CLOUD COMPUTING

 

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet ("the cloud") to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

How does cloud computing work?

Rather than owning their own computing infrastructure or data centres, companies can rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider.

One benefit of using cloud-computing services is that firms can avoid the upfront cost and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, and instead simply pay for what they use, when they use it.

In turn, providers of cloud-computing services can benefit from significant economies of scale by delivering the same services to a wide range of customers.

What cloud-computing services are available?

Cloud-computing services cover a vast range of options now, from the basics of storage, networking and processing power, through to natural language processing and artificial intelligence as well as standard office applications. Pretty much any service that doesn't require you to be physically close to the computer hardware that you are using can now be delivered via the cloud.

History of cloud computing :

Cloud computing as a term has been around since the early 2000s, but the concept of computing as a service has been around for much, much longer – as far back as the 1960s, when computer bureaus would allow companies to rent time on a mainframe, rather than have to buy one themselves.

These 'time-sharing' services were largely overtaken by the rise of the PC, which made owning a computer much more affordable, and then in turn by the rise of corporate data centres where companies would store vast amounts of data.

But the concept of renting access to computing power has resurfaced again and again – in the application service providers, utility computing, and grid computing of the late 1990s and early 2000s. This was followed by cloud computing, which really took hold with the emergence of software as a service and hyperscale cloud-computing providers such as Amazon Web Services.

How important is the cloud?

Building the infrastructure to support cloud computing now accounts for a significant chunk of all IT spending, while spending on traditional, in-house IT slides as computing workloads continue to move to the cloud, whether that is public cloud services offered by vendors or private clouds built by enterprises themselves.

Tech analyst Gartner predicts that as much as half of spending across application software, infrastructure software, business process services and system infrastructure markets will have shifted to the cloud by 2025, up from 41% in 2022. It estimates that almost two-thirds of spending on application software will be via cloud computing, up from 57.7% in 2022.

That's a shift that only gained momentum in 2020 and 2021 as businesses accelerated their digital transformation plans during the pandemic. The lockdowns throughout the pandemic showed companies how important it was to be able to access their computing infrastructure, applications and data from wherever their staff were working – and not just from an office.

Gartner said that demand for integration capabilities, agile work processes and composable architecture will drive the continued shift to the cloud.

Current and Future of Cloud Computing :

Current Status of Clouds, the S-Curve Bandwidth, perception, loss of control, trust and feasibility were the challenges that confronted the presence of CC service in the past. Many of these challenges were overcome by our new technologies and others will be in the future. Which means that this service moved from virtual to real and will be advanced as our technologies advance. The desire to reduce costs and add flexibility to huge enterprises are the most effective reasons that will make CC commonly used. In the coming few years, we would expect more and more companies to adopt for the cloud solution. Many companies both big and small, are currently seriously considering shifting to cloud services because of the many benefits to a cloud solution. The current status of CC is past the Innovators stage and gently moving up the lower cusp of the S-curve into Early Adopter stage.

The advantages and benefits of CC are categorized in three categories: –

Centralization:

·        Competitive advantage in data access.

·        Huge flexibility in data access.

– Cost: Few huge clouds cost less than thousands of large local servers. Less materials, less areas, fewer employers.

– Environmental effects:

1.      Less need for infrastructure,

2.      Less need for hardware,

3.      Huge reduction in energy consumption.

Future of cloud computing :

In the future, more cloud adoption is inevitable. However, for a better assessment of the future of clouds, we will discuss some of the current challenges and gaps that are hindering the rapid evolution of this technology. Such gaps and challenges can be divided into two categories: technical and nontechnical. After discussing the gaps, we will suggest corresponding set of suitable R&D steps that needs to be taken to overcome these challenge and make a better use of the CC system (Attention: some gaps might happen in the future and will need to be taken care of). – Technical:

 

1. The ability to detect failures, adapt to the required scale of resources., ensuring continuous availability of such resources, and meeting clients expectations in terms of quality.

2.  Privacy and Security.

3. New security holes will appear with hackers advancing in their efforts.

4. Adaptability. Example: If a CPU is added to a virtual machine that is already in use, the running code should be able to adapt and make use of the additional resource without having to be restarted or even adapted.

Conclusion

Cloud computing (CC) offers an exciting opportunity to build data structures that promise to solve problems associated with economic modeling, terrorism, healthcare and epidemics, etc… and to bring on-demand applications to customers in an environment of reduced risk and enhanced reliability [1]. Moreover, clouds could play a major role in climate change as they have proved to be a reliable green option that will contribute to reduction of carbon footprints. CC promises to reduce run time and response time of deploying applications, increase the pace of innovation, and lower entry costs, all while increasing business agility. As much as it seems promising, successful deployment of cloud technology requires change of design for current existing applications and cannot just be unleashed on the cloud as it is.

Making Sense of Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

 

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency functions as an exchange medium, a store of value, and a unit of measurement. Even though cryptocurrencies have little intrinsic worth, they are used to price the value of other assets. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency (a form of payment), but it can also be viewed as a speculative commodity (how much it is worth). It was released in 2009 and is widely regarded as the first digital asset. Digital assets, often known as crypto assets, are digital representations of value enabled by cryptography and blockchain technology. Their original intention was to act as a vehicle for transferring value without the involvement of a bank or other trustworthy third-party agency. There are three categories of crypto-assets (digital assets): cryptocurrencies, crypto commodities, and crypto tokens. One new topic is the concept of stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies that are tied to a stable asset such as the US dollar and may become an important component in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Blockchain Technology

Perhaps in response to the 2008 global financial industry meltdown, Satoshi Nakamoto created a protocol for a peer-to-peer electronic payment system. This protocol served as the foundation for distributed ledgers known as blockchains. Blockchain functions similarly to a global spreadsheet or ledger. It lacks a central database and instead runs on computers donated by volunteers all across the world. A blockchain is open to the public: anyone can examine it at any moment because it is stored on the network rather than within a single institution. To preserve virtual security, a blockchain is encrypted and uses public and private keys. A blockchain enables a person to send money to another person without having to go through a bank or financial services provider.

Applications of Blockchain

Finance

One of the primary functions of the financial sector is the storage and transfer of money from one entity to another. This necessitates the use of a reliable middleman, such as a bank. By decentralizing transactions, blockchain is virtually eliminating the need for such intermediaries. Blockchain is assisting in resolving some of the issues associated with the interoperability of diverse financial systems around the world by moving the means of the transaction out of siloed, closed networks.

The ability to track all transactions also improves the transparency and security of blockchain-based payments. This is advantageous to both the participants in a transaction and the applicable regulators.

Cybersecurity

Because the network of nodes (the disparate computers on which the shared database is stored and which validate transactions) can cross-reference to locate the source of a disputed change, data stored on a blockchain is rendered tamper-proof, so the technology has several potential cybersecurity applications. Storing data across a network of devices decreases the possibility of a hacker exploiting a single point of weakness. Decentralizing control of edge devices (which give an access point into company or service provider core networks) and Internet of Things devices can also improve their security.

Non-fungible tokens

NFTs, as they are more generally known, are blockchain tokens, but they differ from cryptocurrencies in that they are distinct digital assets. NFTs can technically represent ownership of anything, however, they are most commonly used to buy and sell digital art. This digital art already exists in many situations and is freely available on the internet for anybody to view, buy, or download. An NFT grants ownership of the work of art. Consider the distinction between owning an original painting and a print of it.

The future

Blockchain technology encompasses more than simply cryptocurrency. Instead, this one-of-a-kind technology may be used in practically any computer system to improve security, efficiency, and processing speed.

In this sense, blockchain has the potential to transform the way we think about information technology (IT). Blockchain technology, which is powered by a decentralized database, can be used to validate data for a variety of reasons.

Blockchain technology has various advantages that have piqued the interest of many businesses (and even governments) throughout the world.

In theory, because blockchain technology can be used in any existing computer application, the possibilities are that Blockchain will usher the world into a massive digital transition over the next decade.

The global blockchain market is expected to reach $104.9 billion by 2028. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are causing upheavals far beyond the financial services sector, with blockchain start-ups and traditional institutions quickly capturing the momentum this technology affords. The rate of technological evolution shows no signs of decreasing.

While some are skeptical about cryptocurrency's future, many see 2021 as a watershed moment for their investment portfolio. It has to be seen whether it is a good long-term investment. Some believe Bitcoin's fixed supply will cause it to rise in value over time, whereas the large ecosystem of decentralized apps being developed on the Ethereum blockchain platform should boost its worth in the long run.

Conclusion

It is obvious that bitcoin and information technology are not dissimilar concepts. Eventually, the public will have access to a digital economy that is completely independent of the regulation of governments, banks, and other centralized organizations, thanks to advances in information technology (IT) and the widespread usage of blockchain technology.

Nonetheless, while most people are still a long way from seeing this reality, online communities may now rely on frameworks to create their virtual currencies and conduct transactions among their members.