{"id":6240,"date":"2021-01-22T07:43:19","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T05:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/?p=6240"},"modified":"2021-01-22T07:43:21","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T05:43:21","slug":"cloud-infrastructure-a-tech-definition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/cloud-infrastructure-a-tech-definition\/","title":{"rendered":"cloud infrastructure-a tech definition"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Cloud infrastructure refers to the hardware and software components — such as servers, storage, a network, virtualization software, services and management tools — that support the computing requirements of a\u00a0cloud computing\u00a0model.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Posted by:\u00a0Margaret Rouse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WhatIs.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributor(s): James Montgomery; Kurt Marko; Nicholas Rando; Beth Pariseau; Alex Barrett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloud infrastructure also includes an\u00a0abstraction layer\u00a0that virtualizes and logically presents resources and services to users through\u00a0application program interfaces\u00a0and API-enabled command-line or graphical interfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In cloud computing, these virtualized resources are hosted by a service provider or IT department and are delivered to users over a network or the internet. These resources include virtual machines and components, such as servers, memory, network switches, firewalls, load balancers and storage.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cloud infrastructure components<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In a cloud computing architecture, cloud infrastructure refers to the back-end hardware elements found within most enterprise data centers, but on much greater scale. These include multisocket, multicore servers, persistent storage and\u00a0local area network\u00a0equipment, such as switches and routers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major\u00a0public cloud\u00a0providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS),\u00a0Microsoft Azure\u00a0and\u00a0Google Cloud Platform, offer services based on shared, multi-tenant servers. This model requires massive compute capacity to handle both unpredictable changes in user demand and to optimally balance demand across fewer servers. As a result, cloud infrastructure typically consists of high-density systems with shared power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A view of a typical cloud infrastructure, which includes servers, applications, clients and other components.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, unlike most traditional data center infrastructures, cloud infrastructure typically uses locally\u00a0attached storage, both solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drive (HDDs), instead of shared\u00a0disk arrays\u00a0on a\u00a0storage area network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disks in each system are aggregated using a\u00a0distributed file system\u00a0designed for a particular storage scenario, such as object, big data or block. Decoupling the storage control and management from the physical implementation via a distributed file system simplifies scaling.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It also helps cloud providers match capacity to users’ workloads by incrementally adding compute nodes with the requisite number and type of local disks, rather than in large amounts via a large storage chassis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public vs. private vs. hybrid cloud architectures<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cloud infrastructure is present in each of the three main cloud computing deployment models: private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud. In a\u00a0private cloud, an organization typically owns the cloud infrastructure components and houses them within its own data center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a public cloud model, the cloud infrastructure components are owned by a third-party public cloud provider. A\u00a0hybrid cloud\u00a0consists of a mix of both models working together to form a single logical cloud for the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloud infrastructure as a service<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While cloud infrastructure is the hardware and software components required for cloud computing,\u00a0infrastructure as a service (IaaS)\u00a0is the delivery model by which organizations can deliver those cloud infrastructure components, including compute, storage and networking, over a dedicated internet connection. Components, resources and services delivered from the cloud typically carry recurring periodic costs to the user, allowing providers to generate revenue through rental or other “pay as you go” models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of those basic cloud infrastructure services, providers offer an array of more granular, specialized services. Examples include container infrastructure, service fabrics, serverless functions, and managed network services (virtual private clouds, load balancers, domain name services, application delivery controllers, firewalls).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Cloud providers typically price IaaS on a metered basis, with rates corresponding to usage at a given level of performance. For\u00a0virtual servers, this means different prices for various server sizes, typically measured as an increment of a standard virtual CPU size and corresponding memory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For storage, pricing is typically based on the type of storage service, such as object or block, performance level (SSD or HDD) and availability — a single storage location, or replication across multiple geographic regions. Capacity is measured by usage per unit time, typically per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IaaS vendors also provide discounts for sustained usage, or the use of a consistent level of compute capacity for a specified amount of time, or reserved capacity, <\/em>where users can prepay for a guaranteed level of capacity for a month, year or multiple years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, the lines have blurred between IaaS and platform-as-a-service (PaaS), which builds additional capabilities on top of those infrastructure resources. These include functions such as load balancing, autoscaling, and application development frameworks. Customers’ overall IT and business requirements should determine whether it matters how far up and down the stack they rely upon an individual cloud provider’s services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IaaS vendors include AWS, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba and IBM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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