Cloud Computing - Research Paper Example

?Cloud Computing Introduction Cloud computing is a process that employs the use of both software and hardware computing resources which are deliveredover such networks as the Internet as a service. The name “cloud” is derived from a symbol that is like a cloud in shape and is used as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure encapsulated in the system diagrams. “As [the] business adapts to changing government and industry regulations, evaluates new business partnerships, and anticipates competitive threats, IT needs to help the business find new ways to respond” (Hurwitz et al., 2009, p. 339), and cloud computing helps the business achieve that. Cloud computing essentially entrusts the remote services with the software, computation, and data of the user. The reason for the study of “cloud computing” is to have a detailed insight into the history, significance, fundamentals, components, systems, methodologies, and implementation, and more related to cloud computing. This paper achieves this purpose by first discussing the history of cloud computing, followed by the discussion of its ramifications in the technology world, development of the system and its security, and relationship between agile software development and cloud computing. The history of cloud computing Although there is subjectivity about the exact time when the term cloud computing surfaced, yet it appears to have originated from the use of the stylized clouds drawings for the denotation of the networks in the diagrams of communication systems and computing. “Cloud” as a word is often used for the Internet metaphorically. The Internet is being represented by the symbol of a cloud since 1994. Since the prevalence of computers, technologists and scientists have been exploring ways to increase the availability of the power of large-scale computers to the users by means of such ways as experimenting with the algorithms for the maximal use of infrastructure, sharing of time, and the optimal use of applications and platform with the prioritized access to the central processing units. The “Dynamic Web” describes the process of development of the Internet from being just document centric toward its increased ability to render different kinds of services. This contribution particularly focused on the need for the meta-data that could describe the implementation details as well as other conceptual details of the applications based on model. The omnipresence of the high-capacity networks, storage devices, computers of low cost, utility computing, and the widespread adoption of the service-oriented architecture, and hardware virtualization are some of the most fundamental factors that have caused the growth of cloud computing. People involved in cloud computing include J.C.R. Licklider, John McCarthy, and Douglas F. Parkhill. Licklider brought the cloud computing’s concept to the forefront. McCarthy proposed that computation would be organized as a public utility in the future. Parkhill comprehensively discussed all the contemporary features of cloud computing in his book “The Challenge of the Computer Utility” (Banerjee, 2011). Hurdles in the development and implementation include but are not limited to flawed predictions of cost savings, increase in the cost of operation, lack of ability to comply with the requirements of growing capacity, chargeback, bandwidth, and scarcity of trained professionals in cloud computing. Another major hurdle is the security concern; the available offerings of cloud are public networks and hence increase the vulnerability of the system to the attacks. Ramifications of cloud computing in the technology world 1. Mobile communication The recent advances in the networks of mobile communication and the increasing popularity of the smart phones have empowered the users and caused a massive transformation in the mobile Internet. Nevertheless, the limited capabilities of information storage and computing of the mobile devices have traditionally served as big hurdles in the way of supporting the sophisticated applications. The technology of cloud computing has removed these hurdles and has thus created a new paradigm of cloud computing which has facilitated communication among people in general and improved the business environment in particular. 2. Consumer services Many businesses these days use cloud computing to address the needs of their consumers and ensure the delivery of a high quality service. Cloud computing enable the business owners to manage the infrastructures, technical support, and applications from afar so that they have new alternatives for the best consumer services available to them. Many services of cloud computing offer different applications of consumer services to enhance the processes of the businesses. The personal cloud includes everything of the user ranging from the user’s address book, and documents of work to the music collections and reports. It allows the users to connect to the personal clouds and the public cloud so that everything connects. As a result of this, the users can connect to every person and every place on the Internet and the users are always connected to their friends, family, university, and workplace. 3. Large scale shared computing Cloud computing allows large scale shared computing. The users’ personal cloud that includes everything ranging from their music collection to the address book and work documents are all connected to other personal clouds. As a result, they can interact with any individual anywhere (Tadjer, 2010). 4. Examples of providers of cloud computing services a. Amazon Amazon is one such provider of cloud computing that also played a very important role in its development through the modernization of the data centers. The data centers of Amazon were using only up to 10 per cent of their total capacity at a given point in time. When Amazon realized that the new cloud architecture could significantly improve the internal efficiency, Amazon started the development of a new product to provide the external customers with cloud computing, and hence launched the Amazon Web Service (AWS) on the basis of utility computing in the year 2006. Amazon is one such online retail giant that consists of a business of cloud storage. Amazon rents out its storage space from the company’s massive data centers. This is particularly useful for the business entrepreneurs that have services or Web site to offer to the customers; they can use the services of Amazon to host their data. b. Apple Apple offers products that employ the services of cloud computing and rely on cloud computing in different ways. For example, Apple iCloud is a service of content-sharing. Apple has signed up with several music labels including Universal, EMI, Warner Music, and Sony so as to offer a service of music-streaming across the US. iCloud offers the new iTunes that make podcasts, videos, and music available for streaming. c. Google Google also offers the services of cloud computing since one of its functions is to organize the information of the world and make it not only useful but also accessible globally. The Google’s search engine is the most popular and indeed the oldest tool in the arsenal of the company. Google designs such services and tools that are linked with its mission in such ways that are not immediately obvious. Cloud computing is a main focus of Google. d. Cisco Using cloud computing, Cisco connects organizations and personnel between, beyond, and within the clouds. Cisco provides its users with cloud computing solutions that offer assured user experience, context-aware security, people-centric collaboration, accelerated deployment, and a dynamic cloud infrastructure. Cisco helps the enterprises take maximum advantage of cloud computing by helping them evolve their IT strategy so that they can minimize the cost of business and add value to it. 5. Torrents For the beginners, many torrents with very useful information about cloud computing are available online. These torrents are useful for companies of all sizes who want the storage power that could drive the infrastructure of a big company. The torrents help the audiences understand different aspects and features of cloud computing in detail including infrastructure, cloud storage, and software as a service (SAAS). 6. Research A lot of research is being carried out regarding the use of cloud computing in different fields and its effects. The research projects characterize the cloud computing and help the enterprises identify opportunities for them. The hype around cloud computing has sustained and the technology is sliding into the disillusionment trough. Over the passage of time, there have been more offerings, more experience about the best use of technology, and more in-house development. Many recent researches have closed the previous gaps (Schubert and Jeffery, 2012). Implementation 1. Economics a. Costs 1. Hardware costs The cost of data center hardware of cloud computing varies a lot depending on what sort of workload a company supports. A potential example of this variation is data storage. While establishing a cloud data center, a company needs to visualize the hardware elements in a different way. In leasing hardware, the number is almost a constant cost since the older gear is bought out and the new gear is purchased. Cloud lowers the cost of hardware. 2. Software costs The software costs of cloud are considerable. “Windows costs at least 20% more to run in the cloud” (Hinchcliffe, 2009). While Amazon and Microsoft provide nearly the same pricing for the Windows instances, the Google App Engine does not play in the Windows compute clouds. Although the smaller clouds make certain cheaper offerings, yet they are not quite eligible for use in large enterprises with certain exceptions. Nevertheless, use of cloud computing results in an overall decrease in the demand of both hardware and software (Strickland, 2012). b. Pricing of services The total pricing of a cloud service is determined by pricing the individual elements of service that are billed for by a provider. The users need to understand if a provider bills according to the storage space required, traffic, server CPU time, or such other elements. Another factor that plays a critical role in the pricing of services is the sort of service needed. Indeed, the simplest way to break down the pricing of services is to place emphasis on the primary services offered. The services are basically categorized into three main areas; storage, servers, and sites. Each of these areas has its own unique formula that is used to price it. c. Comparison of costs in Existing company adapting to the cloud vs new company using cloud As companies today find numerous initiatives around cloud computing, many take interest in finding out the cost effectiveness of moving an existing company into an outsourced environment. The current offerings of cloud are geared to handling temporal spikes in the compute load instead of shifting a whole infrastructure away from a corporate data center. Nevertheless, one of the plausible uses of cloud is to mirror a lab environment. When an existing company tends to adapt to the cloud, the cost incurred is usually more than what is incurred when a new company uses the cloud right from the beginning. This so happens because the existing company has to bear the cost of adapting its systems to cloud in addition to buying the hardware from a reseller that are borne by the new company. 2. Software development Cloud computing is similar to and, at the same time, different from the regular software in many ways. a. Similar to regular software Cloud computing is similar to a regular software in that with the right middleware, the system of cloud computing can run almost every program that is executed by a regular computer. Everything ranging from a generic software of word processing to the customized computer programs that are developed specifically for the individual companies can be run over a cloud computing system. b. Different to regular software Some of the differences of cloud to a regular software are that cloud computing offers scalable software and infrastructure offsite that results in saving of the costs related to labor, power, and hardware. Financially, the virtual resources of the cloud are usually cost effective as compared to the dedicated physical resources that are connected to a network or a personal computer. 3. Agreeability with current configurations a. Compatibility b. Network protocol 4. Testing a. Differences b. Dependability 5. Security a. Encryption issues b. Hacking Since cloud computing is based on the Internet in its entirety, it increases its vulnerability to the hack attacks. A cloud computing account is almost as much vulnerable to hacking as is an email account or an account in the social networking website. The vulnerability of the cloud computing accounts to hacking has dramatically increased over the past few years (Fogarty, 2012). c. Responsible parties Use of cloud computing demands the display of utmost care and responsibility by the members as there is a whole range of attack vectors that provide the attackers with unrestrained control of the IT infrastructure. When an enterprise has a group of people who have been provided with string control of the enterprise’s account of cloud computing, each member of the group has full control of the availability of the IT infrastructure of the enterprise as well as the privacy of the enterprise’s critical business data. Lack of responsibility by even one member can provide an attacker with the same control. 6. Architecture of the cloud Cloud architecture is the terms used to refer to the software systems’ architecture that are involved in cloud computing’s delivery. Cloud architecture typically includes the diverse components of cloud that communicate with one another over a loose mechanism of coupling like a messaging queue. The Intercloud is a cloud network of clouds that are globally interconnected and are an extension of the Internet. The process of application of the disciplines of engineering to cloud computing is known as cloud engineering. Cloud engineering makes an organized approach to such high-level concerns as standardization, commercialization, development and functioning of the systems of cloud computing. Relationship between agile software development and cloud computing Summary Cloud computing has surfaced as one of the best ways for the enterprises to enhance and revamp their infrastructures of IT. While the specific dates related to the history of cloud computing are not exactly known, yet its symbol has been frequently used to represent the Internet since the late 20th century. Implications of cloud computing in the world of technology include but are not limited to mobile communication, consumer services, and shared computing. Some of the companies that use and provide the services of cloud computing include Apple, Google, and Cisco. The cost of data center hardware of cloud computing varies considerably depending on what sort of workload a company supports. The services of cloud computing are basically categorized into storage, servers, and sites and there is a distinct formula to price each of these areas. Needless to say, adapting to such a new technology that provides an excellent and unrestrained system of data sharing is very advantageous both for the companies that use cloud computing right from the beginning as well as for the companies that change their systems to cloud computing, yet using cloud computing from the very beginning is easier and more cost effective as compared to transforming an existing system to it. Cloud computing has numerous similarities and differences with the regular software. One of the main issues in the use of cloud computing is of security. Since cloud computing is entirely Internet-based, it is quite vulnerable to hacking. However, if the matter is logically analyzed, almost all contemporary systems of IT are invariably connected with the Internet, so the vulnerability of hacking or other security threats in cloud computing is almost the same as in the traditional IT systems. References: Banerjee, U. (2011, March 8). The Evolution of Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing Journal. Retrieved from http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1744132. Hinchcliffe, D. (2009, Aug. 22). What Does Cloud Computing Actually Cost? An Analysis of the Top Vendors. Retrieved from http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/enterprise/2009/08/what_does_cloud_computing_actu.php. Hurwitz, J., Bloor, R., Kaufman, M., and Halper, F. (2009). Cloud computing for dummies. New Jersey: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Schubert, L., and Jeffrey, K. (2012). Advances in Clouds: Research in Future Cloud Computing. European Commission. Retrieved from http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/ssai/docs/future-cc-2may-finalreport-experts.pdf. Strickland, J. (2012). How Cloud Computing Works. Retrieved from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cloud-computing/cloud-computing.htm Fogarty , K. (2012, August 10). The biggest cloud computing security risk is impossible to eliminate. Retrieved from http://www.networkcomputing.com/security/the-biggest-cloud-computing-security-ris/240005337. Tadjer, R. (2010, November 18). What is cloud computing?. Pcmag, Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372163,00.asp Read More