| | October 201719CIOReviewAxxanaThe "No-Compromise" Disaster Recovery SolutionDELIVERY AND ADOPTION OF CLOUD COMPUTINGWhat is "Cloud?"Cloud computing delivery models provide users with on-demand access to a flexible, wide-ranging pool of technology assets composed of services, applications, servers, networks, and storage facilities. Due to the habit of referring to data and applications as being "in the cloud," it can be easily forgotten that cloud is housed in physical facilities. Cloud computing services are powered by highly virtualized processing and storage systems in data centers, which are available to remote users via the web.Clouds consist of groups of one or more physical servers sitting behind an access point that distributes requests for entry. Proprietary hosted systems can be built in-house on top of existing hardware; or access to external clouds can be rented on-demand from third-party vendors such as major online retail companies. The cloud's virtualization feature allows users to run multiple applications and operating systems independently on a single server. Additionally, administrators can quickly move workloads from one virtual workspace to another, easily prioritizing business needs while maximizing server resources.How Does Cloud Computing Work?Clouds provide request-driven, dynamic allocation of computing resources for a mix of workloads on a massively scalable virtual infrastructure. The user of an application can request resources from the cloud and obtain them quickly; the cloud computing model reduces the need for capacity planning at an application level. By contrast, in a non-cloud/non-virtualized environment, it could take much longer for administrators to restart a server or change hardware or software configurations.The Evolution of Cloud ComputingThe foundation of cloud computing was laid in the 1980s. From the grid computing mainframes of that and previous decades, utility computing then offered clusters as virtual platforms with a metered business model by the 1990s. More recently, software as a service (SaaS) has raised the level of virtualization to focus on everything from subscriptions to applications. From those origins, cloud computing allows today's users to gain access to their applications from anywhere, at any time, through a wide variety of portable devices.Different Clouds for Different NeedsIn many industries, a public cloud is the most recognized form of cloud, but private clouds dominate regulated industries. It is important to make the distinction. Rather than having dedicated By Michael Stoeckert, CTO, ProAssurance [NYSE:PRA]2000Software as a ServiceApplications available by subscriptionCloud computing and more robust data centers become prevalentCloud computing1980sGrid computingLarge problems solved with parallel computing structuresComputing offered as a metered serviceUtility computing1990s2010CXO INSIGHTS
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