The term cloud refers to a network or the internet. Cloud Computing is a virtualization-based technology that allows users to create, configure, and customize applications via internet connection.
By using cloud computing, users and companies don’t have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.
The technology evolution happening around the cloud is not just changing the cloud computing environment, but also transforming the world of computing as a whole.
Here are some technologies emerging in the cloud computing zone in recent times-
Containers
Unlike traditional Virtual Machines (VM), Container technology is a lightweight software packaging method, where a container package carries a piece of software and its bare essentials (libraries and configuration files) to traverse across different computing environments. Containers run as processes in the host Operating System. They are a light-weight way to deploy an application without having the full infrastructure of physical VM.
Docker and Kubernetes took the container popularity to the next level in terms of adoption.
Serverless
Serverless computing is a method of providing backend services on an as-used basis. A serverless provider allows users to write and deploy code without the hassle of worrying about the underlying infrastructure.
Beforehand, there was Client/Server Computing, which is basically a centralized storage in which all the software applications, all the data and all the controls are resided on the server side. If a single user wants to access specific data or run a program, he/she need to connect to the server and then gain appropriate access, and then he/she can do his/her business.
After Client/Server Computing, distributed systems came into picture. In these systems, all the computers are networked together and share their resources when needed.
Finally, Cloud Computing was starting to work efficiently from 2006 onwards. Here, a fixed numbers of servers or amounts of server space could be rented remotely. Although, it was quite cost-effective due to the introduction of auto-scaling models, but even with auto-scaling an unwanted spike in activity, could end up being very expensive.
With serverless computing, the trend for pay-as-you-go and pay-for-use computing models solved majority software burden. This function-as-service model made the cloud computing environment run faster and more efficiently.
Microservices
The process of breaking a larger application into small modules or components to deliver faster is referred to as Microservice.
A microservice architecture breaks monolithic apps into small, joined services or modules. This modular approach makes it easy for the delivery of multiple modules by different small teams, independent of the actual ‘bulk’ application. This enables continuous delivery of fully-updated software and ultimately speeds up the app delivery cycle.
DevOps
DevOps is a culture, that increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity, which enables organizations to better serve their customers and compete more effectively in the market.
The centralized nature of cloud computing provides DevOps automation with a standard and centralized platform for testing, deployment, and production. In the past, the distributed nature of some enterprise systems didn’t fit well with centralized software deployment. Using a cloud platform solves many issues with distributed complexity.
Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT has given a new shape to the technology trend in our day-to-day lives. The fitness trackers, smart watches, smart homes, self-driving automobiles, and more. All of these involve enormous volumes of data to be processed.
Cloud Computing in IoT works as part of a collaboration and is used to store IoT data. The Cloud is a centralized server containing computer resources that can be accessed whenever required.
These are just some of the technologies which I think are evolving greatly in Cloud field. There are many more technologies coming up as cloud computing is evolving. What are your thoughts- what do you think about the latest happenings in Cloud ? What are some of the technologies that astound you? Let everyone know in the comments!
