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In a nutshell, a cloud node is a VPS plus. You’re running not only a custom set of applications such as a Joomla CMS or an OSCommerce shopping cart, but an entire operating system of your choice. It still runs on a physical server shared by other users, but your server is rather well isolated from problems caused by others. You can decide to run Microsoft Windows instead of Linux if you so desire. You can generally add resources like storage space, memory and CPU power on demand. In some cases, you can easily move a cloud node from one physical server to another – for example to move your virtual from a third-party provider to an in-house physical server.

Elastic Computing Options

Typically, cloud hosting services offer “elastic computing” options; you can add resources (storage, processor power and memory) on the fly – and you’ll only pay for what you use. Hosting companies like cloud products because they require less maintenance than dedicated servers, because it allows them to manage costs more efficiently, and because the potential profit margins are higher than with shared or dedicated servers.

Initial Low Cost & Resources Availability

Customers select cloud services because of the low initial cost, availability of resources on demand, and “self-serve” management. As the hosting company manages all hardware, power, network and security infrastructures, the customer does not require in-house expertise in these areas.

Cloud Hosting is Less Efficient than Conventional VPS

However, despite all the marketing hype surrounding this currently fashionable hosting option, cloud-based hosting is inherently less efficient than conventional VPS service. Because the physical server must run multiple distinct operating systems, more physical resources are necessary to handle the same number of customers. This increases the costs to the hosting provider, and to you. There’s still a risk that hackers who break into the physical cloud server can access your sensitive data.

Standard Web Application Configuration

And the cloud is expensive. As an example, a “standard web application configuration”, containing 6 cloud nodes (2 databases, 2 application servers, and 2 web servers, generally considered a typical “three-tiered” architecture) with 300 GB of storage and 120 GB of monthly data transfer, will cost $2,794.76 per month. That is $33,537.12 per year! Many internet businesses find that the cloud model makes sense during initial development, but when a service goes live and begins to consume resources, costs can rapidly balloon out of control.

Of course, cloud-based services need special design characteristics to be cost-efficient – a cloud-based system is best frequently implemented in a single-node design which incorporates all functional tiers into a single node.

The high potential costs of raw resources (network bandwidth, data storage or processing power) guarantees that most successful online companies eventually outgrow the cloud and need to consider operating their own infrastructure.

Check the following article, it will help you to find a good cloud provider, How to choose a cloud provider

You can also keep up to date with current trends and technology by visiting Data Center Talk where we keep you informed on important changes as they occur.