What is Cloud Hosting?

Es­sen­tially there are two ways to approach using the cloud. One method entails the use of streaming or external storage services such as Amazon Prime or Dropbox. With these options, the client purchases access to either external storage space or pre-stored data such as music or TV. In this scenario, the customer is not directly involved in the hosting process. A different scenario, however, arises when the customer wishes to directly employ the use of cloud hosting services. In this case, the provider supplies the client with a cloud server that can then be cus­tom­ised to suit the in­di­vidu­al IT demands of the customer. When used in this way, it does not matter if the cloud is being used to host a website or an online shop. The server can also be used for ad­min­is­tra­tion needs or for the shared use of various ap­plic­a­tions.

The strength of the cloud hosting lies it its ability to function in­de­pend­ently of hardware. In contrast to tra­di­tion­al forms of hosting, computer processes in the cloud can be filtered through central software and directed towards ap­pro­pri­ate hardware. When faced with technical problems, hardware and other equipment can be com­fort­ably replaced without having to worry about problems with servers or websites.

Despite being wireless, cloud hosting services are not com­pletely immune to run-ins with technical problems. What cloud hosting does offer, however, is the ability on the part of the user to redefine the use of the desired per­form­ance without having to com­pletely exchange a server. At their own dis­cre­tion, users are able to scale down pro­cessing power as well as work and hard drive storage. Usage fees follow a pay-as-you-go system and are cal­cu­lated based on use measured by the second, minute, or hour.

It is precisely this pay-as-you go feature that makes using the cloud so af­ford­able and cost-effective, and unlike almost any other available server solution. This flex­ib­il­ity can save on cost by elim­in­at­ing the need to purchase a larger server; because usage capacity can be increased as needed. Operators of online stores for seasonal goods, such as winter clothing, do not need to worry about payment during the spring and summer months. In times of low business activity, desired services can simply be scaled back, thus keeping expenses to a minimum.

When searching for different options for cloud hosting, one is bound to run into the term ‘cloud computing’. Put simply, cloud hosting is a subset of a broader field that is most commonly referred to as ‘cloud computing’. The options that cloud computing offers extend wide beyond those of a typical server. So what exactly is cloud computing? What are its ad­vant­ages?

Some of the key dif­fer­ences of the various service models for cloud computing are laid out here:

1. In­fra­struc­ture as a service (IaaS): Through the cloud, the user is given access to virtual hardware resources such as computers, networks, or storage space. The supplied software can be used as desired. In­stall­a­tion and main­ten­ance, however, remains the re­spons­ib­il­ity of the customer.
2. Platform as a Service (Paas): The service provider supplies the user with a software en­vir­on­ment in the form of a framework (a form of virtual scaf­fold­ing of sorts) and proceeds to provide main­ten­ance for this structure. The user can develop and carry out their own ap­plic­a­tions on this platform.
3. Software as a Service (SaaS): This is often con­sidered to be the “top level” of cloud computing. The user is able to access a provided software, such as Office ap­plic­a­tions, and is spared the burden of having deal with updates and func­tion­al­ity issues.

When assessing the safety of stored data in the cloud, there are two important aspects to take into account: the location of the server and the location of the con­trac­ted service provider’s legal headquar­ters. Servers of cloud service providers fall under the same legal jur­is­dic­tion of the country in which they are re­gistered. This means that companies that are re­gistered in the United Kingdom , for example, are beholden to the British legal system, even if the actual server is located outside of Europe. This is important because much regional variation exists among clouds services. As a member of the European Union, the UK is under the jur­is­dic­tion of EU Data Pro­tec­tion le­gis­la­tion. Of course it remains to be seen how long that will remain the case as Britain prepares to leave the EU, however it is widely expected that there will be no dramatic changes in this area.

For com­par­is­on, EU data pro­tec­tion laws are generally con­sidered to be stricter than those in the USA, where there is no single data pro­tec­tion law of the same standard. In order to provide the maximum security for their data, potential customers should carefully look into important legal matters before deciding whether to enter into a contract with a provider. For this reason, IONOS allows the customer to freely choose between different locations for their data centers (UK, Europe, USA).

While the threat of security breaches should not be ignored when con­sid­er­ing the use of cloud hosting services, other, more tra­di­tion­al servers, can also be lacking on this front. The ad­vant­ages of cloud computing are numerous, and con­sid­er­ing that cloud servers are most often operated through the internet, access to data is the­or­et­ic­ally possible almost anywhere in the world. Whether commuting by rail or just waiting at the airport, users have the flex­ib­il­ity to choose between working on company projects or just streaming music and videos on the go. No matter what the purpose for your storage may be, data is always main­tained according to the highest industry standards; internet access remains the only pre­requis­ite for use. Should the need of extra ap­plic­a­tions, e.g. computing capacity, storage, etc. arise these ad­di­tion­al demands can be met simply by con­tact­ing the provider.

Cloud servers are tailored to specific hardware and hence carry with them a low risk of breakdown. For this reason they are par­tic­u­larly well suited for hosting websites or online stores that rely on high volumes of traffic to suit their numerous clientele. The greatest advantage offered by cloud hosting, however, is its unique pricing model.
Unlike typical service solutions, users do not have to fret about fixed monthly rates, and instead are afforded the benefit of only having to pay for the true amount of data they have used.