Cloud Computing & Cloud Hosting

                 Cloud, we would imagine a big white fluffy smoke in the sky that contain water and oxygen. What about cloud in term of computer world? No, the right question is what is cloud computing? Cloud Computing means storing your data and accessing it and also running programs using internet instead of using your hard drive.When we use hard drive to store files or running software it’s called local storage. You will need a high speed internet connection to run programs as well to access data. Normally these days all country have already widen their broadband internet connection to get a faster connection, so there are no problems regarding internet connection. But if your office are in remote area that cannot receive internet connection or bad connection, this cloud computing services will be useless.

What Cloud services usually provide?

1.       Cloud storage

This is the basic services that should be included, a huge storage that can store many of clients’ files. 

2.       Cloud Hosting

Usually to running programs or software that not need a lot of local hard drive, also to run websites.

In Practical basis, cloud computing services can be divide into two categories:

1.      Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

In this type, client will be provided with virtual hardware resources that can be install with their own choice of soft wares and programs. More complex of work, but since client can custom their need of software it’s preferable for a big IT team.

2.      Platform as a Service (PaaS)

With this type, people with a little of IT team will be consider to choose, because its already provided with software environment so client can go straight installing and developing their websites.

Private Cloud & Public Cloud.

                 Regarding the above describe about cloud computing, there are two term that will be familiar to client, private and public cloud. Private Cloud is dedicated for single organization that has similar advantage to public cloud including self-service and scalability but through own private architecture. Private cloud offer hosted services and gives companies direct control over their data. Public cloud share a computing infrastructure across different users or business units, but not all business suitable with public cloud. Companies/ business unit with security concern, critical workloads, and up time management demand are highly recommended to avoid public cloud, and use private cloud instead.

Two side of Coin

                 Good side about cloud computing is you don’t need to spend a huge budget to provide massive hard drive and space in your office, just rent a cloud services provider for your business. But as a coin has two side, there are also down side this system. Your valued data will be out of your briefcase, there are possibility that your data will be hacked since the data is in internet premises.

Let’s keep on open mind about this opportunity to widen our knowledge and utility, cloud computing is intended to make our business run a lot easy because cloud computing can be use anywhere and anytime.

Here are reasons your company should move on to and start using Cloud Computing

1.       1. Force Major Recovery

Prepare for worst case scenario, your company get unfortunate moment, cloud could help your company to get that data or running program.

2.       2. Automatic Software Updates

Vendor take care of the maintenance of cloud software include update it with latest version.

3.       3. Flexible

Cloud services are ideal for growing business because client can choose bandwidth demands, if need more bandwidth it’s easy to scale up, and also if client need to scale down also applicable.

4.       4. Work from Anywhere

All you need is just internet connection and you connect with cloud server, you are no restricted with location as long have internet connection. With this activity your business can run from everywhere and its flexible also enjoyable to pick your own place of work and not sit in the same place.

5.       5. Document Control

In old days, people usually send files back and forth as email attachment to be worked by one person at a time, later on you’ll get a bunch of files with many different format and content, so confusing. With cloud, all files can be store centrally and work together in the same page.

6.       6. Competitive

Using cloud gives access for anyone to enterprise-class technology, act faster with small amount of cost.

7.       7. Secure

If you lost your laptops or your computer are stolen, the cost is not just that price of laptop but the valued data that contain in it. But since your data is store in cloud, you can retrieve it, no matter what happen to your machines.

Domain & Hosting

           For you who are newbie in internet (myself included), who only googling and comment on path, twitter or Facebook probably still can’t distinguish between domain and hosting. Well that’s natural since our purpose of using internet is just having fun. But if we change our mindset about our internet activity, not just wasting time but to make money that can support our education or family welfare, we will surely need to know about these two words.

           First is domain. What is domain? Domain is a name that we put in our website, such as Facebook, yahoo, google, etc. Name of our website -domain- cannot be the same with others that already in internet, “there can only be one” as the highlander said. Why? Because your name domain is where you post your articles, photos and other memories. Domain can be long or short depends on you, what kind of name you want for your website.

Do & don’t for domain name:

1.      1. Don’t use symbols.

Put yourself in your friend’s ear (usually shoe, but I want a different one), if you said “visit my website 4licious.com” what they will type in browsers? Fourlicious or 4licious or 4-licious or four-licious? Make your domain name as easy to spell and pronounce.

2.      2. Don’t use s*x or vulgar word

You know it’s a forbidden activity to be display but very much people searching for it. Several country had blocked domain names that lead to s*x activity. If you still use that word your web probably would not reachable from certain country visitor.

3.      3. Don’t use other brand

That’s obvious! You want to sell your own product or competitor products? Make sure your domain name have distinctive compare to competitors’ name.

4.       4. Long or Short domain names?

Actually there are no disadvantage about long or short domain names as long your name easy to spell and don’t use the forbidden 3 above.

5.       5. Com, org, net etc

Usually people will use .com instead of others, but you can’t always get what you want right? If you’re desirable domain.com is not available try .net or .info. For .org usually use by non-commercial organization. Make sure for your commercial or individual website to use .com because it’s the most popular top level domain.

6.      6. Use Keyword as domain

I bet you already know about SEO (Search Engine Optimizer), a little thing about SEO, if you put a keyword that represent your product in your site there are a possibility google will put it on first page. You must be disagree, because some people not put keyword in their domain name and still in first page. I am not a really expert on this (since I’m just a newbie), but some people say it would do your site a good thing in SEO. Well in SEO not only domain name, but article also important. You can explore more about SEO by googling.

Where do you get domain names for your website?

           You can buy it online, there are tons of website that sells domain names with various price just compare it and pick one that you comfort with. Just search it “buy domain name”, and there you go! There are locals’ domain name and international domain name, if you want mass coverage you should choose international domain name, and for the segmented area you should choose locals domain name.

Let’s move on to our second subjects, hosting (web hosting). What is Web Hosting?

Web Hosting is where you put your domain to, some kind of space that you can rent. Without hosting you cannot placed your files and your domain would like a disconnected phone number in phone book. It’s a service that allowed your domain to be online on internet. There are three types of Hosting:

1.       1. Shared Web Hosting

This type of service contains a very large number of website that it hosted in same server. As you can see, with a lot of web in one server hosting there are possibility your website could have misconduct due to the capacity of server that are running busy.

2.       2. Dedicated Web Hosting

This type of service are a save hosting for your website, because the entire server is dedicated for your website only.

3.       3. Virtual Private server Hosting (VPS Hosting)

This type of service is a hybrid of the two above, a website is hosted with virtual server. Its mimics a dedicated server within a shared hosting server environment. It’s different from shared and dedicated server because you don’t have to pay a lot of money for dedicated services but you get the same services.

           After you bought domain and hosting, you must connected the two. It is recommended for a newbie (such as myself) to buy domain and hosting from the same web, because you can get support immediately by that site, my experience buy domain from “A” site and hosting from “B” site is very confusing and a hard sweat. It’s hard work for me since I’m not really a gadget guy. So I ask my friend that know about this thing to help.

           Before you rent a host server make to know about what’s include in that package rental, such as how long rental period? How many storage apply? 24/7 customer support teams?

Local Hosting or Foreign Hosting?

           From my search in web, there are no boundaries for better host between locals and foreign. Some people says USA Hosting Server is better than others, but that’s depends on the company that provide hosting services, dedicated server or not, and package plan that you choose.