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What is cloud computing?

Introduction
2 Minutes

“The cloud” is not a cloud!

Learn about the IBM Cloud in this video.

THE IBM CLOUD IS THE CLOUD FOR ENTERPRISE. YOURS.

 Video transcript
(assets/NKVRGNDXEEJD21KD/The%20IBM%20Cloud%20is%20the%20cloud%20for%20enterprise%20Transcript.pdf)

As you learned in this video, “the cloud” isn’t a fog of water droplets; it’s a vast collection of data. Schools, businesses,
healthcare facilities, and even governments are moving their information to the cloud to safely store it and make it
accessible online.

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But here’s a question for you to think about ...

Yes or no? If an organization puts something in the cloud, does that mean the data is off its premises
somewhere?

Keep your best guess in mind as you continue reading. You’ll find the answer a couple of topics from now,
and it might surprise you!

So, what is cloud computing?

How it works
10 Minutes

How does it work?

Here’s the short answer: cloud computing stores and processes information over the Internet instead of on a computer's
hard drive.

Why do this? Because by sharing offline computing resources rather than relying on local storage and computers, the
cloud can accomplish two things:

1. It can store and process much larger amounts of information a lot faster.

2. It can deliver results to any device that can log onto the Internet, not just one phone, tablet, computer, or set of local
terminals.

You work with cloud services every day, whenever you access providers or services, such as Netflix, Dropbox, Microsoft
Office Online, iTunes, the list goes on and on ....

As long as a service doesn’t require you to be physically close to the storage hardware, it can deliver information to you
from the cloud. Deposit a check through your phone? Upload a photo for your friends? You’re in the cloud!

Make no mistake. The data still gets stored in hardware. But that hardware might have left the building. It can take two
forms:

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1. A physical server is a hard drive or memory bank devoted to one group of users or one type of data.

2. A virtual server is a single slice of that pie: a software-controlled region on a physical server whose other regions are
shared by other users. Because that sharing divides one physical server into a number of virtual servers, it’s called
virtualization.

Still need more context?

Next, watch this video for a quick visual introduction to cloud computing.

CLOUD COMPUTING - HOW IT ALL WORKS

Cloud Computing - How it all works

 Video transcript
(assets/QPERQGJVJDDV32AN/Cloud%20Computing%20How%20it%20all%20works%20Transcript.pdf)

Cloud services take three forms:

We all know the terms public, private, and hybrid, but they have special meanings when applied to cloud services.

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Public clouds share storage and computing space

Public clouds are owned and operated by companies that offer their customers rapid access to affordable computing
resources. This is the classic cloud computing model, in which small businesses and individuals like you can access a lot
of computing power over the Internet. It’s easy to scale when users need more power or storage. Because many users
are working inside one large bank of information but their data must be kept separate and secure, this kind of cloud is
organized by what’s called multi-tenant architecture.

Private clouds protect a single entity’s information

A private cloud is operated for a single organization. It can be hosted and managed either by that organization or by a
provider, and its servers can reside either inside or outside the organization itself. Of course, this privacy also means that
as a private cloud’s data expands, the organization has to install more and more private servers. Organizations prefer a
private cloud if they need tight control over where their data is being held, how it is organized, and how it is protected.
Private clouds can be very secure—but they are expensive!

Hybrid clouds divide their storage into private slices

What if a business needs the low cost and scalability of a public cloud, but also needs a secure environment for product
development or confidential data? These organizations wind up spreading their workloads across data centers, private
clouds, and public clouds—thereby creating hybrid clouds.

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A hybrid cloud mixes public and private resources. It’s a bit of this and a bit of that, with some data in a public cloud, and
some in a private cloud, provided by multiple vendors who offer different levels of cloud usage. A hybrid cloud’s
combination of physical and virtual servers allows organizations to rent what they need, on demand, helping them control
costs while providing some flexibility.

IBM has long believed that most enterprises need a hybrid cloud. We have shown leadership in helping clients on their
cloud journey, no matter their starting point: private cloud, public cloud, or various kinds of hybrid connections between
them.

Options for cloud depl oyments

Priva te Dedic a ted Public
WAN WAN WAN

VPC
Da ta Proce sses Da ta Proce sses
Da ta Proce sses
Full AI

When to use When to use When to use

Cloud “as a service”

Three service models
13 Minutes

Cloud computing—at your service!

Any traditional service can be delivered through the cloud. This concept is called anything as a service, or XaaS.

Let’s compare the three most popular service models of cloud computing: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a
service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Here’s a diagram that shows you the kinds of tools and data that fit
into each model.

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SaaS
PaaS
IaaS

Hosted applic a tions

/ apps

Click each section to learn more about the three service models.

Software as a service (SaaS)


With SaaS, software and data both reside online. Users can log in on a browser from almost
any kind of device on almost any operating system, enter what they need, and out pops
their result. Since their organization doesn’t need special software to use SaaS, it doesn’t
have to buy applications. Instead it pays for yearly or per-user subscriptions to the service.

You can visualize SaaS as someone else’s kitchen. You go online and place your order. They
provide the recipe, cook the food, and deliver it to you.
SaaS
Software as a Se rvice
When you hear SaaS, think of uses like email or online shopping.

Platform as a service (PaaS)


With PaaS, a vendor provides only the platform—meaning the infrastructure, operating
systems, storage, and much of the code. The user’s organization manages the application’s
resources and the data. (For more on the infrastructure, refer to the next section.)

You can visualize PaaS as someone else’s kitchen. But you provide the raw food and the
recipe, and you do the cooking.

When you hear PaaS, think of containers, databases, runtime, and integration.
PaaS
Platform as a Se rvice

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Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)


Companies turn to IaaS when they want to build their own applications from the ground up,
or move existing applications from a data center into the organization to cut down on IT
costs. With IaaS, a vendor provides the infrastructure and architecture like hardware,
software, servers, and storage, and also handles expensive support systems like backup,
security, and maintenance. This leaves the organization’s computing architecture on the
web so that teams in different locations can work together, while keeping application
development inside the company’s own online structure. IaaS
Inf rastructu re as a Se rvice
You can think of IaaS as your own kitchen, where you provide the recipe and do the
cooking, but someone else maintains your appliances and manages your utilities.

When you hear IaaS, think of computing, storage, and networking resources.

There’s buzz around multicloud!

Multicloud is the use of more than one public cloud. It lets a company choose different services from different public
clouds. For example, the company might mix several public IaaS environments like IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services,
and Microsoft Azure, so they’re not locked into one cloud provider. Multicloud requires careful planning! Organizations
considering it must look for a provider whose architecture can scale and integrate with the company’s existing systems.

What does this look like? A company might use separate cloud providers for infrastructure (IaaS) and software (SaaS)
services, or even use several infrastructure (IaaS) providers. That company might use different infrastructure providers
for different workloads, balance a single workload load across several providers, or use a single workload on one provider
that’s backed upon another.

Clouds and premises, what’s the difference?

Often people talk about private and public cloud and confuse it with premises. For example, they might think that public
cloud is off premises (true), while private cloud is always on premises (false).

Off premises is a solution that runs on hardware in a different location than the end users. That’s because most cloud
vendors run their own data centers off premises from the organizations whose data they store. Their customers’ system
administrators have the same access to the data as they would on premises.

On premises is a solution installed and hosted in-house, usually supported by a third party. Often the on-premises private
cloud, also known as an “internal cloud,” is hosted inside an organization’s own data center. It can be easier to protect
and maintain, but more limited in size and harder to scale up as the organization grows.

Some cloud vendors offer a hybrid solution. This means they allow companies to mix on premises at the company’s data
center with off premises at the vendor’s data center. This can be helpful if a company’s business comes in bursts. The
company can depend on its own data center most of the time, but expand onto the vendor’s data center when the load is
high.

Here’s what confuses people: an organization can have a private cloud either on premises or off premises. Take a
moment to work through the following graphic to see how a company might have both PaaS and IaaS capabilities:

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• An on-premises private cloud (2 and 3 in the graphic)

• An off-premises private cloud (4 and 5)

• A public cloud (6 and 7)

IBM sellers refer to these environments as local, dedicated, and public. Take a moment to wrap your mind around these
combinations now.

Cloud computing terminology

Know the lingo
10 Minutes

The terminology surrounding cloud computing can be overwhelming, and a lot to keep up with. Here are
some of the top terms and acronyms covering key cloud computing concepts.

Click each term for a brief definition.

Cloud

In cloud computing, “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet, so the phrase cloud computing means a type of
Internet-based computing.

Cloud services
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
Cloud services are applications, services, or resources made available to users on demand through the Internet such as:

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

• Platform as a service (PaaS)

• Software as a service (SaaS)

• Data storage

Clusters

A computer cluster is a collection of interconnected stand-alone computers or servers that can work together as a single,
integrated computing resource.

Containers

A container is a “wrapper” that allows software to travel between operating environments. Containers create a unique
virtual instance of an operating system (OS) that separates an application from others in the same environment.
Containers can run separate instances of an application within a single, shared OS.

Hybrid cloud

A hybrid cloud is a combination of traditional IT and public or private clouds (or both) that remain separate, but are bound
together by technology that makes the data or application portable.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)


IaaS delivers computer infrastructure on an outsourced basis to support a company’s operations. It includes servers,
network, operating systems, and storage, through virtualization technology which doesn’t require that the company
physically maintain or manage it. Its cloud servers typically include a dashboard or an application programming interface
(API) that gives the company control of the entire infrastructure.

Startups and small companies may prefer IaaS to avoid spending time and money buying and creating hardware and
software such as servers, storage, or networking resources.

When you hear IaaS, think of computing, storage, and networking resources.

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Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source platform for managing containerized workloads and services.

Multicloud

Multicloud is the use of more than one public cloud, a strategy that allows enterprises to choose specific services from a
combination of public IaaS clouds such as IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure. This enables
companies to avoid locking in to any one cloud provider.

On premises versus off premises


On premises refers to a solution installed and hosted in-house. Private cloud is hosted in a company’s own data center.

A solution that is hosted on dedicated hardware that happens to be in a different physical location is referred to as off
premises.

Platform as a service (PaaS)


PaaS provides cloud components for software programs. PaaS delivers a framework for developers that they can use to
create customized applications. The platform typically includes an operating system, a programming language execution
environment, a database, and a web server.

When you hear PaaS, think of development tools, database management, and business analytics.

Private cloud

A private cloud is an on-premises or off-premises cloud infrastructure operated solely for one organization. It may be
managed by that organization or by a third party.

Public cloud

A public cloud is available to the general public or a large industry group, owned and managed by an organization selling
cloud services.

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Software as a service (SaaS)


SaaS refers to a model of software deployment where online software is provided as a service to customers.

When you hear SaaS, think of hosted subscription applications or web email, Google apps, or Dropbox.

Virtualization
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Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something such as a server, a desktop, a storage
device, an operating system, or network resources.

Virtual machine

A virtual machine (VM) is a software program or operating system that behaves like a separate computer that can run
applications and programs.

Workload

A workload is a discrete capability or amount of work to be run in the cloud, such as serving up a website.

CHECK THIS OUT!

Download this glossary of cloud computing terms and save it for future reference.

 Glossary of cloud computing terms (PDF) (assets/GYJVGNYMVRXX34QG/Cloud%20Computing%20Terminology.pdf)

Careers in cloud computing

Infographic
5 Minutes

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By now you understand that cloud computing technologies and services are everywhere. You might be wondering what
industries focus most on cloud computing, what technical skills might be in demand, or what the interesting jobs in the
field are. Answers to these questions, plus a few more facts, are included in the following infographic.

CHECK THIS OUT!

 Infographic: The delivery of computing services over the internet (PDF)

(https://ibm.box.com/s/53z58hwkqnu8emgem81rchm7uekiz9bm)

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Test your knowledge!

5 Minutes

Are you ready to show what you know about cloud computing? Take this five-question checkpoint quiz now.

To launch the mini-quiz, click I’ve checked it out!

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