Cloud computing

Cloud Computing Overview

 Computing implies to the process of utilizing computer

technology to complete a task.
 Computing may involve computer hardware and/or
software, but must involve some form of a computer
system.
 Examples can be
. Swiping a debit card or sending an email or
.using a cell phone
 Cloud computing is a computing paradigm shift where
computing is moved away from personal computers or an
individual application server to a ―cloud‖ of computers.
 It is a service that charges based on the amount of
computing resources that we use.
 Contd.

 Cloud computing gets its

name as a metaphor for the
Internet. Typically, the
Internet is represented in
network diagrams as a cloud.
The cloud icon represents―all
that other stuff‖ that makes the
network work.
 The name comes from the use
of a cloud-shaped symbol as an
abstraction for the complex
infrastructure it contains in
system diagrams.
 It involves: Shared pool of
configurable computing
resources ,On-demand network
access , Provisioned by the
Service Provider
 Cloud Components

 In a simple, topological sense, a cloud computing

solution is made up of several elements:
1.Clients
2. The datacenter
3. Distributed servers & internet.
 Each element has a purpose and plays a specific role
in delivering a functional cloud based applications.
 1. Clients
 The computers that just sit on
your desk. But they might also be
laptops, tablet computers, mobile
phones, or PDAs—all big drivers
for cloud computing because of
their mobility.
 Anyway, clients are the devices
that the end users interact with
to manage their information on
the cloud.
 Clients generally fall into three
categories:
 Mobile: Mobile devices include PDAs
or smartphones, like a Blackberry,
Windows Mobile Smartphone, or an
iPhone.
 Thin Clients are computers that do not
have internal hard drives, but rather let
the servers do all the work, but then
display the information.
 Thick: This type of client is a regular
computer, using a web browser like
Firefox or Internet Explorer to connect
to the cloud.
 contd
 Thin clients are becoming an increasingly popular solution, because of their
price and effect on the environment. Some benefits to using thin clients
include
 Lower hardware costs: Thin clients are cheaper than thick clients
because they do not contain as much hardware. They also last longer before
they need to be upgraded or become obsolete.
 Lower IT costs: Thin clients are managed at the server and there are fewer
points of failure.
 Security: Since the processing takes place on the server and there is no
hard drive, there’s less chance of malware invading the device. Also, since
thin clients don’t work without a server, there’s less chance of them being
physically stolen.
 Data security: Since data is stored on the server, there’s less chance for
data to be lost if the client computer crashes or is stolen.
 Less power consumption: Thin clients consume less power than thick
clients. This means you’ll pay less to power them, and you’ll also pay less to
air-condition the office.
 Ease of repair or replacement: If a thin client dies, it’s easy to replace.
The box is simply swapped out and the user’s desktop returns exactly as it
was before the failure.
 Less noise: Without a spinning hard drive, less heat is generated and
quieter fans can be used on the thin client.
 2. Datacenter

The datacenter is the collection of servers where

the application to which you subscribe is housed.
 It could be a large room in the basement of your
building or a room full of servers on the other side of
the world that you access via the Internet.
 A growing trend in the IT world is virtualizing
servers. That is, software can be installed allowing
multiple instances of virtual servers to be used. In
this way, you can have half a dozen virtual servers
running on one physical server.
 3. Distributed Servers

 The servers don’t all have to be housed in the same

location. Often, servers are in geographically disparate
locations. But to you, the cloud subscriber, these servers
act as if they’re humming away right next to each other.
 This gives the service provider more flexibility in options
and security.
 For instance, Amazon has their cloud solution in servers
all over the world. If something were to happen at one
site, causing a failure, the service would still be accessed
through another site. Also, if the cloud needs more
hardware, they need not throw more servers in the safe
room—they can add them at another site and simply
make it part of the cloud.
 charcteristics

1. Massive Scale: Scalability and elasticity 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
2. Resilient Computing
3. Homogeneity
4. Geographical Distribution
5. Multitenancy enables sharing of resources and costs across a large
pool of users thus allowing for:
 centralization of infrastructure in locations with lower costs)
 peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load-levels)
 utilisation and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10– 20%
utilised.
6. Virtualization: Virtualization technology allows sharing of servers
and storage devices and increased utilization. Applications can be easily
migrated from one physical server to another.
 Contd.

7. Reliability improves with the use of multiple redundant sites, which makes well-
designed cloud computing suitable for business continuity and disaster
recovery
8. Service Oriented
9. Device and Location independence enable users to access systems using a
web browser regardless of their location or what device they use (e.g., PC, mobile
phone). As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and
accessed via the Internet, users can connect from anywhere.
10. Low Cost Software: Cloud providers claim that computing costs reduce. A
public- cloud delivery model converts capital expenditure to operational
expenditure. This purportedly 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 fewer IT skills are required for
implementation (in-house). The e- FISCAL project's state-of-the-art repository[33]
contains several articles looking into cost aspects in more detail, most of them
concluding that costs savings depend on the type of activities supported and the
type of infrastructure available in-house.
 Contd.

11. Advanced Security: Security can improve due to centralization

of data, increased security-focused resources, etc., but concerns
can persist about loss of control over certain sensitive data, and
the lack of security for stored kernels.[43] Security is often as good
as or better than other traditional systems, in part because
providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues
that many customers cannot afford to tackle.[44] However, the
complexity of security is greatly increased when data is
distributed over a wider area or over a greater number of devices,
as well as in multi-tenant systems shared by unrelated users. In
addition, user access to security audit logs may be difficult or
impossible. Private cloud installations are in part motivated by
users' desire to retain control over the infrastructure and avoid
losing control of information security.
12. Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier,
because they do not need to be installed on each user's computer
and can be accessed from different places.
 Advantages

 In essence, cloud computing is a construct that allows you to access

applications that actually reside at a location other than your
computer or other Internet-connected device; most often, this will
be a distant datacenter.
 The beauty of cloud computing is that another company hosts your
application (or suite of applications, for that matter). This means
that they handle the costs of servers, they manage the software
updates, and—depending on how you craft your contract—you pay
less for the service.
 Don’t forget the equipment that you won’t need to buy—which will
result in fewer capital expenditures. By having someone else host
the applications, you need not buy the servers nor pay for the
electricity to power and cool them.
 It’s also convenient for telecommuters and traveling remote
workers, who can simply log in and use their applications wherever
they are.
 1. Infrastructure

 Cloud computing isn’t a one-size-fits-all affair. There

are several different ways the infrastructure can be
deployed. The infrastructure will depend on the
application and how the provider has chosen to build
the cloud solution. This is one of the key advantages
for using the cloud. Your needs might be so massive
that the number of servers required far exceeds your
desire or budget to run those in-house. Alternatively,
you may only need a sip of processing power, so you
don’t want to buy and run a dedicated server for the
job. The cloud fits both needs.
 2. Lower computer costs

 You do not need a high-powered and high-priced

computer to run cloud computing's web-based
applications. Since applications run in the cloud, not
on the desktop PC, your desktop PC does not need
the processing power or hard disk space demanded
by traditional desktop software. When you are using
web-based applications, your PC can be less
expensive, with a smaller hard disk, less memory,
more efficient processor. In fact, your PC in this
scenario does not even need a CD or DVD drive, as
no software programs have to be loaded and no
document files need to be saved.
 3. Improved Performance

 With few large programs hogging your computer's

memory, you will see better performance from your
PC. Computers in a cloud computing system boot
and run faster because they have fewer programs
and processes loaded into memory.
4. Reduced software costs: Instead of purchasing expensive software
applications, you can get most of what you need for free-ish! It is better
than paying for similar commercial software

5. Instant software updates: Another advantage to cloud computing

is that you are no longer faced with choosing between obsolete
software and high upgrade costs. When the application is web-based,
updates happen automatically and are available the next time you log
into the cloud. When you access a web-based application, you get the
latest version without needing to pay for or download an upgrade.

6. Improved document format compatibility: You do not have to

worry about the documents you create on your machine being
compatible with other users' applications. There are potentially no
format incompatibilities when everyone is sharing documents and
applications in the cloud.
7. Unlimited storage capacity: Cloud computing offers virtually
limitless storage. Your computer's current 1 Tbyte hard drive is small
compared to the hundreds of Pbytes available in the cloud.

8. Increased data reliability: Unlike desktop computing, in which if a

hard disk crashes and destroy all your valuable data, a computer
crashing in the cloud should not affect the storage of your data. If your
personal computer crashes, all your data is still out there in the cloud,
still accessible. In a world where few individual desktop PC users back up
their data on a regular basis, cloud computing is a data-safe computing
platform!

9. Universal document access: That is not a problem with cloud

computing, because you do not take your documents with you. Instead,
they stay in the cloud, and you can access them whenever you have a
computer and an Internet connection. Documents are instantly available
from wherever you are.
10. Latest version availability: When you edit a
document at home, that edited version is what you see
when you access the document at work. The cloud always
hosts the latest version of your documents as long as you
are connected, you are not in danger of having an outdated
version

11. Easier group collaboration: Sharing documents leads

directly to better collaboration. Many users do this as it is
an important advantages of cloud computing. Multiple
users can collaborate easily on documents and projects.

12. Device independence: You are no longer tethered to a

single computer or network. Changes to computers,
applications and documents follow you through the cloud.
Move to a portable device, and your applications and
documents are still available.
13. Simplicity: Again, not having to buy and configure new equipment allows you
and your IT staff to get right to your business. The cloud solution makes it
possible to get your application started immediately, and it costs a fraction of
what it would cost to implement an on-site solution.

14. Knowledgeable Vendors: Typically, when new technology becomes popular,

there are plenty of vendors who pop up to offer their version of that technology.
This isn’t always good, because a lot of those vendors tend to offer less than
useful technology. By contrast, the first comers to the cloud computing party are
actually very reputable companies. Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft,
IBM, and Yahoo!
have been good vendors because they have offered reliable service, plenty of
capacity, and you get some brand familiarity with these well-known names.

15. More Internal Resources: By shifting your non-mission-critical data needs

to a third party, your IT department is freed up to work on important, business-
related tasks. You also don’t have to add more manpower and training that stem
from having to deal with these low-level
 Limitations

 Weak Links: While an Internet outage or problems with your Internet service provider (ISP)
are rare, you may not be able to access your applications and do your work. Not that everyone
sits in one office much anymore, but if you currently have the application on your own local
servers, and all those who access it are not remote, you’d be at least somewhat assured that an
Internet outage wouldn’t affect your application. What if the site you’re accessing has
problems? It’s happened already. In July 2008, Amazon’s S3 cloud storage service went down
for the second time that year. A lot of applications were hosted by the company and all those
services could not be accessed until techs could fix the problem. Some applications were down
for eight hours.

 Also, there may simply be applications or data that you want located on-site. If you have
sensitive or proprietary information, your IT security group may simply mandate that you not
store it on someone else’s machines.

 Application Integration Issues: You might also find that it’s more difficult to integrate
your applications if they are geographically dispersed. That is, it is easier to manage and access
your data if it is nearby, and not under someone else’s control. For instance, if you need two
applications to exchange information, it’s easier to do if they both reside in the same place. If
you have one application in-house and it has to contact another application on the cloud, it
becomes far more complicated, and more prone to failure.
 Contd.

 Requires a constant Internet connection: Cloud computing is

impossible if you cannot connect to the Internet. Since you use the Internet
to connect to both your applications and documents, if you do not have an
Internet connection you cannot access anything, even your own documents.
A dead Internet connection means no work and in areas where Internet
connections are few or inherently unreliable, this could be a deal-breaker.

 Does not work well with low-speed connections: Similarly, a low-

speed Internet connection, such as that found with dial-up services, makes
cloud computing painful at best and often impossible. Web-based
applications require a lot of bandwidth to download, as do large
documents.

 Features might be limited: This situation is bound to change, but today

many web-based applications simply are not as full-featured as their
desktop-based applications. For example, you can do a lot more with
Microsoft PowerPoint than with Google Presentation's web-based offering.
 Contd.

 Can be slow: Even with a fast connection, web-based applications can

sometimes be slower than accessing a similar software program on your
desktop PC. Everything about the program, from the interface to the
current document, has to be sent back and forth from your computer to the
computers in the cloud. If the cloud servers happen to be backed up at that
moment, or if the Internet is having a slow day, you would not get the
instantaneous access you might expect from desktop applications.

 Stored data might not be secure: With cloud computing, all your data
is stored on the cloud. The questions is How secure is the cloud? Can
unauthorised users gain access to your confidential data?

 Stored data can be lost: Theoretically, data stored in the cloud is safe,
replicated across multiple machines. But on the off chance that your data
goes missing, you have no physical or local backup. Put simply, relying on
the cloud puts you at risk if the cloud lets you down.
 Contd.

 General Concerns: Each cloud systems uses different protocols and

different APIs.
 May not be possible to run applications between cloud based systems.
Amazon has created its own DB system (not SQL 92), and workflow system
(many popular workflow systems out there). So your normal applications
will have to be adapted to execute on these platforms.

 Applications Not Ready: In some cases the applications themselves are

not ready to be used on the cloud. They may have little quirks that prevent
them from being used to their fullest abilities, or they may not work
whatsoever. First, the application might require a lot of bandwidth to
communicate with users. Remember, since cloud computing is paid based
on how much you use, it might turn out to be less expensive in the long run
to simply house the application locally until it can be rewritten or otherwise
modified to operate more efficiently.
 Challenges

 Confidentiality
 Integrity
 Availability
 Audit
 Application Security
 Incident Response
 Identity Management
 Isolation of software
 Data Stealing
 Data Privacy
 Governance
 Trust
 Compliance & Legal
 Challenges

 Data location - cloud computing technology allows cloud servers

to reside anywhere, thus the enterprise may not know the physical
location of the server used to store and process their data and
applications. Although from the technology point of view, location is
least relevant, this has become a critical issue for data governance
requirements. It is essential to understand that many Cloud Service
Providers (CSPs) can also specifically define where data is to be
located.

 Commingled data - application sharing and multi-tenancy of data

is one of the characteristics associated with cloud computing.
Although many CSPs have multi-tenant applications that are secure,
scalable and customisable, security and privacy issues are still often
concerns among enterprises. Data encryption is another control that
can assist data confidentiality.
 Compliance requirements - today’s cloud computing services,
can challenge various compliance audit requirements currently in
place. Data location; cloud computing security policy
transparency; and IAM, are all challenging issues in compliance
auditing efforts. Examples of the compliance requirement
including privacy and PII laws; Payment Card Industry (PCI)
requirements; and financial reporting laws.

 Disaster recovery - it is a concern of enterprises about the

resiliency of cloud computing, since data may be commingled and
scattered around multiple servers and geographical areas. It may
be possible that the data for a specific point of time cannot be
identified. Unlike traditional hosting, the enterprise knows
exactly where the location is of their data, to be rapidly retrieved
in the event of disaster recovery. In the cloud computing model,
the primary CSP may outsource capabilities to third parties, who
may also outsource the recovery process. This will become more
complex when the primary CSP does not ultimately hold the data.
 Applications

 Collaboration applications
 Web applications/Web serving
 Cloud backup
 Business applications
 Personal productivity applications
 storage
 Email
 Compute Cloud
 Web applications
 Online Collaboration tools