How Do We Reach the Cloud?

About this interactive

There are many ways to connect to the cloud, but each kind of cloud service tends to use certain ones. Software as a service, such as Office 365 or Dropbox, is reached from end devices through a web portal or a client, largely over HTTPS. The same goes for parts of IaaS and PaaS, such as the provider's web console. When a site, a headquarters or a satellite campus, needs the back-end infrastructure of IaaS or PaaS, there are other options. It can run a VPN to the cloud over its internet connection: encrypted, but still crossing the public internet. Or it can buy a direct connection to AWS, Azure or Google Cloud through a service provider, which does not go through the internet at all. Some companies reach the cloud through a third party's facility that has its own direct connections. To sort a card, ask what carries the traffic: HTTPS to the service, an encrypted tunnel over the internet, or a link that bypasses the internet.

What you'll learn

Choose how a connection reaches a cloud service: HTTPS for SaaS and web consoles, a VPN over the internet, or a direct connection that bypasses the internet
Explain why a site connecting to IaaS or PaaS back-end infrastructure needs more than HTTPS

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

3.1 Compare and contrast security implications of different architecture models.

3.2 Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure.

Key terms

Direct Connect: A dedicated private network connection between an organization's on-premises infrastructure and a cloud provider such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, bypassing the public internet.
Virtual Private Network: A technology that creates a secure, encrypted tunnel over a public network to protect data in transit.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure: The encrypted version of HTTP that wraps web traffic in a TLS session, operating on TCP port 443, so that the data exchanged between a browser and a web server is confidential and cannot be read or modified by an eavesdropper. HTTPS is now the standard for all web traffic, indicated by the padlock icon in a browser.
Software as a Service: A cloud service model that delivers software applications over the internet on a subscription basis.
Infrastructure as a Service: A cloud service model that provides virtualized computing infrastructure over the internet.

Topics

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