Cloud computing

Cloud Computing for Beginners

Details
Cloud computing is currently the buzzword in IT industry, and many are curious to know what cloud
computing is and how it works. More so because the term CLOUD is intriguing and some people
even wonder how do clouds that rain can even remotely be used in Computing J.

Lets learn Cloud computing with an example Whenever you travel through a bus or train, you take a ticket for your destination and hold back to
your seat till you reach your destination. Likewise other passengers also takes ticket and travel in the
same bus with you and it hardly bothers you where they go. When your stop comes you get off the
bus thanking the driver. Cloud computing is just like that bus, carrying data and information for
different users and allows to use its service with minimal cost.
In this tutorial , you will learn
Types of Clouds
Cloud Computing Services
Cloud Computing Architecture
Virtualization and Cloud Computing:
Why use of cloud computing and benefits?
Grid Computing and Utility Computing
Security concerns and proposed security model for future cloud computing
Privacy Concern
Case-Study of Cloud Computing- Royal Mail

Why the Name Cloud?

The term Cloud came from a network design that was used by network engineers to represent the
location of various network devices and there inter-connection. The shape of this network design
was like a cloud.

Why Cloud Computing?

With increase in computer and mobile users, data storage has become a priority in all fields. Large
and small scale businesses today thrive on their data & they spent a huge amount of money to
maintain this data. It requires a strong IT support and a storage hub. Not all businesses can afford
high cost of in-house IT infrastructure and back up support services. For them Cloud Computing is a
cheaper solution. Perhaps its efficiency in storing data, computation and less maintenance cost has
succeeded to attract even bigger businesses as well.
Cloud computing decreases the hardware and software demand from the users side. The only thing
that user must be able to run is the cloud computing systems interface software, which can be as
simple as Web browser, and the Cloud network takes care of the rest. We all have experienced cloud
computing at some instant of time, some of the popular cloud services we have used or we are still
using are mail services like gmail, hotmail or yahoo etc.
While accessing e-mail service our data is stored on cloud server and not on our computer. The
technology and infrastructure behind the cloud is invisible. It is less important whether cloud services
are based on HTTP, XML, Ruby, PHP or other specific technologies as far as it is user friendly and
functional. An individual user can connect to cloud system from his/her own devices like desktop,
laptop or mobile.
Cloud computing harnesses small business effectively having limited resources, it gives small
businesses access to the technologies that previously were out of their reach. Cloud computing helps
small businesses to convert their maintenance cost into profit. Lets see how?
In an in-house IT server, you have to pay a lot of attention and ensure that there are no flaws into the
system so that it runs smoothly. And in case of any technical glitch you are completely responsible; it
will seek a lot of attention, time and money for repair. Whereas, in cloud computing, the service
provider takes the complete responsibility of the complication and the technical faults.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

The potential for cost saving is the major reason of cloud services adoption by many organizations.
Cloud computing gives the freedom to use services as per the requirement and pay only for what you
use. Due to cloud computing it has become possible to run IT operations as a outsourced unit
without much in-house resources.

Following are the benefits of cloud computing:

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Lower IT infrastructure and computer costs for users

Improved performance
Fewer Maintenance issues
Instant software updates
Improved compatibility between Operating systems
Backup and recovery
Performance and Scalability
Increased storage capacity
Increase data safety

Types of Clouds
There are four different cloud models that you can subscribe according to business needs:

1 Private Cloud: Here, computing resources are deployed for one particular organization.
This method is more used for intra-business interactions. Where the computing resources can
be governed, owned and operated by the same organization.
2 Community Cloud: Here, computing resources are provided for a community and
organizations.
3 Public Cloud: This type of cloud is used usually for B2C (Business to Consumer) type
interactions. Here the computing resource is owned, governed and operated by government,
an academic or business organization.
4 Hybrid Cloud: This type of cloud can be used for both type of interactions - B2B (Business
to Business) or B2C ( Business to Consumer). This deployment method is called hybrid cloud
as the computing resources are bound together by different clouds.

Cloud Computing Services

The three major Cloud Computing Offerings are
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Different business use some or all of these components according to their requirement.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS or software as a service is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a
vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network (internet). SaaS is
becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that supports Service
Oriented Architecture (SOA) or Web Services. Through internet this service is available to users
anywhere in the world.

Traditionaly, software application needed to be purchased upfront &then installed it onto your
computer. SaaS users on the other hand, instead of purchasing the software subscribes to it, usually
on monthly basisvia internet.
Anyone who needs an access to a particular piece of software can be subscribe as a user, whether it
is one or two people or every thousands of employees in a corporation. SaaS is compatible with all
internet enabled devices.
Many important tasks like accounting, sales, invoicing and planning all can be performed using SaaS.

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Platform as a service, is referred as PaaS, it provides a platform and environment to allow developers
to build applications and services. This service is hosted in the cloud and accessed by the users via
internet.
To understand in a simple terms, let compare this with painting a picture, where you are provided
with paint colors, different paint brushes and paper by your school teacher and you just have to draw
a beautiful picture using those tools.

PaaS services are constantly updated & new features added. Software developers, web developers
and business can benefit from PaaS. It provides platform to support application development. It
includes software support and management services, storage, networking, deploying, testing,
collaborating, hosting and maintaining applications.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

IaaS (Infrastructure As A Service) is one of the fundamental service model of cloud computing
alongside PaaS( Platform as a Service). It provides access to computing resources in a virtualized
environment the cloud on internet. It provides computing infrastructure like virtual server space,
network connections, bandwidth, load balancers and IP addresses. The pool of hardware resource is
extracted from multiple servers and networks usually distributed across numerous data centers. This
provides redundancy and reliability to IaaS.

IaaS(Infrastructure as a service) is a complete package for computing. For small scale businesses
who are looking for cutting cost on IT infrastructure, IaaS is one of the solutions. Annually a lot of
money is spent in maintenance and buying new components like hard-drives, network connections,
external storage device etc. which a business owner could have saved for other expenses by using
IaaS.

What is Cloud Computing Architecture?

Lets have a look into Cloud Computing and see what Cloud Computing is made of. Cloud
computing comprises of two components front end and back end. Front end consist client part of
cloud computing system. It comprise of interfaces and applications that are required to access the
cloud computing platform.

While back end refers to the cloud itself, it comprises of the resources that are required for cloud
computing services. It consists of virtual machines, servers, data storage, security mechanism etc. It
is under providers control.
Cloud computing distributes the file system that spreads over multiple hard disks and machines. Data
is never stored in one place only and in case one unit fails the other will take over automatically. The
user disk space is allocated on the distributed file system, while another important component is
algorithm for resource allocation. Cloud computing is a strong distributed environment and it heavily
depends upon strong algorithm.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing

The main enabling technology for Cloud Computing is Virtualization. Virtualization is a partitioning
of single physical server into multiple logical servers. Once the physical server is divided, each
logical server behaves like a physical server and can run an operating system and applications
independently. Many popular companiess like VmWare and Microsoft provide virtualization

services, where instead of using your personal PC for storage and computation, you use their virtual
server. They are fast, cost-effective and less time consuming.
For software developers and testers virtualization comes very handy, as it allows developer to write
code that runs in many different environments and more importantly to test that code.
Virtualization is mainly used for three main purposes 1) Network Virtualization 2) Server
Virtualization 3) Storage Virtualization
Network Virtualization: It is a method of combining the available resources in a network by splitting
up the available bandwidth into channels, each of which is independent from the others and each
channel is independent of others and can be assigned to a specific server or device in real time.
Storage Virtualization: It is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices
into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage
virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs).
Server Virtualization: Server virtualization is the masking of server resources like processors, RAM,
operating system etc, from server users. The intention of server virtualization is to increase the
resource sharing and reduce the burden and complexity of computation from users.
Virtualization is the key to unlock the Cloud system, what makes virtualization so important for the
cloud is that it decouples the software from the hardware. For example, PCs can use virtual memory
to borrow extra memory from the hard disk. Usually hard disk has a lot more space than memory.
Although virtual disks are slower than real memory, if managed properly the substitution works
perfectly. Likewise, there is software which can imitate an entire computer, which means 1 computer
can perform the functions equals to 20 computers.

Grid Computing Vs Cloud Computing

When we switch on the fan or any electric device, we are less concern about the power supply from
where it comes and how it is generated. The power supply or electricity that we receives at our home
travels through a chain of network, which includes power stations, transformers, power lines and
transmission stations. These components together make a Power Grid. Likewise, Grid Computing
is an infrastructure that links computing resources such as PCs, servers, workstations and storage
elements and provides the mechanism required to access them.

Grid Computing is a middle ware to co-ordinate disparate IT resources across a network, allowing
them to function as whole. It is more often used in scientific research and in universities for
educational purpose. For example, a group of architect students working on a different project
requires a specific designing tool and a software for designing purpose but only couple of them got
access to this designing tool, the problem is how they can make this tool available to rest of the
students. To make available for other students they will put this designing tool on campus network,
now the grid will connect all these computers in campus network and allow student to use designing
tool required for their project from anywhere.

Cloud computing and Grid computing is often confused, though there functions are almost similar
there approach for their functionality is different. Let see how they operate-

Cloud ComputingGrid ComputingCloud computing works more as a service

provider for utilizing computer resourceGrid computing uses the available
resource and interconnected computer systems to accomplish a common
goalCloud computing is a centralized modelGrid computing is a decentralized
model, where the computation could occur over many administrative modelCloud
is a collection of computers usually owned by a single party.A grid is a collection
of computers which is owned by a multiple parties in multiple locations and
connected together so that users can share the combined power of resourcesCloud
offers more services all most all the services like web hosting, DB (Data Base)
support and much moreGrid provides limited servicesCloud computing is
typically provided within a single organization (eg : Amazon)Grid computing
federates the resources located within different organization.Utility Computing
Vs Cloud Computing
In our previous conversation in Grid Computing we have seen how electricity is supplied to our
house, also we do know that to keep electricity supply we have to pay the bill. Utility Computing is
just like that, we use electricity at home as per our requirement and pay the bill accordingly likewise
you will use the services for the computing and pay as per the use this is known as Utility
computing. Utility computing is a good source for small scale usage, it can be done in any server
environment and requires Cloud Computing.

Utility Computing Vs Cloud Computing

In our previous conversation in Grid Computing we have seen how electricity is supplied to our
house, also we do know that to keep electricity supply we have to pay the bill. Utility Computing is
just like that, we use electricity at home as per our requirement and pay the bill accordingly likewise
you will use the services for the computing and pay as per the use this is known as Utility
computing. Utility computing is a good source for small scale usage, it can be done in any server
environment and requires Cloud Computing.
Utility computing is the process of providing service through an on-demand, pay per use billing
method. The customer or client has access to a virtually unlimited supply of computing solutions
over a virtual private network or over the internet, which can be sourced and used whenever its
required. Based on the concept of utility computing , grid computing, cloud computing and
managed IT services are based.
Through utility computing small businesses with limited budget can easily use software like CRM
(Customer Relationship Management) without investing heavily on infrastructure to maintain their
clientele base.

Utility computing is the process of providing service through an on-demand, pay per use billing
method. The customer or client has access to a virtually unlimited supply of computing solutions
over a virtual private network or over the internet, which can be sourced and used whenever its
required. Based on the concept of utility computing , grid computing, cloud computing and
managed IT services are based.

Through utility computing small businesses with limited budget can easily use software like CRM
(Customer Relationship Management) without investing heavily on infrastructure to maintain their
clientele base.
Utility Computing

Utility Computing

Utility computing refers to the ability to charge the offered services, and charge customers for exact
usageCloud Computing also works like utility computing, you pay only for what you use but Cloud
Computing might be cheaper, as such, Cloud based app can be up and running in days or
weeks.Utility computing users want to be in control of the geographical location of the
infrastructureIn cloud computing, provider is in complete control of cloud computing services and
infrastructureUtility computing is more favorable when performance and selection infrastructure is
criticalCloud computing is great and easy to use when the selection infrastructure and performance is
not criticalUtility computing is a good choice for less resource demandingCloud computing is a good
choice for high resource demanding

Security concerns for Cloud Computing

While using cloud computing, the major issue that concerns the users is about its security.
One concern is that cloud providers themselves may have access to customers unencrypted datawhether its on disk, in memory or transmitted over the network.

Some countries government may decide to search through data without necessarily notifying the data
owner, depending on where the data resides, which is not appreciated and is considered as a privacy
breach (Example Prism Program by USA).
To provide security for systems, networks and data cloud computing service providers have joined
hands with TCG ( Trusted Computing Group) which is non-profit organization which regularly
releases a set of specifications to secure hardware, create self-encrypting drives and improve network
security. It protects the data from root kits and malware.
As computing has expanded to different devices like hard disk drives and mobile phones, TCG has
extended the security measures to include these devices. It provides ability to create a unified data
protection policy across all clouds.
Some of the trusted cloud services are Amazon, Box.net, Gmail and many others.

Privacy Concern & Cloud Computing

Privacy present a strong barrier for users to adapt into Cloud Computing systems

There are certain measures which can improve privacy in cloud computing.
1 The administrative staff of the cloud computing service could theoretically monitor the data
moving in memory before it is stored in disk.To keep the confidentiality of a data,
administrative and legal controls should prevent this from happening.
2 The other way for increasing the privacy is to keep the data decrypted at the cloud storage
site, preventing unauthorized access through the internet; even cloud vendor cant access the
data either.

Case-Study of Cloud Computing- Royal Mail

Subject of Case-Study:Using Cloud Computing for effective communication among staff.
Reason for using Cloud Computing:Reducing the cost made after communication for
28,000 employees and to provide advance features and interface of e-mail services to their
employees.
Royal mail group, a postal service in U.K, is the only government organization in U.K that serves
over 24 million customers through its 12000 post offices and 3000 separate processing sites. Its
logistics systems and parcel-force worldwide handles around 404 million parcel a year. And to do
this they need an effective communicative medium. They have recognized the advantage of Cloud
Computing and implemented it to their system. It has shown an outstanding performance in intercommunication.
Before moving on to Cloud system, the organization was struggling with the out-of-date software,
and due to which the operational efficiency was getting compromised. As soon as the organization
switched on to Cloud System, 28000 employees were supplied with their new collaboration suite,
giving them access to tools such as instant messaging and presence awareness. The employees got
more storage place than on local server. The employees became much more productive.
Looking to the success of Cloud Computing in e-mail services and communication .The second
strategic move of Royal Mail Group, was to migrating from physical servers to virtual servers, upto
400 servers to create a private cloud based on Microsoft hyper V. This would give a fresh look and
additional space to their employees desktop and also provides latest modern exchange environment.
The hyper V project by RMGs (Royal Mail Group) is estimated to save around 1.8 million pound
for them in future and will increase the efficiency of the organizations internal IT system.