Cloud Computing

What Is Cloud Computing?

What is cloud computing? Everyone in the technology world is talking about it… and a lot of people in the business world are asking the same question, “What is cloud computing, and what does it mean for my business?”

Cloud computing platforms are growing in popularity, but why? What unique advantages does a cloud computing architecture offer to companies in today’s economic climate? And what just what is cloud computing, anyway?” Let’s explore the cloud computing infrastructure and its impact on critically important areas to IT, like security, infrastructure investments, business application development, and more.

Most IT departments are forced to spend a significant portion of their time on frustrating implementation, maintenance, and upgrade projects that too often don’t add significant value to the company’s bottom line. Increasingly, IT teams are turning to cloud computing technology to minimize the time spent on lower-value activities and allow IT to focus on strategic activities with greater impact on the business.

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One of the cloud computing  news now days is that the revenue for the server hardware is about to increase. International Data Corporation has predicted that the revenue expect to grow from $582 million, which was in 2009 to about $718 million in 2014. In addition, for the private cloud computing this revenue will shoot up from $2.6 billion to nearly about $5.7 during the same period. 

This increase in the revenue clearly indicates that the cloud computing now will have to spend much more money on the server hardware.

Cloud Computing  has emerged from the existing parallel processing, distributed computing and grid computing technologies. They may although a bit similar to each other but their functions are different from each other. This technology is from the past few years but it is only that the idea of cloud computing has evolved as an emerging technology in the field of computer science. The name of cloud computing is being derived from the existence of data and applications on a “cloud” of web servers. In simple words cloud computing can be defined as getting the work done by sharing and using resources and applications of a network environment without being concerned who is the owner and manager of these resources and applications. Now with help of this technology Resources and data required for the work to be done is no longer restricted to one’s personal computer but are hosted elsewhere enabling it to be accessible at any time and at any location and this advantage  lifts the bar of time and place on the work to be done and hence make the user to work on it anytime and from anywhere.

Both applications being provided by the data centres as services on to the internet to the various users of it as well as the hardware and the system software that are being used to provide those services are included in the Cloud Computing.



And Cloud is referred to the hardware and software that are being used by the data centre to provide the services. In recent times only the Cloud Computing has emerged as a new thing and is gaining popularity among the people. As an essential feature of cloud computing, the nodes in it are differentiated in such a logical manner as each node behave like a unique machine and also it makes the virtualisation technology more easy and simple to use for the user.  And above all cloud computing overrides the limitation of grid computing technology by connecting various bifurcated computers to transform it into a one big logical computer that has the ability to process various computations and to handle a huge amount of data. As this technology makes each node a separate machine thereby providing users an additional advantage of loading software and operating system on each node separately according to the specifications of each node and configuring the same for each node separately.

Other Cloud Related Technologies from which it has evolved its existence

Grid Computing.

It can be described as an extension of distributed and parallel computing in which a super and virtual computer consists of a number

of networked and loosely coupled computers that act together to perform huge tasks.

Utility computing

When the resources used in computing process are packaged as a metered service same as electricity, a traditional public utility.

Autonomic computing

Those systems that is capable of self management.

How cloud works and its uses

Cloud Computing uses information technology as service over the network. Cloud Computing consists of Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) Hardware as a Service (HaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS). It also possesses the service of renting a server or servers and of running a geophysical modelling application that can be made available anywhere. Cloud Computing also enables the user to rent a virtual server, loaded with software and turn it on and off according to the sweet will of the user and it can also be cloned to meet an immediate workload demand. Cloud Computing also stores a large amount of data that can be accessed by the authorised users with the authorised applications. A base is being provided by the cloud that supports this technique and on this base regular changing workload is being dealt with by an automatic change in the scale according to the requirement of the workload.

A cloud is used as a storage medium which handles applications, business, and personal data also. Cloud Computing also possesses the ability by which only a few web services are being used to coordinate photos, maps, and GPS information to present the front page in users web browsers.

Cloud Computing  has an important feature of workload shift so, personal computers are no more required to run these applications. There is a network  of computers that handles the cloud itself. It significantly decreases the use of hardware as well as software on the front of user as all the processing and handling of data is done by the cloud. All the applications are being run by the interface software that is the only thing that the user’s computer ought to know. The latest interface software used in today’s world is Internet Explorer 9 apart from previous versions that is  Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 8 .

Actually , the internet users have some knowledge of this technology already as even if a person has an e-mail account with any of the web based e-mail service providers such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail the user is aware of what is cloud computing. The users don’t run an e-mail  program on their system rather they login to the e-mail account on the web because of the emergence of cloud computing. There is a cloud on the service’s computer which possess the software and the storage for the account of the user and not the local computer.

Key characteristic of Cloud and its role

As for now there is no specific definition cloud computing and it will take some time to develop its characteristics and a standard definition based on the ongoing practices in this field. The below mentioned two key enabling technologies based on the practices in the areas of service provisioning and solution design  would play a very significant role in the revolutionary phase of cloud computing:

Virtualization technique

This technology works on the handling of how the image of the operating system, middleware, and application procreated and allocated to a physical machine or part of the server stack away. This technology also provide assistance in reuse licenses of operating systems, middleware, or software applications, as soon as the user releases their service from the Cloud Computing platform.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

Cloud Computing is basically a collection of services which communicate with each other. The communication of services with each other involves either simple data passing or it could involve two or more services that coordinate with each other to perform some activity. In the process of these communications some or the other means is definitely needed. As against in the earlier decades time when most of the applications stand alone and are designed for a single use only now the system is evolving towards service oriented. The users can now take the software for its use on rent and this is because of the magnificent growth in the internet usage and the availability of internet technology with the help of cloud computing. Several big companies such as Google, Microsoft, Sun  and even Amazon have the capability of providing services instead of directly selling the software to the user.SOA is that software which assists in addressing multicomponent, reusability, extensibility and flexibility. Those companies that are desiring cost cuts through choosing to rent rather than purchasing surely need these characteristics.

 

Still there are certain issues like security, cost, integration, and availability that will keep this apprehension to linger on for some more time. Best book cloud computing for those who are either  beginners  or the ones aware of the concept and wish to explore more, I would prefer to them personal technology books, good technology practice book, deep technology books, cloud and arch. Book, career mgmt. books, and many more other books will help the reader to enhance his/her knowledge and expand his information horizon on this topic. Moreover, surfing internet may also be beneficial as it is a place for vast information on any topic.

The Information Security Magazine says that both the practitioners as well as the security analysts tell us to proceed but with care. All the sensitive corporate data that is prone to risk applied to cloud computing.Although implementing these security policies meeting their requirements are not easy.So everyone has an advantage of cloud computing unless and until the user follows all the legal restrictions and take due care required.