Cloud Hosting Explained
Most people have no real concept of what the “cloud” is. Commercials and companies have made the term seem like something that everyone needs, but nobody really understands. Most cloud subscription models are vague too. People can sign up for a cloud service like Amazon's, but understanding what's really behind that service is somewhat difficult. 
Cloud hosting providers may sound the same, but there are three basic types of cloud hosting available. Those types include public, private, and hybrid. In turn, the three types can be broken down even further to include the types of services behind each cloud.
Cloud Hosting Explained, First: the Basics
Public Cloud- pay-per-usage model
Public Cloud Hosting Providers: a public cloud is also a shared cloud. These clouds are usually accessible through the Internet, and allow users to casually access cloud features. Users have no control over actual cloud technology.Public clouds are the least expensive type since hardware and setup costs are absorbed by the cloud provider. A service provider makes resources, such as applications and storage, available to the general public over an Internet.
Providers: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), IBM's Blue Cloud, Sun Cloud, Google AppEngine and Windows Azure Services Platform
Benefits
- Economical: You are paying for what you use, no wastage of resources. Applications, Hardware and Bandwidth cost covered by the provider.
- Scalable: Grows to meet requirements
Private Cloud – Dedicated and Closed Environment
Private Cloud Hosting Providers: private cloud hosting is setup within a company. As such, cloud owners have complete control over private clouds and protection. Private clouds are highly secure (ideal for companies) and are generally more complex with dynamic or unpredictable computing needs. It costs a great deal more to set up a private internal cloud than to use a public cloud.
Benefits
- Maintain High security and privacy
- More control – only accessible by a single organization and can tailor its solutions.
Hybrid Cloud- The Future Of Cloud Hosting
Hybrid Cloud Hosting Providers: as the name suggests, hybrid cloud hosting meshes both private and public hosting into one package. Users are given some control over cloud options and personalization features (such as privacy controls). Tasks are then distributed externally or internally as needed.
The businesses already using private or public cloud understands the importance of having both, i.e., hybrid cloud. While saving the cost through pay-as-you-go pricing models (public cloud), they get higher security for mission-critical applications (private cloud). They make use of on-premises, private cloud and outside, public cloud administrators.
The hybrid cloud gives greater flexibility and more deployment options by allowing workloads to move between private and public clouds as computing needs and costs change.
As you can see, there are various types of cloud hosting.To choose the best cloud option, consider your current budget and privacy needs. If you're looking for something that's inexpensive and you don't need a large amount of security, public cloud hosting is the best option.
If you run a large business and need absolute privacy, private is the only choice. Hybrid cloud computing is ideal if you are looking for some control over privacy without large private costs.
Benefits
- Sensitive and critical data secured in public cloud, whereas other information is put away in public cloud platform. By dividing the company's data on both the clouds will result in cost efficiency.
Cloud Hosting Explained, Now: The Specifics
Not only are there there three types of clouds, there are three types of cloud services. Those include SAAS (Software As Service); PAAS (Platform As Service); and IAAS (Infrastructure As Service).
Software As Service (SAAS) clouds include popular and well-known cloud services like Google Docs, Gmail, Basecamp, and Salesforce. SAAS services are commonly used and make life easier. With a click and a password, you can log into Gmail or Google Docs. The only problem with SAAS providers is that security can sometimes be an issue (how many times has your Google Docs account been hacked into?). This brings us to PAAS providers.
Platform As Service (PAAS) providers are a little less known than their SAAS counterparts. Some SAAS services include sites like Force.com and Azure. SAAS services work on a “pay for what you get” structure. Essentially, you pay for what you use. The one downfall to PASS services is that they are for web-use only due to little control over data, hardware, and software.
Lastly, IAAS services provide users with complete control over operations. Amazon is one of the most popular IAAS service providers. When using an IAAS service, users can quickly setup accounts and control accounts remotely with little problem. Typically, an administrator must be used in order to understand and control IAAS accounts, and this can costly.
So, why is the term “cloud” so vague when it can be summed up so easily? If you read the fine print that is offered along with a cloud package, you might be able to find these details. But, like everything else, it's up to you to research and discover what the cloud is really about. Are you using a cloud service? What type of cloud service works best for you?