Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

Faculty of Information Technology

SUBJECT NAME: CLOUD FUNDAMENTALS

SUBJECT CODE: CF412

I declare that I am
familiar with, and will
Examiner: Ntombi Ngcwangu
abide to the Group Activity 1 Moderator:
Examination rules of
CTU Duration:
Date: Aug 14 2022
Total Marks:

Total pages:

Group Work Student number

Signature
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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

Table of Contents
Question 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. 8

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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

Question 1

1. Explain what cloud computing is and outline the benefits which come with
using cloud
services

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing resources over

the Internet with pay-per-use pricing. Instead of buying, owning, and
maintaining physical data centres and servers, you can access technology
services from a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS) when you
need them.

Simply put, cloud computing allows you to rent your computing instead of
buying it. Instead of investing heavily in databases, software, and
hardware, companies are choosing to access their computing power
through the internet or the cloud and pay for what they use. These cloud
services now include servers, storage, databases, networks, software,
analytics, and business intelligence, among others. Cloud computing
provides the speed, scalability, and flexibility that enables organizations to
develop, innovate, and support enterprise computing solutions

Benefits of Cloud Computing:

Lower IT costs
Moving to cloud computing can reduce the costs of managing and
maintaining IT systems. Instead of buying expensive systems and
equipment for your business, you can reduce costs by leveraging the
resources of your cloud computing service provider.

You don't need to invest in hardware, facilities, utilities, or build a large

data centre to grow your business. You don't even need large IT teams to
manage your cloud data centre operations, as you can take advantage of
the expertise of your cloud provider's staff.

Scalability
Your business can quickly scale up or down your operational and storage
needs based on your situation, giving you flexibility as your needs change.
Rather than buying and installing expensive upgrades yourself, your cloud
service provider can do it for you. Using the cloud gives you more time to
focus on your business.

Cloud-based solutions are ideal for businesses with increasing or

fluctuating bandwidth needs. As your business needs grow, you can easily

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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

expand your cloud capacity without having to invest in physical

infrastructure. This level of agility can give companies using cloud
computing a real advantage over their competitors.

This scalability minimizes the risks associated with internal operational

issues and maintenance. Powerful resources are at your disposal with
professional solutions and without initial investment. Scalability is
probably the biggest advantage of the cloud.

Disaster Recovery
Storing previous software versions in the cloud and running production
instances in multiple Cloud Availability Zones or Regions allows for faster
disaster recovery.

Storing your data in the cloud ensures that the data is always available
even if your devices such as laptops or PCs are damaged. Cloud-based
services enable rapid data recovery for all types of disaster scenarios,
from natural disasters to power outages. Cloud infrastructure can also
help you prevent losses. If you rely on a traditional on-premises approach,
all your data is stored locally on desktop computers. Despite your best
efforts, computers can fail for a variety of reasons - from malware and
viruses to age-related hardware degradation to simple user error.

Access To Automatic Updates

Access to automatic updates for IT requirements can be included in the
cost of the service. Depending on the cloud computing service provider,
the system is regularly updated with the latest technology. These can be
updated versions of the software, as well as updates to your computer's
servers and processing power.

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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

2. What are the key differences to note between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS?

IaaS, or infrastructure as a service, is on-demand approach to cloud-

hosted physical and virtual servers, storage, and networking- the backend
IT infrastructure for running applications and workloads in the cloud.

PaaS, or platform as a service, is on-demand access to a complete,

equipped -to-use cloud hosted platform for creating, running,
maintenance and handling applications.

SaaS, or software as a service, is on-demand approach to ready-to-use,

cloud hosted application software.

The difference between the three is as follows:

IaaS is employed by network architects, PaaS is managed by a developer,

and SaaS gives access to the end user.

• IaaS is the most flexible cloud service. You configure and manage
the hardware for your application.

• PaaS focuses on application development. The cloud provider

manages the platform management.

• SaaS is a pay-as-you-go model. The users pay for the software

they use on a subscription model.

The main difference between IaaS and PaaS is that IaaS offers
administrators more immediate control over operating systems, and PaaS
offers users greater flexibility and ease of operation.

Another company fully manages SaaS products, from applications to data

servers, where PaaS products can be used as the base for building new
products on top of the platform’s network

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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

3. What factors would underly a decision to use

• public cloud model
• private cloud model
• hybrid cloud models

• Public cloud model

Public cloud refers to off-premise data centre’s managed by third party
providers like Azure, AWS, Oracle etc. It is not necessary for users to host
these services on-site in their own data centre; instead, public cloud
service providers may offer cloud-based services such as infrastructure as
a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), or software as a service
(SaaS) to users for a monthly or pay-per-use fee.

Factors to use public cloud model

Public cloud can be interpreted as a method to scale existing IT

infrastructure without expanding physical hardware and infrastructure.
Public cloud offers the ability to access data from anywhere and to back it
up.
Public cloud can be more cost effective as there are fewer equipment
costs, Lower maintenance costs and less labour is needed and so there is
fewer employees needed.

Use case scenario

One of the best use cases for the cloud is a software development
environment. DevOps teams can quickly spin up development, testing and
production environments tailored for specific needs. This can include, but
is not limited to, automated provisioning of physical and virtual machines.

• Private Cloud Model

Private cloud refers to on-premises data centres managed by the
organization itself. A private cloud is a computer paradigm that provides a
private setting exclusive to a particular company. Similar to other kinds of
cloud computing environments, private clouds use physical components
that are kept on-site or in a vendor's datacentre to deliver expanded,
virtualized computing resources.

Factors to use private cloud model

Private cloud offers Security and compliance benefits that make it a good
option for organizations. Compliance is crucial for organizations engaged
in highly regulated markets. Organizations can adhere to stringent rules
thanks to private cloud infrastructure since sensitive data is stored on
hardware that only they can access.

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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

Organizations adopting the technology can completely customize private

clouds.
Private cloud also allows for the possibility of hybrid integration.

User case scenario

If your users are in an area distant from a public cloud provider, latency
could slow down access to your application and make a private cloud a
better option. Similarly, a cloud application for your internal users may
run faster using an on-premises private cloud.

• Hybrid cloud model

A combined computing, storage, and service environment known as a
hybrid cloud consists of on-premises infrastructure, private cloud services,
and a public cloud—like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure—
with orchestration between the various platforms. You have a hybrid cloud
infrastructure if you use a mix of on-premises computing, private clouds,
and public clouds in your data centre.

Factors to use hybrid cloud model

Agility is a hybrid cloud's main advantage. A fundamental tenant of a
digital business is the requirement for swift adaptation and direction
changes.
A hybrid cloud model is reliable Due to services distributed across multiple
data centres.
It is also highly scalable Almost unlimited due to on-demand cloud
resources.

Use case scenario

Hybrid cloud model can be used if you want to keep confidential customer
or financial information in your private cloud while running the rest of your
company applications in the public cloud.

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Group Activity 1 Cloud Fundamentals CF412_GA1 Question 1

Declaration

Completed Declaration of Authenticity

I Tracey-Lee Swartz 13346, Kiandra Padayachee 13286, Michaeleah-Anne Murray

12670, Mehluli Sambo 13004, Dillan Singh 12646, Bradley Andrews 12731 _ hereby
(FULL NAME)
declare that the contents of this assignment is entirely my own work except for the
following documents: (List the documents and page numbers of work in this
portfolio that were generated in a group)

Activity Date
ENA412 Group Activity 1 –Tracey-Lee Swartz 13346 12 August 2022

ENA412 Group Activity 1 - Kiandra Padayachee 13286 12 August 2022

ENA412 Group Activity 1 - Michaeleah-Anne Murray 12670 12 August 2022

ENA412 Group Activity 1 - Dillan Singh 12646 12 August 2022

ENA412 Group Activity 1 - Mehluli Sambo 13004 12 August 2022

ENA412 Group Activity 1 -Bradley Andrews 12731 12 August 2022

Signature: Group Work Date: 12 August 2022