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Cloud Computing

Notes shocking. It can swipe them off their feet. If a company relies on a third-party cloud platform to
host all of its data with no other physical backup, that data can be at risk. Hence, it is essential for
all such companies to keep a physical back up of their data instead of relying completely on a
third party cloud platform to host their data.

Did u know? In a 1996 paper, The Self-governing Internet: Coordination by Design, MIT
researchers used the term “cloud” to describe foundational elements of today’s movement.

3.3 Types of Cloud Service Development

The concept of cloud services development incorporates various kinds of development. Let us
elaborate on a few ways in which the company can use cloud computing to develop its business
applications.

3.3.1 Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a service also called SaaS, is amongst the most common types of cloud service
development. A single application is delivered to many users from the vendor’s servers with
SaaS.
SaaS refers to software that is accessed via a web browser and is paid on a subscription basis be
it monthly or annual. Different from the traditional model where a customer buys a license to a
software and takes ownership for its maintenance and installation, SaaS proves advantageous to
the customers. With the concept of SaaS customers pay for using the software and not for owning
it. Users access an application via an API available on the web. For customers, SaaS requires no
upfront investment in software licensing or servers. The application developer, is required to
maintain only one application for multiple clients.
Each organization to which the vendor serves is called a tenant. Such an arrangement is called a
multi-tenant architecture. To make the organization work with a customized virtual application
instance, the vendor’s servers are effectively partitioned.
Many different types of companies are developing applications using the SaaS model. Amongst
the few best-known SaaS applications are those offered by Google to its consumers. SaaS is faster
and a cost effective way to getting implemented. There are no hardware, implementation or
acquisition costs involved to run the application from the customer’s side.

Notes It’s the responsibility of the SaaS vendor to manage and run the application with
utmost security, reliability and good performance.

3.3.2 Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Platform as a service or PaaS is a proven model for running applications without having to
maintain the hardware and software infrastructure at one’s organisation. Various organisations
have adopted PaaS for its simplicity, scalability and reliability.
In PaaS, the development environment is offered as a service. The structure of the vendor’s
development environment is used by the developer to create his own application. It is similar to
creating an application using Legos in which the application can be built easily using certain
already defined blocks of code, even if the resulting application is controlled by the types of
code blocks available.

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