Cloud Computing Advantages and Disadvantages

  • Post last modified:4 May 2023
  • Reading time:14 mins read
  • Post category:Cloud Computing
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What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing Definition: Cloud Computing is a new name for an old concept. The delivery of computing services from a remote location. Cloud Computing is Internet-based computing, where shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand.


Cloud Computing Advantages

Cloud computing advantages are briefly explained below:

  • Cost-saving
  • Better performance
  • Automatic software updates
  • Unlimited storage capacity
  • Mobility
  • Increased computing power

Cost-saving

This point is one of the financial advantages of cloud computing. There is no need to purchase powerful and expensive equipment to use cloud computing since all the processing is not at your local computer but in the cloud.

Better performance

Due to the fact that no programs or files are loaded on the local PC, users will not experience delays when switching on/off their computers and also the internal network will be much faster since no internal traffic will occur.

Automatic software updates

All the software’s need update and the great thing with cloud computing is that you do not have to worry for any updates and also your organization will not have any additional expenses when a new upgrade or update is necessary.

Unlimited storage capacity

The cloud offers virtually limitless storage capacity but at any time you can expand your storage capacity with a small additional charge on your monthly fee.

Mobility

This is one of the biggest advantages of cloud computing. Basically, when you use this technology, you are not limited to work on a single PC.

Increased computing power

When using cloud computing, you can use cloud computing power since you are no longer limited to what a single desktop computer can do.


Cloud Computing Disadvantages

Some of the cloud computing disadvantages are briefly explained below:

  1. Internet connection is required: It is impossible to work if your Internet connection is down. Since you are using the Internet to connect to your “cloud PC”, if there is no Internet connection simply you cannot connect.

  2. Performance can vary: when we are working in a cloud environment or application is running on the server which simultaneously provides services to other businesses that can affect the performance of our shared resource.

  3. Technical issue Cloud Computing technology is always prone to outrage and other technical issues.

  4. Security threat: Cloud server can be accessed by hackers while sharing cloud with the third party.

  5. Lack of support: Cloud Computing companies fail to provide proper support to the customers

Cloud Computing Issues

Apart from cloud computing advantages and disadvantages as discussed above, there are various cloud computing issues and cloud computing limitation.

There are majorly 5 cloud computing issues and those are explained below:

Cloud Computing Security Issue

Some of the cloud computing security issue problems which are faced by the cloud computing are as follows:

  1. Data integrity: when a data is on a cloud, anyone from any location can access those data from the cloud. Cloud does not differentiate between sensitive data from a common data thus enabling anyone to access sensitive data. There is a lack of data integrity in cloud computing.

  2. Data theft: Most of the cloud vendors instead of acquiring a server, they try to lease a server from other service providers because they are cost-effective and flexible for operation.

  3. Security on winter level: Vendor should make sure that the server is well secured from all the external threats it may come across. A Cloud is good only when there is good security provided by the vendor to the customers.

  4. Security on user level: Even though the vendor has provided good security layer for the customer, the customer should make sure that because of its own action, there should not be any loss of data or tampering of data for other users who are using the same cloud.

  5. Information security: Security related to the information exchange between different hosts and users. This issue pertaining to secure communication, authentication, issue concerning single sign-on and delegation.

Cloud computing Data Issue

Cloud computing data issue is as follows:

  1. Data loss: If the vendor closes due to financial or legal problems there will be loss of data for the customers for the customer. The customers will not be able to access those data because data is no more available for the customer as the vendor shut down.

  2. Data location: When it comes to the location of the data nothing is transparent even the customers do not know where his own data is located. The vendor does not reveal where all the data stored. The data will not be in the same country of the customer and it might be located anywhere in the world.

  3. Data lock-in: Software stacks have improved interpretability among platforms but the API is for cloud computing itself are still essential proprietary at least have not been the subject of active standardization. Others a customer cannot isliye extract the data and programs from one side to run on the another.

  4. Data segregation: Data in the cloud is typically stored in a shared environment whereby one customer data is stored alongside another customer data, hence it is difficult to assure data aggregation.

  5. Data confidentiality and auditability: Current cloud offering are essentially public networks, exposing the system to more attacks. Auditability could be added as an additional saver beyond the reach of virtual guest OS providing facilities arguably more secure than those built into the applications themselves and centralizing the software responsibilities related to confidentiality and auditability to a single logical layer.

  6. Data integrity: One of the biggest concern with cloud data storage is the verification of data integrity at untrusted servers and how to deal with sensitive data.

  7. Deletion of data: Data that has to be deleted by the user because he or she no longer needs it or may no longer process for another reason is also deleted by the provider and no more copies of data available. This can lead to problems, particularly in connection with backups.

  8. Service level agreements: According to the purpose for which the data is processed, it is important to agree on binding service levels for availability and data recovery and if necessary, safeguard by supporting fixed penalties in the event of non-compliance with agreed service levels.

Cloud computing Performance Issue

Various performance issue in cloud computing are:

  1. Poor application performance: Usually the application is not starved for RAM or CPU cycle and faster processing or more RAM is added.

  2. Slow access to application and data bandwidth is cause and the most common solution is to add fast and network connections.

Cloud computing Energy Issue

Various cloud computing energy-related issue are as follow:

  1. Cloud Computing is rapidly growing in importance as increasing numbers of enterprises and individuals are shifting the workload to cloud service providers.

  2. The electricity cost involved in operating a large cloud infrastructure of multiple data centre can be enormous. In fact, cloud service providers often must pay for the peak power they draw, as well as the energy consumed they consume.

  3. Lowering these high operating costs is one of the challenges faced by service providers.

  4. High power consumption by the cloud computing infrastructure leads to substantial CO2 emission contributing to the greenhouse effects.

Cloud Computing Fault tolerance issue

  1. Fault tolerance is one of the key issues in cloud computing. Fault tolerance is concerned with all the techniques necessary to enable a system to tolerate software faults.

  2. Fault tolerance techniques are employed during the procurement or development of the software.

Conclusion

Many organizations benefit from the agility, scale, and pay-per-use billing that cloud services offer. However, as the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) survey points out, many businesses face issues that need to be resolved before they trust their data to cloud apps.


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