The Digital revolution has changed the face of technology and everything related to it, which by default brought us web hosting and AI, or artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence’s all about mimicking the human mind’s problem-solving skills.

After all, that’s how machines and computers came to be scary smart in today’s world.

But how did all of this begin? Is this even healthy? Shall me, you, or specific people be concerned?

From general AI, machine learning to neural networks. It’s time to shed light on some demanded answers in this seamless AI guide and its relation to web hosting.

What is AI (artificial intelligence)?

There’s no ultimate answer.

While some describe it as the science of making intelligent computer programs using methods that are not biologically observable.

Others, like Alan Turing, who people often referred to as the father of computer science, asked the famous question: can machines think?

With such an unsettling perspective, he introduced us to the Turing Test.

The test goal was to determine whether a computer is capable of thinking like a human being!

Generally, AI has the potential capacity to learn, plan, perceive, execute, or even manipulate on a human intelligence level.

Bonus definition goes to Francois Chollet, who created Keras, a machine-learning neural network library:

"Intelligence is not a skill itself; it’s how well and efficiently you can learn new things."

The key history of artificial intelligence

The idea of a thinking machine has been argued over decades, if not generations.

Yet, according to the most recent vital electronic evolutions, here are the top cornerstone events.

• Back in 1950: Alan Turing triggered a daring question of whether computers can think on a human intelligence level. He introduced us to the famous Turing Test along the seminal paper called: "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," which described his test in greater detail to the public.

• Moving forward to 1956: where the “logic theorist,” the first artificial intelligence program, was developed by Herbert Simon, Allen Newell, and John Clifford Shaw.

• Up to 1967: when Frank Rosenblatt built the neural network-based computer to learn via trial/error.

• And 1980: when the backpropagation algorithm self-training neural networks become notable among artificial intelligence apps.

Other worthy games-related AI mentions:

• 1997: IBM Deep Blue wins a chess match over Garry Kasparov, world chess champion.

• 2011: IBM Watson wins at Jeopardy over champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings.

• 2016: in an intense GO (or Weiqi) match, DeepMind's AlphaGo program defeats world champion Lee Sedol.

AI and web hosting

Artificial Intelligence analyzes data in more accurate ways, qualifying it as a priority in corporate IT departments. Moreover, web hosting providers utilize it to protect their clients.

Malware and other types of cyber-attacks may emerge and evolve, increasing threats swiftly and making them more sophisticated than ever. Hence, machine learning became a critical help with preparations.

This builds a constant hand-in-hand race between the web hosting providers’ cybersecurity defenses and cybercriminals.

Web hosting providers rely on state-of-the-art technology to protect their customers, as AI has proven an excellent cybersecurity feature for their clients.

The more AI advances, the more it will minimize the growing security breaches. Something that is crucial for all website managers, clients, and hosting providers.

How AI improves the web hosting industry

Produce Data-driven Reports

AI helps the company authorities generate past or present data-based reports while explaining the reasons for any changes.

Additionally, the AI can analyze critical info such as the regular rate, the purchase rate, etc. Helping with identifying current and potentially loyal customers.

Improved Security

Cyber-attacks are increasing daily, and website owners are more cautious about their online business than at any time before, as attackers are trying to access their website networks by force. That’s where artificial intelligence comes in, to sabotage by its turn these malware threats.

Artificial intelligence uses advanced firewall technology to identify the dangerous encrypted patterns along with the threats they can cause.

The AI alerts the web hosting company stakeholders and their clients once it detects the bug and warns them about any potential damage before it’s too late.

If that’s not enough, the AI can improve its cyber-attack prediction rates and defense against future attacks with its machine learning skills.

Better Domain Performance

Before making critical decisions, you can use the AI to track a duplicated domain purchase or domain usage through a proxy server.

Since a domain name is an essential factor in running a website, anyone trying to clone it or set up a dummy site using it can backfire on the main beholder with severe consequences.

Also, AI can detect conversions, traffics, and primary website data. These features protect the reputation of the client’s domain while increasing the overall ROI and productivity rates.

Outstanding Accuracy

Artificial intelligence performs tiresome and time-consuming tasks with ease. Simple yet deep, AI assures seamless and accurate site performance.

Nevertheless, AI can go all the extra miles from providing chat responses, delivering calls and voice messages, up to sending automated text messages. Decreasing the need for actual human work.

AI services

All vital infrastructures and services are available from Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Amazon Web Services. Including:

• Having considerable data to train computer-learning models
• Displaying the results clearly with visualization tools
• Simplifying the models building process
• Preparing data for practical analysis.

Different types of artificial intelligence

The main two artificial intelligence types include:

Narrow AI: represented through ordinary computers we interact with almost daily.

It is the art of intelligent systems that managed to learn to perform distinct tasks without from-scratch programming.

That’s the reason why they’re called narrow AI, as they learn and perform only delineate tasks.

Additionally, the narrow AI can:

• Act as a chatbot to solve customer queries
• Interpret visual drones’ videos
• Help with organizing both personal and business schedules

General AI: more related and similar to humans’ intelligence, it can learn to execute almost any task.

Moreover, general AI can:

• Solve problems with self-conscious
• Learn, plan, and execute for future events
• Exceed the abilities of a human intelligence

AI use cases (applications)

By now, you must be aware that AI can almost be a part of anything in life!
The most common real-world examples include:

• Recommendation AI: AI algorithms can help discover ways to develop efficient cross-selling technics using past consumption behavior data, such as providing recommendations to customers during their online checkout process.

• Customer support: You must’ve encountered a chatbot instead of a human agent at least once; that’s because most businesses now use AI chatbots to deliver instant yet accurate answers, at least for all the basic questions.

• Recognition by speech: like the famous worldwide Siri, ASR (automatic speech recognition) can also transfer our human speech and process it in a written output using natural language processing.

ServerHub as the all-in-one

ServerHub provides top security by constantly adding new integrations and features to its products.

If you’re thinking of creating your fully-protected website, don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team for information at: support@serverhub.com

No matter your niche, we got it covered.

Benefits of using ServerHub

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll get when you deploy your server using ServerHub.

1- Multiple locations

Our Platform spans 9 locations around the globe that it seems like your servers are right next to each other.

We have multiple single 40GB interface connectivities within our data center to bring you the fastest connections available.

2- A Simplified, Beautiful Interface

Elegance meets Simplicity. True brilliance and execution can only be expressed in one word: HubGrid.

Designed from the ground up with beauty, finesse, and pixel-perfect presentation. No other panel can compare.

3- 100% Uptime, 24/7 support, and leading resolution times!

We deliver fast, reliable, and knowledgeable support with every service we provide.

We focus on meaningful resolution times so you can get the answers you want when you need them. Because what is a great enterprise network and infrastructure without a solid team to support it?

4- Consider a Custom Quote

Need a Custom Quote? Our sales team at sales@serverhub.com can Help!

Get a custom solution backed by 24/7/365 support, and built on a solid redundant Tier 1 Network.

Over to you!

Naturally, you face these obstacles at first when you’re getting exposed to the web hosting and cloud deployment world.

Still, as you can see, there’re plenty of other options that you can choose from to protect your server.

Now it’s time for you to start running your own website.

Take advantage of ServerHub’s unlimited personalization, great customer support, and unprecedented prices starting from $5 a month!

What are you waiting for?

If you need help with your amazing upcoming website or have questions or suggestions, please reach our support team at: support@serverhub.com

Conclusion

You made it to the moment of truth!

After cheering up with the fact that you now know the complete AI history and how it’s related to the web hosting industry, you still got many ways left to go!

If you’re thinking of something that’s right there at your fingertip, ServerHub can spare you all the technical details -plus many more-.

Instantly deploy your own server and website in a matter of no time!

What are the best practices you’ll follow to enhance your website’s security? What content are you planning to have?

Tell us in the comments below how will-you put your newly gained knowledge into good use!

Calling friends, family, and loved ones is an essential part of life. Hence, why we use our mobile phones to pick the number of who we want to call.

The same goes for the DNS (Domain name system), which serves as the internet’s phonebook.

What is DNS

DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, the same IP addresses that interact with the web browsers through the internet to load internet resources.

In English, DNS vanquishes the need to memorize IP addresses like the famous 192.168.1.1 one, and allows the internet-connected machines to easily find each other.

The way DNS works

It’s all about transforming a hostname that’s readable by humans (www.example.com) into an IP address that’s readable by machines, like the one we mentioned (192.168.1.1).

Each internet-connected device has its own IP address that helps with finding it, just like an area is used to describe where a specific house is located.

Additionally, when you want to load a webpage, there’s a connection that must be carried between the domain name you write into your browser, and the address for the page you’re trying to visit.

Still, a ubiquitous DNS key function is that users can simultaneously receive different connections for the same domain name.

Consequently, the DNS is used to assign the nearest servers to users, which provides faster page loading times and better responses for their internet experience.

The four DNS servers’ categories

It all comes to four main servers when we talk about loading a web page, those four are:

The DNS recursor

It’s a server that’s designed to receive search orders from a client’s applications such as browsers, and make the needed requests to achieve that order as accurately as possible.

Root nameserver

There’s a client’s specific wanted location, and then there’s a reference to other specific locations. That root nameserver serves as that reference.

Top-level domain (TLD)

The top-level domain server is the last piece of the hostname. For example, in www.example.net, the TLD is “net”. Also, it’s the next step in the IP address search.

Authoritative nameserver

Serving as the last step for our initial search order. The authoritative nameserver returns the requested hostname IP address to the DNS Recursor.

Recursive DNS resolver VS authoritative DNS server

The recursive DNS resolver takes its time to request, track, and meet clients' inquires.

Additionally, it refers to caching, which’s a data persistence process, to help to shorten the other requests made much as possible, resulting in faster inquires being met.

An authoritative DNS server is responsible for keeping the DNS resource records.

Moreover, as the final step in the request sequence, often doesn’t need to refer to other sources to achieve and meet queries.

The 8 required steps for a DNS lookup

It all goes down to translating a domain name to an IP address. That’s what a DNS is for, right?

Easier said than done. Here are the main needed steps to achieve such a complicated process.

• Write your query “example.com” into the search bar so the DNS recursive resolver receives it.

• The resolver will immediately query a DNS root nameserver

• Next, the root server will deliver the top-Level Domain (TLD) address to the resolver.

• That way, the resolver can make a request to the TLD, (such as .net or .com).

• Consequently, the TLD can now respond with the domain name server’s IP address.

• Finally, the recursive resolver sends a query to the domain’s nameserver.

• The domain name server’s IP address is returned to the resolver.

• Last but not least, the resolver responds to the browser with the requested domain’s IP address.

P.S. The DNS resolver is the first step in a DNS search, and it starts this sequence of queries to translate a URL into the end-goal IP address.

DNS security issues

DNS has been working quite well for the last decades, but hackers tend to take advantage of any potential vulnerabilities.

Weak points can include but are not limited to:

DNS spoofing

This is where the attackers insert false addresses into the DNS, and making the DNS respond with a different IP for a different site.

Falling into the attacker’s trap “the new website” can lead you to give up passwords or automatically download malware.

DNS amplification attack

DNS amplification is a type of DNS reflection attack that might end up swamping victims with DNS resolver server’s messages.

Targeting the open DNS resolvers after they respond, the victim end-up receiving a huge number of unwanted DNS data that can bring down their machines.

DNS is the next thing

The way DNS works surely influences others in different ways. It might get tricky, but can also prove beneficial and rewarding given the right approach.

That’s where ServerHub come in, to provide you with 100% domain availability & 99.99% uptime, with enhanced protection and multiple DNS servers that adapt to your needs.

Interesting enough? Were you surprised about the amount of work carried behind the scenes when you search a website?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Are you looking for unique ways to lessen costs, save space, gain scalability, and better security all at the same time? If your answer is a definitive yes, welcome to the XaaS world!

Whether a beforehand-made software or a platform yours to build from scratch, there’s a magical cloud model out there that can effortlessly meet and fit your exact needs.

XaaS overview

XaaS (everything as a service) generally stands for services related to the cloud computing/remote access world. It represents the tools and technologies available to be delivered to users, paid or unpaid, over the internet.

Most likely it’ll be like renting the tech, where you don’t own the actual thing, but it goes by the pay-as-you-go model. For example, ready applications or mere infrastructures.

Each XaaS model, by default, will deliver different types of customizations and functions. That’s why it’s recommended to figure out your exact goals and basic needs for your current phase, before enrolling in the roller coaster.

XaaS examples

As countless examples of XaaS come and go, the three most common cloud computing models are Software as a service (SaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

SaaS, which stands for software as a service, is an application that’s available right there to save you time, effort, and prevent you from developing an app from scratch.

You’ll get that for a cost-effective price that won’t only cover your usage, but also any updates or maintenance required in case of sudden shutdowns. All to be handled by the third-party provider who’s responsible for the app.

PaaS, which stands for platform as a service is a cloud-based solution that’s, unlike the premade SaaS apps, allows you to create your own apps or other software projects varying from storage to servers.

It saves you the need of buying/storing specific hardware and is more tailored to your needs, but it’ll all come in the currency of efforts and time required.

IaaS, which stands for Infrastructure as a service, offers you computing power to scale products, and a pay-as-you-go model to pay based on your time and usage.

It gives you access to additional resources such as extra storage, but it ultimately depends on your IaaS provider. Meaning that you totally depend on their reliability and uptime. Otherwise, your company can face unwanted consequences.

XaaS pros

Flexibility, scalability, and enhanced technical support are on top when it comes to XaaS.

Feel free to take a deeper look at this effortless SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS comparison. Otherwise, the other benefits can include:

Companies on a diet

You won’t need to spend huge resources of money and time to expand. On the contrary, your company -especially if it’s a startup- won’t need to build data warehouses or bring in tons of hardware.

You can simply include XaaS providers to take care of any unnecessary drama.

Easier scalability than ever

Switch Your chosen plan to quickly scale up and down with your XaaS provider in mere minutes.

Cost-effective solutions

Your best costly options come live when it comes to XaaS companies and providers. Growing, shrinking, or even canceling are instantly available based on your current business needs. Providing you with more flexibility and appealing subscription plans altogether.

Read VPC vs VPN: The Definitive Answer

XaaS cons

Despite the good traits, performance and security issues are still object to rise. It can come to:

Security and performance issues

Of course, entrusting your reputation and sensitive data to a provider makes you more vulnerable. Make sure you pick your XaaS company with the utmost attention to detail.

Your best cost options come live when it comes to XaaS companies and providers. Growing, shrinking, or even canceling are instantly available based on your current business needs. Providing you with more flexibility and appealing subscription plans altogether.

Also, picking a company with decent speed and resilience makes you more immune to any business disruption or being under the mercy of your provider’s team.

Unpleasant fee surprises

Depending on a XaaS company will surely cost you less than having servers and warehouses, but you wanna pay double attention to what you’re getting yourself into.

For example, before any signups, examine the contract carefully, and always compare prices.

Conclusion

The XaaS model is getting more popular by the second. It is expected to expand, move forward, and gain traction. Especially during the current Covid-19 pandemic that the world lives in.

Winston Churchill once said: “never waste a good crisis”. And I say, cheers to Winston!

Take the chance now to maximize value and inject agility into your cloud-business world with the XaaS model, your one-way (almost free) ticket to the enterprise’s world, in no time.

It can be cost-effective and flexible, but unsafe against hacks and hidden fees.
Which do you think is the best XaaS provider? Can it be just the one thing you need for your business?

Tell us in the comments below, and let others indulge your experience!

Next: Hybrid Cloud: What It Is And How It Works

From pretty fluffy things in the sky to one of the hottest topics for small and global businesses alike, clouds are reducing the need for on-premise hosting more than ever.

It's safe to assume that the word (as a service) you repeatedly hear ultimately means cloud computing in the cloud deployment world.

In short, if you're considering eCommerce business, these are your top acronyms to focus on, as they're the three main types of cloud computing:

SaaS (Software as a service)
PaaS (Platform as a service)
IaaS (Infrastructure as a service)

And yes, it's about time we take a further in-depth yet swift and effortless look at each type's concept, advantages, disadvantages, use cases, and overall variances of the SaaS vs. PaaS vs. IaaS.

SaaS overview

SaaS is as straightforward as using free or non-free internet apps, as they're controlled and managed by a third-party provider either way.

Therefore, you don't need to update, install, or have anything other than your internet connection. In English, it's goodbye to any software/hardware complicated management.

SaaS strengths

SaaS started to gain recognition in the late 1990s. That's when companies like salesforce were founded to create and offer enterprise cloud software solutions through SaaS.
Those unique solutions once had, and still included the following:

Doorstep advanced applications:

You can use available internet apps as I mentioned, and that includes the advanced ones as well! All at an affordable price and free of complicated tech-related stuff.

Access SaaS apps anytime, anywhere:

That's right, you don't even need to download anything. Leave all the fancy tech stuff to your provider's responsibility and indulge the benefits right from any internet-connected browser.

Focus 100% only on your customer:

SaaS services save you unnecessary expenses since they scale automatically based on your organization's usage, besides being pretty much accessible from anywhere.

You can feel free to forget about any development challenges and leave them to your provider, all while purely focusing on your customer's needs and happiness.

SaaS weaknesses

Potential low performance:

You'll need application performance management tools to measure how your SaaS apps are performing over time. Still, you'll also need to invest in a fast and high-quality internet connection since you'll run it using your internet browser.

Data security issues:

Nothing's more dangerous than sensitive data leaks in the cloud computing world, let alone willingly providing it to cyber attackers.

You'll need to take extra precautions when it comes to trusting your data to your service provider. Identity checker and device access are on top when it comes to trusting any third-party service provider.

Software Integration:

You'll often find that your in-house APIs or data structures are not working correctly with the third-party provider's software.

That's why it is advised to first run SaaS apps compatibility checks to achieve the optimal results since not all the apps your provider hosts will be tailored to your devices.

SaaS use cases

You know the saying that goes, don't hesitate to do something? Well, now might be an excellent time to pause.

Among all other available cloud computing models, you can consider SaaS if you're:

• Aiming to lower high costs to maintain your budget
• Willing to take your startup business to the following enterprise level
• Trying to aspire remotely while maintaining some social distancing

SaaS examples

Surprised? Already aware? Here are some of the top SaaS providers delivered through your internet:

• Salesforce
• Zendesk
• Slack
• Dropbox
• HubSpot
• MailChimp

PaaS overview

Would it be surprising if I told you that you use PaaS in your daily life, for example, your windows?

Thanks to PaaS, web application development became simpler than before, as it carries the complete lifecycle of applications like deploying, testing, etc.…

Additionally, it is there to make you manage applications and provide the resources you need -or end up purchasing from a cloud service provider- to build your own applications.

PaaS strengths

Since PaaS comes in different shapes for deployment environments (public PaaS, private PaaS, and even a hybrid PaaS for the hybrid cloud). It earned the right to become one of the main three cloud computing models, here's why:

Sophisticated tools within reach:

With a pay-as-you-go model as the PaaS, enjoy unlimited possibilities with the ability to afford sophisticated analytic tools that you usually wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise.

Multitask platforms development:

Your third-party provider can grant you more deployment options, meaning that you can quickly develop new computers and mobile apps now, effortlessly.

Ultra-Efficient applications:

Get long-life application capabilities available, such as apps for the managing, deploying, and updating phases. Without requiring additional tech skills.

PaaS weaknesses

• Perfect levels of speed and support are on top when it comes to PaaS. Therefore, make sure to make the contract with a trustworthy provider who's gonna stick in for years to come.

• As the information is stored off-site, data security needs to be significantly considered, especially the process of keeping it away from any potential risks. Unfortunately, the IT department is the one most responsible for such tech difficulties.

• You need to understand what works and what doesn't, as some difficulties might occur when two different platforms come into play together. Make sure that everything's compatible together, as one can never be too prepared for the worst.

PaaS use cases

An enterprise can use PaaS to facilitate apps development and do other things that include:

• Get precise analytics for your business and impeccable data analysis that sure will come in handy for your future endeavors.

• Current or new application programming interfaces (APIs) become no longer a problem, as PaaS provides you every tool you need to run and manage perfectly fine.

• Need even more communication means? Now you have multiple more! Messaging, voice, and video communication. You name it, and the feature's added right away.

PaaS examples

• AWS Elastic Beanstalk
• Magento Commerce Cloud
• Apache Stratos
• Heroku
• OpenShift

IaaS overview

If you are ever in desperate need of an IT infrastructure, why don't you just rent it? Then, it is simply hosted on the public cloud and private cloud instead of an on-premises data center anyway.

That's what the IaaS is for. And, I'm not bragging or anything, but who's a better IaaS provider than ServerHub and its unprecedented prices?

IaaS strengths

Now that the IaaS goes without definition, let's take a deeper look at some of its top advantages:

Cost-effective solutions

Scale-up and down as you please, along with any specifically required infrastructure in no time, that all goes without saying to the expenses level of a startup business.

Increases everywhere

From troubleshooting problems to increasing the overall stability, every improvement is within reach, of course, with the right provider and reasonable agreement.

Core-business focus

With faster apps delivery, better data security, and your provider doing any infrastructure and development for you. The sky isn't the limit to your creativity when focusing on your other main things.

IaaS weaknesses

They say nothing's perfect without its drawbacks, right? Okay, maybe that's just me. Ahem, back to business! Here're some of the top IaaS drawbacks:

• It gets harder to pick when it comes to your next IaaS provider; that's why you need to make sure of choosing someone who's gonna stay in the industry for years to come! To spare yourself the agony of system interaction challenges.

• Always be careful out there, or when it comes to IaaS, as sudden expenses might occur at any given moment, including piled-up fees or even sudden peaks.

• Adjustable security has its ups and downs, but it will all be left to your own business's responsibility to handle it and make sure that everything goes according to plan.

Sometimes you might require a virtual private cloud (VPC) that has more security layers for more sensitive data, as a VPC can create you a private network for a single tenant inside the public cloud for extra protection you might require.

IaaS use cases

• Enjoy hosting complex websites even with unstable traffic. Yes, it's an IaaS specialty, and it can exceed expectations while at it.

• Ultra-perform all the complicated tasks you encounter, thanks to the scalability of the IaaS that can provide you with a pay-as-you-go model to fit your exact needs.

• Manage, analyze, and wide-scope vast amounts of data to get the best business insights and thrive among your competitors.

IaaS examples

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Compute Engine (GCE
• Cisco Metacloud
• Rackspace

SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS

Ultimately, each model stands for:

IaaS:

Cloud services with a pay-as-you-go model, such as storage and virtualization.

PaaS:

Available software and hardware tools over the internet.

SaaS:

Free/paid software that's available via a third-party provider.

On-premise:

Software that's installed in the same building as your business.

Off-premise:

Well, you got the hang of it.

Which model is better for you

It can certainly get confusing in an ever-changing cloud deployment world, where you can basically use everything as a service. But once you initiate your golden strategy and come to terms with your end goals, each model can work and serve as the best suitable for a specific phase.

Whether you choose to start with one cloud computing service model or go all-in with all three, it will eventually depend on your business's size, complexity, and current basic needs.

To most of us, cloud computing is this calm place where our data stays secure and unbothered. However, the reality is that it’s way beyond peaceful and is pretty much more difficult for an organization that provides or depends on it, let alone its expenses.

The customer demand for infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is rapidly stepping up, since maintaining an on-premises IT infrastructure can be overwhelmingly costive and labor-inclusive. Not to mention how hard it is to find the top talent and experience it requires.

All that aside, you will first need to be knowledgeable enough about the cloud service solutions’ analyzing, evaluating, and designing. Therefore, you need to understand at least how the common types of cloud computing services work.

You can find below our beginner guides for the most 3 common types of cloud computing services.

• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Platform as a service (PaaS)
• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

IaaS definition

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is one of the cloud computing services where users rent IT infrastructure through the internet.

The IaaS Infrastructure is hosted on the public cloud and private cloud instead of an on-premises data center.

The service provider is the one responsible for fully managing that infrastructure and delivering it to the customers.

IaaS Advantages

IaaS has many advantages that include but are not limited to:

Improved security:

The cloud service provider of your IaaS can grant you better applications and data security than your in-house one.

Swift apps delivery:

Get the new applications to your users faster with IaaS, as you can focus on the delivery of the app and let the provider set up and infrastructure and development for you.

Target the essence of your business:

Allow your team to prosper freely by focusing on the main thing, instead of the IT infrastructure.

Overall increase:

With the right agreement, your IaaS provider can troubleshoot any potential software/hardware problems for you, moving with what’s best to increase both your stability and reliability.

Best cost-effective improvements:

Get the required product’s infrastructure in no time with scaling up ability, disaster recovery, and high availability. All at the level of start-up expenses.

IaaS challenges

Even though Popular IaaS providers include Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Compute Engine. Nothing’s perfect without its drawbacks. That include:

Compromisable security:

While it’s true that the IaaS providers will provide the infrastructure, there’s no decisive telling for what comes next, since it becomes the responsibility of the business itself.

Merged vendors:

Your IaaS provider might go out of business at any moment, giving you hard time and current system interaction challenges.

Surprising costs:

whether it’s a piled-up fee or a sudden peak, the overall cost can be unexpected at times.

IaaS vs VPC

Companies with strict or sensitive data require additional protection and privacy within a public cloud, that’s where the virtual private cloud (VPC) comes into play.

VPC is the best way of isolating your data without sacrificing speed or functionality, as VPCs create you a private network for a single tenant inside the public cloud, which allows you to control the virtual firewalls, subnets, and security groups among other network privacy aspects.

IaaS glorified

IaaS providers offer gigantic services that manage to capture the interest of most business owners. However, always prioritize and check thoroughly your IT department’s capabilities to determine whether you’re ready to deal with the demands of IaaS implementation.

After accurate evaluation and analysis, you are ready to take the next step, which’s to start looking for your next IaaS provider, who will be able to meet your current and upcoming needs.

A cloud computing tech-savvy, or just a thirsty learner? Make sure to check the rest of our top-notch blogs or our high-value articles for more to come.

We’ve all at least once came across platform as a service (PaaS) in our lives, where developers mainly rely on cloud providers’ development tools to build you the applications you use (like your windows).

But, have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes?

PaaS explained

PaaS is one of the main three cloud computing models, as it makes web application development simpler than ever on all sides, starting with the developers themselves up to the whole backend management.

Platform as a service allows you to manage applications without needing to build the infrastructure from scratch, or any other software development process for that matter.

Being a deployment environment in the cloud, PaaS enjoys all the resources that you need to deliver simple or even sophisticated cloud-based apps. These resources are what you end up purchasing from a cloud service provider to build your own applications.

Ultimately, PaaS is there to carry on the complete lifecycle of applications, which includes building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating.

All while granting you the ability to avoid unnecessary complexity/expenses of software licenses, making your cloud provider responsible for everything else.

(The other two main cloud computing models are the IaaS and the SaaS)

PaaS types

Various types of PaaS include:

• Public PaaS
• Private PaaS
• Hybrid PaaS

Here's a deeper look at each type, including its most suitable deployment environment:

Public PaaS

Public PaaS is the best fit for the public cloud, allowing you to control software deployment while the cloud provider manages the other IT components delivery that’s necessary to host the databases and applications.

Most suitable for small and medium-sized companies, public PaaS vendors offer middleware that enables you to configure and control servers. Therefore, PaaS runs together with the Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and the public cloud.

Private PaaS

Working within the company’s private cloud, the private PaaS delivers security, low costs, and the agility of the public PaaS.

Additionally, Private PaaS helps with maintaining the internal resources usage, and helps developers with deploying their private company applications with minimum-cost.

Hybrid PaaS

With a combination of the public PaaS and the private PaaS, companies get the public PaaS infinite capacity and the security/cost-effectiveness of the private PaaS. Which, by default, is applicable with the hybrid cloud.

PaaS use cases

Mainly valid to ease application development and deployment, there are in fact other use cases on why enterprises use PaaS, such as the following:

Means of communications

PaaS serves as a delivery mechanism for communications platforms, which allows developers to add communications features to applications, such as voice or video communication.

Accurate business analytics

PaaS tools provide enterprises with accurate data analysis that helps businesses to grasp better behavior insights on how to make better decisions regarding future demands.

Smooth API development

Managing, running, and securing application programming interfaces never got easier. Whether it’s the creation of new APIs or new interfaces for existing APIs, PaaS provides you with the right tools to do it effortlessly.

PaaS Advantages

It’s true that PaaS offers the same advantages as IaaS, but it comes with additional features and other business tools. Some well-known PaaS advantages include:

Efficient application lifecycle

With all the application lifecycle capabilities available, PaaS gives it all without the need for additional required skills, cutting the time it takes to code, and nurtures an inspiring environment.

The apps available for the web application lifecycle include the building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating phases.

Easily develop multiple platforms

With more development options provided for you by the service providers, you get to experience easy yet exceptional ways to develop different platforms, including mobile devices and computers.

Affordable advanced tools

You get to use advanced software, business, and analytics tools that you couldn’t straightforward purchase, opening infinite possibilities for your organizations with a pay-as-you-go model.

PaaS vendors

It’s hard to consider the nuances with so many PaaS providers, such as the service availability or the languages supported. That’s why it’s very recommended to test first and see if the provider services meet your needs.

Examples of PaaS vendors & products include but not limited to:

• AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Allows you to create and deploy web services with languages like Java and PHP on common servers like Passenger and Apache.

• Google App Engine

Supports distributed web applications using PHP, Java, and Python.

PaaS next

No matter which PaaS provider you choose, make sure to keep your company’s data secured as your first priority

With different types to support all your web development and application needs depending on your cloud deployment and business size.

PaaS can offer you accurate analytics, smooth development, and effortless API management, among other exclusive advantages that are not found anywhere else.

Software as a service (SaaS) is as simple as using apps over the internet, such as Gmail and office tools.

It’s all about renting the use of an app to make it available for your organization so that the users can connect to it over the internet through your internet browser.

All the app data are located in the service provider’s data center, the provider who manages the hardware/software security and availability based on your prior agreement.

The SaaS payoff is that customers do not need to buy, maintain, or even install anything. Instead, all you need to access your applications is just an internet connection.

Additionally, SaaS allows your organization to sprint with an app at the minimum cost possible.

SaaS defined

Instead of maintaining and installing software, software as a service (or SaaS) allows you as a provider to deliver applications over the internet or as a user to simply access the apps through your internet browser.

SaaS applications (also called web-based software) run on the provider’s servers, making it the provider’s full responsibility to manage the app access, performance, security, and availability.

With SaaS, it is goodbye to any software/hardware complicated management.

Whether you’re a media company or digital marketing agency, SaaS software gains you the competitive edge that’s specially stitched and decorated to your business.

SaaS history

John McCarthy, a computer scientist that won the Turing award in artificial intelligence, once said, “computation may someday be organized as a public utility.”

Meaning that the cloud computing concept began as a computer power shared resource.

While the idea has been around for some time, SaaS was matured in the late 1990s.

That’s when companies were explicitly founded to create cloud software, such as Salesforce , began offering enterprise solutions through a SaaS model, like customer relationship management (CRM).

With the rapid SaaS growth and business adoptions, SaaS started to gain recognition and allowed other software adoptions to grow almost at the same speed, such as platform as a service (PaaS) or infrastructure as a service (IaaS) product.

SaaS advantages

Free client software access

Most SaaS apps run directly from your web browser, and your users can do that without needing to download/install any software.

Even if some apps require specific plugins, you still don’t need to purchase any special software for your users since it will be your provider’s responsibility.

Worldwide data access

Users have access to their information using any Internet-connected device. Plus, no data are lost if your user’s device fails to connect for any reason since all app data are already stored in the cloud.

Only afford your usage

Saving money has never been easier as the SaaS service scales up and down automatically based on the level of your organization’s usage.

Top-notch organization for your personnel

Organizing your workforce is easier than ever using the SaaS apps, with data accessible from any device connected to the internet.

Forget about developing apps for any reason, or approaching with any unique expertise, as all the challenges and issues are carried by your provider, leaving you to focus on your user’s happiness and needs.

Access sophisticated applications

As you already know, providing SaaS apps to users doesn’t require any purchase, update, installation, or any software/hardware/middleware maintenance.

That includes sophisticated enterprise applications such as CRM or ERP, which become affordable for organizations that lack the resources to buy and manage any infrastructure or software required.

Cloud versus SaaS

Whether a private cloud, a public cloud, or a hybrid cloud. Clouds refer to an incredibly complex technology. It’s all about computers or servers connected in a way that allows users to share their scalable combined power.

While the cloud refers to anything hosted remotely via the internet, SaaS refers specifically to the business software applications delivered via the cloud.

Is SaaS your best option?

Now that we are all excited about the SaaS leverages, it’s still safe to assume only certain cases. Here are a few intentions to start considering:

• Endeavor remotely: empower your workforce with in-house data access.

• Lowering costs: reduce unnecessary software costs and stay within your budget.

• Business worldliness: upgrade to enterprise-level features and thrive with the big guys’ tools for the smoothest performance. .

SaaS overall

SaaS offers a lot of opportunities that capture the interest of both the suppliers and the users alike.

Some enterprises might indeed prefer to use their own cloud management services to control their own data. However, SaaS still offers unrivaled benefits that can help the majority of small businesses to expand, develop, and provide more value to the users, staff, and all involved parties.

It gets easier every day to get confused between the cloud deployment models. One hour you have a public cloud, the next is a private cloud, and then you end up with a hybrid cloud?

Whether it’s the public cloud’s expectations vs. reality and why it’s probably your best cloud deployment, up to the easiest-explanation for the complicated/mixed hybrid cloud deployment. We have taken it upon our shoulders to dissect every single model for you.

A private cloud is a cloud architecture that is dedicated to a single organization. It allows organizations to use their own infrastructure that can be hosted within or outside them.

The private cloud shares some essential appearances with the public cloud. For instance, it has virtualization capabilities with computing resources, and it is scalable.

Now that you know that a private cloud is one of the leading cloud deployments, here are the top 5 reasons why it became one and why it can be your most suitable cloud deployment option.

1-Choose your desired machine

Private clouds allow you to choose the most suitable hardware/software for your needs, unbound to a limited stock that a cloud provider has to offer.

No matter what you end up with, a private cloud can run virtual machines, promoting itself as a number one option for maximizing hardware usage.

2-More cost-effective than ever

A private cloud does scale indeed automatically, but unlike a public cloud, the cost of the private cloud doesn’t grow as the service scales up.

Introducing at the same time the self-service system: granting users the ability to access the private cloud without IT complexities.

That is one of the most significant reasons for a business to consider a private cloud, as it’s easier to scale up and provide extra services, even without additional configuration required by the IT team.

3-Absolute security & privacy control

The improved security level of private clouds is more significant compared to the public cloud, as all your files and data are saved/managed on servers accessible only to your company (single-tenant environment).

Apart from increasing the data privacy levels, your organization doesn’t need to worry about the physical security of the infrastructure if your server is on-site.

Also, suppose your servers are located in a data center. In that case, they will be accessible by your same internal IT team through a highly secure network instead of the unsecured regular internet connection.

Beware, it is your IT department that will be held accountable at the end of the day for any potential wrongdoings or, for example, sensitive data leaks to third-party providers.

4-Transformation to a hybrid cloud

It’s no secret that private cloud users will at some point need to migrate to a hybrid environment to meet all their needs and get the best of both worlds (public and private clouds).

Enjoying all the private cloud benefits in addition to the public cloud features indeed is tempting, and guess what?

Going from a private to a hybrid cloud is way easier than going from a public one, as choosing the public cloud first may highly limit your infrastructure choices.

5-Efficiency & availability

Private clouds are not-only pretty much available everywhere across the world, which is more than what can be said for a public cloud. But also, they can be hosted on privately hosted environments, giving you:

• more control over your data and infrastructure
• prompt interference for any critical changes needed
• accurate application monitoring and analytics to both predict and prevent any downtime.

Final thoughts

That concludes our top 5 reasons why you have to deploy a private cloud, but in a world with ever-changing technology, your journey is just getting started!

In the meantime, if you find this list helpful, take a look at our other 5 reasons lists!

• top 5 reasons why you must have a good API.

• 5 Reasons to consider a dedicated server for gaming

• 5 Reasons why a Bare Metal Dedicated Server is the Right Choice

Otherwise, stay tuned for other interesting lists and top reasons on our ServerHub blog, or read some of our top-visited articles below to satisfy your patience, because one can never wait too long.

• VPC explained in less than 500 words

• VPN Protocols and VPN Protocol Types

• Beginner’s Guide: What Is Ubuntu Linux And How To Install It

• What’s the difference between a VPC and a VPN? The definitive answer

We’ve all been there, asking the same question over and over. Can just one other word make so much difference?

The lines between the private cloud and the virtual private cloud are blurring more than ever. Still, they differ in terms of provider, architecture, and resource delivery.

Luckily you can decide between both based on these distinctions.
Without further ado, let’s dive into it!

Private clouds: what to expect

Private clouds stand by their name as a computing service offered through the internet, exclusively provided to one organization, and dedicated to fully-protect it from any harm.

Unlike a public cloud’s often misassumptions of its expectation vs. reality. A private cloud is direct to the point, only available to a set-of selected users (single-tenant environment).

The internal/corporate/private cloud is easy to scale up. Therefore, it can provide:

• Scalability: providing extra services without extra configuration to be required by the IT team
• Self-service: granting users the ability to access the private cloud without IT complexities.

You better know that your own IT department will be held accountable for any failures and met with many complexities. So, you should invest smartly into the management, staff, and other maintenance expenses.

Benefits of private cloud

With optimal security and customization control, the advantages of a private cloud may include:

Full software/hardware choices control: choose what you prefer, not what a cloud provider offers.

Full conformity and flexibility: customers aren’t forced to obey a cloud service provider’s administration

Don’t forget to keep in mind that one of the most distinguished traits private clouds enjoy is the high privacy/security level, protecting you against any potential attacks or from sensitive data leaks to third-party providers.

Alongside elasticity and additional control, using the dedicated resources hosted on-premises.

Cloud services for private clouds

Two cloud services models are applicable for a private cloud, which are the IaaS and the PaaS.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): where a third-party provider develops platforms and exposes them to customers over the internet. As if you’re buying the tools you need to build your house by yourself.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): where a third-party provider hosts virtualized resources online to customers. As if you’re renting land to build your house on, but still need your own building equipment to do so.

Private cloud and the next level

Capable of running virtual machines, private clouds are a solid choice to maximize hardware usage.

Still, private cloud users will need more public cloud features and will often mix both the public cloud and private cloud to develop a hybrid cloud that can have the necessary elements to meet all their needs.

Deploying a hybrid cloud is essential for ultra-efficiency purposes, and will benefit you greatly by freeing up space using cloud bursting.

Virtual private cloud (VPC)

A virtual private cloud is a private cloud within a public cloud, reinforced with security/isolation aspects using public cloud resources.

Same as the private cloud, you’re only allowed to access it if you’re the one who made it or a part of the people invited inside (multitenancy).

The VPC comes backed with scalability, agility, exquisite performance, and easy hybrid cloud deployment using an application programming interface (API). Thus, Making-your business inevitably one step closer to perfection.

What isolates a VPC

With firewall functions that provide filtering capabilities, here’re the technologies behind the VPC isolation:

Subnets: You reserve IP network addresses so you can come back later to, which are ultimately only yours to command, away from the evil public internet world.

VLAN: VPCs can be isolated through some devices connected to a local area network, which means having a connection that is there without the use of the internet.

VPN: mostly used to access region-restricted websites or to shield your browsing activity. VPNs isolate a VPC using encrypted traffic. A virtual private network (VPN) passes through a publicly shared Internet infrastructure that’s not visible to anyone but you.

VPC top benefits

Most viable and valuable VPC scenarios come into play when you need the following:

Guaranteed customer satisfaction: a VPC helps you build brand trust/customer loyalty, and therefore gain more traffic and achieve other strategy goals, with an uptime ratio up to 99.99%.

Exceptional security: a VPC offers you a complete data separation from your provider’s other clients unless you give them access, protecting all your valuable information from potential leaks to the wrong hands.

Customize all you want: with complete control over your network, VPCs allow you to connect to your enterprise at any time you wish to, add segmentations based on your mere desire, and become more agile than ever.

Challenges VPC users to face

Like all the beautiful things in the world, they pack a punch when they come with a bit of excitement. Rare but possible at the same-time VPC challenges might include:

1-Complexity issues when trying to manage and configure the VPN of the VPC you are using. Therefore, you should have a pretty solid IT team for viable incidents.

2-VPCs, no matter how great they may seem, are still hosted outside the enterprise’s data center. This exposes some strict compliance businesses to data and application limitations.

Virtual private cloud vs. private cloud: you don’t have to choose

Although they are often used by financial institutions, government agencies, or other organizations with critical operations seeking more and improved control over their environment.

The utter truth is that no one specific type of cloud computing can be considered the right choice for everyone and will always depend on each entity’s needs.

As technology progresses faster than ever, several other cloud computing models and services have evolved to meet the fast-changing individualized needs of organizations.

There will be ups and downs for every cloud deployment model, but the three main service models for deploying a cloud service are a private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud.

Strategize, organize, and study both your needs and your competitors as hard. That way, it’s easier to grasp the ultimate end goal and move swiftly towards it using the perfect deployment method, mainly directed and guided by your unique business needs.

Public cloud’s often on top of the list of cloud deployments, but is it really worth it?
Today, you and I aren’t just gonna shed some light on the basic needs but also take a behind-the-scenes look at the public cloud overall.

Public cloud explained

Simple enough, offering scalability/resource sharing that’s beyond a single organization’s ability, and making resources available online to the public, are a public cloud’s job.

Whether free or costly, these public resources vary from one provider to another, including applications, virtual machines, etc.

Obviously, the more resources you require, the higher the price gets. That’s why it’s advised to develop a wise strategy for vast amounts of data before choosing your cloud vendor.

Public cloud competitors

Unlike the private cloud that offers higher security due to earmarking specific users’ resources, or the hybrid cloud environment extends a private cloud to the public cloud to get the best of both worlds.

Public clouds don’t offer the same level of security or the same resources’ optimization enhancements, but cloud computing in general indeed has its benefits!

Public cloud distinguishments

Allowing you to scale at a near infinite rate without committing to expanding your physical IT infrastructure, public clouds will enable you to purchase a virtual desktop license and instantly locate it anywhere!

Also, public cloud data is backed up safely and is accessible from the same “anywhere” we mentioned earlier. Additionally, using the public cloud saves businesses money through lower costs for their purchase and maintenance equipment.

If you still need more, just wait till you know that the most significant -and most popular- providers like Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform offer per-per-usage deals!

Per-per-usage deals grant organizations the ability to pay only for the resources they use, helping them to maintain and protect their budget.

Public cloud structure

As u must have guessed by now, public cloud architecture is completely virtualized.

Besides protecting your data, you can access a service or application on any internet-connected device.

Designed with built-in redundancies to prevent data loss, public clouds may be structured differently according to the type of service provided.

Here’re the most common 3 cloud service models in the market today.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): where a third-party provider hosts/makes the applications public and available over the internet. More like renting a house. It’s not yours, but you use it as it’s yours anyway. “Gmail”

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): where a third-party provider application development platform exposes them to customers over the internet. More like buying the tools needed to build your house yourself. “Microsoft Azure”

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): where a third-party provider hosts servers and other virtualized resources online to customers. More like renting land that you can build your own house on, but you still need to have your own building equipment. “Google Compute Engine”

Bonus: everyhing-as-a-Service (XaaS): generally stands for services related to the cloud computing/remote access world. It represents the tools and technologies available to be delivered to users, paid or unpaid, over the internet.

Editor's choice: SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: The comprehensive guide

Public cloud beyond

Now that you’re perfectly aware of all the public cloud potential capabilities, it’s time you ready that updated deployment-goals sheet of yours, share it with any concerned party, and start the real brainstorming! On whether or not the public cloud is your best cloud deployment.

Hybrid cloud, cloud hybrid, or multi-cloud. No matter which definition of hybrid cloud you use, the great benefits are the same!

With superior security, automated data redundancy, high availability, and disaster recovery. Hybrid cloud is the ultimate choice for small and big businesses alike.

Imagine a hybrid train feeding on solar and electric power, 2 distinguished technologies functioning differently.

When both are combined appropriately, it results in a more powerful train than a solar or electric-only train, enhancing advantages and overcoming disadvantages of each power.

Hybrid clouds maintain the same approach, unifying public and private cloud services to create a single and cost-optimal IT infrastructure.

Hybrid cloud: what connects the separate clouds

Public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises infrastructure can connect through:

• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
• Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
• Wide Area Networks (WANs)
• Local area networks (LANs)

Hybrid cloud: types of environments

• Public cloud: shared by multiple organizations, it runs by an external vendor that may include servers in one or more data centers

• Private cloud: wholly dedicated to one company, all the files are not shared, maintained, and secured by the organizations-themselves

• On-premises (legacy): where deployments don’t use cloud technology. Instead, organizations use the traditional practice of purchasing software licenses.

Any combination of the above cloud types can be considered “hybrid cloud”

Hybrid cloud: How does it work?

Hybrid clouds focus on transforming portions of a company’s on-premises data center into private cloud infrastructure, then connecting that infrastructure to public cloud environments hosted off-premises by a public cloud provider.

This happens using unified management tools or advanced enterprise middleware to combine cloud resources across the environments.

Hybrid cloud: the advantages within

Offering many competitive edges, the benefits of a hybrid cloud include:

• Improved productivity: agility is on top when it comes to hybrid clouds, helping you expand effortlessly and deploy to all clouds.

• Exceptional security: keep sensitive data on-premises in a secure private cloud while running the rest of your applications using a public cloud.

• Potential acceleration: avoid service interruptions due to cloud crashes by relying on the other cloud. Also, gain faster integration and combination with partners or third parties to deliver new products and services.

• Cost control: run every application as efficiently as possible by adding cloud resources -only when- needed to accommodate the peak periods.

Read VPC vs private cloud: differences and definations

Hybrid cloud: the evil drawbacks

Because nothing’s perfect without the imperfections, some of the top hybrid cloud disadvantages are:

• Complexity all over: setting up a hybrid cloud takes more steps than deploying a single cloud, as hybrid clouds consist of at least 1 private cloud and 1 public cloud, or 2 and more clouds from each.

• Tough to secure: requiring multiple security products at times for the company’s public cloud, as it’s only the private cloud that runs behind its firewall.

• Barbed mixture: not all private and public clouds are fully compatible, resulting in slow responses for hybrid cloud applications. Additionally, the cost may significantly increase in data misplacement, inevitably calling for a unique set of outstanding technical skills.

Hybrid cloud: use cases and scenarios

• Disaster recovery: by backing up data in the cloud carefully to avoid bandwidth consumption.

• Cloud provider adventure: where a group of skilled people explore the cloud tools and learn how to deal with them before adopting a public cloud approach.

• Future flexibility: hybrid clouds match your exact data requirements to the public/private cloud resources that are guaranteed to handle them the best.

Hybrid cloud: best of both worlds

The presence of multiple environments can be a powerful defense against security risks and maintain the tools freely for complete scaling, saving, and maximum efficiency.

If the road is clear, then why limit your options? Go on and consider all the way hybrid cloud now! Get all the agility you need for the next level, and grasp the best of both worlds.

Next: Everything as a service: Beginner's guide to XaaS

Ever got confused about the difference between a VPC and a VPN, too? You're not alone. VPCs and VPNs are often puzzled as they:

• Share key aspects
• Can be associated together
• Stand for almost the same acronyms

Let's decipher each letter, benefit, and dig deeper into whether it's worth all the confusion, in this short yet comprehensive answer.

The (V) for virtual, refers to a virtualized network relying on virtualized hardware.

The (P) for private, means that access to a resource is limited for certain users.

VPC under spotlight

With the (C) standing for cloud, VPCs grant users the ability to turn on/off their servers within an hourly pricing model instead of a monthly one.

They’re also not limited to a single server, and can manage great numbers of virtual machines. Plus, Elasticity is on top for VPCs, giving you automatic virtual expansion for sudden traffic increases.

Besides being much cheaper than a VPS that charges monthly, read (VPC) fully explained in less than 500 words. or virtual private cloud vs private cloud for a full virtual private cloud guide.

VPC additional perks

If what we mentioned still doesn’t satisfy your taste, here’s more!

• Effortless hardware boosts: simply upgrade hardware for all your VPC customers at once since they all access resources from the same hardware.

• Hybrid cloud harmony: enjoy a combination of a private cloud and a public cloud service operated by a third party, and gain access to more data deployment options.

VPN under spotlight

VPNs mainly facilitate the public-resources reach to users in private.

They also can:

• Encapsulate your data in an encrypted tunnel to secure your internet connection
• Give you the advantage of Internet privacy
• Offer you IP leak protection

Personally, I came into direct contact with VPNs and they benefited me in different ways, still are! Those benefits depend on each individualized scenario.

For instance, in my case, I used it to access blocked websites, since I come from a place where a lot of good websites are just, blocked.

Read SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: Beginner's Guide to your Best Model

Key differences between a VPC and a VPN

Even though they share the acronyms of the “V” for Virilization and the “P” for private, they do still offer different needs.

VPC, as an elastic cloud service, focuses more on hosting/providing full control over a company-websites, with automatic scale for traffic requirements and unbounded hardware limitations.

VPN, on the other hand, is a cost-effective technology for companies and individuals alike.

From protecting normal conversations and VoIP calls up to logins and bank info, a VPN can be hosted on a VPC to breakthrough any geographical limitations.

Get a deeper look at our detailed article for the great capabilities of a VPN, or another one here for how to benefit your business with the VPN protocol types.

Do you know what VPC means and why it even matters to your public cloud journey? Today, we’re going to break it down!

A virtual private cloud (VPC) is a private cloud environment hosted within a public cloud, all enhanced with security and isolation aspects while using public cloud resources.

Like a crowded coffee shop with the sign “reserved” on one of its tables, you can access the VPC only if you’re who made it or a part of the multitenancy (people invited inside).

How is a VPC isolated?

A VPC separates traffic from the rest of the public clouds with firewall functions that provide filtering capabilities. The technologies used to do the VPC resources separation are:

• VLAN: devices connected to a local area network, without the use of the Internet.

• VPN: a virtual private network (VPN) uses scrambled and encrypted traffic that passes through publicly shared Internet infrastructure that’s not visible to anyone.

• Subnets: IP network addresses that are reserved, not accessible via the public Internet.

What are the benefits of a VPC?

1. Isolation and security: a VPC offers you complete data separation from your provider’s other clients unless you give them access.

2. Fixable customization: VPCs grant you full control over your network, allowing you to add segmentations, connect to your enterprise, and become more agile.

3. Customer satisfaction: VPC environments help you build brand trust and customer loyalty with uptime ratios up to 99.99%.
   

Challenges of virtual private clouds

Although rare but viable, a VPC is not immune to potential challenges, including:

1. Facing some complexity when managing and configuring its VPN.

2. VPCs are still hosted outside the enterprise’s data center, exposing some strict compliance businesses to data and application limitations.

The advantages of using a VPC instead of

• VPC vs. private cloud: a VPC is hosted by a public cloud provider that provides better security and performance, making the VPC public cloud connection simpler than the private cloud is.

• VPC vs. VPN: A virtual private network makes a secure internet connection by creating information traveling through an encrypted tunnel. Deploying a VPN-as-a-Service establishes secure site-to-site communication between your VPC and your other location

A VPC is guaranteed to grow your-business

Many business leaders provide IaaS and offer VPC services, such as Microsoft Azure, Google, and Amazon’s VPC that uses IPsec virtual private network connection

With scalability, easy hybrid cloud deployment, overall agility, security, and performance that VPC has. Your business is inevitably one step closer to perfection.

What is an API? It's a question everyone asks! Okay… not really, but we're glad you did!
Let's say hello to the golden buzzer within the tech industry today.

API is a software intermediary between you and your apps or between apps.

All API acts use your phone to send a message or check the weather.

Think of the waiter in a restaurant who takes your order, gets your food, and your bill right after. This waiter's the restaurant's API, sparing you the work behind the scenes.

API could also:

• Simplify app development
• Save time and money
• Give you flexibility
• Provide administration to expand your brand.

Here are 5 reasons you must have a good API.

1- Assemble your foundation using an API

The best API advantages flourish when you build your initial blocks.

For instance, if your business involves food delivery.

You can use a phone's geolocation API to locate the riders, one API to communicate messages to them, and another API to handle payments.

APIs are all about connecting the trim pieces to form the bigger picture. They allow you to use data quickly and efficiently when looking to do something specific with the information.

2- Upsell & add SaaS value with an API

APIs integrate well with SaaS products, as they're built on a distributed model. Large corporate clients notice this and tend to want better adjustments into their workflows using the API!

While CRM vendors like Zoho offer accessible backend API data to their clients to adjust freely, Global CRM SaaS providers like Salesforce provide this data for higher-end subscribers only.

The possibilities are endless, as others may offer full API access to tempt users as an additional part of a monthly subscription or a specific package with a different price.

3- APIs Automate everything

Computers can manage work with APIs without human interactions.

You can quickly update workflows through APIs, make the information delivery more flexible, access the app components, or automatically publish content the way you like.

4- Go API and gain more traffic

You should consider launching APIs if you run your own businesses

That'll help you reach new target audiences across online platforms and have the potential to:

• Extend your customer-reach
• Support your marketing activities
• Increase your revenue
• Ease integration of backend data

5- APIs and innovators, simpler than ever

There's no need to be a technology expert to profit from building a platform.

By saving time and engineering hours that would have been required to build a platform, APIs allow you a new experience while utilizing what is already adopted.

All happens via repackaging API data, from which you can simply build the products.

Final thoughts

API can come in different policies like private for you, partner with a business, or public for all users. It could also, as we mentioned, simplify app development, save time and money, give you flexibility and administration to expand your brand.

Fusing an API in your product is a game-changer and can bring a competitive edge.

Also, don't forget that an API comes equipped with maintenance, which ultimately makes them cheaper in the long run.

Overall, APIs can take care of many functions of your company, which gives you enough time and space to focus on and improve what your company does best.

What is an API? Learn APIs 101 from David Berlind, editor-in-chief with ProgrammableWeb