Most IT companies deal with data storage needs at some point. Companies have to find the best ways for storing more data in order to grow and expand their IT infrastructure. In this technically-driven world, IT industries provide three main significant ways for storing data; Cloud Computing, Colocation, and On-Premise data centers.
Before adopting a strategy, a company should also make sure that they are making the right choice as per their requirements and basic needs. Now, you must be thinking, which implementation would be better for the future of your organization as you plan on expanding and growing your business.
In this article, we will brief you about the most preferred ways of data storage, their advantages, and their disadvantages.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is simply the on-demand delivery of computing services or IT resources over the internet such as databases, storage, servers, etc. It is a service that offers flexible resources and fosters innovation on a pay-as-needed basis. Cloud computing allows you to pay only for the services that you use in order to reduce the cost of your operations and run your infrastructure with more efficiency. Also, cloud computing helps you in scaling the changes in your business needs.
Cloud computing is one of the most ideal ways of delivering a preferred solution to companies planning to extend their infrastructure and launch new innovations. Cloud computing eradicates the need of owning and managing physical data centers and servers by providing you access to technical services like databases, storage, etc. from a cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
What are the types of Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing offers various types, models, and services in order to help you with the perfect solution for your business needs as one type of cloud computing might not be the appropriate choice for every organization. There are three types of cloud computing deployments on which your cloud services are implemented; Public Cloud, Private Cloud, and Hybrid Cloud.
Public Cloud
Public clouds are one of the most popular types of cloud computing deployment. These clouds are operated by third-party cloud service providers, who are responsible for delivering IT resources such as storage and servers over the internet. In a public cloud, all the infrastructure, software, and hardware are managed and owned by the cloud provider. An example of a Public cloud is Microsoft Azure. You can manage your account and access the services offered by a cloud provider using a web browser.
Private Cloud
Private clouds are the computing services provided either over an internal network of an organization or over the internet, which can be accessed only by specific users. Hence, the Private cloud is also known as the Corporate or Internal cloud. With a private cloud, the infrastructure and computing resources are maintained on a private network. The third-party service providers are also paid by some of the organizations in order to host their Private cloud. A disadvantage of deploying a Private cloud computing service is that it requires the same management, expenses, and staffing as physical data centers.
Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid clouds are the combination of Public clouds and Private clouds and are huddled together using a technology that allows applications and data to move between Private and Public clouds. There are many companies that choose Hybrid cloud computing services in order to improve their business. The movement of data and applications between two environments helps your organization’s business with more flexibility and deployment options. Hybrid clouds are also responsible for the optimization of infrastructure and security of the organizations.
What are the types of Cloud Services?
There are four main categories under which most of the cloud computing services fall.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS is a category of cloud computing services where the owner of an organization rents IT resources such as servers, operating systems, networks, storage, etc. from a cloud provider on a pay-as-needed basis.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS is a type of cloud computing service, which supplies an on-demand environment in order to develop, manage, and test software applications. PaaS helps programmers or developers in building web and mobile applications more easily and quickly, without any hassle of managing and setting up the network, infrastructure of servers, storage, and databases required for mobile and web app development.
Serverless Computing
Serverless computing eliminates the need to spend more time in server and infrastructure management required for building the functionality of an application. With Serverless computing, the cloud provider is responsible for handling all the server management for you. Serverless computing also offers highly scalable architectures.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is defined as a method used for the on-demand or subscription-based distribution of software over the internet. In SaaS computing services, the cloud provider is responsible for hosting the software applications, and infrastructure management such as security patching, software upgrading, etc.
Advantages of Cloud Computing
Competitive Edge
Cloud computing provides a competitive edge over the competitors. This advantage allows you to access the latest applications without spending your time in the installation of the applications.
Restore and Back-up data
It is very easy to restore the data and get its backup after storing data in the cloud, which is very time-consuming in the case of on-premises.
Automatic software integration
Cloud offers automatic integration of software and reduces your efforts to integrate and customize the applications as per the requirement.
Mobility
All you need is internet connectivity in order to access all the services offered by the cloud whether you are located on the premises or at some other location.
Faster Deployment
Cloud computing also provides you with the advantage of quick deployment. It allows your entire system to get completely functional very quickly, the moment you decide to use the cloud.
Un-restricted storage capacity
Cloud allows you to store unlimited data and expand the storage capacity of your cloud by paying a very ostensible fee.
Less Time Consumption
Most of the cloud computing services are provided on-demand, which helps in the provision of a large number of computing resources in a few minutes, helping the organizations with an enormous amount of flexibility.
Lower Operating Costs
Cloud computing eradicates the need to spend your money for running physical data centers, server racks, IT experts for infrastructure management, and 24-hour electricity for cooling and power.
Enhanced Productivity
Cloud computing eliminates all the needs for managing the physical data centers like hardware setup and several other IT management chores, which are time-consuming. In this way, the IT team of an organization can utilize their maximum time in achieving their goals, which will enhance productivity.
Global Scaling
Cloud computing services are capable of scaling globally and elastically. It means cloud services deliver the appropriate required amount of IT resources and also from the correct geographic location when needed such as computing power, bandwidth, etc.
Excellent Performance
The cloud computing services are upgraded to the latest, efficient, and fast computing hardware on a regular basis. In this way, cloud computing services are more beneficial than a corporate data centre as it helps in reducing the network latency.
More Reliable
Cloud computing involves disaster recovery, back-ups of data, and more such features that make the continuity of a business easier because the data can be copied at multiple sites on the network of the cloud services providers.
High-level Security
There are many cloud service providers who offer a large set of policies, controls, and technologies that reinforce security by protecting your infrastructure, data, and applications from various threats.
Disadvantages of Cloud computing
Security Threat
In cloud computing, you share all the sensitive information of your company to the third-party cloud provider, which might be putting your security at risk as attackers can hack that information. You must be well aware of this fact before opting for cloud computing services.
Downtime Issues
With cloud computing, your service provider may face low internet connectivity, power loss, and other such reasons responsible for making the server down.
Lower Bandwidth
There are many cloud service providers who allow their users with limited bandwidth usage and the additional charges are costly if your company surpasses the given bandwidth usage.
What are Colocation services?
Colocation services sometimes known as ‘Colo’ can be defined as the practice of acquiring space on rent for your privately-owned servers and other computing hardware at a data centre facility provided by a third-party service provider. Colocation services include housing your own servers and storage at a third-party provider’s data centre who is responsible for providing physical security, networking, cooling and power components to the computing hardware provided by you.
Colocation data centres are beneficial for you to store your data and other IT resources because, with colocation services, you do not have to maintain your own data centre facility while you retain the complete control and ownership of your server and other computing hardware.
Advantages of colocation services.
Facility
These facilities are reliable and offer cabinets, cable trays, racks, and other storage spaces for your commuting hardware.
Uninterrupted Power Supply
In colocation services, the data centres of the third-party providers are backed up with generators, uninterrupted power supplies, etc. in order to provide continuous power supply to your servers and other computing hardware.
Physical Security
Colocation data centres have very high-level security for the protection of your IT resources. Most of the centres have a biometric authorization, 24x7 security guards, CCTVs, etc.
Cooling
In order to protect your computing hardware, colocation services offer various cooling systems such as HVAC systems, cooling towers, centrifugal chillers, etc.
Disadvantages of colocation services.
High initial start-up cost.
You need technical staff for the maintenance of your server.
Dealing with a third-party provider may create potential challenges for customer services.
What are On-Premise servers?
On-Premises servers is a physical, on-site server maintained and managed individually by an organization, Which can be a challenge for you if you are a developer or just setting up. Space or area where the on-premise server is located is known as an on-premise data center.
On-Premises data centres are the data storage centres where your own server and other computing hardware are hosted by the infrastructure of your organization. In On-Premises data centres, your server and other IT resources are maintained and controlled by the in-house IT teams of your organization.
With on-premises storage, the sharing of data and other information takes place through your local network.
Advantages of On-Premise servers.
Cost of Ownership
On-Premises servers allow you to pay only once for your user licenses, which lowers the total cost of ownership.
Total Control
On-Premises data allows you complete control over your IT resources as you are the owner of all your software platforms, data, and hardware. You are responsible for making the decision on upgrades, system changes, and configuration of your IT resources. Also. It is more convenient for the companies to maintain and manage their own servers within their premises.
Compliance
While dealing with the specific regulations of an organization, you need to be compliant in order to get specialized knowledge and expertise. With on-premise servers, you always stay in compliance by configuring and maintaining your systems on your own.
Scalability
On-Premise servers are more scalable as an on-premise data center allows you to add several IT resources such as software, hardware, and computing power.
Disadvantages of On-Premise servers
Need for an IT team
On-Premises servers need a highly skilled in-house IT team for the regular maintenance of your server and other computing hardware.
More Costly
On-Premises servers are more costly as you need capital to initially invest in the infrastructure and hardware required for your organization.
Requires more space
On-Premises servers require more space in your company for racks, cable trays, cabinets, etc.
More prone to data loss
Due to the in-house location of on-premises servers, they are more susceptible to data loss during any natural calamity.
Conclusion
Adopting the right solution for data storage might be a hard decision, however, it depends on the computing and networking needs of an organization. For a company with an enormous amount of IT budget, on-premises data storage would be more viable as compared to a small company that can only afford a single server.
Colocation services offer a great combination of affordability and performance. If a colocation service provider offers good customer service and infrastructure monitoring, then you can also opt for a colocation data storage solution.
If you are looking for a competitive data storage solution that provides disaster recovery, better document control, and scalability, Cloud computing would be the best choice for you as it will save your cost as well.
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