What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources with pay-as-you-go pricing. Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical data centers and servers, you can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, on an as-needed basis from a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Texas A&M University is a cloud-first institution, and the use of cloud services is encouraged. This does not mean that all services should be moved to the cloud, but rather that cloud services should be considered as a first option when evaluating new services or when existing services are up for renewal. The university has agreements with AWS, Azure, and GCP, to provide services to the university community. AggieCloud is the university's private cloud service, which is managed by Technology Services.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing offers a number of benefits, including:

  • Cost Savings: Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying hardware and software and setting up and running on-site data centers—the racks of servers, the round-the-clock electricity for power and cooling, and the IT experts for managing the infrastructure. It adds up fast.
  • Speed: Most cloud computing services are provided self-service and on demand, so even vast amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes, typically with just a few mouse clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and taking the pressure off capacity planning.
  • Global Scale: The benefits of cloud computing services include the ability to scale elastically. In cloud speak, that means delivering the right amount of IT resources—for example, more or less computing power, storage, bandwidth—right when it’s needed and from the right geographic location.
  • Productivity: On-site data centers typically require a lot of “racking and stacking”—hardware set up, software patching, and other time-consuming IT management chores. Cloud computing removes the need for many of these tasks, so IT teams can spend time on achieving more important business goals.
  • Performance: The major cloud services run on a worldwide network of secure data centers, which are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of fast and efficient computing hardware. This offers several benefits over a single corporate data center, including reduced network latency for applications and greater economies of scale.
  • Reliability: Cloud computing makes data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity easier and less expensive because data can be mirrored at multiple redundant sites on the cloud provider’s network.
  • Security: Many cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls that strengthen your security posture overall, helping protect data, apps, and infrastructure from potential threats.

Types of Cloud Computing

Not all clouds are the same and not one type of cloud computing is right for everyone. Several different models, types, and services have evolved to help offer the right solution for your needs. There are three different ways to deploy cloud services: on a public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud.

  • Public Cloud: Public clouds are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider, which deliver their computing resources like servers and storage over the Internet. With a public cloud, all hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure is owned and managed by the cloud provider. You access these services and manage your account using a web browser.
  • Private Cloud: A private cloud refers to cloud computing resources used exclusively by a single business or organization. A private cloud can be physically located on the company’s on-site datacenter. Some companies also pay third-party service providers to host their private cloud. A private cloud is one in which the services and infrastructure are maintained on a private network.
  • Hybrid Cloud: Hybrid clouds combine public and private clouds, bound together by technology that allows data and applications to be shared between them. By allowing data and applications to move between private and public clouds, a hybrid cloud gives your business greater flexibility, more deployment options, and helps optimize your existing infrastructure, security, and compliance.