Cloud Computing
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The document is a report on cloud computing written by Abdul-Rehman Aslam for his course instructor Mr. Safee. It discusses key topics such as what cloud computing is, the cloud service model of Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service. It also covers the different types of clouds including public, private, hybrid and community clouds. The report highlights the key characteristics of cloud computing such as cost, device and location independence, multi-tenancy, reliability, scalability and security. It concludes that cloud computing brings many possibilities and is a technology that has taken the software and business world by storm.
Cloud Computing
- 1. A REPORT ON CLOUD COMPUTING BY ABDUL-REHMAN ASLAM August 8, 2012 PREPARED FOR MR. SAFEE (COURSE INSTRUTOR)
- 2. Table Of Contents 1. Introduction ………………………………………………………..……3 2. What is Cloud Computing ? ………….………………………………… 4 3. Cloud Service Model ……………………………………………………. 5 4. Types of Clouds …..……………………………………………………. 6 5. Key Characteristics …..…………………………………………………. 8 6. Conclusion ….……………………………………………………………. 10 7. References ..………………………………………………………………. 11
- 3. 1. Introduction Imagine yourself in the world where the users of the computer of today’s internet world don’t have to run, install or store their application or data on their own computers, imagine the world where every piece of your information or data would reside on the Cloud (Internet). As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing", the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud", including conventional outsourcing. Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what we always need: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends ICT's existing capabilities. Cloud computing is at an early stage, with a motley crew of providers large and small delivering a slew of cloud-based services, from full-blown applications to storage services to spam filtering. Yes, utility-style infrastructure providers are part of the mix, but so are SaaS (software as a service) providers such as Salesforce.com. Today, for the most part, IT must plug into cloud-based services individually, but cloud computing aggregators and integrators are already emerging.
- 4. 2. What is Cloud Computing Cloud computing is the delivery of computing and storage capacity as a service to a community of end-recipients. OR In cloud computing, the word "cloud" is used as a metaphor for "the Internet," so the phrase cloud computing is used to mean a type of Internet-based computing, where different services -- such as servers, storage and applications -- are delivered to an organization's computers and devices through the Internet. OR Cloud Computing is providing services on virtual machines allocated on lap of large physical machine.
- 5. 3. Cloud Computing Service Model Three core options compose the service model within the cloud computing environment. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). 1.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) The IaaS layer offers storage and compute resources that developers and IT organizations can use to deliver business solutions. 2.Platform as a Service (PaaS) The PaaS layer offers black-box services with which developers can build applications on top of the compute infrastructure. This might include developer tools that are offered as a service to build services, or data access and database services, or billing services. Software as a Service (SaaS) In the SaaS layer, the service provider hosts the software so you don’t need to install it, manage it, or buy hardware for it. All you have to do is connect and use it. SaaS Examples include customer relationship management as a service.
- 6. 4. Types of Clouds Cloud Computing can broadly be classified into 4 types. They are Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud Community Cloud The types of cloud mentioned above are based on the type of application and environment being considered before developing the application and on the basis of the location where it’s been hosted. Public Cloud The name “public” in the public cloud comes from the fact that application is hosted on the Hosting Providers location (Vendors). Though it is hosted in shared system, each resource operates in silo and encrypted securely. With Public Cloud all the resources and the services are dynamically added and removed (Scalable) based on the usage. Public cloud is more advantages for Small and Medium scale industries since we are going to pay for the resources which we are going to use and specifically the hardware and the bandwidth are going to be maintained by the hosting provider. Some of the examples of Public Cloud in market are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Apps. Private Cloud In this form, the cloud is deployed with in a corporate firewall and runs on premise IT infrastructure. Private cloud is more expensive compared to the public cloud since the operating and bandwidth costs are to be maintained by the organization, but this cloud is more secure than the public cloud. Private Cloud provides more benefits to the corporate by capitalizing on the Data Security and Corporate Governance and provides administrators more control over the operating environment.
- 7. Hybrid Cloud Hybrid Cloud are increasingly being used by corporations where there is a need to maintain some of their applications on their internal infrastructure (because of regulatory compliance or sensitivity of data), but also need the scalability and cost benefits of the public cloud. Cloud bursting is the term normally used for this type of environment where internal applications are deployed on private cloud for normal usage while internet applications are deployed on the public cloud to handle variable loads. Community Cloud This type of cloud is specifically used for organizations that are shared such as different government organizations. In this case, non-government organizations will not have access to this cloud. The cloud could be located in-house, or on public cloud based on the needs of the organization.
- 8. 5. Key characteristics The Followings are key Characteristics of Cloud Computing 1.Cost Cost is greatly reduced and capital expenditure is converted to operational expenditure. This lowers barriers to entry, as infrastructure is typically provided by a third-party and does not need to be purchased for one-time or infrequent intensive computing tasks. Pricing on a utility computing basis is fine-grained with usage-based options and minimal or no IT skills are required for implementation. 2.Device and location independence Cloud computing enable users to access systems using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they are using, e.g., PC, mobile. As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and accessed via the Internet the users can connect from anywhere. 3.Multi-tenancy Cloud computing enables sharing of resources and costs among a large pool of users, allowing for: o Centralization of infrastructure in areas with lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.) o Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load-levels) o Utilization and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10-20% utilized. 4.Reliability Reliability improves through the use of multiple redundant sites, which makes it suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery. Nonetheless, most major cloud computing services have suffered outages and IT and business managers are able to do little when they are affected.
- 9. 5.Scalability Scalability via dynamic ("on-demand") provisioning of resources on a fine- grained, self-service basis near real-time, without users having to engineer for peak loads. Performance is monitored and consistent and loosely-coupled architectures are constructed using web services as the system interface. 6.Security Security typically improves due to centralization of data, increased security- focused resources, etc., but raises concerns about loss of control over certain sensitive data. Security is often as good as or better than traditional systems, in part because providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford. Providers typically log accesses, but accessing the audit logs themselves can be difficult or impossible. 7.Sustainability Sustainability comes about through improved resource utilization, more efficient systems, and carbon neutrality. Nonetheless, computers and associated infrastructure are major consumers of energy.
- 10. 6. Conclusion Cloud Computing is a vast topic. Cloud Computing is leading the industry’s effort to bank on this revolutionary technology. Cloud Computing Brings Possibilities…….. Increases business responsiveness Accelerates creation of new services via rapid prototyping capabilities Reduces acquisition complexity via service oriented approach Uses IT resources efficiently via sharing and higher system utilization Reduces energy consumption Handles new and emerging workloads Scales to extreme workloads quickly and easily Simplifies IT management Platform for collaboration and innovation Cultivates skills for next generation workforce Today, with such cloud-based interconnection seldom in evidence, cloud computing might be more accurately described as "sky computing," with many isolated clouds of services which IT customers must plug into individually. On the other hand, as virtualization and SOA permeate the enterprise, the idea of loosely coupled services running on an agile, scalable infrastructure should eventually make every enterprise a node in the cloud. It's a long-running trend with a far-out horizon. But among big metatrends, cloud computing is the hardest one to argue with in the long term. Cloud Computing is a technology which took the software and business world by storm. The much deserved hype over it will continue for years to come.