and manageability, as well as the disadvantages, including downtime and security concerns. The article concludes with a recommendation to choose the right cloud service provider.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Advantages......................................................................................................................................3
Disadvantages..................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6
Appendices:.....................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Cloud was first introduced as a unified object storage where developers and enterprises
would store digital data in logical pools. Nowadays as the technology is developing rapidly the
applications of cloud is also expanding to a whole another level. Cloud computing is a modern
context occurred on 9 august 2006 which is associates with storing and accessing both data and
programs over the internet instant of dedicated physical systems.
Discussion
Cloud computing can be define as an internet based computing technology where platform,
information, storage and software are offered to customer on demand. There are three types of
cloud computing service provider in the current market as PAAS, SAAS and IAAS.
PAAS stands for Platform as a service where third party service provider offers software and
hardware tools for application development. In PaaS computing model, enterprises needs to
install in-house software on dedicated hardware to develop or run a new application. PaaS
providers only provides key services such as java development or application hosting. They
offers an optimized and resilient environment on which enable the installation of applications
and datasets (Garg, Versteeg & Buyya, 2013). So, user can concentrate on running and creating
applications rather than maintain and constructing them. Microsoft Azure is one of the popular
PAAS provider and provides computing platforms includes web server, database, operating
system and programming language execution environment. (Hashizume et al., 2013).
SaaS stands for Software as a Service and sometimes also called host software or web based
software. Instate of maintain and installing software, users can access the desired application via
internet from anywhere (Garg, Versteeg & Buyya, 2013). Generally, SaaS can be define as

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subscription based model as it enables software hosting in the cloud and accessed via the
internet. SaaS is mainly used by enterprises for planning, performance monitoring,
communication, track sales, invoicing and accounting. Microsoft Office 365 and Google apps are
the most popular example of SaaS.
 No initial setup costs
 No hardware costs
 Accessible from any location
 Mostly favorable when necessary for a short amount of time.
 Usage is scalable
 Applications can be customized and white labelled
 Updates are automatic
 Cross device compatibility
IaaS stands for infrastructure as a service which is one of the three main categories of cloud
computing services alongside with the Paas and Saas. It mainly offers virtualized computing
resources over the internet. In IaaS, cloud service provider is responsible for hosting the
infrastructures component which is usually existed in an on-promises data center including
storage, networking hardware and servers (Dinh et al., 2013). It also offers a range of services
including monitoring, detailed billing, load balancing, security and clustering. Users is able to
access services and resources through a wide area network (WAN). Customers can then use the
provider's services to track costs, balance network traffic, troubleshoot application issues,
monitor performance, and manage disaster recovery and more. Amazon web services and google
compute engine are the most popular Iaas.
Advantages
Cloud computing offers huge benefits in terms of automation and functionality. It also consist of
some drawbacks as well.

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Cost saving: the most significant advantage of cloud computing is in terms of IT cost saving.
While utilizing cloud services enterprises can keep their operational and capital expenses to
minimal. Enterprises can save their substantial cost as no in-house storage or application is
required.
Reliability: cloud computing is much more reliable than in-house infrastructure. Generally,
cloud service providers offers 24*7 support and monitoring with 99.99% availability (Arora,
Parashar & Transforming, 2013). Organizations can gain advantages from a huge pool of
redundant IT resources. So they does not have worry about server fails and applications and
services can easily transmitted to other servers.
Manageability: cloud service providers not only just host the applications. They also monitor
and manage the applications and data sets as well. User does not have to be concerned about the
data and applications managing and monitoring process.
Disadvantages
Downtime: cloud service providers are responsible for taking care of many clients each day. The
overwhelming pressure can turn to technical outages as well. Critical business process also can
be suspended temporarily. Additionally, users will not able to access the desired application or
data if there is no internet connection.
Security: Although, cloud computing is believed to be a secure platform for the high security
standard and certifications. There is some high security issue involved as well. A hacker can
track and identify the vulnerability or loopholes of any server where multiple clients are
connected.

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Recommendation: Although, cloud computing provide automation and assist users to complete
the heavy tasks effectively. It is essential to choose the correct cloud service provider in order to
gain advantages out of them.
Conclusion
Usually the term “cloud computing” is used as a metaphor for a network of networks
offering remote access to a set of decentralized IT resources. Although there is several
drawbacks of the cloud computing, it provides many crucial advantage as well. It is highly
efficient in terms of cost saving, reliability and manageability. Additionally, it can bring
automation in the enterprise as well.

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References:
Arora, R., Parashar, A., & Transforming, C. C. I. (2013). Secure user data in cloud computing
using encryption algorithms. International journal of engineering research and
applications, 3(4), 1922-1926.
Dinh, H. T., Lee, C., Niyato, D., & Wang, P. (2013). A survey of mobile cloud computing:
architecture, applications, and approaches. Wireless communications and mobile
computing, 13(18), 1587-1611.
Garg, S. K., Versteeg, S., & Buyya, R. (2013). A framework for ranking of cloud computing
services. Future Generation Computer Systems, 29(4), 1012-1023.
Hashem, I. A. T., Yaqoob, I., Anuar, N. B., Mokhtar, S., Gani, A., & Khan, S. U. (2015). The
rise of “big data” on cloud computing: Review and open research issues. Information
Systems, 47, 98-115.
Hashizume, K., Rosado, D. G., Fernández-Medina, E., & Fernandez, E. B. (2013). An analysis of
security issues for cloud computing. Journal of internet services and applications, 4(1),
5.
Li, M., Yu, S., Zheng, Y., Ren, K., & Lou, W. (2013). Scalable and secure sharing of personal
health records in cloud computing using attribute-based encryption. IEEE transactions
on parallel and distributed systems, 24(1), 131-143.

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Appendices: