What Is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud Hosting is a virtual server used to host websites in the cloud. Traditional web hosting services, on the other hand, typically house one or more sites on a single physical server.
Cloud Hosting Explained
What is Cloud Hosting? Cloud hosting makes cloud resources available to applications and websites. Solutions, unlike traditional hosting, are not deployed on a single server.
Instead, the application or website is hosted by a network of connected virtual and physical cloud servers, providing greater flexibility and scalability.
Key features include:
Instead of a single server on-premises, applications and solutions are deployed on a cloud network.
- Resources are scaled to meet the needs of the user.
- Companies only pay for the resources that they use.
- SQL (including MySQL) and NoSQL databases can be hosted in the cloud.
- APIs, web portals, and mobile apps are used to automate and control solutions.
Many people get the similarities and differences between web hosting and cloud computing mixed up.
Most people in today’s tech-savvy society are familiar with the concept of web hosting companies and how they help aspiring webmasters make their websites available on the Internet.
When a given attribute is requested online, the web hosting company will send the data over the World Wide Web.
Benefits of Cloud Hosting
Better Control
There are a few key distinctions between web hosting and cloud computing.
The hosting provider retains greater control in a clouded environment, but due to the elasticity of a virtualized environment, the server is much more capable of meeting rapid traffic influxes than it would be in a regular hosting scenario.
One of the most advantageous aspects of a clustered hosting environment is its elasticity.
Previously, a sudden surge in traffic could overload a server to the point of failure, increasing the likelihood that the website would crash.
More CPU power
Cloud computing, also known as cluster hosting, allows a single server to be divided into a plethora of individual virtual servers.
Data or information stored on each clouded server can be backed up using more CPU power than would otherwise be available.
Maximum Uptime
Cloud hosting works by utilizing virtually connected servers to meet the fluctuating demands of the server’s websites.
Overcrowding is unlikely to be an issue in a clouded environment because it is unlikely that all websites on the server will experience high traffic at the same time.
Some of the most common web hosting issues can be avoided by deploying a cluster hosting solution.
Not only does it provide the assurance that a website will have optimal uptime and resiliency, but it also allows webmasters to benefit from the power, space, and security of their peers’ websites, as everyone still has their own personal server allocation.
Why cloud hosting?
Flexibility
Traditional hosting services have a limited amount of bandwidth. Cloud hosting can be scaled to meet traffic spikes or seasonal demands.
Pay-as-you-go system
Users only pay for the resources they use on a monthly or hourly basis. This setup differs from traditional hosting flat rates.
Reliability
Because sites and applications are hosted on a network of servers, hardware failures do not result in downtime. Traffic is routed across distinct network interfaces, where it is separated and secured.
Load balancing of traffic
When the website receives traffic, the infrastructure distributes it among the cloud servers. As the site receives more visitors, this helps to maintain its performance.
Scalability
Webmasters are not limited to the bandwidth, storage, or computing power available from a single server when using cloud hosting.
They can make use of additional virtual resources to help their site grow.
Increased security
Because cloud hosting uses multiple servers in a virtual environment, it is less vulnerable to disasters and physical malfunctions.
Furthermore, the load balancing feature can aid in the prevention of DDoS attacks.
Types of Cloud Hosting
Public Cloud Hosting
Consider a public cloud to be the equivalent of a shared server, with an infrastructure of networked machines storing data for multiple websites.
While the hardware is shared with other virtualized accounts, the cost of the resources is not.
Unlike shared hosting, where you share resources such as disk space and processing power, public cloud hosting means you have complete control over your resources.
Users can often create public cloud servers in seconds using a control panel or a RESTful API. These servers, which are easily scalable when needed, enable users to maintain and configure their setup without the need for external assistance.
Private Cloud Hosting
A private cloud is ideal for those who manage sensitive data or cannot afford downtime.
It includes dedicated hardware, redundant networking, power, storage, and the operating system (OS) of your choice.
If you already have some infrastructure, private cloud hosting allows you to build on existing hardware, lowering your investment.
Private cloud solutions, which are preferred by larger corporations, are available from proprietary software developers such as Nutanix, VMware, and Microsoft, while enterprise-grade open source solutions are available from Red Hat and others.
Hyperscale Cloud Hosting
Given all of the benefits of public cloud hosting, it’s no surprise that three major players – Amazon, Microsoft, and Google – have emerged on the scene.
Hyperscalers include AWS (Amazon), GCP (Google), and Azure (Microsoft). Because of the massive scale of their infrastructure, they are often referred to as hyperscale cloud rather than simply cloud.
They provide a basket of ready-made cloud services that are simple to consume, use, and build on.
Hybrid Cloud Hosting
Hybrid cloud, as the name implies, combines the best of both worlds by combining public and private clouds as well as on-premises infrastructure.
While each hybrid cloud is unique, depending on the organization and/or business, deploying a private cloud can work wonders if yours deals with sensitive data and dynamic workloads.
However, these can be easily deployed in a public cloud for testing environments and less-critical workloads.
In other words, less-critical applications in the public cloud can be updated frequently, whereas sensitive databases can be kept secure in the private cloud.
