Sangprom 1
Rich Sangprom
Dr. Box
CSC 345
23 April 2014
General Overview of Cloud Computing
Many well known companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM utilize or
provide cloud based systems. Cloud computing is used in several different ways, including
online file storage with services such as Dropbox and Google Drive, or the backend of a service.
The original concept of cloud computing was created by Professor John McCarthy. His main
focus was on a time-sharing system that could be utilized by the public. Cloud computing is an
innovative platform for handling information because of its capability and consumer
convenience.
The official definition of cloud computing provided by the NIST (National Institute of
Standards and Technology) is "a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network
access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction" (Mell 2). Cloud
computing has five characteristics, three main service models, and four deployment models.
Characteristics include on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid
elasticity, and measured service. The three service models are Software as a Service (SaaS),
Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Finally, the four deployment
models are private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. The end result is a
dynamic, virtualized computer resource that can automatically attend to a consumer's needs with
little management.
Sangprom 2
The basic structure of a cloud system involves collection of network-accessible
computing resources consumers can access through a network. The number of users utilizing the
cloud is constantly changing, and the cloud is maintaining a pool of hardware resources for cost
efficiency. When the cloud is managing hardware resources, it is managing hardware by
switching out old or failing components with new components. To increase power efficiency, the
cloud will power off unused components when consumer demand is low.
The software as a service paradigm is used to deliver an application to many users
regardless of location. When a user uses a cloud application using SaaS, most of the processing
is taking place on company owned servers. Applications are typically accessed through a web
browser. This allows many users to interact with the same information at once. Platform as a
service is used to support the capability the consumer has to deploy onto the cloud. The
applications in SaaS become available through PaaS. Infrastructure as a service refers to the
computing resources where the user can deploy and run arbitrary software. Consumers are able
to control and manage the system, but cannot control the infrastructure itself.
The four deployment models private, community, public, and hybrid have specific
characteristics. The private cloud model is maintained and operated by a single organization.
The community cloud is shared between an exclusive group of organizations with similar
interests. Since the cloud is shared, the cost can be greatly reduced depending on the number of
consumers using a single community cloud. The public cloud is available to all users by a cloud
service provider. A hybrid cloud is made up of two or more unique cloud structures using one of
the previously mentioned deployment models. The hybrid cloud has an interface to provide
interaction between the grouped clouds. A hybrid cloud is not limited to combining two clouds
of the same type. A private cloud can combine with a public cloud to form a hybrid cloud.
Sangprom 3
The benefits of cloud computing come from the efficient use of hardware and software.
Since the system is automated, management becomes much simpler. The platform is able to
support various languages, databases, stack-based applications, and architectures as well as
provide the means to scale applications across servers instantly. The cloud is accessible through
most devices, including mobile phones. Generally, the overall costs for maintaining a cloud
system is much lower than maintaining a large data center. Cloud systems use a "pay as you go"
philosophy so spending is based on demand, lowering the overall spending compared to previous
systems (Boss).
Cloud computing contains several obstacles for businesses. Service Availability becomes
a risk for businesses because of outages. A short outage is enough to cause major problems for
large customers willing to switch to a cloud system. Sometimes data can be difficult to extract
from the cloud, and customers can lost valuable information. In 2008, Linkup shut down after
losing access to nearly forty-five percent of customer's data (Armbrust 55). Data confidentiality
is one of the bigger issues with the cloud. Responsibility for data protections is spread
throughout multiple parties. Most of the protection comes from virtualization, but the software is
known to contains bugs and is unable to use certain resources. Users may also be wary of the
providers themselves because the use of the cloud is monitored. At the moment, cloud systems
lack standards, so the system has yet to mature.
Cloud computing is quickly becoming staple system for future businesses. It is a rapidly
expanding technology that should not be overlooked. Recent surveys have shown improvement
with previous issues, such as security. In 2013, there was a decline in respondents from fifty-five
percent to forty-six percent (Jones).
Sangprom 4
There has also been significant growth in adoption rates for cloud computing, with an increase of
nearly twenty nine percent for just IaaS systems. The evolution of cloud computing is still in its
early stages, but is rapidly growing and improving.
Sangprom 5
Works Cited
Anderson, Erik. "What is Cloud Computing?" Thoughts on Cloud. IBM, 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 24
Apr. 2014.
Armbrust, Michael, et al. "A view of cloud computing." Communications of the ACM 53.4
(2010): 50-58.
Badger, Lee, et al. "Cloud computing synopsis and recommendations." NIST special
publication 800 (2012): 146.
Boss, Greg, et al. "Cloud computing." IBM white paper, Version 1 (2007).
Buyya, Rajkumar, et al. "Cloud computing and emerging IT platforms: Vision, hype, and reality
for delivering computing as the 5th utility." Future Generation computer systems 25.6
(2009): 599-616.
Ferkoun, Maamar. "Top 7 Most Common Uses of Cloud Computing." Thoughts on Cloud. IBM,
6 Feb. 2014. Web. 24. Apr 2014.
Hossain, Shamim. "Darwin's THeory of Evolution or the Big Bang: Which Applies to Cloud
Computing?" Thoughts on Cloud. IBM, 23 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Jones, Eric. "Future of Cloud Computing Survey." North Bridge. Drupal, 2013. Web. 24 Apr.
2014.
Mell, Peter, and Tim Grance. "The NIST definition of cloud computing." National Institute of
Standards and Technology 53.6 (2009): 50.