Small Business Web Hosting

Recently, in a discussion, some people raised a question that, “What is the difference between B2B and B2C in cloud computing?” There was no clue what they were trying to say… So, I asked them to define the “Cloud B2B” as opposed to “Cloud B2C”.

B2B is a cloud according to those people. It is a public cloud in which a particular contract is done between the client and the cloud hosting server provider. For example, Amazon has a team seeking corporate clients. Clients accept these legal terms and conditions that differ from the standard terms and conditions of their websites. As defined, the B2C is a cloud that uses standard terms and conditions, such as the one you read before you tick the box “I accept the terms and conditions”.

The discussion promptly focused on the need for regulations to make sure that the users understand exactly, what you accept when you subscribe a service in the cloud and what kind of client should benefit from these regulations. In order to increase confidence in the public cloud, it is necessary to raise consciousness among users about who offers the service and what it states. Most of the cloud service providers usually, limit their responsibilities. Hence, clients do not understand the restrictions and, they face issues that have already occurred.

Negotiating your own T&C

When you negotiate your own contracts, you have the ability to understand in a better way that, what you are going to get and how to protect the cloudy boundaries of the T&C. However, the question that arises is whether the services can be separated between customers and businesses. If is it not possible, the whole discussion becomes unproductive, as the same service has two kinds of clients and needs regulations anyway.

In my personal opinion, the boundaries get fuzzy very quickly. Definitely, the companies do not use Angry Birds, however, many small and medium businesses use Skype, Windows Live, Dropbox, Office 365, etc…

Is Linkedin a service for businesses or consumers?

We had models in the B2B and B2C, but I am not sure whether we can use those concepts and implement them to Web 2.0. The primary question is that whether we can rely on the public cloud. That’s a concern, I would like you people to consider and find the solution…

Finally, from the complete debate, the conclusion was that, there is no difference between B2B and B2C services in the cloud. Clients may have difference terms and conditions to engage the same service. However, shouldn’t we ensure that all the clients are protected and know the conclusion of their decisions?

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are one of the marvelous invention in the affordable web hosting industry. It enables customers to save on costs without cutting back on the service they currently get.

Basically, the core idea is that a single physical dedicated server is divided into minimum of four virtual servers, which are still be able to supply all the resources of a dedicated server. This service is the service which lies between shared and dedicated hosting.

The best aspect about VPS hosting is that it is so simple to use that the software & application you install runs with ease. VPS offers an option to add additional resources whenever required, which makes it an ideal solution for many businesses. Hundred’s of websites can be hosted on a single cheap VPS hosting server. Virtual private servers are ultimately known as a cheap hosting uk solution than other hosting services.

Unlike cloud hosting, here the VPS server is the customers responsibility such as sorting out security, getting updates and performing maintenance of your vps. The performance issue may occur as the resources are being shared amongst other vps on the same node.

Whereas, cloud hosting is a kind of service which provides power and resources from a network of servers. Often called the cloud is the planning of computing resources that have been bind together and delivered via the Internet. The customer is enabled to add as much or as little resources as they require without any limitations.

Another benefit is that the billing of the customer is done on the basis of only what they use. Hence, Cloud Hosting is known as an extremely cost-effective and ultimately a reliable solution.

The Cloud can mean different things to different individuals. But 2 aspects that can be applied globally about cloud is that : Private Cloud is a catalyst not just just for the IT efficiencies, but in a broader perspective, the shared cloud also holds the capability to force changes in other areas of IT as well. Cloud has brought along a major break through for businesses seeking cheaper yet highly efficient IT services.

The IT department of any businesses should have a better understanding about defining and supporting crucial business priorities along-with managing the vendor relationships and internal initiatives.

There are certain questions that must be asked when deploying cloud optimization:

What is the reason for switching to cloud computing ?

The U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as: “a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”

There are 3 defined categories of cloud services which can be applied internally or externally:

• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): The cloud hosting provider deliver applications to customers over a cloud infrastructure which can be accessible via. a web browser.

• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): In this type, cloud-provider offers both a cloud infrastructure and applications related tools and resources such as programming languages to an internal or external customer/user.

• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): The providers provider cloud infrastructure support to support user requirements for running applications and operating systems.

A cloud can either be a public cloud or private cloud. A public cloud is a set-up where the services are offered on customer demands. Whereas in a private cloud type of service only a single customer owns the entire cloud similar to a dedicated hosting server. When both these Cloud types are used in combination, it is known as the hybrid cloud. In a hybrid cloud a private cloud is hosted in a public environment.

Generally, the cloud computing has a front-end where the clients can log-in and perform tasks in the back-end which is hosted by the cloud hosting provider. The front-end covers the customer computers and the applications essential for accessing the cloud. Internet is the medium used to communicate between the two.

Below is an elaboration of the different types of Cloud hosting services.

Types of Cloud services:

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): As the name itself suggests, in this type of service offering, the Infrastructure is provided as a service. Here the customers application interface access the virtual servers and storage hosted by the provider.
• Platform as a service (PaaS): Platform within the cloud/ shared cloud is a set of applications or software’s that operates on the platform that is hosted in the cloud. The customers can run the applications in the platforms hosted by the cloud hosting provider through the platform or Application Program Interface (API).
• Software as a service (SaaS): In software as a service model, both hardware as well as software infrastructure is offered for usage to customers.
• Hybrid cloud: A hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment in which an organization provides and manages some resources in-house and has others provided externally. For example, an organization might use a public cloud service, for accessing data but still continue with its maintenance in-house storage for operational customer data. Ideally, the hybrid approach allows a business to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness that a public cloud computing environment offers without exposing mission-critical applications and data to third-party vulnerabilities.

Related Articles :

• What is the difference between public clouds and a private cloud ?
• An Evaluation of the Private Cloud vs. the Public Cloud
• Understanding Cloud Computing and its effects on current technology

Since sometime, its been a debating scenario the advent of cloud computing means for the future of enterprise architecture. Few claim that the increasing use of cloud computing would render enterprise architecture obsolete or irrelevant, whereas few have a more moderate approach and see the two developing in tandem.

Though cloud computing might alter the nature of how software’s are used, but it is unlikely to change the requirement for a coherent strategy which would incorporate the business and enterprise targets of any business, hence in-order to achieve this , the enterprise architecture would always be a necessity.

Experts have stated that a shift towards cloud computing, “doesn’t change the underlying reality that there has to be a strategy for putting together all the people, processes and tools that the cloud supports in order to maintain security and reliability.” Yeah it may so happen that the role of an enterprise architect changes.

No matter if the software, data and communication services is supplied by a third party vendor, the fact still remains that the processes for incorporating these will stay with the business itself. May be, there would be a better way to look at the cloud computing revolution is as a tool that would enable more efficient and dynamic enterprise architectures as we move ahead in time.

We must understand that the evolution of Cloud (both Private Cloud as well as Shared Cloud) and Cloud Hosting is inorder to make technological resources further accessible and potentially more affordable web hosting ultimately.