First of all, to explain what cloud hosting is, the “cloud” refers to a network of computers interconnected to provide system resources on-demand, such as data storage and computing power. The computers, or servers, which make up the cloud reside in data centers which can be located throughout the world. Users access the cloud network using the internet, and are presented with a virtual dashboard to navigate infrastructure and to perform desired tasks. Often, when the cloud consists of a large enough volume of geographically redundant computers, tasks can be distributed between them to more efficiently use computing power.
Modern day businesses all require the use of digital software to manage their everyday tasks, including accounting, marketing, project management, procurement, and more. This software is referred to as enterprise resource planning (ERP), and it often includes data and statistics on business performance. For this software to be accessed it must be hosted using servers. The hosting servers can either be located on-premise at the business establishment, or can be located elsewhere with a cloud provider where the software is accessible to the users via the internet. In other words, infrastructure is either on-premise or cloud hosted. Now, to answer the question, “What is cloud hosting?”; it is when a business relies on a company to host their enterprise resource planning over a cloud network. It is the alternative to managing one’s own on-premise infrastructure to complete the same task.
There are intricacies in leveraging either option to achieve the goals of one’s business. On-premise infrastructure presents businesses with a high capital cost, as the hardware is obtained via a one time cost. Businesses must anticipate the future workload on their servers and employ adequate hardware to meet this requirement. With on-premise infrastructure, demanding more means outright deploying additional servers, which is an irreversible action. Furthermore, IT personnel must be readily available to conduct backend configuration, security, and troubleshooting. This presents itself as a potentially overwhelming cost which must be taken into consideration.
On the other hand, cloud hosted infrastructure is managed entirely by a team of professionals. In this sense, cloud hosting allows businesses to avoid the distraction of having to tackle IT requirements, and to direct the entirety of their focus toward fulfilling their core objectives. The burden will be entirely shifted to the cloud provider. With cloud hosting, businesses will only pay for what they directly use, and not what they estimated they would use. The infrastructure is also fully scalable, as businesses have the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade storage space, computing power, and whatever else they may need. Additionally, the costs associated with this model of infrastructure are entirely variable costs.
Both on-premise and cloud infrastructure are vulnerable to a wide range of security threats ranging from cyber attacks to natural disasters. It is how these vulnerabilities are mitigated which sets either model apart from the other. For instance, if any natural disaster or denial of service attack renders a particular data center unoperational, then the redundant nature of the cloud will prevent system failure. Considering on-premise systems do not exhibit this element of redundancy, an identical worst case scenario would result in catastrophic failure. Additional features such as automatic backup, which may be offered by cloud providers, can further protect business information.
With on-premise infrastructure, the quality of security is only as good as can be established by your IT team. On the other hand, the professionals working for your cloud provider often have extensive experience in this field allowing them to implement security of high quality. In this sense, it may prove worthwhile to pursue cloud hosted infrastructure, because it means you won’t have to invest in a full-fledged team of IT personnel. This is especially desirable for smaller businesses who are unable to warrant excessive IT expenditures. For larger businesses who do possess the capacity to operate on-premise infrastructure in a sufficient manner, cloud hosting commonly remains a top choice because of the security features it introduces.
Server Cloud Canada in particular offers customers best-in-class security. This includes strict policy enforcement, strong access control, encryption, active monitoring, along with privacy and DDoS protection. Furthermore we offered multi-tier, 24/7, support for any inquiry or service request. We have extensive experience in a variety of industries, including finance, health, education, and more. Our infrastructure is entirely Canadian owned and operated ensuring your business operations are compliant with all federal and provincial privacy laws. These are just some of the offerings which separate Server Cloud Canada from other providers, and if you’re interested in learning more you can click here.
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