- In simple terms, traditional IT infrastructure refers to the use of electronic devices such as desktop and laptop computers, that use a central processing unit (CPU) to execute instructions stored in memory. And the biggest benefit of traditional IT Infrastructure is control.
- Cloud computing allows businesses to access software, hardware, and other services remotely while scaling up or down as needed. The emergence of cloud computing can provide us with services that break through time and space, and the essence of the traditional infrastructure platform to provide services remains unchanged.
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power without direct active management by the user. While cloud computing has dramatically improved the quality of network services, we may wonder what are the differences and advantages it has over traditional IT infrastructures.
IT Infrastructure
Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT service, including physical components such as computers, neworking hardwares and facilities and software and network components.
IT Infrastructure can also be termed as “All of the hardware, software, networks, facilities, etc., that are required to develop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support IT services, according to the ITIL Foundation Course Glossary.
In simple terms, traditional IT infrastructure refers to the use of electronic devices such as desktop and laptop computers, that use a central processing unit (CPU) to execute instructions stored in memory.
Also read: What is network infrastructure security?
Traditional IT infrastructure includes all of your hardware infrastructure, software infrastructure, electronic devices and networking infrastructure that are owned, managed and maintained on-premise, including desktop computers using a central processing unit(CPU) to execute instructions stored in memory and software installed locally on individual machines as well as on-premise servers.
The biggest benefit of traditional IT Infrastructure is control. Traditional IT infrastructure gives businesses and individuals complete control over their computing resources, able to configure and customise their infrastructure to fulfil their actual needs.
Taking Internet Data Center (IDC) as an example, most of the hardware equipment that the operation and maintenance personnel come into contact with and maintain are hardware equipment, such as servers, routers and wind, fire, water and electricity.
Upgraded on-demand services
The “cloud” essentially functions as a network. Narrowly speaking, cloud computing is a type of network that provides resources, allowing users to access limitless resources via the internet without constraints of time or space. In many cases, large cloud networks are spread across multiple locations, with each location functioning as a data centre.
Also read: Is cloud computing safe?
The early days of cloud computing involved only early distributed computing, solving task publishing and merging the results of calculations. Cloud computing centralises the computation from the client to the “cloud”, which is done jointly by abortive computers and made available to the user over the Internet. There are usually three types of cloud services, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).
The service provider provides the corresponding computing resources, and the user only needs to choose the corresponding application services. Refined to our daily life, we use search engines, E-mail, online audio and video, and are enjoying cloud services.
Unlike traditional computing, cloud computing allows businesses to access software, hardware, and other services remotely while scaling up or down as needed. Companies only pay for the services they need, which can significantly reduce initial investment and ongoing operational costs.
The emergence of cloud computing can provide us with services beyond time and space, and the essence of the traditional infrastructure platform to provide services remains unchanged. But it can provide improved Internet services with virtualisation, dynamically scalable, resource pooling, high concurrency and so on.
