All the IT resources that you run at your SOHO or enterprise network (like the computing resources, storage devices, network) are referred to as on-premises resources. Meaning, they reside on your premises and you have full access control to all of them while the computing resources that you outsourced to a third party are considered the cloud.
Just so we are cleared, the word “cloud” may be a relatively new tech term but the service has ALWAYS been in existence before now. Your Gmail/yahoo email account in those days could be considered as existing in the clouds; the cloud in itself is a series of data centers in various locations with both physical and virtual solutions that are connected just like our internet. Cloud services are very popular these days and many organizations are now eager to take advantage of the many benefits of cloud technology, and more and more tools are being developed to help migrate or sync our “on-premises” IT solutions with the cloud.
On Premises
Everything in -On Premises from computing resources, to data storage and networking resources are owned by the organization and meant for the organizations use only. Some larger enterprises develop their own cloud services in their own privately controlled data centers. Such a setup is known as a private cloud.
A Private Cloud, often called an Internal Private Cloud, is usually hosted within an organization own offices, or data center, and provides an internal solution for hosting needs. Since an Internal Cloud is completely controlled in-house, this means you often have more flexibility. If you need to have things set up in a very specific way, with specific hardware, you have that control.
However, you also have to carry the full burden of dedicated server costs and maintenance. From the initial up-front hardware costs, software licensing, and even the unfortunate hardware failures. While providing more control, On-Premise solutions don’t come without their own downsides. Additionally, to ensure successful operation you’ll need to have qualified System Administrators on staff to maintain and monitor the systems.
In summary, a company hosts everything in-house is an on-premise.
In the Cloud
A third-party provider hosts the computing resources, data storage and network. This allows companies to pay on an as-needed basis and effectively scale up or down depending on overall usage, user requirements, and the growth of a company. Cloud computing architecture refers to the components and subcomponents required for cloud computing. These components typically consist of
- A front end platform (fat client, thin client, mobile device),
- A back end platforms (servers, storage), a cloud based delivery, and
- A network (Internet, Intranet, Intercloud).
Combined, these components make up cloud computing architecture.
Cloud technologies virtual service models to remember.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): With IaaS, the cloud provider makes available to the customer the hardware, software, servers, storage, and other infrastructure components; IaaS providers can also host clients’ applications and handle tasks such as system maintenance, backup, and resiliency planning. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the pioneers in the IaaS cloud space. So, looking at the image above, you as a client come in at the lowest end /level where you have the computers. All the infrastructure is taken care of by the third party and you just subscribe for the service and plug your computer and start working.
- Software as a Service (SaaS): With SaaS, the cloud provider makes powerful software available to clients. A prime example of SaaS is Gmail, through which Google provides rich email services to worldwide clients.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): With PaaS, the cloud provider makes virtual machines (VMs) available to clients so that they can develop software applications in a test environment; it is typical for a PaaS provider to also make available software development tools as part of the platform. An example of PaaS is an AWS Drupal instance.
- X as a Service (XaaS): These days, it seems like anything and everything is being offered “as a service,” and that is exactly what XaaS (or EaaS) refers to any aspect of IT that is delivered through the cloud model. so, here you as a client will have your own infrastructure but you want your data center outsourced as we see in the image above , or your networking resources or any other aspects of your network.