Intro on Cloud Computing

CLOUD COMPUTING

It’s not magic! The concept of cloud computing imitates virtual functioning of data through network without any interaction of users/customers. Cloud computing is used to detain data centers available to many users over the internet.

Back in 2006, Amazon first released Elastic Compute Cloud which was well furnished as Cloud computing. When we look into short history of cloud computing, the word “cloud” was meant to describe internet and standardized cloud symbol depicted network on telephony schematics. Cloud computing allows the user or customer to take all the benefits of technologies.

The things that we can’t see is what cloud computing deals with. This technology can be named as virtualization. Virtualization software parts physical computing device into one or more devices. These devices can be used easily to perform computing tasks. Virtualization provides required swiftness to speed up IT operations and help in reducing cost and leverages infrastructure utilization.

Cloud computing also involves automatic computing through which a customer can provision resources on demand. Efficient cloud computing attempts to address QoS(Quality of service) and defects related to many other grid computing models.

Cloud computing shares attributes with Client Server model, Mainframe Computer, Grid Computing, Fog Computing, Peer-to-peer, Utility Computing, Cloud Sandbox and other. There are three popular service models namely Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS). These models are usually characterized as layers in a stack and aid in maximizing abstraction.

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): It is an online service that offers high level APIs that are used to dereference distinct low level details of underlying network infrastructure. This in infrastructure computes physical computing resource, scaling, data partitioning, location, security, backup and other. IaaS involves the concept of hypervisor that run virtual machine as guest. In cloud operational system pools of hypervisors supports vast number of virtual machines and also scales services up and down which rely on varying customer requirements. Containerization like Linux, work in isolated partitions of one Linux Kernel. This kernel runs directly on the physical hardware. Linux Kernel technologies which contain Linux cgroups and namespaces are used to isolate, secure and maintain containers. On comparison, containerization pervades higher performance than virtualization.  Infrastructure as a service cloud provides other additional resources like virtual machine disk image library file or object storage, IP addresses, VLANs, firewalls and other. In this service model the consumer will be able to deploy and run arbitrary software that consists of operating system and applications. Consumer will get access to control operating system, storage, applications and slight control over selecting networking components.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): In this service model the customer does not have control over underlying cloud infrastructure that includes networks, OS or storage. PaaS offers control for customers on acquired applications that are generated using specific programming language, libraries, tools and services that are offered by the cloud provider. In this a user operates in computing platform that involves operating system, execution environment for programming language, database and web servers. The advantage of PaaS is that in this a consumer or developer can develop and run particular software on the cloud platform. Some of the examples of Platform as a service are iPaas (Integration Platform as a service) and dPaas (Data Platform as a service). In iPaaS customers can develop, execute and govern integration flow and in dPaaS, PaaS manages the development and execution of programs.
• Software as a Service (SaaS): In this service model the customer will not have access to deploy networks, servers, operating system or storage. The user will have access to application software and database. It is referred to as on demand software. In this service model cloud providers install and maintain application software in the cloud. Customers can access the required software from the cloud clients. SaaS service method provides high maintenance and support. This model is used in applications like Google Docs and Word online which deals with games and productivity.

Cloud computing can be categorized into deployment models where the cloud is distinguished as per their nature of connectivity. Some of those deployment models are;

• Private Cloud: This model, whether managed internally or by a third party operates alone for a single organization. This may be hosted internally or externally. Private cloud provides healthy business but faces challenges in every step of the project due to security issues.
• Public Cloud: It is a free cloud for public where services operated over a network are open for public use. It provides sustainable services for applications, storage and various other resources. Some of the examples which use public cloud services are Amazon, IBM, Oracle, Google etc. This organization own and operate the infrastructure at specified data center that can be accessed via internet.
  
• Hybrid Cloud: It is a combination of private, public and community cloud services that are offered by multiple cloud providers. By aggregation, integration and customization, hybrid cloud allows user to extend the capability of cloud services with another cloud. This model uses cloud bursting which is an application deployment model where application running in a private cloud bursts into public cloud. This occurs when there is a demand for computing capacity leverage. It offer enhanced runtime flexibility and adaptive memory processing that are specified to virtualized interface models.
• Some of the other deployment models include community cloud, distributed cloud, multi cloud, poly cloud, big data cloud, HPC cloud and other.

Cloud computing has a simple architecture where software systems involved in delivery of cloud computing includes various cloud components operating with each other over a loose coupling mechanism.

The main drawbacks are privacy and security. This process benefits various enterprises in their file or data infrastructures. They are used for online file storage, in photo editing software, digital; video software, spreadsheets and lot more.

At Altorum Leren, we offer ultimate cloud computing services and aim in providing high efficiency, improved automation and quality platform independence.