The cloud computing model aims to change the model of web hosting in which clients pay a monthly subscription fee for scalable services. Their bill will be determined by the amount of hard drive space, memory, bandwidth, time, and other resources that they use. On-demand services are available with this type of hosting. According to most models, a client will pay a base amount for hosting and then any extra, subsequent usage is billed on an energy-saving basis. In this way, website operators pay less for services they don't need, and energy is conserved. Other words, owners of websites can add additional resources whenever they see fit in order to increase traffic and popularity.

Inquire of your cloud hosting provider whether you can control the location of your data. Many factors can affect the location of the dedicated server and data centers on your site. Site speed is among the most important. If you want to avoid slow page loading times, it is important that the data for your company and/or website is not too far away from your target audience. Google now ranks web pages based on their speed as a ranking factor. Moreover, it is crucial that you can easily communicate with those who operate the data centers in order to avoid potential problems due to differences in time zones and languages.

Large enterprises and governments are increasingly opting for cloud computing, since it is a cost-effective way to host an unlimited number of websites, databases, and email accounts. The cloud has its pros and cons, as with any other web hosting method, especially one so new. Consider these things if you're considering signing up with a cloud host.

Since certain privileged users have full administrative access, cloud computing possess some controversial aspects related to security. Those employed by the hosting company likely do not know you, so can you truly trust them to secure your information in the cloud? When it comes to confidential data, you need to know who is managing it in case of a data breach or other unwanted activity. When you hire administrators, you need to know their credentials and who manages them.

In order to implement any form of e-commerce on your site, be sure to utilize a web host that is PCI-compliant. Where your site is hosted in the cloud, you need to ensure that it is PCI-compliant. Additionally, especially in e-commerce, you should make sure that the vendor will be audited, will pass security clearance tests, and that data will be encrypted properly. In order for your e-commerce company to be legally able to process credit cards, they must comply with the PCI and take all other necessary steps to ensure compliance with the new PA-DSS. Regular scanning can only be performed by a QSA connected to the PCI board.

Due to the lack of secondary clouds, traditional backups as we know them don't exist when it comes to cloud computing. Clients are therefore more obliged to ensure that they do backups on their own. When a disaster occurs, do clients' data get recovered? Losing data in the cloud can lead to expensive messes. It has been reported that cloud servers have crashed and that exorbitant amounts of money, time, litigation, lost business, and lost clients have resulted from this.

Cloud computing has advantages despite certain cons and uncertainties. For instance, it can be accessed via the Internet. No particular hardware or software is required. Laptops, smartphones, and other web-enabled devices can all access the cloud. In addition, cloud computing allows users to access their data from anywhere on the planet as long as they have access to the Internet.

Cloud computing advocates argue that data is generally more secure on the cloud than on traditional servers due to the centralization. Moreover, a cloud environment is likely to have enhanced security resources. Cloud companies may be in a better position to assist because they possess more financial resources and can install monitoring and security systems that clients cannot afford as well as be better trained to deal with such issues. In contrast, opponents (as mentioned above) are worried about their sensitive data being handled by cloud administrators they do not personally know, and are not capable of finding trustworthy administrators.