On-Premises (Traditional IT)
Historically, if a company wanted to run a website or an email server, they had to buy the physical computers, put them in a server room in their office, provide cooling and power, and hire staff to maintain them. This is called On-Premises or “On-Prem”. You are responsible for 100% of the security, from the software down to the physical locks on the door.
The Cloud
“The Cloud” is simply a network of massive data centers owned by companies like Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), or Google (GCP). Instead of buying your own servers, you rent space on theirs.
Security Differences
In the cloud, you no longer have to worry about physical security or hardware failures. The provider handles that. However, because your data is hosted on the internet, misconfiguring your cloud settings can accidentally expose your data to the entire world instantly.
Knowledge Check
Question 1 of 1What is a primary advantage of cloud computing over on-premises infrastructure?
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