Singapore - Cloud technology: The future of web hosting

SINGAPORE - The cloud. Not the white, fluffy ones up in the sky, but rather, the digital cloud that tech leaders such as Apple and Google have fully leveraged on.

Cloud hosting, also known as hosting in the cloud, involves web hosting delivered as a service rather than a product over the Internet. It allows users to fully focus on their websites, eCommerce, products, profits, etc instead of hardware and the huge cost commonly incurred in upgrading.

According to Exabytes Network (SG) Pvt. Ltd., which launched its cloud hosting services in Singapore today, cloud hosting will soon replace the old idea of renting a server or sharing a server space also known as shared hosting.

Mr Chan Kee Siak, CEO of Exabytes said: "The future is with cloud hosting. Everything can be hosted online. For example, a company can store its accounting software online and access it and its accounting data on any Internet connected PC or laptop anytime instead of installing the software on all its computers," said Mr Chan.

He added that cloud servers have numerous advantages over conventional dedicated servers and quoted Gmail as one of the biggest users of cloud hosting which utilizes cloud technology to provide its users with optimum email loading speed even during peak hours.

Often described as 'unlimited computing power (bandwidth, RAM, CPU power, storage, etc) on demand whenever needed', the technology also allows users to save costs during web traffic off peak due to the fact that users are only billed on how much they use and not how long they use, applying a billing concept similar to an electric meter.

In addition, cloud is frequently related to better website experience for its ability to maintain website loading speed even at times of unpredictable web traffic surge.

Here, all terminals are established to work together in one single environment resembling a cloud metaphorically, so that the application can make use all the computing capability it has and distribute the cloud resources flexibly to different terminals whenever the needs arise.

The reasons which back the present speedy momentum of cloud hosting are numerous. Among the most important ones on the list are cost saving due to hardware elimination and 'pay as you use', guaranteed website performance and experience, website / computing power scalability, easy implementation, more internal IT resources, 24×7 reliable technical support as well as high availability.

Mr Chan explained: "First, cloud hosting is very easy to implement as you no longer need to purchase any software licenses or hardware. Setups are all automated. Second, by adopting cloud hosting, you are shifting the burden of your in-house IT team to your hosting provider to take care of all your server needs so that your team can focus on profits and eCommerce-related tasks.

"Third, your virtual machines are supported by a team of highly professional IT experts who work 24×7 to eliminate all your technical concerns. Fourth, with high availability, if your server hardware fails, it will automatically move your site to other servers within the cloud. Your site automatically recovers in minutes."

Applications

The applications and adoption of cloud hosting are vast. It includes social media sites, web applications, Facebook applications and business applications. Cloud hosting greatly improves the overall visitor website experience in this environment since problem such as website downtime and the like are largely eliminated.

Social Media Sites

Owners of social media sites on which members extensively share photos, videos and music relies on the technology of cloud that allows smooth surfing during traffic surge in peak hours and cost saving during off peak.

Web Applications

Cloud hosting helps e-Commerce sites that run multiple web applications such as order status check, file sharing, data storing simultaneously in improving website loading speed without extensive investment on hardware.

Facebook Applications

Program / game developers of Facebook who host their applications / games on cloud are assured of websites that run at optimum speed even if visitors access / browse them from a remote location.

Business Applications

Owners of e-Commerce sites can avoid site overloading when multiple customers simultaneously place their orders, make payments and chat on live chat. Instead of focusing on their frequent need of hardware upgrade, these owners can focus their attention on their e- Business.

A web hosting provider that currently serves more than 60,000 clients in over 121 countries, Exabytes places great emphasis on cloud technology as it predicts the high prevalence and usage of cloud computing / hosting in the very near future.

In conjunction with its launch, Exabytes Singapore is set to reward its clients with the opportunity to win a 3-day 2-night complimentary stay at the luxurious Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore. Furthermore, all 50 early-bird customers will be entitle to free $1,000 cloud hosting credits complimentary of Exabytes Singapore (http://www.exabytes.sg/cloud).