Living In The Cloud: What Is ‘The Cloud’ And How Does It Work?

Within the tech industry, the words “the cloud” get used without most people understanding what it is and how it can help their business.

You may have heard the following words: “cloud services,” “cloud computing,” “cloud storage,” and “cloud services.” These terms often accompany this idea that the cloud is not a tangible physical thing. That, however, is incorrect.

The cloud tends to get the reputation of being an elusive construct that can help you or your business stream information, house sensitive data, and facilitate communication efforts without it having an address or place of residence. While the cloud does help you do all of those things, it does not reside in the sky. The cloud lives in a data center somewhere out of sight.

Over the years, LDI has seen how vital working in the cloud can be for companies looking to enhance their workflow, stay current, and keep their data secure. LDI’s Cloud Services division can help customers migrate their data, business processes, and communication platforms to the cloud with added customer support after the initial implementation.

This article will go over what the cloud is, how it works, and how your business can use it. By the end of this article, you will understand the cloud and how it can help your business’s workflow and overall performance.

What is ‘the cloud’?

While a cloud is a fluffy white ball of condensation, the cloud refers to an internet service that can be accessed remotely using any computing device. The cloud is a network of servers that act as one hard drive. The cloud can easily adhere to your company’s ever-changing requirements.

Through the cloud, software and services can be accessed and used via the internet instead of through your computer. All that is needed to access the cloud is a web browser and a reliable internet connection. 

Let’s dive in a bit further. If your computer has a limited amount of storage, here’s where cloud services can help you. Using the cloud can help you easily access your information which lives in a very secure data center. When applications are maintained in the cloud, they are using resources located in a data center resources from the cloud provider.

A data center refers to a center filled with server hardware maintaining cloud information and data. This data center can exist either on-premise or at another secure location.

There isn’t just one particular cloud, however. There is a public cloud, a private cloud, and a hybrid cloud. Let’s take a closer look at each below.

Public Cloud

A public cloud is a type of computing where a service provider enables resources to be made public through the internet. In a public cloud, the cloud provider owns all hardware and software, and you can only access services that have been made public by the provider.

Some examples of public cloud infrastructures include Gmail and Microsoft Office 365. These platforms enable anyone to utilize these services for their own personal use.

Private Cloud

A private cloud consists of resources only made available exclusively by one business or company. Within a private cloud, the organization’s services and infrastructure are sustained via a private network.

A private cloud can either be located at your office in your own server room or data center or it can be outsourced and monitored by a third-party service company.

Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud is a mixed IT infrastructure that combines both public and private cloud into one architecture. Hybrid cloud architecture enables an organization to relocate data and applications between public and private cloud infrastructures.

Abiding by a hybrid cloud infrastructure may give your company a competitive advantage being that the hybrid approach enables applications and services to operate together across boundaries with ease and flexibility as it correlates to data.

An example of an infamous hybrid cloud environment is Amazon Web Services (AWS). While Amazon Web Services is mostly known for its public cloud infrastructure it also provides a hybrid cloud infrastructure with on-premise installation services.

What Is Cloud Computing And How Does It Work?

From cloud storage to cloud-based applications, cloud computing is a term used to describe the delivery of IT resources and on-demand computing services via the internet.

For example, in the past, a person might have run an application from software downloaded to their computer. Now, cloud computing enables people to access those applications through the internet.

Your company does not need to own its own data center to benefit from cloud services, you can access technology services such as computing power, storage, and data access on an as-needed basis from a cloud services provider.

The cloud can be used for email, data backup, disaster recovery, virtual desktops, software development, software testing, big data, data analytics, customer-facing web applications, and more. 

Through cloud computing, your business can be more agile and no longer needs to buy servers, update operating systems, or upgrade applications. Utilizing cloud services takes the stress out of managing your own computing infrastructure and using up your computer network’s storage by migrating your data to the cloud.

What Use ‘The Cloud’? 

While the use of the cloud has been gaining more and more traction as the years go by, there are a few key reasons why using the cloud can benefit your business. Let’s dive into a few evident reasons that can help you decide whether a cloud-based solution is right for your business.

Data Security

The cloud provides many advanced security options that ensure your data is securely stored and monitored. During this time where most computers and servers are left unattended due to remote business models being the new norm, data breaches have been a huge concern for many businesses.

Luckily, cloud storage enables baseline protections such as authentication, access control, and encryption to keep your data secure. 

Mobility 

The cloud provides users with mobile access via smartphones and computing devices. Users can easily access, store, retrieve, and recover information in the cloud on the go.

The cloud can ensure that anyone who is authorized in your company can access data from anywhere at any time.

Scalability 

Your IT requirements may vary depending on the size of your company. According to business demands, the cloud provides the option of quickly and efficiently being able to scale your IT department up or down.

Businesses with growing or fluctuating bandwidth demands will greatly benefit from using cloud-based solutions.

Let’s say your business requires an increase in cloud storage, your company can easily increase cloud capacity without needing to invest money in physical infrastructure. 

Ready To Use A Cloud-Based Solution? 

The cloud can significantly affect an organization’s overall productivity, security, collaboration efforts, revenue, and more. Relying on an on-premise infrastructure is not the most reliable solution anymore.

Here at LDI, we know how important it is to keep your team connected, productive, and highly efficient. LDI Elevate is an easy-to-use cloud-based unified communications solution that LDI offers customers to help them be more collaborative and productive whether they’re working remotely or at the office. LDI Elevate can effectively integrate all communication tools and host them in the cloud.

Reach out to an LDI representative today regarding our cloud services today.