What Are the Benefits of Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is essentially infrastructure as a service. Using resources from distributed servers/computers, cloud computing frees you from the configuration of local servers. The cloud is another movement towards making computing a service that can be adjusted based on the needs of a business.

For example, for a business in retail that might need to utilize a large number of servers during the holiday seasons, but not nearly as many after the holiday seasons, cloud computing is helpful by allowing the business to aggregate server usage based on their needs.

Cloud computing has been gaining momentum, particularly in the SaaS environment. Organizations are quickly realizing the value in cutting costs through monthly subscriptions to software, rather than outright purchasing it and having it become obsolete. When newer versions of software become available, companies need to repurchase and sometimes increase the amount of infrastructure needed to support the new software. With cloud- hosted services, it is possible to utilize enterprise-level software through subscription, without worrying about the cost of infrastructure or upgrading to the latest version of software..

What are the benefits of Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing is helpful in multiple ways. The primary benefits are that:

1) Time to market is significantly reduced.

2) Overall cost savings in maintenance costs from having business-owned servers to maintain. Cloud computing services also generally have a much higher guarentee for uptime that a smaller company running its own servers usually cannot match.

3) Organizations can cut software licensing and administrative costs through utilizing online services in the cloud, such as SharePoint, Exchange Server, and Office Communications Server. (More about Online Services in a cloud-hosted environment). How do I apply Cloud Computing technology to my business and is it a right fit for my company?

Cloud Computing is not for everyone or every company. As with any technology, it depends on the needs of the company whether or not it will be useful. For example, if your company has a large quantity of proprietary data, you would need to decide if you are comfortable placing your data and applications in a facility that you do not own or control. Cloud computing is ideal for a small to medium size business that has large spikes in infrastructure needs at varying times during the year, rather than a consistent need that in-house servers could sufficiently fulfill. Services available include Windows Azure, Amazon EC2, and GoGrid.

Cloud-Hosted Online Services

In most business cases, moving to a cloud-hosted environment for online services such as collaboration and unified communications services can significantly cut costs and improve business productivity. The Microsoft Online Services Business Productivity Suite (BPOS) offers enterprise services for a fixed monthly subscription rate, rather than outright purchasing software licenses. Many companies are moving to the hosted cloud environment since most vendors provide free upgrades to the latest versions of hosted software.

View the Case Studies: Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing Case Studies Amazon EC2 Cloud Computing Case Studies

A comparison chart of different cloud computing services. —See more of the top cloud computing companies

View comparisons on servers and storage usage/limitations, Autoscaling and Uptime, and Pricing:

Comparisons Microsoft Azure GoGrid Amazon EC2

 Windows Server  Windows Server  Windows Server 2003, 2008 2003, 2008 2003  MS SQL  MS SQL  MS SQL Standard Standard, Standard,  RedHat Workgroup Edition, Workgroup Edition,  Linux and Server 2008 and Server 2008  Fedora  Azure will  Hybrid Servers  Oracle Linux support more Dedicated/Cloud  and others programming networks languages and  Linux development  GoGrid will environments in the support more near future programming languages and development environments in the near future

Unlimited (for now) Up to 200 servers Limited to running 20 instances per Storage & region. If you need Usage more instances, you limitations have to fill out a request form.

Dynamic scaling Go Grid Amazon EC2 (Pay-as-you-go automatically scales automatically scales Pricing). the fees and virtual the fees and virtual usage for each user usage for each user Autoscaling based on their needs based on their needs. (Pay-as-you-go Spending limits can Pricing). be assigned on a user basis.

Fabric Controller 100% uptime Annual Uptime of at technology reroutes guaranteed in least 99.95% work service agreement. Uptime instantaneously if a server goes down; 99.9% - 99.95% uptime.

*Pure pay-as-you- $0.19 per Server Standard on-demand go: RAM Hour. instances $0.12 per hour for $0.50/GB outbound for Linux/Unix computing data transfer. ranges from $0.10 to $0.15 per GB for Free inbound data $0.80 per hour for storage transfer. while Windows $0.10 per 10,000 Currently offering a usage ranges from storage transactions free $50 credit when $0.125 to $1.00 per Price $ *SQL Azure you sign up. hour. High CPU on- database: (Promotion code: demand instance for $9.99 - basic Web GOGOTRIAL50) Linux/Unix ranges edition (1 GB DB) Service Plans are from $0.20 to $0.80 $99.99 - Business also available per hour while Edition (10 GB DB) ranging from $99.99 Windows usage *Network to $2,499.99 per ranges from $0.30 to bandwidth: month. $1.20 per hour. $0.10-$0.15 per GB. Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is a model for accessing, via the internet, computing resources such as applications, networks, servers, storage and services that can be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort interaction. The Cloud services are managed by a service provider who operates the infrastructure and achieves economies of scale through multiple tenancy on their infrastructure.

Adoption of cloud computing by business may offer high-availability, reduction in operational staffing overhead, reduce infrastructure costs.

There are three main models of Cloud Computing: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service.

Ancoris is a leading UK integrator of Cloud Computing Software as a Service offerings, providing full assessment, deployment, migration, training and support services.

 Software as a Service  Platform as a Service  Infrastructure as a Service Software as a Service

Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software-as-a-Service allows the customer to use the provider‘s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). The customer does not need to manage the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage.

The ability to configure and control user-specific application configuration settings depends on the service provider. Ancoris has selected services which are built from the start for delivery as SaaS and provide full control to the client companies to configure the SaaS application to their need.

Ancoris offers Cloud Software as a Service solutions for the following areas:

Business Email Server in Google Apps Email is a replacement for companies using on- the cloud premise mail-servers such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino

Google Docs provides advanced collaboration applications for Document Collaboration: documents, spreadsheets, presentations.

Google Sites provides simple to administer content management Intranet/Extranet: platform for developing secure intranet or extranets.

Email Security as a service: Google Message Security, part of the Google Postini Services, provides full anti-spam, anti-virus and content filtering as a service for any in-house, on-premise or hosted mailserver.

Google Message Discovery provides archiving of both internal or Email Archiving as a external email as a cloud service. GMD works with mail-servers service: such as Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Google Apps Email and other mail-servers.

ScanSafe provides full web-filtering and protection against web Web browsing security as a malware (viruses, trojans etc.) as a managed service. This is service: particularly helpful for distributed companies or remote/roaming users.

Other examples of Software as a Service include:

Overview

The cloud is the term for networked computers that distribute processing power, applications, and large systems among many machines. Applications like Flickr, Google, YouTube, and many others use the cloud as their platform, in the way that programs on a desktop computer use that single computer as a platform. Cloud-based applications do not run on a single computer; instead they are spread over a distributed cluster, using storage space and computing resources from many available machines as needed. ―The cloud‖ denotes any group of computers used in this way; it is not tied to a particular location or owner, though many companies have proprietary clouds. ―Amazon‘s cloud,‖ for instance, refers to the computers used to power Amazon.com; the capacity of those servers has been harnessed as the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and can be leased from Amazon for a variety of purposes.

Cloud computing services are grouped into three types. Most people are familiar with the first type: applications that serve a single function, such as Gmail (http://gmail.com) or Quicken Online (http://quicken.intuit.com/online-banking-finances.jsp), that are generally accessed through a web browser and that use the cloud for processing power and data storage. The second group of services offer the infrastructure on which such applications are built and run, along with the computing power to deliver them. Examples include Google App Engine (http://code.google.com/appengine/), which allows developers to create and host tailored programs using Google‘s infrastructure; Heroku (http://heroku.com), which does the same for applications developed in Ruby on Rails; and Joyent (http://joyent.com), which hosts and scales applications in a variety of languages. The final set of cloud services are those that offer sheer computing resources without a development platform layer, like Amazon‘s Elastic Compute Cloud (http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/) or the GoGrid (http://www.gogrid.com).

Cloud computing makes it possible for almost anyone to deploy tools that can scale on demand to serve as many users as desired. To the end user, the cloud is invisible; the technology that supports the applications doesn‘t matter — the fact that the applications are always available is key. Data storage is cheap in these environments — pennies per gigabyte — so cheap that it is often provided in surprising quantities for free.

The cloud does have certain drawbacks. Unlike traditional software packages that can be installed on a local computer, backed up, and are available as long as the operating system supports them, cloud- based applications are services offered by companies and service providers in real time. Entrusting your work and data to the cloud is also a commitment of trust that the service provider will continue to be there, even in face of changing market and other conditions. Nonetheless, the economics of cloud computing are increasingly compelling. For many institutions, cloud computing offers a cost- effective solution to the problem of how to provide services, data storage, and computing power to a growing number of Internet users without investing capital in physical machines that need to be maintained and upgraded on-site.

Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression

The emergence of cloud-based applications is causing a shift in the way we think about how we use software and store our files. The idea of data storage as something that can be separated from an individual computer is not unusual, but now it is becoming common to consider applications in the same light. Instead of locking files and software inside a single computer, we are gradually moving both the products of our work and the tools we use to accomplish it into the cloud. Once there, applications and data are both accessible from any computer, using tools that are free or very inexpensive. Because they live on the network, applications in the cloud make it easy to share documents, collaboratively edit, and effectively manage versions.

Educational institutions are beginning to take advantage of ready-made applications hosted on a dynamic, ever-expanding cloud that enable end users to perform tasks that have traditionally required site licensing, installation, and maintenance of individual software packages. Email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, collaboration, media editing, and more can all be done inside a web browser, while the software and files are housed in the cloud. In addition to productivity applications, services like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com), and Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), as well as a host of other browser-based applications, comprise a set of increasingly powerful cloud-based tools for almost any task a user might need to do.

Cloud-based applications can handle photo and video editing (see http://www.splashup.com for photos and http://www.jaycut.com for videos, to name just two examples) or publish presentations and slide shows (see http://www.slideshare.net or http://www.sliderocket.com). Further, it is very easy to share content created with these tools, both in terms of collaborating on its creation and distributing the finished work. Applications like those listed here can provide students and teachers with free or low-cost alternatives to expensive, proprietary productivity tools. Browser-based, thin-client applications are accessible with a variety of computer and even mobile platforms, making these tools available anywhere the Internet can be accessed. The shared infrastructure approaches embedded in the cloud computing concept offer considerable potential for large scale experiments and research that can make use of untapped processing power.

We are just beginning to see direct applications for teaching and learning other than the simple availability of platform-independent tools and scalable data storage. This set of technologies has clear potential to distribute applications across a wider set of devices and greatly reduce the overall cost of computing. The support for group work and collaboration at a distance embedded in many cloud- based applications could be a benefit applicable to many learning situations.

Already, cloud-based applications are being used in the K-12 sector to provide virtual computers to students and staff without requiring each person to own the latest laptop or desktop machine; a handful of basic machines, provided they can access the Internet and support a web browser, are all that is needed for access to virtually unlimited data storage and programs of all kinds.

12 A sampling of cloud computing applications across disciplines includes the following:

 Sciences. Science Clouds, a project that aims to provide cloud computing resources to members of the science community for limited amounts of time in support of specific projects, launched its first cloud in early 2008. Scientists may request time on the clouds in exchange for a short write- up of their project.  Meteorology. Applications that combine a desktop interface with the data storage and computing power available in the cloud make powerful tools, once only available at large computing centers, available to anyone. One such example, Earthbrowser (http://www.earthbrowser.com), creates an interactive map populated with weather, geological, and other data; the engine that drives it lives in the cloud.  Media Studies. Using cloud-based applications like YouTube, a media culture course at Pitzer College in California tracks emerging up-to-the-moment social trends through real-time news clips and user-created content posted there. Similarly, courses at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY use YouTube and other cloud-based applications to host media that cannot be hosted using resources on campus.

Examples of Cloud Computing

The following links provide examples of cloud computing applications.

Cloud Computing Testbed http://www.cs.illinois.edu/news/articles.php?id=2008Jul29-352 The Cloud Computing Testbed (CCT) is a research effort at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to explore ways to provide system- level support for data-intensive computing using cloud computing approaches.

Into the Cloud: Uur 5 favorite Online Storage Services http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/free_online_storage_services.php (Frederic Lardinois, ReadWriteWeb, 28 September 2008.) This blog post describes five services that provide large-scale online file storage.

Open Science Grid http://www.news.wisc.edu/12927 The University of Wisconsin-Madison and several partner schools are working on a project funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy to develop and expand a national Open Science Grid to provide computing power and data storage to solve large, data-intensive challenges in science.

Parallel Computing with Mathematica 7 http://www.wolfram.com/news/m7hpc.html The November 2008 release of Mathematica 7 includes a tool to create a parallel computing grid using any set of computers.

Virtual Computing Lab at North Carolina State University http://vcl.ncsu.edu/ North Carolina State University offers an online system for requesting and reserving a virtual computer, complete with any of a number of applications, that can be accessed from anywhere.

For Further Reading

The following articles and resources are recommended for those who wish to learn more about cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Expo: Introducing the Cloud Pyramid http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/609938 (Michael Sheehan, Cloud Computing Journal, 21 August 2008.) This article illustrates a pyramid model for thinking about the types of services cloud computing enables.

How Cloud Computing is Changing the World http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc2008082_445669.htm (Rachael King, BusinessWeek, 4 August 2008.) This article describes a perceived shift in the way we think about computing as more companies begin to use cloud-based applications for communications and productivity tasks.

The Cloudworker’s Creed http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2008/10/23/the-cloudworkers-creed/ (Venkatesh Rao, Ribbonfarm.Com, 23 October 2008.) This blog post introduces the concept of a cloudworker, the information professional of tomorrow.

The Tower and the Cloud: an EDUCAUSE eBook http://www.educause.edu/thetowerandthecloud/133998 (Richard N. Katz, ed., EDUCAUSE, 2008.) This book, freely available as a PDF document, includes chapters by leading educators and technologists on all aspects of cloud computing and education, including accountability, implementation, social networking, and scholarship.

Use of Cloud Computing Applications and Services http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/262/report_display.asp (John Horrigan, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 12 September 2008.) This data memo reports on the number of Internet users who are making use of cloud-based applications and services and reviews their expressed preferences.

Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing http://radar.oreilly.com/2008/10/web-20-and- cloud-computing.html#definitions (Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Radar, 26 October 2008.) This blog post describes three types of cloud computing and considers the impact of each on business.

Delicious: Cloud Computing http://delicious.com/tag/hz09+cloudcomputing (Tagged by Horizon Advisory Board and friends, 2008.) Follow this link to find resources tagged for this topic and this edition of the Horizon Report, including the ones listed here. To add to this list, simply tag resources with ―hz09‖ and ―cloudcomputing‖ when you save them to Delicious. 27

Posted by NMC on January 18, 2009 Tags: Chapters

Cloud computing describes computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. Parallels to this concept can be drawn with the electricity grid where end-users consume power resources without any necessary understanding of the component devices in the grid required to provide said service.

Cloud computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture, autonomic and utility computing. Details are abstracted from end-users, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.[1]

Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption, and delivery model for IT services based on Internet protocols, and it typically involves provisioning of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources.[2][3] It is a byproduct and consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the Internet.[4] This frequently takes the form of web-based tools or applications that users can access and use through a web browser as if it were a program installed locally on their own computer.[5]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a somewhat more objective and specific definition:

"Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction."[6]

The term "cloud" is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used in the past to represent the telephone network,[7] and later to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents.[8] Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online that are accessed from another Web service or software like a Web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers.

Most cloud computing infrastructures consist of services delivered through common centers and built on servers. Clouds often appear as single points of access for consumers' computing needs. Commercial offerings are generally expected to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements of customers, and typically include service level agreements (SLAs).[9]

Contents

[hide]  1 Overview o 1.1 Comparisons o 1.2 Characteristics o 1.3 Architecture  2 History  3 Key Characteristics  4 Layers o 4.1 Client o 4.2 Application o 4.3 Platform o 4.4 Infrastructure o 4.5 Server  5 Deployment models o 5.1 Public cloud o 5.2 Community cloud o 5.3 Hybrid cloud o 5.4 Private cloud  6 Cloud engineering  7 Cloud storage  8 The Intercloud  9 Issues o 9.1 Privacy o 9.2 Compliance o 9.3 Legal o 9.4 Open source o 9.5 Open standards o 9.6 Security o 9.7 Availability and performance o 9.8 Sustainability and siting  10 Research  11 Criticism of the term  12 See also  13 References  14 External links

[edit] Overview

[edit] Comparisons

Cloud computing derives characteristics from, but should not be confused with:

1. Autonomic computing — "computer systems capable of self-management"[10] 2. Client–server model – client–server computing refers broadly to any distributed application that distinguishes between service providers (servers) and service requesters (clients)[11] 3. Grid computing — "a form of distributed computing and parallel computing, whereby a 'super and virtual computer' is composed of a cluster of networked, loosely coupled computers acting in concert to perform very large tasks" 4. Mainframe computer — powerful computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data-processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.[12] 5. Utility computing — the "packaging of computing resources, such as computation and storage, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility, such as electricity";[13] 6. Peer-to-peer – distributed architecture without the need for central coordination, with participants being at the same time both suppliers and consumers of resources (in contrast to the traditional client–server model) 7. Service-oriented computing – Cloud computing provides services related to computing while, in a reciprocal manner, service-oriented computing consists of the computing techniques that operate on software-as-a-service.[14]

[edit] Characteristics

The key characteristic of cloud computing is that the computing is "in the cloud" i.e. the processing (and the related data) is not in a specified, known or static place(s). This is in contrast to a model in which the processing takes place in one or more specific servers that are known. All the other concepts mentioned are supplementary or complementary to this concept.

[edit] Architecture

Cloud computing sample architecture

Cloud architecture,[15] the systems architecture of the software systems involved in the delivery of cloud computing, typically involves multiple cloud components communicating with each other over application programming interfaces, usually web services and 3-tier architecture. This resembles the Unix philosophy of having multiple programs each doing one thing well and working together over universal interfaces. Complexity is controlled and the resulting systems are more manageable than their monolithic counterparts.

The two most significant components of cloud computing architecture are known as the front end and the back end. The front end is the part seen by the client, i.e. the computer user. This includes the client‘s network (or computer) and the applications used to access the cloud via a user interface such as a web browser. The back end of the cloud computing architecture is the ‗cloud‘ itself, comprising various computers, servers and data storage devices. [edit] History

The underlying concept of cloud computing dates back to the 1960s, when John McCarthy opined that "computation may someday be organized as a public utility." Almost all the modern-day characteristics of cloud computing (elastic provision, provided as a utility, online, illusion of infinite supply), the comparison to the electricity industry and the use of public, private, government and community forms was thoroughly explored in Douglas Parkhill's 1966 book, The Challenge of the Computer Utility.

The actual term "cloud" borrows from telephony in that telecommunications companies, who until the 1990s primarily offered dedicated point-to-point data circuits, began offering Virtual Private Network (VPN) services with comparable quality of service but at a much lower cost. By switching traffic to balance utilization as they saw fit, they were able to utilize their overall network bandwidth more effectively. The cloud symbol was used to denote the demarcation point between that which was the responsibility of the provider from that of the user. Cloud computing extends this boundary to cover servers as well as the network infrastructure.[16] The first scholarly use of the term ―cloud computing‖ was in a 1997 lecture by Ramnath Chellappa.

Amazon played a key role in the development of cloud computing by modernizing their data centers after the dot-com bubble, which, like most computer networks, were using as little as 10% of their capacity at any one time, just to leave room for occasional spikes. Having found that the new cloud architecture resulted in significant internal efficiency improvements whereby small, fast-moving "two-pizza teams" could add new features faster and more easily, Amazon initiated a new product development effort to provide cloud computing to external customers, and launched Amazon Web Service (AWS) on a utility computing basis in 2006.[17][18]

In 2007, Google, IBM and a number of universities embarked on a large scale cloud computing research project.[19] In early 2008, Eucalyptus became the first open source AWS API compatible platform for deploying private clouds. In early 2008, OpenNebula, enhanced in the RESERVOIR European Commission funded project, became the first open source software for deploying private and hybrid clouds and for the federation of clouds.[20] In the same year, efforts were focused on providing QoS guarantees (as required by real-time interactive applications) to Cloud-based infrastructures, in the framework of the IRMOS European Commission funded project.[21] By mid-2008, Gartner saw an opportunity for cloud computing "to shape the relationship among consumers of IT services, those who use IT services and those who sell them"[22] and observed that "[o]rganisations are switching from company-owned hardware and software assets to per-use service-based models" so that the "projected shift to cloud computing ... will result in dramatic growth in IT products in some areas and significant reductions in other areas."[23] [edit] Key Characteristics

 Agility improves with users' ability to rapidly and inexpensively re-provision technological infrastructure resources.[24]  Application Programming Interface (API) accessibility to software that enables machines to interact with cloud software in the same way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers. Cloud Computing systems typically use REST-based APIs.  Cost is claimed to be greatly reduced and in a public cloud delivery model capital expenditure is converted to operational expenditure.[25] This ostensibly lowers barriers to entry, as infrastructure is typically provided by a third-party and does not need to be purchased for one-time or infrequent intensive computing tasks. Pricing on a utility computing basis is fine-grained with usage-based options and fewer IT skills are required for implementation (in-house).[26]  Device and location independence[27] enable users to access systems using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they are using (e.g., PC, mobile). As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and accessed via the Internet, users can connect from anywhere.[26]  Multi-tenancy enables sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users thus allowing for: o Centralization of infrastructure in locations with lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.) o Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load-levels) o Utilization and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10– 20% utilized.[17]  Reliability is improved if multiple redundant sites are used, which makes well designed cloud computing suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery.[28] Nonetheless, many major cloud computing services have suffered outages, and IT and business managers can at times do little when they are affected.[29][30]  Scalability via dynamic ("on-demand") provisioning of resources on a fine-grained, self-service basis near real-time, without users having to engineer for peak loads. Performance is monitored, and consistent and loosely coupled architectures are constructed using web services as the system interface.[26] One of the most important new methods for overcoming performance bottlenecks for a large class of applications is data parallel programming on a distributed data grid.[31]  Security could improve due to centralization of data,[32] increased security-focused resources, etc., but concerns can persist about loss of control over certain sensitive data, and the lack of security for stored kernels.[33] Security is often as good as or better than under traditional systems, in part because providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford.[34] Providers typically log accesses, but accessing the audit logs themselves can be difficult or impossible. Furthermore, the complexity of security is greatly increased when data is distributed over a wider area and / or number of devices.  Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier, since they don't have to be installed on each user's computer. They are easier to support and to improve since the changes reach the clients instantly.  Metering means that cloud computing resources usage should be measurable and should be metered per client and application on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. [edit] Layers

The Internet functions through a series of network protocols that form a stack of layers, as shown in the figure (or as described in more detail in the OSI model). Once an Internet Protocol connection is established among several computers, it is possible to share services within any one of the following layers.

[edit] Client See also: Category:Cloud clients

A cloud client consists of computer hardware and/or computer software that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or that is specifically designed for delivery of cloud services and that, in either case, is essentially useless without it. Examples include some computers, phones and other devices, operating systems and browsers.[35][36][37][38][39]

[edit] Application See also: Category:Cloud applications

Cloud application services or "Software as a Service (SaaS)" deliver software as a service over the Internet, eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer's own computers and simplifying maintenance and support. People tend to use the terms ‗SaaS‘ and ‗cloud‘ interchangeably, when in fact they are two different things.[citation needed] Key characteristics include:[40][clarification needed]

 Network-based access to, and management of, commercially available (i.e., not custom) software  Activities that are managed from central locations rather than at each customer's site, enabling customers to access applications remotely via the Web  Application delivery that typically is closer to a one-to-many model (single instance, multi-tenant architecture) than to a one-to-one model, including architecture, pricing, partnering, and management characteristics  Centralized feature updating, which obviates the need for downloadable patches and upgrades.

[edit] Platform See also: Category:Cloud platforms

Cloud platform services or "Platform as a Service (PaaS)" deliver a computing platform and/or solution stack as a service, often consuming cloud infrastructure and sustaining cloud applications.[41] It facilitates deployment of applications without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying hardware and software layers.[42][43]

[edit] Infrastructure See also: Category:Cloud infrastructure

Cloud infrastructure services, also known as "Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)", delivers computer infrastructure - typically a platform virtualization environment - as a service. Rather than purchasing servers, software, data-center space or network equipment, clients instead buy those resources as a fully outsourced service. Suppliers typically bill such services on a utility computing basis and amount of resources consumed (and therefore the cost) will typically reflect the level of activity. IaaS evolved from virtual private server offerings.[44]

Cloud infrastructure often takes the form of a tier 3 data center with many tier 4 attributes, assembled from hundreds of virtual machines.

[edit] Server

The servers layer consists of computer hardware and/or computer software products that are specifically designed for the delivery of cloud services, including multi-core processors, cloud-specific operating systems and combined offerings.[35][45][46][47] [edit] Deployment models

Cloud computing types

[edit] Public cloud

Public cloud or external cloud describes cloud computing in the traditional main stream sense, whereby resources are dynamically provisioned on a fine-grained, self-service basis over the Internet, via web applications/web services, from an off-site third-party provider who bills on a fine-grained utility computing basis.[26] [edit] Community cloud

A community cloud may be established where several organizations have similar requirements and seek to share infrastructure so as to realize some of the benefits of cloud computing. With the costs spread over fewer users than a public cloud (but more than a single tenant) this option is more expensive but may offer a higher level of privacy, security and/or policy compliance. Examples of community cloud include Google's "Gov Cloud".[48]

[edit] Hybrid cloud

There is some confusion over the term "hybrid" when applied to the cloud - a standard definition of the term "Hybrid Cloud" has not yet emerged. The term "hybrid cloud" has been used to mean either two separate clouds joined together (public, private, internal or external), or a combination of virtualized cloud server instances used together with real physical hardware. The most correct definition of the term "hybrid cloud" is probably the use of physical hardware and virtualized cloud server instances together to provide a single common service.[49] Two clouds that have been joined together are more correctly called a "combined cloud".

A combined cloud environment consisting of multiple internal and/or external providers[50] "will be typical for most enterprises".[51] By integrating multiple cloud services users may be able to ease the transition to public cloud services while avoiding issues such as PCI compliance.[52]

Another perspective on deploying a web application in the cloud is using Hybrid Web Hosting, where the hosting infrastructure is a mix between cloud hosting and managed dedicated servers - this is most commonly achieved as part of a web cluster in which some of the nodes are running on real physical hardware and some are running on cloud server instances.

A hybrid storage cloud uses a combination of public and private storage clouds. Hybrid storage clouds are often useful for archiving and backup functions, allowing local data to be replicated to a public cloud.[53]

[edit] Private cloud

Douglas Parkhill first described the concept of a "private computer utility" in his 1966 book The Challenge of the Computer Utility. The idea was based upon direct comparison with other industries (e.g. the electricity industry) and the extensive use of hybrid supply models to balance and mitigate risks.

Private cloud and internal cloud have been described as neologisms, however the concepts themselves pre-date the term cloud by 40 years. Even within modern utility industries, hybrid models still exist despite the formation of reasonably well-functioning markets and the ability to combine multiple providers.

Some vendors have used the terms to describe offerings that emulate cloud computing on private networks. These (typically virtualization automation) products offer the ability to host applications or virtual machines in a company's own set of hosts. These provide the benefits of utility computing -shared hardware costs, the ability to recover from failure, and the ability to scale up or down depending upon demand.

Private clouds have attracted criticism because users "still have to buy, build, and manage them" and thus do not benefit from lower up-front capital costs and less hands- on management,[51] essentially "[lacking] the economic model that makes cloud computing such an intriguing concept".[54] [55] Enterprise IT organizations use their own private cloud(s) for mission critical and other operational systems to protect critical infrastructures. [56] [edit] Cloud engineering

Main article: Cloud engineering

Cloud engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable, and interdisciplinary approach to the ideation, conceptualization, development, operation, and maintenance of cloud computing, as well as the study and applied research of the approach, i.e., the application of engineering to cloud. It is a maturing and evolving discipline to facilitate the adoption, strategization, operationalization, industrialization, standardization, productization, commoditization, and governance of cloud solutions, leading towards a cloud ecosystem[further explanation needed]. Cloud engineering is also known as cloud service engineering. [edit] Cloud storage

Main article: Cloud storage

See also: Cloud storage gateway

Cloud storage is a model of networked computer data storage where data is stored on multiple virtual servers, generally hosted by third parties, rather than being hosted on dedicated servers. Hosting companies operate large data centers; and people who require their data to be hosted buy or lease storage capacity from them and use it for their storage needs. The data center operators, in the background, virtualize the resources according to the requirements of the customer and expose them as virtual servers, which the customers can themselves manage. Physically, the resource may span across multiple servers. [edit] The Intercloud

Main article: Intercloud

The Intercloud[57] is an interconnected global "cloud of clouds"[58][59] and an extension of the Internet "network of networks" on which it is based.[60] The term was first used in the context of cloud computing in 2007 when Kevin Kelly stated that "eventually we'll have the intercloud, the cloud of clouds. This Intercloud will have the dimensions of one machine comprising all servers and attendant cloudbooks on the planet.".[58] It became popular in 2009[61] and has also been used to describe the datacenter of the future.[62]

The Intercloud scenario is based on the key concept that each single cloud does not have infinite physical resources. If a cloud saturates the computational and storage resources of its virtualization infrastructure, it could not be able to satisfy further requests for service allocations sent from its clients. The Intercloud scenario aims to address such situation, and in theory, each cloud can use the computational and storage resources of the virtualization infrastructures of other clouds. Such form of pay-for-use may introduce new business opportunities among cloud providers if they manage to go beyond theoretical framework. Nevertheless, the Intercloud raises many more challenges than solutions concerning cloud federation, security, interoperability, quality of service, vendor's lock-ins, trust, legal issues, monitoring and billing.[citation needed]

The concept of a competitive utility computing market which combined many computer utilities together was originally described by Douglas Parkhill in his 1966 book, the "Challenge of the Computer Utility". This concept has been subsequently used many times over the last 40 years and is identical to the Intercloud. [edit] Issues

[edit] Privacy

The cloud model has been criticized by privacy advocates for the greater ease in which the companies hosting the cloud services control, and thus, can monitor at will, lawfully or unlawfully, the communication and data stored between the user and the host company. Instances such as the secret NSA program, working with AT&T, and Verizon, which recorded over 10 million phone calls between American citizens, causes uncertainty among privacy advocates, and the greater powers it gives to telecommunication companies to monitor user activity.[63] While there have been efforts (such as US-EU Safe Harbor) to "harmonize" the legal environment, providers such as Amazon still cater to major markets (typically the United States and the European Union) by deploying local infrastructure and allowing customers to select "availability zones."[64]

[edit] Compliance

In order to obtain compliance with regulations including FISMA, HIPAA and SOX in the United States, the Data Protection Directive in the EU and the credit card industry's PCI DSS, users may have to adopt community or hybrid deployment modes which are typically more expensive and may offer restricted benefits. This is how Google is able to "manage and meet additional government policy requirements beyond FISMA"[65][66] and Rackspace Cloud are able to claim PCI compliance.[67] Customers in the EU contracting with cloud providers established outside the EU/EEA have to adhere to the EU regulations on export of personal data.[68]

Many providers also obtain SAS 70 Type II certification (e.g. Amazon,[69] Salesforce.com,[70] Google[71] and Microsoft[72]), but this has been criticised on the grounds that the hand-picked set of goals and standards determined by the auditor and the auditee are often not disclosed and can vary widely.[73] Providers typically make this information available on request, under non-disclosure agreement.[74]

[edit] Legal

In March 2007, Dell applied to trademark the term "cloud computing" (U.S. Trademark 77,139,082) in the United States. The "Notice of Allowance" the company received in July 2008 was canceled in August, resulting in a formal rejection of the trademark application less than a week later. Since 2007, the number of trademark filings covering cloud computing brands, goods and services has increased at an almost exponential rate. As companies sought to better position themselves for cloud computing branding and marketing efforts, cloud computing trademark filings increased by 483% between 2008 and 2009. In 2009, 116 cloud computing trademarks were filed, and trademark analysts predict that over 500 such marks could be filed during 2010.[75]

Other legal cases may shape the use of cloud computing by the public sector. On October 29, 2010, Google filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior, which opened up a bid for software that required that bidders use Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite. Google sued, calling the requirement "unduly restrictive of competition."[76] Scholars have pointed out that, beginning in 2005, the prevalence of open standards and open source may have an impact on the way that public entities choose to select vendors.[77]

[edit] Open source

Open source software has provided the foundation for many cloud computing implementations.[78] In November 2007, the Free Software Foundation released the Affero General Public License, a version of GPLv3 intended to close a perceived legal loophole associated with free software designed to be run over a network.[79]

[edit] Open standards See also: Category:Cloud standards

Most cloud providers expose APIs which are typically well-documented (often under a Creative Commons license[80]) but also unique to their implementation and thus not interoperable. Some vendors have adopted others' APIs[81] and there are a number of open standards under development, including the OGF's Open Cloud Computing Interface. The Open Cloud Consortium (OCC)[82] is working to develop consensus on early cloud computing standards and practices.

[edit] Security Main article: Cloud computing security

The relative security of cloud computing services is a contentious issue which may be delaying its adoption.[83] Issues barring the adoption of cloud computing are due in large part to the private and public sectors unease surrounding the external management of security based services. It is the very nature of cloud computing based services, private or public, that promote external management of provided services. This delivers great incentive amongst cloud computing service providers in producing a priority in building and maintaining strong management of secure services.[84] Organizations have been formed in order to provide standards for a better future in cloud computing services. One organization in particular, the Cloud Security Alliance is a non-profit organization formed to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within cloud computing.[85]

[edit] Availability and performance

In addition to concerns about security, businesses are also worried about acceptable levels of availability and performance of applications hosted in the cloud.[86]

There are also concerns about a cloud provider shutting down for financial or legal reasons, which has happened in a number of cases.[87]

[edit] Sustainability and siting

Although cloud computing is often assumed to be a form of "green computing", there is as of yet no published study to substantiate this assumption.[88] Siting the servers affects the environmental effects of cloud computing. In areas where climate favors natural cooling and renewable electricity is readily available, the environmental effects will be more moderate. Thus countries with favorable conditions, such as Finland,[89] Sweden and Switzerland,[90] are trying to attract cloud computing data centers.

SmartBay, marine research infrastructure of sensors and computational technology, is being developed using cloud computing, an emerging approach to shared infrastructure in which large pools of systems are linked together to provide IT services. [91] [edit] Research

A number of universities, vendors and government organizations are investing in research around the topic of cloud computing.[92] Academic institutions include University of Melbourne (Australia), Georgia Tech, Yale, Wayne State, Virginia Tech, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Indiana University, University of Massachusetts, University of Maryland, IIT Bombay, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, University of California, University of Washington, University of Virginia, University of Utah, University of Minnesota, among others.[93]

Joint government, academic and vendor collaborative research projects include the IBM/Google Academic Cloud Computing Initiative (ACCI). In October 2007 IBM and Google announced the multi- university project designed to enhance students' technical knowledge to address the challenges of cloud computing.[94] In April 2009, the National Science Foundation joined the ACCI and awarded approximately $5 million in grants to 14 academic institutions.[95]

In July 2008, HP, Intel Corporation and Yahoo! announced the creation of a global, multi-data center, open source test bed, called Open Cirrus,[96] designed to encourage research into all aspects of cloud computing, service and data center management.[97] Open Cirrus partners include the NSF, the University of Illinois (UIUC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in Korea, the Malaysian Institute for Microelectronic Systems(MIMOS), and the Institute for System Programming at the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPRAS).[98] In Sept. 2010, more researchers joined the HP/Intel/Yahoo Open Cirrus project for cloud computing research. The new researchers are China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI), Spain's Supercomputing Center of Galicia (CESGA by its Spanish acronym), Georgia Tech's Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS) and China Telecom.[99][100]

In July 2010, HP Labs India announced a new cloud-based technology designed to simplify taking content and making it mobile-enabled, even from low-end devices.[101] Called SiteonMobile, the new technology is designed for emerging markets where people are more likely to access the internet via mobile phones rather than computers.[102] In Nov. 2010, HP formally opened its Government Cloud Theatre, located at the HP Labs site in Bristol, England.[103] The demonstration facility highlights high-security, highly flexible cloud computing based on intellectual property developed at HP Labs. The aim of the facility is to lessen fears about the security of the cloud. HP Labs Bristol is HP‘s second-largest central research location and currently is responsible for researching cloud computing and security.[104]

The IEEE Technical Committee on Services Computing[105] in IEEE Computer Society sponsors the IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD).[106] CLOUD 2010 was held on July 5–10, 2010 in Miami, Florida [edit] Criticism of the term

Some have come to criticize the term as being either too unspecific or even misleading. CEO Larry Ellison of Oracle Corporation asserts that cloud computing is "everything that we already do", claiming that the company could simply "change the wording on some of our ads" to deploy their cloud-based services.[107][108][109][110][111] Forrester Research VP Frank Gillett questions the very nature of and motivation behind the push for cloud computing, describing what he calls "cloud washing" in the industry whereby companies relabel their products as cloud computing resulting in a lot of marketing innovation on top of real innovation.[112][113] GNU's Richard Stallman insists that the industry will only use the model to deliver services at ever increasing rates over proprietary systems, otherwise likening it to a "marketing hype campaign".[114] [edit] See also

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Retrieved 4 August 2010. 90. ^ Swiss Carbon-Neutral Servers Hit the Cloud.. Retrieved 4 August 2010. 91. ^ Katrice R. Jalbuena (March 19, 2009). "SmartBay pilot information system operational in Galway Bay". EcoSeed. http://ecoseed.org/en/living-green-article- list/article/6-living-green/1067-smartbay-pilot-information-system-operational-in- galway-bay. Retrieved November 10, 2010. "SmartBay is being developed using Cloud computing, an emerging approach to shared infrastructure in which large pools of systems are linked together to provide IT services." 92. ^ "Cloud Net Directory. Retrieved 2010-03-01". Cloudbook.net. http://www.cloudbook.net/directories/research-clouds. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 93. ^ nsf.gov - National Science Foundation (NSF) News - National Science Foundation Awards Millions to Fourteen Universities for Cloud Computing Research - US National Science Foun... 94. ^ ""IBM, Google Team on an Enterprise Cloud." May 2008. Rich Miller Retrieved 2010- 04-01". DataCenterKnowledge.com. 2008-05-02. http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/05/02/ibm-google-team-on-an- enterprise-cloud/. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 95. ^ "National Science Foundation press release. September 2008. "National Science Foundation Awards Millions to Fourteen Universities for Cloud Computing Research." Retrieved 2010-03-01". Nsf.gov. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114686. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 96. ^ "HP News Release. "HP, Intel and Yahoo! Create Global Cloud Computing Research Test Bed." July 2008". Hp.com. 2008-07-29. http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2008/cloudresearch/index.html?ju mpid=reg_R1002_USEN. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 97. ^ "HP News Release. "HP, Intel and Yahoo! Attract Leading Research Organizations to Collaborative Cloud Computing Test Bed. June 2009". Hp.com. http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2009/090608a.html?jumpid=reg_R1002 _USEN. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 98. ^ "Open Cirrus: the Open Cloud Computing Research Testbed." 99. ^ IDG News Service. “More join HP, Intel and Yahoo on Open Cirrus cloud test bed.” Perez. Sept. 2010 100. ^ Open Cirrus Video 101. ^ "Information Week: “HP Labs India offers SiteonMobile for emerging markets.” Ribeiro, IDG News Service\Bangalore Bureau July 2010". Informationweek.in. 2010-07-09. http://www.informationweek.in/Mobile/10-07- 09/HP_Labs_India_offers_SiteonMobile_for_emerging_markets.aspx. Retrieved 2010- 08-22. 102. ^ "IDG: San Francisco Chronicle: “HP Labs uses cloud technology to simplify mobile web access.” Ribeiro. July 2010". Sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/07/08/urnidgns852573C4006938800025775A001A2D85.D TL#ixzz0tB7X8Iti. Retrieved 2010-08-22.[dead link] 103. ^ ZDNet UK. “HP Labs unveils G-Cloud demo facility.” 104. ^ “HP Lifts Curtain on G-Cloud Theatre.” HP News Release. Nov. 2010 105. ^ "IEEE Technical Committee on Services Computing". Tab.computer.org. http://tab.computer.org/tcsc. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 106. ^ "IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD)". Thecloudcomputing.org. http://www.thecloudcomputing.org. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 107. ^ “”. "Larry Ellison – What The Hell Is Cloud Computing?". Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FacYAI6DY0. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 108. ^ Farber, Dan (2008-09-26). "Oracle's Ellison nails cloud computing". News.cnet.com. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13953_3-10052188-80.html. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 109. ^ "Oracle launches worldwide cloud-computing tour". Computerworld.com.au. 2010-02-10. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/335674/oracle_launches_worldwide_clou d-computing_tour/. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 110. ^ By James Rogers (2009-12-18). "Oracle's Ellison Issues Cloud Challenge". Thestreet.com. http://www.thestreet.com/story/10649557/1/oracles-ellison-issues- cloud-challenge.html. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 111. ^ "Oracle desperately seeking cloud cred". Searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com. 2010-02-16. http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid201_gci13842 02,00.html. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 112. ^ “” (2008-09-29). "Cloud Computing is Hyped and Overblown". Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7wv1i8ubng. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 113. ^ "Cloud Computing is Hyped and Overblown, Forrester's Frank Gillett Big Tech Companies Have "Cloud Envy"". Beet.tv. http://www.beet.tv/2008/09/cloud- computing.html. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 114. ^ Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallman The Guardian, Monday 29 September 2008 14.11 BST [edit] External links

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 This page was last modified on 17 February 2011 at 13:35.  Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.  Contact us  enominação Cloud Computing chegou aos ouvidos de muita gente em 2008, mas tudo indica que ouviremos esse termo ainda por um bom tempo. Também conhecido no Brasil como Computação nas Nuvens ou Computação em Nuvem, Cloud Computing se refere, essencialmente, à ideia de utilizarmos, em qualquer lugar e independente de plataforma, as mais variadas aplicações por meio da internet com a mesma facilidade de tê-las instaladas em nossos próprios computadores. Neste artigo de introdução à Cloud Computing, você entenderá melhor este conceito. 

 Entendendo a Cloud Computing  Estamos habituados a utilizar aplicações instaladas em nossos próprios computadores, assim como a armazenar arquivos e dados dos mais variados tipos neles. No ambiente corporativo, esse cenário é um pouco diferente, já que nele é mais fácil encontrar aplicações disponíveis em servidores que podem ser acessadas por qualquer terminal autorizado por meio de uma rede.  A principal vantagem desse modelo está no fato de ser possível, pelo menos na maioria das vezes, utilizar as aplicações mesmo sem acesso à internet ou à rede. Em outras palavras, é possível usar esses recursos de maneira off-line. Entretanto, todos os dados gerados estarão restritos a esse computador, exceto quando compartilhados em rede, coisa que não é muito comum no ambiente doméstico. Mesmo no ambiente corporativo, isso pode gerar algumas limitações, como a necessidade de se ter uma licença de um determinado software para cada computador, por exemplo.  A evolução constante da tecnologia computacional e das telecomunicações está fazendo com que o acesso à internet se torne cada vez mais amplo e cada vez mais rápido. Em países mais desenvolvidos, como Japão, Alemanha e Estados Unidos, é possível ter acesso rápido à internet pagando-se muito pouco. Esse cenário cria a situação perfeita para a popularização da Cloud Computing, embora esse conceito esteja se tornando conhecido no mundo todo, inclusive no Brasil.  Com a Cloud Computing, muitos aplicativos, assim como arquivos e outros dados relacionados, não precisam mais estar instalados ou armazenados no computador do usuário ou em um servidor próximo. Esse conteúdo passa a ficar disponível nas "nuvens", isto é, na internet. Ao fornecedor da aplicação cabe todas as tarefas de desenvolvimento, armazenamento, manutenção, atualização, backup, escalonamento, etc. O usuário não precisa se preocupar com nada disso, apenas com acessar e utilizar.  Um exemplo prático desta nova realidade é o Google Docs, serviço onde os usuários podem editar textos, fazer planilhas, elaborar apresentações de slides, armazenar arquivos, entre outros, tudo pela internet, sem necessidade de ter programas como o Microsoft Office ou OpenOffice.org instalados em suas máquinas. O que o usuário precisa fazer é apenas abrir o navegador de internet e acessar o endereço do Google Docs para começar a trabalhar, não importando qual o sistema operacional ou o computador utilizado para esse fim. Neste caso, o único cuidado que o usuário deve ter é o de utilizar um navegador de internet compatível, o que é o caso da maioria dos browsers da atualidade. 

 Algumas características da Cloud Computing  Conforme já dito, uma das vantagens da Cloud Computing é a possibilidade de utilizar aplicações diretamente da internet, sem que estas estejam instaladas no computador do usuário. Mas, há outras significativas vantagens:  - na maioria dos casos, o usuário pode acessar determinadas aplicações independente do seu sistema operacional ou de hardware;  - o usuário não precisa se preocupar com a estrutura para executar a aplicação: hardware, procedimentos de backup, controle de segurança, manutenção, entre outros, ficam a cargo do fornecedor do serviço;  - compartilhamento de dados e trabalho colaborativo se tornam mais fáceis, uma vez que todos os usuários acessam as aplicações e os dados do mesmo lugar: a "nuvem". Muitas aplicações do tipo já são elaboradas considerando essas possibilidades;  - dependendo do fornecedor, o usuário pode contar com alta disponibilidade, já que, se por exemplo, um servidor parar de funcionar, os demais que fazem parte da estrutura continuam a oferecer o serviço;  - o usuário pode contar com melhor controle de gastos. Muitas aplicações em Cloud Computing são gratuitas e, quando é necessário pagar, o usuário só o fará em relação aos recursos que usar ou ao tempo de utilização. Não é, portanto, necessário pagar por uma licença integral de uso, tal como acontece no modelo tradicional de fornecimento de software;  - dependendo da aplicação, o usuário pode precisar instalar um programa cliente em seu computador. Mas, neste caso, todo ou a maior parte do processamento (e até mesmo do armazenamento de dados) fica por conta das "nuvens".  Note que, independente da aplicação, com a Cloud Computing o usuário não necessita conhecer toda a estrutura que há por trás, ou seja, ele não precisa saber quantos servidores executam determinada ferramenta, quais as configurações de hardware utilizadas, como o escalonamento é feito, onde está a localização física do datacenter, enfim. O que importa ao usuário é saber que a aplicação está disponível nas nuvens, não importa de que forma.   Software as a Service (SaaS)  Intimamente ligado à Cloud Computing está o conceito de Software as a Service (SaaS) ou, em bom português, Software como Serviço. Em sua essência, trata-se de uma forma de trabalho onde o software é oferecido como serviço, assim, o usuário não precisa adquirir licenças de uso para instalação ou mesmo comprar computadores ou servidores para executá-lo. Nesta modalidade, no máximo, paga-se um valor periódico - como se fosse uma assinatura - somente pelos recursos utilizados e/ou pelo tempo de uso.  Para entender melhor os benefícios do SaaS, suponha que uma empresa que tem vinte funcionários necessita de um software para gerar folhas de pagamento. Há várias soluções prontas para isso no mercado, no entanto, a empresa terá que comprar licenças de uso do software escolhido e, dependendo do caso, até mesmo hardware para executá-lo. Muitas vezes, o preço da licença ou mesmo dos equipamentos pode gerar um custo alto e não compatível com a condição de porte pequeno da empresa.  Se, por outro lado, a empresa encontrar um fornecedor de software para folhas de pagamento que trabalha com o modelo SaaS, a situação pode ficar mais fácil: essa companhia poderá, por exemplo, oferecer esse serviço através de Cloud Computing e cobrar apenas pelo número de usuários e/ou pelo tempo de uso.  Dessa forma, a empresa interessada paga um valor baixo pelo uso da aplicação. Além disso, hardware, instalação, atualização, manutenção, entre outros, ficam por conta do fornecedor. Também é importante levar em conta que o intervalo entre a contratação do serviço e o início de sua utilização é extremamente baixo, o que não aconteceria se o software tivesse que ser instalado nos computadores do cliente. Este só precisa se preocupar com o acesso ao serviço (no caso, uma conexão à internet) ou, se necessário, com a simples instalação de algum recurso mínimo, como um plugin no navegador de internet de suas máquinas.  IBM e HP são dois exemplos de companhias que já oferecerem soluções em SaaS: HP SaaS; IBM SaaS.  Há também conceitos derivados, utilizados por algumas companhias para diferenciar os seus serviços, entre eles:  - Platform as a Service (PaaS): Plataforma como Serviço. Trata-se de um tipo de solução mais amplo para determinadas aplicações, incluindo todos (ou quase todos) os recursos necessários à operação, como armazenamento, banco de dados, escalabilidade (aumento automático da capacidade de armazenamento ou processamento), suporte a linguagens de programação, segurança e assim por diante;  - Database as a Service (DaaS): Banco de Dados com Serviço. O nome já deixa claro que esta modalidade é direcionada ao fornecimento de serviços para armazenamento e acesso de volumes de dados. A vantagem aqui é que o detentor da aplicação conta com maior flexibilidade para expandir o banco de dados, compartilhar as informações com outros sistemas, facilitar o acesso remoto por usuários autorizados, entre outros;  - Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Infraestrutura como Serviço. Parecido com o conceito de PaaS, mas aqui o foco é a estrutura de hardware ou de máquinas virtuais, com o usuário tendo inclusive acesso a recursos do sistema operacional;  - Testing as a Service (TaaS): Ensaio como Serviço. Oferece um ambiente apropriado para que o usuário possa testar aplicações e sistemas de maneira remota, simulando o comportamento destes em nível de execução. 

 Exemplos de aplicações em Cloud Computing  Os termos Cloud Computing e Computação nas Nuvens são relativamente recentes, como você já sabe, mas se analisarmos bem, veremos que a ideia não é, necessariamente, nova. Serviços de e-mail, como Gmail e Yahoo! Mail; discos virtuais na internet, como Dropbox; sites de armazenamento e compartilhamento de fotos ou vídeos, como Flickr e YouTube. Todos são exemplos de aplicações que, de certa forma, estão dentro do conceito de Cloud Computing. Note que todos esses serviços não executam no computador do usuário e este pode acessá- los de qualquer lugar, muitas vezes sem necessidade de instalar aplicativos em sua máquina ou de pagar licenças de software. No máximo, paga-se um valor periódico pelo uso do serviço ou pela contratação de recursos adicionais, como maior capacidade de armazenamento de dados, por exemplo.  Abaixo, uma breve lista de serviços que incorporam bem o conceito de Cloud Computing:  - Google Apps: esse é um pacote de serviços que o Google oferece que contém aplicativos de edição de texto, planilhas e apresentações (Google Docs), serviço de agenda (Google Agenda), comunicador instantâneo integrado (Google Talk), e-mail com o domínio da empresa (por exemplo, [email protected]), entre outros. Todos esses serviços são processados pelo Google e o cliente só precisa criar as contas do usuário. O Google Apps oferece pacotes gratuitos e pagos, de acordo com o número de usuários. Um dos maiores clientes do Google Apps é a Procter & Gamble, que contratou os serviços para mais de 130 mil colaboradores;  - Amazon: a Amazon é um dos maiores serviços de comércio eletrônico do mundo. Para suportar o volume de vendas no período de Natal, a empresa montou uma superestrutura de processamento e armazenamento de dados, que acaba ficando ociosa na maior parte do ano. Foi a partir daí que a companhia teve a ideia de "alugar" esses recursos, com serviços como o Simple Storage Solution (S3), para armazenamento de dados, e Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), para uso de máquinas virtuais. É possível saber mais sobre as soluções oferecidas pela Amazon nesta página;  - Live Mesh: esta é um tecnologia da Microsoft direcionada ao segmento doméstico. Sua proposta principal é a de permitir que o usuário acesse o seu desktop e seus documentos de qualquer computador, com a diferença de que todos os seus arquivos ficam nas nuvens, isto é, no servidores da Microsoft. Para saber mais sobre esse serviço, veja esta matéria publicada no Blog InfoWester;  - Panda Cloud Antivirus: como o nome indica, este é um programa antivírus da Panda Software, mas com uma grande diferença: a maior parte do trabalho necessário à ferramenta para pesquisar e eliminar malwares fica por conta das "nuvens". Com isso, de acordo com a Panda, essa solução acaba evitando que o antivírus deixe o computador lento; 

Panda Cloud Antivirus  - Aprex: brasileiro, o Aprex oferece um conjunto de ferramentas para uso profissional, como calendário, gerenciador de contatos, lista de tarefas, disco virtual, blog, serviço de e-mail marketing, apresentações, entre outros. Tudo é feito pela Web e, no caso de empresas, é possível até mesmo inserir logotipo e alterar o padrão de cores das páginas. Há opções de contas gratuitas e pagas. 

 Finalizando .: Livro sugerido :.  Na verdade, qualquer tentativa de definir o que é Cloud Computing pode não ser 100% precisa. Isso :: Cloud Computing: porque as ideias por trás da noção de Computação Computação em Nuvem nas Nuvens são muito novas e as opiniões de especialistas em computação ainda divergem. Mas a Via Shopping UOL noção básica é a que foi explicada neste artigo.  É claro que ainda há muita coisa por fazer. Por exemplo, a simples ideia de determinadas informações ficarem armazenadas em computadores de terceiros (no caso, os fornecedores de serviço), mesmo com documentos garantindo a privacidade e o sigilo, preocupam pessoas e, principalmente, empresas, motivo pelo qual esse ponto precisa ser melhor estudado. Além disso, há outras questões, como o problema da dependência de acesso à internet: o que fazer quando a conexão cair? Algumas companhias já trabalham em formas de sincronizar aplicações off-line com on-line, mas tecnologias para isso ainda precisam evoluir bastante.  De qualquer forma, o futuro aponta para esse caminho. Além das mencionadas empresas neste artigo, companhias como Dell, Intel, Oracle e Microsoft já estão trabalhando nas mais variadas soluções para Cloud Computing. Esta última, por exemplo, já até anunciou o Azure, uma plataforma própria para a execução de aplicações nas "nuvens".  Saiba mais sobre o assunto nas páginas que serviram de referência para este texto:  - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing; - videos.techielife.com/what-is-cloud-computing/video-online/2008/11/13 (vídeo); - knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1614.  Emerson Alecrim, em 23/12/2008. Atualizado em 08/12/2010.  Voltar Página inicial

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