Holiday reading: A quick guide to cloud and data

As technology evolves at breakneck speed, IT partners and vendors toss out more and more terms and concepts that make little sense unless you live and breathe technology.

So, here’s our plain language guide (feel free to enjoy it on the plane or by the pool) to what’s what in the world of cloud and data.

Simply put, the cloud is a global network of remote servers that are hooked together to operate as a single ecosystem which you access via the internet. When something is in the cloud, it’s stored or hosted on internet servers (instead of your computer’s hard drive) – and that includes all your files, applications, network, databases and more. You basically ‘rent’ access to the cloud.

It’s like booking a suite in a luxury hotel with the intention of using all their pay-as-you-use in-house services facilities – like a gym, restaurant, hair stylist, etc. And best of all, the catering, housework, and maintenance are done by someone else.

Public cloud is pretty much as the name implies – anyone can book a hotel room and access the cloud services on offer via freemium or a subscription-based service. As you’re sharing the hotel facilities, this drives costs down. In the world of public cloud, AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are the three biggest ‘hotels’.

By comparison, a private cloud is…private. It’s dedicated to a single organisation, and you don’t share any of the cloud resources with anyone else. It’s an exclusive gated community (with a gym) on the hotel grounds and comes with its own security team, chef, cleaners, and custom-designed accommodation. Visitors are not encouraged unless personally invited and strictly vetted.

And a hybrid cloud? In effect, it combines the exclusivity of a private cloud with the power of a public cloud. This time, your private gated corner of the resort offers you access to the full range of hotel facilities (or you can also rope in services from a completely different hotel) to cover any changes in plans – like that random all-inclusive 500-head birthday party you want to host.

Data is gold. And in the cloud, as with any reputable hotel, taking care of and responsibility for your valuables falls in your court.

Yes, the hotel will supply room safes, in-house security, pass cards to rooms, restrict lift access by floor, and more. But ultimately, it’s up to you to ensure you don’t leave valuables unsecured, or invite just anyone into your room, let alone give them access to your goodies.

Data sovereignty means strictly NO overseas travel or hotels.

The Australian Government sees any business data generated here as a national economic asset and has the right to govern and control it. This means that in most cases, your data must be kept in data centres or on cloud servers that are physically located in Australia (data residency) and that it’s only accessible by Australian people and companies.

On top of that, you’re required to run, patch, and maintain your operational, management and configuration data to exacting standards.

Think of that intimate romantic holiday for two you had planned that, after a few drinks, inadvertently blew out to be a full-on everyone-is-invited holiday in Bali. So, you need more flight bookings, hotel transfers, accommodation, bar tabs and restaurant bookings – and you don’t want anyone having to double up in their rooms or missing out. And you want it all to happen within days, if not hours – so you need a hotel with the capacity and capability to live up to your expectations.

Likewise, hyperscale refers to the ability of your cloud computing infrastructure to expand rapidly and efficiently on demand. Twenty or even two thousand more people coming on holiday? With hyperscalers, that’s not a problem – they can add more resources, such as servers, storage, and networking components, as needed. Key hyperscalers include AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Meta Platforms, Apple, and TikTok.

If you’d like any more no ‘fancy language’ explanations, give us a yell.