Cloud Computing: DATAenligne’s Expert Insights
Cloud computing: machines and people.
We hear about it as we imagine it, but do you know what the famous Cloud is based on ? In reality, the foundation of the internet is based on cloud hosting services and cloud management.
Turbulence into the Cloud is a whole different subject that I’d like to cover another time. Now, here are the topics of this article in brief:
- What is cloud computing?
- Cutting-edge technology under the cloud
- The ecological and economic stakes
- Inforoute, Intelligence artificielle (IA) et pandémie
- Cloud Computing: DATAenligne’s Expert Insights
- Cloud Management Services
What is cloud computing?
The Internet seems to be a complex and a turbulent cloud that presents itself as a virtual thing accessible from anywhere in the world. During the 1970s, the word Internet began to circulate among the most learned of computers. The objective then was to interconnect computer systems in networks.
In November 2009, the term “infonuagique” was proposed by the Office québécois de la langue française in order to define and clarify the English term of Cloud Computing. The web hosting is another synonym for cloud computing.
The concept of cloud computing is still nebulous for many people. Without its sophisticated technological equipment in computing and telecommunications, the Cloud as we know it would not exist.
Cutting-edge technology under the cloud
To create interconnectivity around the world, this requires large investments. The cloud would not exist without the millions of kilometers of – link in French – submarine communication cables of which connect the continents between them. In addition, satellites in orbit increase this wireless communication coverage.
These communication links instantly transport voice as well as data from one end of our planet to the other. This technological feat would not be possible without these communication links and computers.
Imagine, for each interaction made from a browser or a web application, a computer server processes your request and in a few seconds you return a result. According to Google statistics, more than 40,000 searches are carried out per second.
However, these advanced technologies remain sensitive to solar storm phenomena. Scientists claim that a – link in French – solar storm could have disastrous impacts on our technologies. The possibility of Internet failure is taken seriously. Research projects are underway to solidify these infrastructures.
The ecological and economic stakes
The growing demand for the internet requires glarge investments. We are regularly informed of a new investment in construction of a new data warehouse. An industry is in full swing.
Dans un entrepôt de données, la température et le taux d’humidité ambiante doivent être contrôlés afin d’éviter la surchauffe ou le bris prématuré des équipements informatiques et de télécommunication. You will understand that the Data Centers are – link in French – large energy consumers.
In Quebec, our low electricity costs attract international investments which create specialized jobs. Clean energy is a great economic advantage!
Data centers-link in French – are proliferating around the world, as is the power of servers and computer equipment. The hardware and software requirements of web projects in startup or in growth are at the margins of capabilities and technological innovations.
Inforoute, Intelligence artificielle (IA) et pandémie
In the early 1990s, the Government of Quebec program’s promoted the project of Info highway that enabled several companies to launch innovative projects in information technology. The objective of this program is to create a model for economic development for the Quebec of tomorrow.
For 30 years, we have seen all kinds of web projects appear and disappear. We have seen great battles between the Altavista, Yahoo and Google. We have seen the demise of Napster, ICQ and many more. Today, it is augmented reality and the artificial intelligence – link in French – (AI) which are at the heart of our daily lives. These companies wouldn’t exist without the power of the cloud.
Today, cloud computing servers are essential for entrepreneurs, creators and innovators of web projects. Public organizations are no exception. The trend in the web is more than ever oriented towards mobility and accessibility.
In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated worldwide demands for cloud services. The world has adapted to the constraints of isolation. Several companies have experienced meteoric growth with remote working. Some companies have broken records for online sales. Cloud computing has largely contributed to this paradigm shift.
No one can claim knowledge on future digital projects or how the next generation will turn our lives upside down in 10 or 20 years. Technologies will continue to evolve in order to offer ever more performance and possibilities. The same goes for the different types of cloud services.
Cloud Computing: DATAenligne’s Expert Insights
Are you familiar with the acronyms IaaS, PaaS or SaaS ?
These are types of cloud hosting services offered in private and public hosting or in a combination of public and private hosting that we also call hybrid hosting.
Each type comes with a basic support service linked to its offer.
n short, here is a descriptive summary of these types of cloud solutions:
IaaS
The first level of cloud hosting services concerns the infrastructure or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). This service is offered by large companies with Data Centers. It allows a third party to rent a rack cabinet in which the owner can install its own computer equipments or rent servers physical or virtual with the hardware and software resources required (memory, storage, communication, OS, Apache, nGinx, PHP, IIS, MySQL, MSSQL) to upload your web project.
The responsibilities vary from one supplier to another, but they are generally limited to the maintenance service (rack cabinet, electricity, communication, physical / virtual server, software) according to the agreement entered into for the leased services. In the event that you are renting physical or virtual servers, it is your responsibility to ensure that each environment (server) is up to date to avoid potential security vulnerabilities.
Among the large suppliers, we find Amazon, Microsoft, OVH. The level of support is limited to the provision of services.
Infrastructure as a service makes it possible to create personalized solutions from a single dedicated server or virtual server or from a cluster of servers for more advanced solutions. The possibilities vary from the simple service of hosting a website to the recovery solution (DRP – Disaster Recovery Plan). Every web project has its own technological needs.
PaaS
The PaaS is a cloud computing service known as (Platform as a Service) designed for businesses and web application developers. This platform makes it possible to deploy quickly virtual containers equipped with the resources adapted to a web development project (CPU, RAM, Storage, OS, BD, etc.) in addition to providing a great flexibility of management and configuration of a virtualized environment for the application development.
The responsibilities vary from one supplier to another, but generally they are limited to maintaining the provision of service and its network Communication. It is your responsibility to ensure that each environment is up to date to avoid, among others, potential security vulnerabilities.
Among the large suppliers, the names Amazon, Microsoft and Google are the most common. Their level of support is limited to the provision of services.
SaaS
Software as a Service (SaaS) is the latter type of cloud service. This business applications model provides the business or individual with web access to a complete software solution. From a web browser, the application and the infrastructure on which the service is offered are fully managed by the provider.
There are many software in SaaS mode. For example, there are ERP (integrated management systems), CRM (customer relationship management systems). sharing applications and collaboration like Nextcloud and WebMail (sending and receiving emails). These are all software solutions offered in the cloud.
The responsibilities vary from one supplier to another, but they are limited generally to the maintenance of the provision of service. However, you do not have to worry about the equipment, since this responsibility rests with the supplier.
For one or the other of these three types of cloud hosting services, each web project requires a technological solution of its own. The web infrastructure underlying the service can be simple or complex in its hardware and software configuration.
All in all, the IaaS, PaaS or SaaS service types are aimed at clients with needs and realities very different.
In each case, the expertise of specialists in infrastructure management is essential to install, configure, diagnose, correct, optimize, monitor and keep your service up to date to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Do you have a cloud management expert that watches over your cloud service to ensures the success of your projects on the web?
The human factor: the essential element for all web projects.
Cloud Management Services
The human element in your web project is concerned with cloud management. This is a factor determining the success or failure of a web project. The skills of our experts offer the company starting up or growing who specialized resources master the techniques and have the knowledge about the cloud services that we have described above.
Depending on your project specifications, our cloud management experts make technological choices for your project according to the challenges, issues and objectives listed by your organization.
Design, Conception & Deployment
Our skills in web architecture design allow us to design a cloud environment specific to your web project. Performance, accessibility, elasticity and safety are key elements that influence decisions on the technological choices of all web projects.
Our experts in cloud management install and configure each server (Web, DB, Proxy, Firewall,…) according to the requirements of your web project.
Before the deployment and commissioning of your project, we carry out quality tests. Our monitoring tools are then deployed to monitor, like a vigil, the state of health of the components hardware and/or software of your web environment. The last adjustments to the environment configuration parameters are validated with each client before their project is officially put online.
Updates & Backups
On a regular basis, the producers of operating systems and software recommend carrying out the update (critical or security) or a new version of their product. Our cloud management experts manage your cloud service without you having to worry about it. Thus, your environment always remains up to date.
In addition, we take responsibility for managing the backups of your service. It is a priority that we manage on a daily, every week and monthly basis. We keep locally copies of backups for quick restore of certain files or even for the entire environment. In anticipation of a worst-case scenario, we keep an offsite copy of these backups. This measure, in the event of a major failure, allows you to restore your service to another infrastructure or another data center.
Monitoring & Optimization
In real time, our Monitoring system informs us about the state of health of your service. If a problem arises, we are informed quickly in order to validate the situation and correct it if necessary.
These remote monitoring and telemetric tools provide us with information and indicators on cloud computing services. This information and indicators are excellent guides that help us determine where the sources of potential weaknesses lie. Our tools make it possible to make a diagnosis to correct the situation and improve the service as a whole.
The main objectives of Monitoring aims, among other things, to:
- ensure that your service is accessible on the web at all times;
- monitor the health of your service’s hardware and software resources;
- optimize each service to deliver the best interactive web experience.
Sometimes our tools do not allow us to understand all the intricacies of a problematic situation. In this case, we strongly recommend to install a specialized analysis tools. The advanced functions of this analysis tool make it possible to obtain impressive data on the application behavior of a project web on the resources of one or more servers.
We are convinced to provide our clients with relevant information for the improvement of their web project.
Cloud hosting services is the human factor behind all web projects.
