This article should serve as an introduction to the cloud hosting concept and is aimed at those who don’t really know what all the fuss is about. The article won’t go into the advantages and disadvantages of hosting in the cloud, but will explain at a high level what the “cloud” is and why it maybe useful.
What is cloud hosting?
Historically, if you wanted to host a web site you would choose one of a number of hosted products, such as:
- Shared Hosting
- VPS Hosting
- Dedicated Server
…etc
With all of the above your data sits on a single physical machine (a server) and therefore resources are limited to the physical constraints of that machine. You are also expected to pay for the service in advance, leaving you (as the customer) the sometimes difficult task of predicting what kind of package you require.
Cloud Hosting alleviates you from these said constraints. When you choose to host your data in the cloud you don’t need to understand and specify the hardware behind the scenes, you simply upload your files and the “cloud” takes care of the hardware. When your site gets featured on national television and receives a couple of hundred thousand hits in the space of a few hours, the cloud will simply scale up the hardware automatically meaning no downtime for your users. Furthermore, once everything calms down and you no longer require the extra resources, the computing power is released back into the cloud.
How does Cloud Hosting work?
Virtualisation is the key behind cloud technology. Virtualisation allows you to split up a physical server into many virtual servers. Cloud providers create virtual clusters across a number of physical machines so that sites can be scaled up seamlessly if a spike in traffic occurs.
How much does it cost?
In theory virtualisation allows providers achieve a higher level of efficiency and productivity from their hardware through economies of scale that can’t be matched traditionally. However, cloud hosting technologies are still very young and so cost-savings aren’t as prominent as they will be in years to come.
Billing occurs on a utility basis (similar to other commodities – gas, electricity etc.) by metrics that determine how much you have used (the metrics vary depending on the provider).
You’ll find that for small web sites (your personal blogs, for example) hosting in the cloud will not prove very cost-effective, yet. You’re better off taking out a cheap shared hosting plan and forgetting about the cloud. However if you’re hosting a fairly large web site that has periodic spikes in traffic, then the cloud is worth looking into.
In Summary
When you host in the cloud you focus on your web site rather than the hardware that it sits on whereas traditionally you have to understand and predict the requirements to purchase the hardware in arrears. Furthermore, for the right customer, cost savings can be sought and capital expenditure limited.
Hosting in the cloud offers more than what has been described in this article, this is only a high level overview. For more details visit our Cloud Hosting Consumers page.
Related posts:
