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Utility and Cloud Computing

Derrick Hobbs

David Conway

CIS/568

Utility computing refers to a system where computer services are rendered at a pay-per-user billing and when on demand (John, 2016). The provider takes control of the system regarding operation and management of the computing infrastructure. Users have access to the services when required and as they may dim fit, but on a rental basis. Due to the economy and the flexibility it provides, it is one of the most popular computing service models available today. The principle on which utility computing is built is where the provider has the back-end infrastructure of the computing services while the consumer is allowed access the services over a private or a virtual network whenever they need the services.

Cloud computing is a much broader concept than utility computing. However, it is also built on the principle of utility computing (Geva, 2008). It is difficult to get a precise definition of cloud computing but the idea behind it is that applications run somewhere nobody can tell hence the name cloud. End users have been using computers and running system without caring to know where they actually run from. For developers and IT operators, cloud computing allows them to deploy and run systems that can grow capacity, improve performance with reduced possibilities of failure. Cloud computing infrastructure is self-driven, allows for multi-tenancy, virtualized and deals specifically with data management.

Utility computing has significantly changed the economics of information technology. Initially, upfront capital investments and lead times were required to obtain computing resources. Utility computing apart from making cloud computing a success, has reduced the upfront payments and lead times and companies and individuals can access computing services on demand. Utility and cloud computing has also made it possible for consumers to view their charges in real time. the systems are designed programmatically such that at the request of computing resources, the system has a billing platform that automatically processes the data.

Today, the company has a few computers it for the computing services of data storage and bandwidth the company is charged per hour. Due to cloud computing the company can scale up and reduce the operation costs related to computing services. The company can do this through automatic scaling by making more requests using an API. The cloud computing is such that it offers more discounts where prices reduce as you use more of the service.

The other issue of data security. Data is the most important element for companies and its security is, therefore, of critical importance. Companies have started to realize that the data they have is growing and securing it might be a problem leave alone the storage space. Cloud computing is bringing on board a platform that is efficient not only in data storage but also in security. Cloud storage is one of the safest way to store information today because eve its security is much more guaranteed that the previous data storage methods.

Companies are headed to a point where they will source external storage services for their databases. This is the essence utility and cloud computing. Utility and cloud computing are becoming mainstream options for businesses as storage and data safety continues to become an issue (John, 2016). In this regard, it is important for businesses and companies to start appreciating the relevance of utility and cloud computing in business environment.

References

John S. (2016). What is Utility Computing? Retrieved from: https://simplicable.com/new/utility-computing on 1/11/2018

Geva P. (2008). How Cloud & Utility Computing Are Different. Retrieved from: https://gigaom.com/2008/02/28/how-cloud-utility-computing-are-different/ on 1/11/2018