Tech Tapas Tuesday: Cloud or no Cloud

To cloud or not to cloud. That is the question. This is Tech Tapas Tuesday. Let's go. How do cloud architectures differ from non-cloud infrastructure architectures? Cloud architectures benefit from easy scaling with traditional architectures, adding capacity is often a complicated and expensive ordeal. Cloud architectures, on the other hand, can scale more easily and more predictably because they rely on pooled resources. As demand goes up, more resources can be added to the pool quickly and easily. If you have a sudden spike in traffic, you can increase the number of resources available to your application. Conversely, if there's a lull in traffic, you can reduce the number of resources allocated. This resource management is typically automated. You can define your infrastructure in code and then deploy it via cloud API. This enables faster resource allocation in general, and enables the ability to build repeatable and repairable infrastructures. Cloud architectures also tend to be more resilient than traditional architectures because they're typically built using multiple virtual servers working in unison, they're less likely to go down if one server fails. Using multiple geographic regions enables easy redundancy, meaning that your data will still be available even if a server or data center goes offline. Cost is an interesting point when it comes to cloud versus non-cloud infrastructures. Many people say that cloud architectures are more expensive than non-cloud architectures. Others say the opposite. Well, the truth is a properly constructed cloud application will typically save money versus the cost of the application in the traditional data center. This is because of the resource scalability, along with the reduced cost of shared tenacy hardware resources. Understanding the intricacies of cloud architecture is critical for modern application development. Knowing when to leverage a unique cloud capability versus using generic infrastructure components such as simple servers is a critical skill that the architect of a modern application must understand. When to leverage the cloud, how to leverage a cloud and how much to leverage the cloud are critical architectural decisions for modern architects. Interested in learning more about cloud computing from me? How about taking one of my cloud courses at LinkedIn learning? My cloud architecture advanced concepts course talks about this and many other topics. Take a look at leeatchison.com/courses for more information.