There is an inherent difference between Virtualization & the Cloud, but a lot of people often have the tendency to mix these two things up. Yes, the cloud exists virtually, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the same as virtualization.
The importance of understanding this difference is integral in empowering you to make crucial business decisions on which of these two technologies will suit your needs in the best possible manner.
Let’s clear off this confusion once and for all by delving into the actual meaning of these terms, the underlying technologies that make them work and the kind of advantages and challenges each of them brings to a business implementing them.
What’s Virtualization?
Just like the word itself implies, Virtualization can be defined as the process of building a virtual component that mimics hardware utilities by converting its functionalities into code.
Still sounds difficult? Let us elaborate on it with the help of an example.
Imagine you have a physical server with you. This is just one physical server on which you can run just one OS and that’s about it. This is where virtualization comes in by allowing you to create multiple different virtual servers out of that same server through the assistance of a program named Hypervisor.
This program separates the functionalities of each virtual server, allowing you to run multiple different OS at a single point in time. These compartments are commonly known as Virtual Machines as they run as singular machines by not interfering in the other machine’s computing processes.
However, this system can only be built and maintained in-house. But the most fundamental characteristic of Virtualization is that while you can definitely scale up and build as many resources as you want, you can’t just use a portion of those resources because your need is limited. The cost of other resources remaining idle will be borne by you as well.
While virtualization can reduce the cost of hardware incurred by firms, it’s still not highly cost-efficient for small to medium-sized firms who need access to virtual machines but in little quantities and on a need-only basis.
And this is exactly where Cloud Computing comes in!
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing is technically a service in its most basic sense and just like other kinds of services, you can use it for a wide variety of tasks ranging from storage to software hosting as per your needs. This is possible because Cloud Computing relies on a pooled resource network made available by a vendor in most cases.
These computing resources can be acquired by anyone without ever having to worry about setting up, maintaining or running the network that hosts these services.
This single point of contention has made Cloud Computing services hold incredible appeal to large and small businesses alike because the kind of scalability that it offers cannot be matched by virtualization.
The Core Differences:
Now that you have developed a basic understanding of how Virtualization differs from Cloud Computing, let’s delve in to understand the inherent advantages and challenges in opting for each one of them:
Enabling Scalable Venture:
Cloud Computing doesn’t restrict you to use a set amount of resources for a defined period of time, thereby allowing you to fluctuate your requirements. This allows you to build scalable ventures like apps, websites, etc. knowing that you are not bounding your resources and the space for growth will be readily available when demand arrives.
Virtualization, on the other hand, doesn’t offer such independence. You can definitely build capacity in it but it has to be done by adding more hardware components which you will have to fully manage yourself irrespective of how much your demand fluctuates.
Initial Setup:
Cloud computing might be easy to use, but setting it up is hard comprising of a complex process called migration which can only be handled by technically trained staff.
On the other hand, Virtual machines are not that difficult to set up as you just have to render code to behave as hardware components. Much of this code is already available in many online repositories and not much dedicated technical training is required to pull it off.
Accessibility:
Virtual Machines cannot be accessed from any other location other than the one its setup in, making remote accessibility impossible. This is one of the biggest obstacles that make Virtualization infeasible for handling business needs that operate from many different locations.
On top of this, proper authentication is required to get through to a VM network.
Cloud Computing powers immense flexibility when it comes to easing up user access. Places with internet can easily be used to access the cloud with just the right credentials. This has allowed it to be the best solution for businesses operating on a large scale.
Recovery:
If a VM gets compromised, most of the time you have to say goodbye to your data, no matter how valuable it is. That’s because there is no abstraction of storage here, making VMs highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, power breakdowns, and other mishaps.
In Cloud computing, your data is safe because it’s not dependent on the failure of any one hardware or software component. It’s a shared platform where multiple resources pooled together create better and more powerful redundancy capabilities.
Think of it as storing something somewhere where it automatically gets copied to multiple different machines, so if one goes down, the others still have it. This empowers firms to have a faster recovery cycle whenever an issue bogs them down.
Wrapping Things Up:
Cloud Computing and its use has been rising exponentially in the recent few years with dominant services like Amazon Web Services continuously bringing in newer tools to constantly diversify the solutions available to the user from the cloud landscape. From storage to big data analytics to IoT connectivity, cloud is making a lot of things possible.
Virtualization has not been able to match the Cloud in any such sphere, remaining limited to its general capabilities. For any business which is looking forth towards acquiring a virtual solution, Cloud computing is often the best thing to opt for in most cases.
And if you can couple it with the right kind of training to learn more about the latest emerging technologies in the Cloud landscape, you will realize an impressive range of business possibilities that you previously didn’t think were possible.