Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud infrastructure-as-a-service offering from Amazon. For companies looking to break away from the traditional method of hosting servers in-house for operations including email, file storage, and databases – AWS provides a cost-effective and scalable solution for migrating these components to the cloud. One of the biggest benefits of moving to the cloud is the ability to leverage the elasticity of the cloud, meaning that it has the ability to grow or shrink depending on the demand for system resources.
Here are just a few reasons of how the elasticity of the cloud can provide businesses with advantages over a traditional in-house server configuration:
Scalability On-Demand
The elasticity of the cloud means that businesses can scale up or down at a moment’s notice. With a standard, on-premise set up, if a company had to increase server storage or accommodate for spikes in web traffic, they would have to spend days purchasing, installing, and deploying new equipment. If the spike in activity subsided in a few months, then the company was left with new hardware that sits idle, wasting resources such as space and electricity.
With AWS, companies are able to increase or decrease the size of their cloud-based data storage as well as the amount of computational power with a few clicks of their mouse from the AWS administrator console. Unprecedented spikes in activity or a quick need for additional storage space can be accommodated on-demand. Consequently, if the company ends up not having to use the extra space or computing power, they can scale back through the admin console as well.
You Only Pay For What You Use
Having the elasticity of the cloud provides businesses with huge savings potentials. In that companies can scale up or down depending on demand, it also means that they only pay for what they use. So say for instance a company takes on a new database project, and they need a new server to host the database and to store data sets. The company has the ability to launch and scale a database in the cloud on AWS. Then say the project gets abandoned six months down the road. With a traditional in-house configuration, a company would be left with a server rack that isn’t being utilized. With AWS, the company can scale back or completely deactivate the online server. If the cloud server isn’t in service, then the company doesn’t have to pay for it. AWS gives businesses the ability to test new projects with the flexibility of utility pricing in that they are only responsible for paying for what they used.
Better Use of Resources
In addition to cost savings, the cloud gives companies the ability to better manage their internal system resources. Some companies may not want to migrate their entire infrastructure to the cloud, and instead they decide to keep a hybrid approach with some resources operating locally in-house. What the cloud does is it allows businesses to better allocate their system resources. They can set aside specific hardware and software resources for computational needs in-house, knowing that they have the flexibility of the cloud to scale up or down as needed. On-premise server rooms become more organized and system resources in-house are optimized while having the elasticity of the cloud to accommodate for supply and demand.
