Cloud Hosting Explained

[Maximus]

Nowadays, I have seen a lot of users not entirely understanding what is Cloud Hosting, and this is the reason for the current thread.
Cloud Hosting is a scalable technology, based on the usage of multiple inter-connected servers with the purpose of web-hosting. In simple words, when your website is cloud hosted, it will operate on multiple servers instead of just one. Herein, the overall resource quota could be theoretically unlimited. For example, if your website is hosted on a standard dedicated hosting, then it will be limited to the resources available on this single server, but when your website is cloud hosted, it can use the available resources of a certain number of inter-connected servers. This architecture is very ``flexible``, because when your cloud is running out of resources, you can simply add more servers, which is impossible with the ``standard`` hosting. Yes, you can add extra HDD`s, RAM, etc.., to your dedicated server, but at some point it will be physically impossible to upgrade it any further. Another key element for this ``flexibility`` is the method on which base are calculated the monthly ``cloud`` costs. The cloud hosting provider is charging only for what you have used, and you won`t pay for unused parts of your resource quota, which is the current situation with shared hosting. Because of the above facts, Cloud Hosting is the potential future leader on the web-hosting scene. However, there are some problems awaiting solutions, and the security aspect is one of them. In my opinion, it is just a matter of time for this architecture to be ``polished`` to perfection, because most of the web-based ``giants`` (Google, Yahoo) have already implemented the ``cloud`` technology in their services.

[Apaullo]

I agree..it will only be a matter of time before Cloud Hosting will rule over the other types of Web Hosting, because of its flexibility and reliability. And when it is perfected, the other Web Hosting types will be obsolete I think especially the Dedicated Type since Cloud Hosting will be be basically the better, cheaper alternative than the dedicated servers...the shared hosting will still be there since it is being used by newbies and those that have limited budget

[Mike_GoDaddy]

To add to Maximus’s explanations on types of cloud hosting you can also break it down a little more. You have Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

The PaaS option is the shared hosting cloud solution. With PaaS, the hosting company takes care of the operating system and the underlying hardware, providing you with a platform to launch your web applications such as Apache+PHP, or Ruby on Rails, or .NET. The user has no access to the operating system, and the hosting company manages the virtualized servers that deliver that platform, if it is a cloud-based solution such as Go Daddy's 4GH, or the single servers if it is a traditional shared hosting environment.

IaaS is the dedicated server cloud solution on which Maximus was focusing. These options will generally not allow control the underlying physical servers but would allow control over items such as the virtual network, the operating system, load balancing, the applications, and the resources (hard drive size and RAM) you assign to the servers in the cloud you build.

[Apaullo]

So you are saying that the Shared type of Cloud Hosting is called PaaS? and the Dedicated Type is called IaaS?

[Mike_GoDaddy]

PaaS are options like Go Daddy's 4GH or Microsoft's Azure which more closely mirror the traditional shared hosting idea.

IaaS options are options like Go Daddy's Virtual DataCenter, Amazon EC2, or Rackspace Cloud Servers. These options are the cloud option that would be more like the dedicated servers.

[Apaullo]

Yeah, that is what I am saying, that in Cloud Hosting, it is Paas when you say it is more closely like the Shared Type of Hosting ad IaaS when you say it more closely related to Dedicated Type of Hosting.

[Maximus]

Yes, I agree with you, Apaullo. Your comparison is close enough, and it is reasonably reflecting the similarities between those two hosting architectures.

[Mike_GoDaddy]

Yes, you got the idea Apaullo!

[adamgilly13]

Can i install my applications on cloud server and use it from any where ?

[Mike_GoDaddy]

(05-15-2012 04:37 AM)adamgilly13 Wrote:  Can i install my applications on cloud server and use it from any where ?

You should be able to access your cloud hosting from anywhere.