The internet is evolving quickly. Implementation of newer concepts within a more robust technology framework is helping the platform to overcome the challenges of the past and explore the power of innovation. If you are even somewhat familiar with the web, chances are you have come across the term ‘cloud hosting’ or ‘cloud hosting providers’ not once but frequently. So, what is ‘cloud’? Is there a physical object by the name, and how is it related to hosting?

We will answer each of your questions but first,

Do you use Gmail, or have you shopped on Amazon, ever?

According to the latest reports, Gmail has 1.5billion active users and 197 million people from around the world visit Amazon.com every month. So, unless you count yourself out of these huge numbers, you have used the cloud.

This technology is here to stay and evolve, ensuring a seamless experience for brands and users alike. Let’s dive deeper.

What is cloud hosting?

It means hosting your website on a virtual server. To understand the concept, you need to know how it is different from the traditional hosting.

Traditionally, a website is launched on a single machine, physically stored in a data centre. Now this machine (which is basically a computer with higher resources and capacity) might be accommodating numerous other websites along with yours or might be dedicated for you, depending on the type of service you have chosen.

Naturally, having a dedicated server would give you higher resources and more power for a considerably higher cost.

Now let’s come to the cloud. Here, instead of having all your files on a single machine, the data is spread across different computers connected in a network. When you access the files, you are basically accessing different physical computers present in the network through a ‘virtual system’. So, the computer accommodating your file exists only ‘virtually’, and this virtual environment is called the cloud.

Here, websites and applications use resources available on the network, and the solutions are deployed by the cloud hosting services on the network of servers accommodating the applications and the websites.

The types of cloud hosting – Public and Private

Before we get to the second question, let’s familiarize with the private and public cloud concepts in brief.

In traditional hosting, you had the option to share the resources of a single system with other accounts or run your website or application on a computer that is dedicated for you. The first type is named a shared server as you are sharing the resources, while the second type is called a dedicated server because here the system will hold only your account.

Now, take the same concept of shared and dedicated servers to the latest technology, and you have what we call the public and private clouds.

If you are opting for a public version, the system, along with the resources, will be shared between different accounts. So, the same network will hold several sites, and as the resources are shared between several accounts, the cost will also be shared. But the difference from the traditional system is that here you will not be sharing processing power or disk space with other accounts, only the infrastructure will be shared.

It eliminates the typical problems of traditional shared services because resources, more than you will ever need, is always available.

Private cloud hosting gives you even more flexibility but obviously for a significant increase in the cost. The public version is mostly sufficient to serve the needs of small, medium, and even large enterprises. Suppose you are using multiple robust applications that need server setup services along with multiple websites with considerable traffic. In that case, you might consider private hosting, which will give you even more flexibility and security.

To understand why you should migrate to the cloud, check out the exclusive benefits that come with this amazing technology,

Reliability

Reliability has always been a concern in traditional web technology. Downtimes affect the brands miserably resulting not only business loss but also a significant loss in reputation and ranking.

In a traditional setup, when your website or application is accommodated on a single system, if the machine meets an issue and goes offline, your website will vanish along with it. But in this latest technology, the files are shared in multiple systems, and if one of the machines in the network goes down the slack is picked up by the other computers, ensuring that your site remains online.

However, this does not mean if your website is on the cloud, it will never go offline, but with 99.9% uptime guarantee by the companies offering cloud hosting in Australia, the risk of encountering a downtime as well as the recovery time is minimal.

Scalability

Your server requirements will change from time to time irrespective of the size or type of your business. Increased website traffic or the need to use more robust applications are some of the most common reasons for upscaling the resources. At the same time, you might need to downsize the resources to keep the cost within budget.

It comes with great scalability. If you are on the cloud, you can upscale or downsize your resources any moment without worrying for any overhead cost or hassle.

In most of the cases, you can scale the resources in just a click, even without having to call or inform the cloud hosting company.

You can even set your server resources ‘on-demand’, which will ensure that the resources are automatically increased or reduced depending on the demand. This ensures not only smooth operation for your applications and websites but also makes sure that you spend only for the resources you need, minimizing overall expenses.

Versatility

It is extremely versatile. It can accommodate every need of businesses of every size. Irrespective of the type of hosting, you will get the best-tailored options to fit into your needs.

You are open to choose not only the resources but also the architecture, front end, control panel, operating system, and all other features of the server as per your preferences. It is completely customizable, and plenty of options are available from any good service provider.

If your requirements do not suit the existing plans available or if you are not sure about the plans that will adequately accommodate your needs, talk to your web development company for more insights.

Security

Data security is a growing concern in the web world, but it is now quite different and in fact, more critical than what it used to be in the past. In the traditional system, loss of data due to system failure or disk crash was a challenge. The new technology has eliminated this issue by ensuring that there is always not only one but more than one backup of your website and web applications.

Renowned service providers also have the option to restore your entire website, with all the files and applications, through a single click in case you have messed up something by trying a new code and want to get back to the previous settings. This mirroring system has considerably changed the risk of data loss.

But, at present, the primary security threat comes from malicious applications. To ensure proper protection from malicious intents the latest security patches are installed in the servers and are updated regularly. Regular server health checks by the experts ensure data security.

To know more about how it can benefit your company, talk to your IT Consultancy. Coweso is a renowned cloud hosting provider, empowering enterprises with the latest technology driven services. To know more about our services, get in touch today.