The idea of cloud computing is not new, in fact, the first computer resource sharing service was developed in 1960. The term “cloud computing” was first used in a scientific paper in 1997 and around 2010 cloud computing became mainstream. As you might know, Cloud computing is defined as on-demand availability of computer resources (Memory, CPU, Data storage) meaning you have the option to scale up or down the resources without the hassle of hardware management.
Cloud servers enable small businesses to access the state of the art solutions and the latest technology that was out of their reach a few years ago. This article highlights the benefits of Cloud servers for small business.
Cost Saving: one of the biggest barriers to adopting new technology is the upfront capital cost and allocating funds for upkeep and hardware upgrades. Cloud servers, on the other hand, require minimal capital expenditure and no long term contracts or commitments. You also pay for what you use, you can always start from the bare minimum resources and add resources as you go. Since the infrastructure service provider will look after the hardware maintenance your IT personnel will have more time to work on more important projects.
Flexibility and Scalability: server resources are limitless; you can upgrade the memory, CPU, and storage as you go. You can always provision a server with minimum resources and when you have high demand you can add resources to your server for a few weeks and downgrade it later if you like. You also have access to more sophisticated solutions like firewall, auto-scaling, cloning the server or deploying a load balancer.
Reliability: built-in High Availability (HA) design gives you peace of mind as it significantly reduces the chance of downtime and outage. Fully redundant network, multiple BGP partners, N+1 high-performance chillers and cooling towers, redundant data storage, and pool or servers are set up to ensure your application and website will be accessible 24/7. Loss of data is thing of past there are many backup solutions available
Accessibility: cloud server offers greater accessibility to your application and data. It enables employees to access data and applications from anywhere and anytime. Most of your web application would be accessible through browsers and mobile devices. All and all it makes collaboration much easier.
