The future is in the clouds

1.1. Introduction

Speaking about the development of IT in the last few years, one cannot but note the share of Cloud solutions among others. Let's see what cloud solutions, technologies, etc. are.
Cloud computing (or cloud services) is a special set of tools and methods for logistics, storage and processing of data on remote computing resources, which include servers, data storage systems (SHD), data transmission systems (SPD).

In the production of an IT product, whether it be a business card site, an online store, a highly loaded portal or a database system (DB), there are at least two options for placing your product.

On the territory of the customer (English - on-premise) or in the cloud (English - cloud) . At the same time, one cannot say for sure what is more profitable in terms of money in the general case.

If you use a server where you have a small database running around that does not require fault tolerance and a simple site without much load - yes, ground-based placement is your option. But as soon as your loads and needs increase, you should think about moving to the cloud.

1.2. Clouds among us

Before discussing how the clouds are provided, it is important to understand that the story about the clouds is not about the big giants of the IT sphere and their internal services. We also use cloud computing every day.

Today, in 2019, it is difficult to find a person who would not use Instagram, e-mail, maps and traffic jams on the phone. And all this is stored and processed where? Right!
Even if you, as an IT specialist in a company with at least a small branch network (for clarity), put in the storage infrastructure, how would you give access to the resource, whether it be a web interface, ftp or samba - for your users the storehouse will be a cloud that is ... somewhere there. What can we say about such familiar things that we use at our fingertips several dozen times every day.

2.1. Cloud Deployment Types

Ok cloud. But not so simple. We, too, coming to work all - salespeople, IT specialists, managers. But this is a broad concept, everyone has a purpose and a certain classification. So it is here. In general, the cloud service can be divided into 4 types.

1. Public cloud (public cloud) - a platform that is publicly open to all users for free or by paid subscription. Most often it is managed by a specific individual or legal entity. An example is the portal aggregator of scientific knowledge articles.

2. Private cloud- the exact opposite of paragraph 1. This platform, closed to the public, is often intended for one company (or company and partner organizations). Access is granted only by the system administrator to users. It can be internal services, for example, an intranet, an SD system (service desk), CRM, etc. Usually, the owners of the cloud or segment take the issue of information security and business protection very seriously, as private clouds store information about sales, customers, strategic plans of companies, etc.

3. Public cloud - (community cloud)We can say that this is a private cloud distributed between several companies that have similar tasks or interests. It is often used if it is necessary to give the right to use the resource \ application to several people \ units from different companies.

4. Hybrid cloud - (hybrid cloud) is a type of infrastructure that combines at least two types of deployment. The most common example is scaling a client data center using a cloud. This is done in order to save money, if it is impossible to move to the cloud by 100%, or on security and compliance issues.

2.2. Service types

Super, the deployment types are so different, but what should it be that unites them? Yes, these are types of services, they are identical for all types of clouds. Consider the 3 most common.

IaaS (infrastructure as a service)- infrastructure as a service. With this option, you are provided with servers in the form of virtual machines (VMs), disks, network equipment, on which you can deploy the OS you need, the environment, raise services, etc. Despite the fact that now I am actively developing in the cloud from Yandex, I started my acquaintance with GCP (Google Cloud Platform), so I’ll give examples against it, but in general I’ll tell you about providers a bit later. So, an example of an IaaS solution in GCP is the Compute Engine element. Those. This is a simple regular BM for which you choose the operating system yourself, are engaged in customizing the software and deploying applications. Consider an example. You are a python programmer and you want to make a website with a backend on the cloud, considering only the IaaS option. You need to take one VM on which the site will be spinning, for this you need to install (in gcp you select at the stage of creating the instance) the OS, update the packer manager (why not), install the necessary version of python, nginx, etc. ... Create a fault-tolerant database cluster on three VMs (also with your hands). Provide logging, etc. It is cheap and long, but if you want maximum flexibility - this is your choice.

The next closer to simplicity and high cost is PaaS (platform as a service) . Here you also get the VM of course, but without the ability to change the configuration so flexibly, you do not choose the OS, a set of software, etc., you get a ready-made environment for your product. Let us return to the same example. You buy two instances of App Engine in GCP, one of them will be in the role of the database, the second in the role of the web server. You do not need to configure utilities, you can start the production environment directly from the box. It costs more, you must admit, the work must be paid, and for you a whole Script worked. But you get a ready-made platform for work.

The third of the main options, standing above the rest - SaaS (Software as a Service).You do not fine tune the VMs; you do not configure them at all. You do not need to be an IT specialist, you do not need to write code, you do not need to do a backend. Is everything ready. These are ready-made, deployed solutions, such as GSuite (former Google Apps), DropBox, Office 365.

3.1. What's under the hood?

Stacked in the head? OK, let's move on. We bought a VM, worked with it, destroyed and bought another 10. We do not acquire iron, but we know that somewhere it should be. When you implemented the storage system in the infrastructure of your enterprise, you probably put it in the rack in the server room. So, the cloud technology providers lease you part of their server, only of huge size. The so-called data center (data center). These are large complexes located almost all over the planet. Buildings are usually carried out near places that can be a source of natural cooling for at least part of the year, but some representatives can also be built in the Nevada desert. In addition to the fact that the provider puts a few hundred racks in colossal dimensions, he is also worried about heat transfer (do they know that computers cannot be frozen and overheated?), for the security of your data primarily on the physical level, so getting into the data center illegally is unlikely to succeed. At the same time, the methods of data storage in the data center differ among different providers, someone makes distributed records between different data centers, someone stores it securely in one.

3.2. Clouds are now in retrospect. Providers

In general, if you dig into history, then the first prerequisites for the creation of today's cloud platforms were back in the mid 70s of the last century, during the development and implementation of the ARPANET Internet prototype. Then it was about the fact that once people will be able to receive all possible services through the network. As time went on, the channels became stable and more or less wide, and in 1999 the first commercial CRM system appeared, which is provided exclusively by subscription and is the first SaaS, copies of which are stored in a single data center. Later, the company identifies several departments that provide PaaS by subscription, including a special case of BDaaS (data base as a service). In 2002, Amazon released a service that allows you to store and process information, and in 2008 it presents the service,

Now it’s customary to talk about the Big Three (although I see the Big Four in half a year): Amazon web services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform ... Yandex Cloud. It’s especially pleasant for the latter, because when compatriots rush into the world stage, special pride runs goosebumps.

There are also a lot of companies, such as Oracle or Alibaba, which have their own clouds, but due to certain circumstances are not so popular among users. And of course, the hosters, who are also providers that provide PaaS or SaaS solutions.

3.3. Pricing and Grants

I will not dwell much on the pricing policy of providers, as otherwise it will be an open advertisement. I want to note the fact that all large companies provide grants from $ 200 to $ 700 for a year or less, so that you, as users, can experience the power of their solutions and understand what exactly you need.

Also, all the companies from the Big Three ... or the Quartet are about to ... provide an opportunity to join the ranks of partners, conduct seminars and trainings, give certification and benefits for their products.