What is Cloud Hosting?

The cloud computing technology is not limited to storing data such as images and videos on the server. It is a sort of web hosting which utilizes various servers to adjust the load and increase the uptime. Rather than utilizing one server, your site can take advantage of a “cluster” that utilizes resources from a centralized pool. This implies regardless of whether one server stops, other kicks in to keep everything running.

What are the common Cloud Hosting Mistakes?

1. Choosing the wrong cloud service provider: 

Keep these things in your mind while choosing a cloud service provider:

  • Cloud Security: The security measures such as two-factor authentication, strong password policy, and data encryption should be provided by the hosting service. It keeps your business data secure.
  • 24×7 customer support: Highly-trained assistants should be accessible to guide you in case you face any issue related to QuickBooks usage or have queries to get a better grip on the cloud hosting platform. These consultants need to be available 24×7, ensuring that the users do not face any technical problems or wait for the commencement of the next working hours.
  • Server Up-time: Uptime is the amount of time that a server is operational and is accessible to the user. This time is depicted in terms of percentage. Just those cloud hosting companies that use advanced cloud infrastructure provide and are ensuring 99.99% uptime should be considered.
  • Accessibility: Multiple users should be able to access the data and files from any place around the world. The accessibility needs to be open to anyone possessing any of the internet-enabled devices.
  • Data Security: While choosing a cloud hosting service, the security of the provider should be explored broadly. This should always be seen as a precautionary aspect as the complete data goes directly into the hands of third parties. Remember, reliability, trust, and security of the service provider should be atop of every SMBs’ priority list.

2. Moving to the Cloud without proper planning and strategy:

Without proper planning, a cloud migration could degrade workload performance and lead to higher IT costs thereby negating some of the main benefits of cloud computing.

3. Not able to estimate the company’s bandwidth requirements:

Bandwidth capacity is the estimation of how quickly information is sent over a remote or wired connection. Low data transfer capacity resembles a freeway at heavy traffic. Everything eases back down. Similarly as including extra lanes accelerates traffic, expanding bandwidth permits more information to stream.

However, accurately assessing bandwidth capacity necessities will keep you from paying for more than your business needs, or not buying enough and causing a moderate connection. To assess bandwidth capacity necessities for a business, first access Internet usage.

Next, take a look at your business development forecast to guarantee the Internet bandwidth will cover the expanded utilization needs as your organization grows.

4. Presuming the Cloud Service will back up your company data in a secured way:

You should not presume that your confidential files and data of the business are protected with the Cloud Service. It is important to look out for a cloud hosting service that provides automated backup, and recovery solutions.
The business companies should be assured of the safety and availability of the data. The data needs to be safe even in the case of accidental data deletion or natural disaster.

5. Leaving security entirely to the cloud provider:

With most of the cloud hosting services you do get data encryption, 24×7 network-monitoring, delivering superior protection for your data. With a fully-clustered, multi-tier infrastructure, it ensures industry-standard data security. But no matter how much security it provides, it is anyway a third party service. So, you should not leave security entirely to the cloud provider and have a small security team of your own.

6. Inability to take full benefit of cloud hosting:

Now, when you have already opted for a cloud hosting service then you need to take the full benefit of the service. There are a lot of features that the cloud hosting service provides, you need to be aware of all of it and use it in an efficient manner to maximize the productivity of your business.

Questions to ask before choosing a cloud hosting provider

1. What cloud hosting services should they provide?

The bare minimum services that the service providers should provide can be these:

  • For online accounting, they could provide QuickBooks
  • For video, photo and online documents, they could provide Dropbox
  • For online CRM, they could provide Salesforce

2. What cloud security should they offer?

A reliable cloud service provider should be able to offer at least these security aspects:

  • Two-factor authentication
  • Strong password policy
  • Data encryption
  • Automated backup, and recovery solutions

3. What is their pricing structure?

The pricing structure dependents on the service providers. Here are some examples:

  • Sagenext: $33/ month
  • Right Networks: $50/month
  • Swizznet: $54.99/month
  • Insynq: $55/month
  • Go to my ERP: $65/month

4. What customer support services should they offer?

  • The minimum services that a good provider should provide are:
  • Highly-trained assistants
  • 24×7 availability
  • Quick troubleshooting and resolving technical problems

5. Where is the data centre, and how secure is it?

The data centres based out of the U.S. are SSAE-16 Type II (SOC-1/SOC-2) audited and HIPAA compliant. Besides, they also have enterprise-level security measures in place, like

  • End-to-end encryption
  • Firewalls
  • Antivirus programs
  • Antimalware

This guarantees all-round protection to the client’s data.

6. Can the data be recovered if lost?

Yes. With the backup, a copy of the data is stored on the cloud or a disk. This acts as an added advantage, where the data can be recovered if it is lost or accidentally deleted from the main system.

7. How can a person access their company’s cloud?

You need to enter the credentials, and that is it. With the hosting service, you can access, share, and use your application, files, and data in real-time even while on-the-go. This means maximizing productivity with less investment of time and effort.

8. Can their cloud scale up to meet my business needs?

Cloud computing empowers you to rapidly scale resources up or down dependent on the request. Thus, you get the performance and limit that you need, when you need them and you’re not paying for them when you don’t. The cloud gives you the adaptability to help your clients as your business grows and changes while assisting with monitoring costs.

Winding-up

These are the common cloud mistakes that you must avoid. The FAQs for cloud hosting providers that have been stated above would help you choose the right one for maximizing the productivity of your business. Observing the industry only brings us to draw the conclusion that the coming years are going to be the year of cloud computing, and we must invest in it smartly.