self-service provisioning on cloud computing

A key feature of a cloud environment is that it provides a platform that’s designed to be elastic 

(you can use just the resources you want when you need them), 

so the users/customers provision resources, such as computing or storage resources, that they pay for on a per-unit basis. When the user no longer needs that resource and stops paying, the resource is released back into the pool of resources. 

This helps organizations avoid the cost of idle computing resources.

Instead of purchasing, managing, and maintaining a server environment. 

for example, a business can purchase computing on demand, avoiding capital expenditures.

The term self-service is important here too. 

With self-service, the developer of an application, for example, is able to use a browser or portal interface to acquire appropriate resources needed to build or operate an application. 

This just-in-time model is a more efficient way to ensure that the IT organization can be responsive to business change.

Workload management

The cloud is a federated (distributed) environment that pools resources so they can work together. 

Making this happen requires that these resources be optimized to work as though they were an integrated well-tuned environment comprised of a variety of workloads. 

A workload is an independent service or collection of code that can be executed. 

It’s important in the cloud that workloads be designed to support the right task with the right cloud services. 

For example, some workloads need to be placed in a private cloud because they require fast

transaction management and a high level of security. 

Other workloads may not be so mission critical and can be placed in a public cloud.

basics of cloud computing

 Cloud computing is a method of providing a set of shared computing resources that includes applications, computing, storage, networking, development, and deployment platforms as well as business processes. 

Cloud computing turns traditional siloed computing assets into shared pools of resources that are based on an underlying Internet foundation.

Clouds come in different versions, depending on your needs.

There are two primary deployment models of cloud: public and private. 

Most organizations use a combination of private computing resources 

(data centers and private clouds) and public services as a hybrid environment. 

The cloud doesn’t exist in isolation to other corporate IT investments. 

The reality is that most companies use a combination of public and private cloud services in conjunction with their data center. Companies use different methods, depending on their business requirements to link and integrate these services. 

The way you construct your hybrid computing environment is determined by the complexity of the workloads and how you want to optimize the performance of those workloads to support your constituents.

A company with a private cloud may choose to combine some public services for capabilities that are commodities with private services based on the ability to deliver fast innovation to their ecosystem. 

For example, companies are increasingly discovering that it’s practical to pay a per-user, per-year price for customer relationship management (CRM) and leave the day-to-day management to a trusted vendor. 

But many companies also want to keep control over some of their most sensitive data. Therefore, they may choose to keep data about prospects on a public cloud. However, after those prospects become customers, the companies may begin storing that data on their own premises in their own servers, which is the hybrid cloud model.