Cloud servers are physical or virtual servers that run on a cloud-based computing environment. A cloud server is built and hosted as well as performed in the cloud environment on the internet. Since cloud servers run only via an internet connection, it is easy to approach them remotely from a different machine and location. Cloud servers are also known as virtual servers rather than physical servers because they consist of a group of software programmes that helps them run and work independently on the network. There are some key benefits of cloud servers that physical servers don’t provide. Check out this entire post if you want to learn more about the cloud and cloud servers.
What is Cloud?
The cloud is a combination of servers that are connected to the same internet connection and are part of an application or service. These services can include web hosting, software use, data hosting, data sharing, etc. Alternatively, the cloud also refers to cloud computing where different servers are connected with each other to transfer workload. It also means that you can distribute complex tasks throughout different machines in the cloud servers without having to use just one machine for the workload.
Cloud also provides you with cloud storage where you can store many distributed resources. If your cloud has data and files, you won’t have to create another version of them to distribute them to another computer because those data and files are accessible on other machines through the internet.
When a resource is on the cloud, it means that you can deliver it to another machine over the network, and the resource does not have to be in the physical place to access directly. Cloud servers are an example of a cloud-computing resource. But cloud storage, networking and software, cloud databases also fall under cloud computing. To understand how a cloud server works, you will have to check out the below section.
How does the Cloud Server Work?
A cloud server is created through virtualization on the network by installing a hypervisor or a management software program. Hypervisor connects the cloud servers together and virtualizes them by separating their resources and gathering them together that would create virtual servers. Then developers automate these resources and deliver them across multiple companies or in a single company over the cloud environment. And then, the staff at the company can access the databases in the cloud.
Automation and delivery of the cloud resources across multiple organizations of a single organization are known as the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model. The companies that apply LaaS don’t manage their network but they can monitor it from the third-party companies that deliver on-demand resources via the cloud network. Cloud servers examples include public or private cloud environments.
A public cloud can be used to access or store data temporarily and scale it as soon as the needs change. Cloud providers can also configure the cloud server as a dedicated server, and that would make it a bare-metal server. Cloud service providers dedicated physical servers to a particular user who needs a lot of storage or performance. We said that there are two main types of cloud servers—public and private cloud servers. But there is another one attached to the list.
How many types of Cloud Servers are there?
There are different types of cloud servers that enterprises can choose from but these are the main options:
Public Cloud Servers
Public cloud server providers host a virtual machine or computing instance on their own network infrastructure and then distribute that to other users through the internet. We have talked about this before and informed you that this distribution method is recognised as IaaS. The public cloud servers include Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Google Compute Engine instances, and Microsoft Azure instances.
Private Cloud Servers
When a cloud server is a system instance within a private cloud on an on-premise basis, you can call it a private cloud server. Now, the organization will deliver the cloud server to its users through a LAN network. And the company can also deliver the server to outside users through the internet. Private servers exist only within the company’s infrastructure, while public cloud servers are available outside of the office premise as well.
Dedicated or Hybrid Cloud Servers
Dedicated cloud servers are also known as dedicated cloud instances that are used in organizations when they deploy the third layer of virtualization to the cloud server to improve its security and performance. These types of hybrid cloud servers can be public or private cloud servers.
Cloud servers are important for large or small enterprises, and they are available in a large range of computing options. They come with different processors and memory resources. They also have many other benefits.
What are the Benefits of Cloud Servers?
In order to choose the best cloud server, you need to determine your specific requirements. Regardless of what type of server you select, the following benefits are always available.
Spread Your Workloads Globally
With public cloud servers, you can share your workloads with a global audience. However, the performance of the server is dependent on several other factors such as geographic distance, network latency, etc. But public cloud servers allow you to upload your workloads in different geographic locations so that the resources are easy to access from anywhere.
Low Cost and Flexibility
There is a pay-per-use model for public cloud servers and they are more affordable than physical servers. Even the maintenance cost of the physical servers are more than the public servers. Hence, this can help you save some money for other organizational success. Moreover, cloud servers are flexible since you can obtain them from any device anytime. Most of the time, we use cloud servers for temporary workloads and developers use them for software deployments mostly.
Easy to Use
Cloud servers can be managed by a single administrator within a few minutes. You won’t have to bother about the installation of a server if it is a public cloud server. And you won’t even have to worry about the maintenance and other related things about using a public server, unlike a physical server.
Despite all these advantages, there are some disadvantages that cloud servers come with too.
What are the Disadvantages of Cloud Servers?
If your organization wants to use cloud servers, you might as well want to consider its disadvantages.
Government’s Regulations
Governance rules and various regulatory obligations sometimes won’t allow organizations to use cloud servers to store data in different locations.
Performance
The cloud servers are multi-tenant environments where you cannot control the performance of the servers directly especially when it comes to their locations. Therefore, the servers can negatively impact the storage and performance of virtual machines. However, a dedicated cloud service can help a company prevent this problem.
Conclusion
The difference between cloud servers and physical servers is their nature. Cloud servers are accessible through the internet, while physical or the traditional form of servers are only accessible through computing machines. However, that’s not the only advantage of public or private cloud servers. Cloud servers can also provide organizations with cost-effectiveness, reliability, flexibility, scalability, etc. Cloud servers might not be able to meet all the requirements of a particular organization. The lack of control over the server can make using cloud servers for your business more challenging than it needs to be. Even so, cloud servers are worth it for companies since they offer high security and convenience.