Cloud Computing - Literature review Example

?Running Head: CLOUD COMPUTING Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Cloud Computing The development of internet and Web 2.0 has also enabled other advances to emerge in the recent years. Amongst such developments, the term ‘Cloud Computing’ is a metaphor which has been introduced by the IT Services companies few years back. It is indeed one more milestone achieved by the field of Information Technology and has added to the modernization and advancements in the business organizations and service sectors. Cloud Computing The term Cloud Computing is utilized by the IT professionals for delivering the computing and technology requirements as an IT service to a community comprising heterogeneous end-recipients. According to a theoretical viewpoint, the terms ‘cloud’ indicates the abstraction of resources, technology, and its location which are significant in establishing the incorporated infrastructure of computing which comprises of systems, networks, and applications. Most of the information technology experts view the concept of cloud computing as a model instead of technology. According to them, this model is used by the customers to plug into the “cloud” to access IT resources which are priced and provided “on-demand”. Essentially, IT resources are rented and shared among multiple tenants much as office space, apartments, or storage spaces are used by tenants (David, 2010). The concept of cloud computing is a substitution for the service providing or the data centre through the delivery of an internet connection. At the basic level, the concept of cloud computing relies on shared services and very broad infrastructure convergence. A very precise definition of the model states that it is a computing system based on the internet technology where the software, platform, infrastructure, devices and other resources are provided by the virtual shared server on pay-as you- use basis. Therefore, all such information which is provided by the digitized system in the model is the cloud computing. These services can be accessed by users with the help of ‘internet cloud’ even if the users do not have any prior knowledge on the resource management. Thus, this technology can enable them to focus more on the basic business functions and processes instead of wasting time on gaining the knowledge on the resource management of the business processes. The usage of cloud computing does not require the ownership of any type of infrastructure. In this way they are able to avoid huge expenses. They only use the resources and pay for it and most of the infrastructure of cloud computing comprises of the services which are built on servers and delivered with the help of common centres. These types of data centres permit the business organizations to introduce their applications and make them more efficient and faster with an ease of maintenance and manageability. Moreover, they also make the Information Technology able of adjusting the resources quickly in order to meet the varying and uncertain business demands (Luit Infotech, 2012). History The fundamental concept of cloud computing originated in the 1960s, with John McCarthy giving his opinion that the concept of computation needs to be established as a public utility some day. Then, Douglas Parkhill's , in his book, The Challenge of the Computer Utility, published in 1966, thoroughly discovered almost all the advanced features of cloud computing, which include elastic provision, the usage of the private, public, community and government forms and the comparison to the electricity industry. There were other scholars and researchers too, during 1950s, who worked upon the features, operations and feasibility of the cloud computing model. The real term "cloud" has been taken from the telephony in the companies of telecommunications, which had continued to offer the customers point-to-point data circuits until 1990s. Then, they began offering Virtual Private Network (VPN) services which lead the IT industry with lower costs and comparable service quality. In the functioning, the experts used the cloud symbol to present the point of separation between the responsibility of the user and the responsibility of the provider. During the year 2008, Eucalyptus emerged as the AWS API-compatible platform and the first open-source for the installing of private clouds. Thus, the present era witnesses the utilization of the cloud computing model in business organizations and processes. Characteristics The concept of cloud computing depicts the key characteristics mentioned below: Agility The model is agile enough to be improved with the ability of the users to work on the re-provision of technological infrastructure resources. Application programming interface (API) The cloud computing model possesses an API to access the software which facilitates the machines for interacting with the cloud software just the way in which users obtain interaction between computers and humans. Cost The cloud computing model claims to lessen the cost and convert the capital expenditure into operating expenditure in a public cloud delivery model (Krishnan, 2009). This results in low entry barriers because the third party generally provides the infrastructure. Moreover, the usage based options are aligned with the pricing on the basis of utility computing along with the requirements of lesser IT skills for the purpose of in-house implementations. Device and location independence This feature of the model let the end users utilize the system with the help of a web browser irrespective of the device or location that is being used. Since, the offsite infrastructure is involved; it is possible for the users to connect to the cloud computing model from any location. Virtualization The cloud computing model allows virtualization which permits storage and server devices to be utilized and shared. It also allows easy migration of the application from one server to another in a physical manner. Multi-tenancy This feature enables the cost and resource sharing across a huge network of end users thus permitting for infrastructure centralization in lower costs locations, increases in peak-load capacity increases, and efficiency and utilization of systems. Reliability The cloud computing improves and enhances the reliability in case of the usage of various redundant sites. This makes the model well-designed and appropriate for the purpose of disaster recovery and business continuity. Scalability The model provides scalable resources on self-services, fine-tuned basis which is closer to the real-time and the end users are exempted from having to engineer for peak loads (Michael, 2011). Performance The model is constantly monitored and supervised for the performance and has freely attached architectures which are established with the help of web services as a system interface. Security Since the model utilizes centralized data, the security should enhance and there are increased security-focused resources. It ensures a better system of security than the one that exists in the tradition systems for the reason that the service providers devote all their resources in solving the issues of security that other customers are unable to afford. Maintenance The cloud computing models are easy to maintain due to the fact that they can be utilized from various places and thus, do not require installation on the computers of different users. Issues and Challenges All the technological advancements have enabled mankind progress personally and professionally. These advanced technologies contain many advantages and benefits for the end users. However, they bear certain challenges and issues which are required to be looked into by the professionals. Similarly, the issues related to the cloud computing is described below: Privacy One of the major issues that the cloud model has been criticized for is the matter of privacy. The privacy advocates have observed the model as easier to be hosted in the companies, and due to this fact, the model can, unlawfully and lawfully, monitor the data and communication between the host and user company. There are instances which include the confidential NSA program, aligning with Verizon and AT&T, which taped more than 10 million phone calls between the citizens of America. This became a reason for the increased uncertainty amongst the advocates of privacy, and the model seems to be authorizing greater powers to the telecommunication companies to keep a track of the activities of users (Cauley, Leslie, 2006). The model mainly comprises the concerns for privacy as the service providers can access the data sent by the users on the cloud at any time and could also deliberately or accidentally delete or change the information being transferred. Compliance The QubeSpace or Rackspace Cloud is capable of claiming the compliance for its regulations from PCI compliance. There are various providers which have also obtained SAS 70 Type II audit, however this has received criticism on the basis that the auditors have fixed the finest set of standards and goals while the audited have not been disclosed about them thus, resulting in great variations. The service providers normally make the complete information available on request and under non-disclosure agreement (Jerry, 2009). The clients in EU and establishing contracts with the providers of cloud located outside the EU/EEA are required to comply with the regulations of EU on carrying out the personal data export. Legal There are certain legal issues which can arise in any radical transformations in the scenario of global computing. Thus, cloud computing model also involves the issues of trademark infringement, and other concerns to the security for the sharing of propriety data resources. Open source Many cloud computing models have been provided the open-source software for the implementations of the computing and this might include the example of Hadoop framework. Sustainability Though, the IT practitioners assume cloud computing as one of the forms of "green computing", no study has yet been conducted to support this assumption. The environmental effects of the cloud computing are affected by the citing of the servers. The environmental effects tend to be more moderate in the areas where there is an easy availability of renewable electricity and where the climate supports natural cooling. Therefore, the regions favouring moderate and better climatic conditions, such as Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, are attempting largely to attract data centres of cloud computing. Conclusion Cloud computing is one of the modern forms of the readily available technology and favours the business operations and functions largely. The model of cloud computing is useful in the current business organizations due to their increase ability of enhancing efficiency and reliability. References Cauley, Leslie (2006). NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls. USATODAY. Web, Retrieved on May 3, 2012 David Burford, 2010, Cloud Computing: A Brief Introduction, LAD Enterprises, Inc., Web, Retrieved on May 3, 2012 Jerry Norton, 2009, Assessing Cloud Computing Agreements and Controls, Web, Retrieved on May 3, 2012 Krishnan Subramanian, 2009, Recession Is Good For Cloud Computing – Microsoft Agrees, Cloud Ave, Web, Retrieved on May 3, 2012 Luit Infotech, 2012, What is Cloud Computing? Luit Infotech Private Limited, Web, Retrieved on May 3, 2012 Michael Kuperberg, 2011, Defining and Quantifying Elasticity of Resources in Cloud Computing and Scalable Platforms, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Web, Retrieved on May 3, 2012 Read More