By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Cloud architecture encompasses every aspect of a company’s cloud setup, from the front and back end to the network and delivery models.
The front end consists of the dashboards, tools, and GUIs that allow users to access and interact with the cloud environment. The back end is all the parts that help the cloud “run,” including storage, routers, and security features. The network connects the front end and back end, while the delivery models dictate the services that users receive—i.e., infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), software-as-a-service (SaaS), and so on.
Each example of cloud architecture is unique to a particular organization’s needs, but all share a common goal: delivering cloud services in a flexible, scalable, effective, and hopefully cost-efficient way. For example, the cloud architecture for companies producing data analytics or online gaming for huge audiences will necessarily be very different from a small design studio that utilizes the cloud primarily for internal use.
Cloud architecture can also become more complicated depending on the organization’s choice of public cloud, private cloud, hybrid (a mix of on-premises and cloud services), and multicloud (incorporating cloud services from more than one provider). From there, IT professionals tasked with planning out the cloud architecture must consider the most effective ways to resource provisions, host applications, optimize, and monitor the health of the system. Management will inevitably want ways to enforce policies and judge performance, hopefully through a simplified set of dashboards.
