Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology. It is a style of computing in which IT-related capabilities are provided "as a service". This allows users to access technology-enabled services from the Internet ("in the cloud") without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them.
What is IaaS?
IaaS stands for Infrastructure as a Service. This is when you rent/lease the required resources for your server or service on an as needs basis from a Service provider. You only pay for what you use.
What is SaaS?
SaaS is when a service is provided end to end by a service provider. This means they also provide and manage the software that is used by or for the service. Examples of SaaS are SalesForce.com, Google Apps as well as our own Premium Email service.
What is HA?
HA stands for High Availability.
High availability is a term that is given to a system that is engineered so that it has additional capacity and automated failover so that it can recover from an outage without human intervention.
What is a VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. A Virtual Private Network is a means of ensuring that all traffic between two computer systems is encrypted before it is transferred across a network. This is to ensure that there can be no interception or tampering of the data while it is in transit. It is often used with clouds as people often have a secure system that sits within the cloud but needs to be securely accessed from their office location or locations.
What is the difference between Cloud Servers and dedicated servers?
With Cloud Servers you can deploy a server in a few minutes versus waiting for a physical server deployment. You can also resize a Cloud server frequently. Dedicated servers usually involve term contracts and setup fees and cost an upfront cost when you need to add capacity. Dedicated servers are also vulnerable in that they are a single server and reliant on the hardware and hard drives in that physical server. A Cloud server is built on redundant hardware backed by redundant storage arrays (SAN) to ensure much higher reliability.