Ephemerality and cloud resources
1. Ephemerality and cloud resources
You might know that phrase, "The only thing constant is change." This idea of change is directly relevant to cloud technology. Especially its ability to constantly keep up with amazing technical advancements, surprising market shifts, ever-evolving consumer demands, changing organizational structure, and so much more. The pace of change is accelerating, so it’s important to be able to adapt. This can be challenging, but it’s also an opportunity to grow and learn, just like you’re growing and learning through this training! By embracing change, you’re in a better position to stay ahead of the curve and make the most of whatever may come your way. And what’s coming your way in this video is an investigation into cloud computing and how it enables businesses to proactively respond to change. Let’s start with a quick definition. Cloud computing refers to the practice of using on-demand computing resources as services hosted over the internet. For example, this enables users to reduce information technology, or IT, overhead while enjoying advantages like scalability, enhanced collaboration, responsiveness, and cost savings. In cloud computing, an instance is a server resource that runs workloads in the cloud. Instances are created or retired quickly to keep pace with the latest releases and updates. Now, a very important part of cloud computing is something called ephemerality. Ephemerality is the concept that things only exist for a short amount of time. In other words, change in the cloud is constant! Cloud security analysts use ephemerality on the job all the time. Take this example: rather than spending time patching software on enduring physical servers, analysts create a new server image, which is a server in the cloud! Creating a new healthy server means analysts can quickly launch a new instance. Ephemerality helps make the cloud more flexible because resources can easily adapt to change. The CSP enhances the performance of cloud assets, since assets can scale quickly using ephemerality. Ephemeral resources are a big plus in the security field because they are less likely to be targeted by attackers! Cybercriminals would need to quickly find and exploit a vulnerability before it’s destroyed. All right, now let’s go over the three main categories of cloud computing resources: compute, storage, and networks. In the cloud, compute refers to computation performed by a physical computer in a remote environment. For example, memory, CPU, and storage are all compute components. Basically, compute is the brain power behind running resources. All of these compute elements run on remote servers, so organizations don't need to worry about managing or providing physical equipment. Organizations can efficiently scale the volume of their data up and down. Let’s take an example: Consider a clothing company that offers discounts to online purchases of winter jackets in the spring season. In the past, its website experienced lags and downtime because of the increased traffic. This frustrated customers and negatively affected sales. In response, this retailer opted to migrate to cloud computing. And next spring, the website’s workload automatically scaled to meet increased demand! Customers appreciated browsing and checking out quickly, thanks to the cloud’s low latency. Then, once the peak season was over, the company’s compute resources scaled back to normal workload levels. Good for the customer. Good for the business. Ok, next up is storage. Cloud data storage is a solution that enables organizations to keep, access, and maintain digital data on off-site, cloud-based storage devices. So, just like compute, the CSP uses a remote infrastructure when storing data. Finally, networks in the cloud run using software, unlike traditional networks that require physical devices. Software enables users to change their network designs without buying new hardware. And, using a cloud network provides visibility into the communication between your incoming and outgoing network traffic. With cloud computing’s compute, storage, and network capabilities, managing workloads is an efficient process. Better yet, from exciting new inventions, to sudden disruption, and everything in between, the cloud makes it possible to react to change with confidence. Now, I hope that you're also becoming more confident with your knowledge of the cloud.2. Let's practice!
Create Your Free Account
or
By continuing, you accept our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and that your data is stored in the USA.