An Overview of Cloud Computing & Use in Modified)

8/8/2019 An Overview of Cloud Computing & Use in Modified)

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ABSTRACT

Keywords:

Cloud Computing, Cloud Storage, Public

Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud,

Software-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-

Service, Infrastructure-as-a-Service etc.

Purpose of the Document:

The purpose of this document is to

provide an overview of Cloud Computing, its

architecture/working, types, and services

offered, benefits, drawbacks etc.

AN INTRODUCTION

Cloud Computing is a new terminology

in the IT world. The definition of the cloud

computing varies from an expert to expert.

In simple words, Cloud is another term

used for INTERNETand cloud computing

refers to the usage of various applications

over the Internet. Cloud computing is a

concept that involves many software

resources (for example business

applications) operating or working together

in a network to be shared by many users in

the network.

In Traditional Computing, all the data

is being stored on the users PC which

cannot be accessed from any source outside

the network. Whereas in Cloud

Computing, the focus remains on the

required document and not on the PC on

which it is stored. This document can be

easily accessed from any resource by an

authorized user.

Cloud Computing can be easily correlated

with a system of an electric power station

which supplies electricity to homes or

industrial units through different electric

lines. The Bill for electricity is charged from

the users according to the units consumed

by each of them. In a similar fashion,

common software business applications are

deployed on a central server and shared on

a network typically an internet which can be

accessed by different clients through a web

browser. The users are being charged only

for resources being used by them.

WHAT IS A CLOUD?

A Cloud can both be software as well

as infrastructure. It is an application which

can be accessed via a web or a server.

Cloud Computing is the ability or technique

to use the applications on the Internet.

It is the technology that can lease

many servers and run modeling application

on the most powerful systems available

across. This technology is used to store and

secure enormous amount of data that is

accessible by authorized users only

(Individuals, Organizations or Non-

Commercial corporations etc.). It is

supported by a cloud provider which

establishes the platform including an OS, a

Database, PERL and PHP (helps to scale the

response towards workloads). To hold an

application, business and personal data,


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storage cloud is being used. Using this

technique of Cloud Computing, we can

invent, develop, deploy, maintain, scale and

update the application over the Internet.

Cloud Computing is mounted over two

prime layers:

1. Cloud Middle Ware: This layer

mainly deals with the provisioning of

Storage, Operating System, Network,

Services and other user activities carried

on the Internet.

2.Resources: This layer deals with the

availability of the resources which

includes the Services, Storage, Network

amount of investment in terms of money.

To cope up with this, the organization

can follow an approach. Instead of installing

software on each system, the organization

loads just one application which allows the

employees to log into a web-based service

hosting all the programs the employees

would need for their work. The remote

machines owned by another organization

would perform the entire task including e-

mail, word processing and data analysis etc.

This is the Cloud Computing.

In a Cloud Computing system, there is

a constant shift in the workload. The local

systems are not required to carry on with

heavy tasks or running applications. Instead

and the Operating System. Since the

users connect to the systems in the

network, the resources availability

becomes an important task.

network of computers making a cloud

handles the bulk.This results in decrease

in the hardware and software requirements

on the users side.The only thing required

HOW CLOUD COMPUTING WORKS /

CLOUD ARCHITECTURE

To understand the working of Cloud

Computing, we shall consider a scenario in

a software organization. The organization

needs to ensure that all the employees get

the right hardware and software for theirwork. Apart from providing computers to

all the employees, the organization also

needs to purchase the software or software

licenses for the tools used by the

employees. As the number of employee

grows, there is need for more software or

licenses. This may be end up in huge

at the users end is the Cloud Computing

system Interface Software (which can be

a simple Web Browser) and the cloud

network takes care of the rest.

The central theme behind working of

Cloud Computing is the offering of huge

information and storage by a network of

computers and servers. Its a big

association of several computers. An end

user connects to the cloud by Internet. The


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cloud appears as a single point from where

any information or data can be easily

accessed.

Cloud Storage:

The entire information in Cloud

Computing is stored on different servers

rather than on one for a purpose. It

appears that the data is stored at a

particular location but in reality it doesnt

happen. In reality, the users data may be

stored on any of the computers that make

the cloud.

Cloud Services:

Any Internet based application which

is provided by Cloud Computing is known

as Cloud Services. The end user opens the

internet and runs an application. The

browser uses the cloud which in turn opens

an instance of the application for the user

on his system.

A typical Cloud Computing system is shown

in the figure below:

TYPES OF CLOUD COMPUTING

There are three models of Cloud

Computing. These are:

Public Cloud:

In a Public Cloud, the service provider

creates resources such as applications and

storage which are available to the general

public (anyone) on Internet. Public Cloud

services may be free or offered on a pay-

per-usage model basis. The Public Cloud

exists beyond any firewall and are entirely

hosted and managed by the vendor.

Public clouds comprise of those

applications that are from different clients.

These are bundled on the clouds server,

the storage systems and the networks

which are run by the third parties. These

are hosted away from the clients location


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and they provide multiple ways to reduce

overall risk and cost involved.

A public cloud is one, where a service

provider makes resources, such as

applications and storage, available to the

general public over Internet. Public cloud

services may be free or offered on a pay-

per-usage model (rental). The

accountability is e-commerce based.

Few examples of public clouds are:

1. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2),

2. IBM's Blue Cloud Sun Cloud,

3. Google App Engine and

4. Windows Azure Services Platform.

Private Cloud:

In Private Cloud, the usage is limited

to a particular client. This provides them

with maximum control over data, enhanced

security and quality of service. The Private

Cloud exists within the firewall of the

organization.

The organization owns everything:

Infrastructure as well as Applications in

case of Private Cloud. This involves a

Proprietary network or a data center which

provides hosted services to limited users

only. The overall operation costs are

reduced since these are managed by the

organization.

Hybrid Cloud:

The Hybrid Cloud is a combination of

both Private and Public Clouds. These are

used for collaborating Private Clouds with

the Public Clouds in order to maintain the

variations in the workload. They help in

providing and meeting on-demand

business. The advantage of Hybrid Cloud is

that peak workload can be handled easily

using this.

Hybrid Clouds have the complexity to

find out how applications are distributed

across both Public and Private Clouds.

When the data set is small, then a Hybrid

Cloud can be much more successful than

during the larger data set. In Hybrid Cloud,

there are multiple internal or external

service providers involved.

The three models of Cloud Computing are

shown in the figure below:


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SERVICES OFFERED BY CLOUD

COMPUTING:

There are three kinds of service being

offered by Cloud Computing, which are:

Software-as-a-Service:

This service model of Cloud Computing

deals with delivering the software over the

Internet. The applications are hosted and

delivered as services on the web. Instead

of installing and maintain the software, the

end user simply accesses it using the

Internet.

In Software-as-a-Service (S-a-a-S)

model, the software licenses are delivered

to the users for the respective applications

as a service on demand, thereby

permitting an access to the software. This

helps thousands of customers to an extent

since they need not spend capital on

purchasing the applications and the

resources.

In the beginning, the end user shall

purchase the license from the provider and

then run the software after installing it.

This has lot of advantages since it provides

easy administration, easy collaboration and

easy accessibility. The most widely used S-

a-a-S is Google Docs which allows thedevelopers to support many customers

with a single version of product.

Platform-as-a-Service:

In this service model of Cloud

Computing, the computing platform and

solution stack are delivered as a service.

This comprises of a set of product

development tools to be hosted on the

providers infrastructure.

P-a-a-S service model supports the

whole lifecycle of building and delivering

the web applications and services. The cost

is considerably reduced and there is no

requirement of buying and managing the

underlying hardware and software. It helps

in providing an integral solution over theweb using the Internet. In this service

model, the software tool is hosted in the

cloud and is accessed using a browser.

P-a-a-S is generally used during

different phases of software development.

This is also known as Cloud ware since

resources from privately owned computers

are moved in to the cloud. One of the main

advantages of P-a-a-S is that various

teams distributed across the world can

work on the software development.

Besides this, other advantages include

increased productivity, free access and

centralized management.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service:

This is one of main methods of Cloud

Computing. This is done by delivering

computer infrastructure as a service. A

central infrastructure is being shared

between many enterprises.


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Infrastructure-as-a-Service provides the

storage and computational capabilities over

the network. Resources such as the

servers, storage systems, switches, routers

and other systems are shared. I-a-a-S can

handle workloads ranging from application

components to high performance

computing applications. In this model of

Cloud Computing, an organization

outsources the resources and the

infrastructure used to support services. In

this, the service provider owns the

infrastructure and is responsible for its

maintenance.

BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

The data is stored on the server which in

turn reduces the usage of local machines,

thereby saving hardware equipment. Also,

the need for a physical data center doesnot exist.

o The local systems do not have a large

amount on them (as the data is present

on the shared servers) so the

performance of the system is far better

since memory consumption is lesser.

o The enterprise can save their

infrastructure and maintenance costs

using Cloud Computing since the data

is outsourced.

o The organizations do not have to bear

huge software costs since most of the

Cloud Computing applications are free.

o The software updates take place

automatically and the end

user/organization need not worry to

download the upgrade.

o The end user/organization can store

unlimited data in the cloud.

o During the event of a system crash, the

data loss shall not be there since it

exists in a cloud, thus increasing the

overall reliability.

o Using the Internet, the end user can

access the application or the documentin the cloud from anywhere in the

world, thereby providing the

universality.

o Ease of use: It does not require users

to be present in front of his computer

machine to work or use. Cloud

computing can prove very effective for

organizations where Sales is a major

criteria for monthly targets. A

Travelling sales person can enter the

details of the transactions done by him

or her anywhere he/she is present.


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o Using the Pay as you go feature, the

end users shall only be charged for the

amount of traffic, memory and

bandwidth used during the course of

service.

o Since the cloud is maintained by

different organizations, the end user

need not pay for its maintenance.

o The Cloud Computing also helps in

launching the Emerging Webapplications and also makes the

application scaling possible.

o Cloud Computing is also being used by

a few organizations for innovation

purposes since these work to cultivate

highly skilled, technically sound

workforce.

DRAWBACKS OF CLOUD COMPUTING:

DATA SECURITY is the biggest

concern with regard to the Cloud

Computing since the data which is in cloud

is being shared among various

organizations.

Cloud Computing is only possible in

the places which have the Internet access.

Without Internet connection, a cloud cant

be accessed.

The Data retrieving speed is also a

major concern since the data is retrieved at

times from the servers kept at remote

locations across the globe (there may be a

large distance between the server and the

accessing point).

The end user may have to wait longer

to fetch the data at times, since Cloud

Computing involves a huge network of

computers and servers across.

o The dependency on the network is

to a great extent since the end user

cant access the cloud when the

network is down. Also, when traffic is

heavy, the computing tends to be

slower.

o The changes in the application are

made without the end users knowledge

since the cloud is not being maintained

by him/her.

o The stored data in the cloud tends

to be lost at times, thereby causing

issues to the end user.

o The freedom of the end user is

limited since he/she is dependent on

the cloud computing provider.


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o Lack of interoperability: Two

different cloud providers cannot

interoperate, i.e. the end user cant

access the data from Cloud A using an

application deployed in Cloud B.

o There may be situations when the

different datacenters are detained from

operation due to legal issues arising

out, resulting in issues to all the end

users of that application.

o Various applications cant be

customized based on the needs of

different users.

FUTURE OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud Computing is being used by

the organizations dealing in smaller

projects. For large organizations,

Security is the biggest concern. There

are few crucial details like license,

security, privacy that needs to be

worked upon soon.

Educational Purposes : Cloud

Computing can be used for expanding

the education in the entire world. This

is possible by sharing an important

information, article or project details

with all the stakeholders (like students,

professors and researchers etc.)

working on the same. Cloud Computing

can prove to be a Budgeted

Technology Training in the future.

For Personal Usage : Using the Cloud

Computing concepts, the end user is

not required to take a back up of his

files and documents on his system.

He/she can keep his system free from

all kinds of data backups.

MAJOR CLOUD COMPUTING PROVIDERS

There are few organizations/companies

which are actively involved in Cloud

Computing. These are:

Amazon Amazon EC2,

Amazon S3

Google Google Apps,

Microsoft MS Azure

TIBCO TIBCO Silver

Sun Sun Grid

CONCLUSION:

There are huge expectations from

Cloud Computing in future strictly based on

the economics involved with this technique.

The Cloud Computing infrastructure market

is expected to grow up to $42 Billion by

2012. The IT services are spread across

the globe so Cloud Computing shall play a


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meaningful role for the large organizations

involved since the Total Cost of Ownership

(TCO) is considerably reduced. Also the

organizations shall have to pay as per the

usage; it would also reduce their overall

costs in infrastructure and services.

Despite being criticized politically, the

benefits of Cloud Computing outweigh its

drawbacks. This technology allows the

organizations and end users to access the

applications and documents from any part

of the globe.

REFERENCES:

http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-

computing/what-cloud-computing-really-

means-031

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_comput

ing

http://www.betadaily.com/2008/04/14/cle

aring-the-clouds-over-cloud-computing

http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-

computing/cloud-computing-

architecture.html
http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://www.betadaily.com/2008/04/14/clearing-the-clouds-over-cloud-computinghttp://www.betadaily.com/2008/04/14/clearing-the-clouds-over-cloud-computinghttp://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-architecture.htmlhttp://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-architecture.htmlhttp://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-architecture.htmlhttp://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://www.betadaily.com/2008/04/14/clearing-the-clouds-over-cloud-computinghttp://www.betadaily.com/2008/04/14/clearing-the-clouds-over-cloud-computinghttp://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-architecture.htmlhttp://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-architecture.htmlhttp://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-architecture.html

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An Overview of Cloud Computing & Use in Modified)