CLOUD TECHNOLOGY
People I am going to attempt to use my experience as a teacher to take this topic to a level where it is easily understood. I am going to demystify the topic so you are able to speak to the subject in an intelligent manner. After this you can tell me whether I should complete my Postgraduate Diploma in Education. I only need to write the final section. I must find out if I still can.
Definition
Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. network, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three delivery models, and four deployment models.
Simply put you can buy computer services based on your needs with little or no red tape there a five features of this service, three packages and four ways to get the three packages.
Notes
1. Cloud computing is still an evolving paradigm. These definition, attributes, and characteristics will evolve and change overtime.
2. The cloud computing industry represents a large ecosystem of many models, vendors, and market niches. This definition attempts to compass all of the various cloud approaches.
Essential Characteristics
1. On-Demand Self Service- Access of computer services, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interactions with each service's provider (self-provision resources).
2. Ubiquitous Network Access- Services available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g. mobile phones, laptops and PDAs).
3. Location Independent Resource Pooling: The provider's computing resources are pooled to serve all consumers using multitenant model, with different physical and virtual resources, dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. The customer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a specific country, state, or data center. Examples include storage, processing, memory, network, bandwidth and virtual machines.
4. Rapid Elasticity: Capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned to quickly scale up and rapidly released to quickly scale down to the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be infinite (massive scalability, super computer power on demand) and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.
5. Measured Service: Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resources use by leveraging a metering capability appropriate to the type of service (e.g. storage, processing bandwidth and active user accounts). Resources usage can be monitored, controlled and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the service (a pay as-you-go model).
All the foregoing is saying is that you can get the service when you need it, on any platform anywhere in the world using any device, also your business may be located in one state and you are able to access information in another state using the services of the state you are in, the service will automatically adjust to the level you need it and finally you are charged based on your usage. There are many people that are using the services at once.
Note
Cloud software takes full advantage of the cloud paradigm by being service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling modularity (well structured computer system) and semantic interoperability (exchange of data with unambiguous shared meaning).
Delivery Models
The central concept and language used for cloud computing essentially relates to supplying "Everything as a Service"
1. Cloud Infrastructure as a Service- In this model the consumer does not mange or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly select networking components (e.g. firewalls, load balancers). Companies are always looking for ways to run existing applications that decrease the cost of providing technology infrastructures. A hosting service provider such as Google, Amazon or Microsoft provides "virtual machines" on demand with payment geared to the amount of usage. Thus, the time and cost of procuring and installing actual physical machines at the client's premises is avoided and what behaves as a single machine is made available across the internet. The term "virtual machine" means that a portion of a server farm or compute grid is made available as a separate machine from the user's perspective.
2. Cloud Platform as a Service- This is a developers model in which the consumer has the means to develop applications using programming languages and tools supported by Cloud services provider (e.g. Java, Python, .Net). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, network, servers, operating systems or storage, but the consumer has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configuration.
Such platforms can be pre-configured to support a specific programming language in a standard hosting environment. Platforms can be built for specific use by an industry or an enterprise, complete with management and governance capabilities.
3. Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)- This is the delivery of actual end-user functionality, either as "services" grouped together and orchestrated to perform the required functionality or as a conventional monolithic application. Basic packages such as Microsoft Office Suite or Google Packages. The consumer uses the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure and accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a Web Browser. There are two other models that are defined which we will not deal with in this Blog. They are Business Process Management as a Service and Management Controls as a Service.
Deployment Models
1. Private Cloud: This cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premises or off premises (a Virtual Private Cloud or VPC).
2. Community Cloud: This cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns . It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on premises or off premises.
3. Public Cloud: This cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
4. Hybrid Cloud: This cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability.
Again, cloud computing isn't new technology, it's a newly evolved delivery model. The major players in this industry are Amazon - Amazon Web Services, Microsoft - Azure and Google - Google Cloud Platform. The key point is that cloud computing focuses on the end users and their abilities to do what they want to do, singularly, or in communities without the need for specialized IT support. The technology layer is abstracted, or hidden and is simply represented drawing of a "Cloud." This same principle has been used in the past for the Internet.
The major concerns with the technology from my discussions with persons seem to be security and privacy. However, I am saying those were the same problems with the World Wide Web and the Social Media but now we are all surfing and connecting. Cloud computing can provide powerful business benefits to companies. For many companies, by the time new hardware and software can be specified, procured and implemented, the business opportunity has passed and the value is lost. With the cloud this risk is eliminated because many of these elements can be accessed immediately as services. This is especially important as the outlook for business suggests more frequent changes in both its external products as well as its internal systems in increasingly competitive global markets.
Reference:
Enterprise Cloud Computing - A strategy Guide for Business and Technology Leaders,
Mulholland, Andy; Pyke, Jon; Fingar, Peter; Landmark Books