We have all seen a Library with huge collections of books, newspapers, magazines, maps, etc. Well some of us still remember how that librarian used to shout at us and used to warn us for our mischief.
Wait a second, why am I telling you about Library now? — — — don’t worry you will understand.

I am on my journey to explore and deep dive into this fascinating cloud technology. I started to explore and understand the basic terms of cloud technology and came across the AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials Course. The instructors in this course are Blaine Sundrud a Senior Instructional Designer, Morgan Willis a Senior Cloud Technologist and Rudy Chetty a Solutions Architect.

In this blog which is the Part-2 of my Cloud for Beginners Blog Series, we will understand different types of Deployment Models in cloud computing and also a few of the major benefits of Cloud Computing.

Businesses or Organizations when selecting a cloud strategy must consider factors such as required cloud application components, preferred resource management tools, and any legacy IT infrastructure requirements. Selecting a good cloud strategy by analyzing and planning plays a crucial role for Businesses (Organizations) to level up their game in this fast-paced Tech world.

When we visit libraries we stumble upon so many interesting books, magazines, audiobooks, etc. We use those resources and sometimes even take them home for rental (On-Premises). Some of the resources are not allowed for the rental because of some reasons and that’s fine still we can use them while being in the library itself (In Cloud). Sometimes we take the keynotes from those resources in the library and later use them at home (Hybrid).

According to Amazon Web Services (AWS), there are 3 cloud deployment models. They are:
1. Cloud-Based Deployment Model
2. On-Premises Deployment Model and
3. Hybrid Deployment Model

Let us understand the above-mentioned deployment models one by one.

1. Cloud-Based Deployment Model — In this model, you can migrate existing applications to the cloud, or you can design and build new applications in the cloud. You can build those applications on low-level infrastructure that requires your IT staff to manage them. Alternatively, you can build them using higher-level services that reduce the management, architecting, and scaling requirements of the core infrastructure.

For example, a company might create an application consisting of virtual servers (Amazon EC2 instances), databases (Amazon DynamoDB), and networking components that are fully based in the cloud.

2. On-Premises Deployment Model — Also known as the private-cloud deployment. In this model, resources are deployed on-premises by using virtualization and resource management tools. Increase resource utilization by using application management and virtualization technologies.

For example, you might have applications that run on technology that is fully kept in your on-premises data center. Though this model is much like legacy IT infrastructure, its incorporation of application management and virtualization technologies helps to increase resource utilization.

3. Hybrid Deployment Model — In this model, cloud-based resources are connected to on-premises infrastructure. You might want to use this approach in several situations.

For example, suppose that a company wants to use cloud services that can automate batch data processing and analytics. However, the company has several legacy applications that are more suitable on-premises and will not be migrated to the cloud. With a hybrid deployment, the company would be able to keep the legacy applications on-premises while benefiting from the data and analytics services that run in the cloud.

Therefore the Businesses (Organizations) will have to carefully look into their requirements and then choose a suitable deployment model which will serve them well.

Let us concisely revisit the above concepts:

1. Cloud-Based Deployment Model

• Run all parts of the application in the cloud.
• Migrate existing applications to the cloud.
• Design and build new applications in the cloud.

2. On-Premises Deployment Model

• Deploy resources by using virtualization and resource management tools.
• Increase resource utilization by using application management and virtualization technologies.

3. Hybrid Deployment Model

• Connect cloud-based resources to on-premises infrastructure.
• Integrate cloud-based resources with legacy IT applications.

Now let us look into and understand a few major benefits of cloud computing:

1. Trade upfront expense for variable expense

• Upfront expense refers to data centers, physical servers, and other resources that you would need to invest in before using them.
• Variable expense means you only pay for computing resources you consume instead of investing heavily in data centers and servers before you know how you’re going to use them. By this companies can implement innovative solutions while saving on costs.

2. Benefit from massive economies of scale

• By using cloud computing, you can achieve a lower variable cost than you can get on your own.
• Because usage from hundreds of thousands of customers can aggregate in the cloud, providers, such as AWS, can achieve higher economies of scale. The economy of scale translates into lower pay-as-you-go prices.

3. Increase speed and agility

• The flexibility of cloud computing makes it easier for you to develop and deploy applications with more time to experiment and innovate.
• When computing in data centers, it may take weeks to obtain new resources that you need. By comparison, cloud computing enables you to access new resources within minutes.

4. Stop Spending money to run and maintain data centers

• Computing in data centers often requires you to spend more money and time managing infrastructure and servers.
• A benefit of cloud computing is the ability to focus less on these tasks and more on your applications and customers.

5. Stop guessing capacity

• With cloud computing, you don’t have to predict how much infrastructure capacity you will need before deploying an application.
• For example, you can launch Amazon EC2 instances when needed, and pay only for the compute time you use. Instead of paying for unused resources or having to deal with limited capacity, you can access only the capacity that you need. You can also scale in or scale out in response to demand.

6. Go global in minutes

• The global footprint of the AWS Cloud enables you to deploy applications to customers around the world quickly while providing them with low latency.
• This means that even if you are located in a different part of the world than your customers, customers can access your applications with minimal delays.

Thank you for reading my blog so far. Give it a like if you loved it and stay tuned for more blogs.

You can also check out these additional resources to explore more about AWS:

• The Whitepaper of AWS.
• AWS Fundamentals: Overview
• What is cloud computing?
• Types of cloud computing
• AWS Glossary