You are on page 1of 13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Cloudcomputing
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Cloudcomputingisamodelfor
enablingubiquitousnetworkaccessto
asharedpoolofconfigurable
computingresources.[1]Cloud
computingandstoragesolutions
provideusersandenterpriseswith
variouscapabilitiestostoreand
processtheirdatainthirdpartydata
centers.[2]Itreliesonsharingof
resourcestoachievecoherence
andeconomiesofscale,similartoa
utility(liketheelectricitygrid)overa
network.[3]Atthefoundationofcloud
computingisthebroaderconcept
ofconvergedinfrastructureandshared
services.
Cloudcomputing,orinsimpler
shorthandjust"thecloud",also
focusesonmaximizingthe

Cloudcomputingmetaphor:Forauser,thenetworkelements
representingtheproviderrenderedservicesareinvisible,asifobscured
byacloud.

effectivenessofthesharedresources.
Cloudresourcesareusuallynotonly
sharedbymultipleusersbutarealsodynamicallyreallocatedperdemand.Thiscanworkforallocating
resourcestousers.Forexample,acloudcomputerfacilitythatservesEuropeanusersduringEuropean
businesshourswithaspecificapplication(e.g.,email)mayreallocatethesameresourcestoserveNorth
AmericanusersduringNorthAmerica'sbusinesshourswithadifferentapplication(e.g.,awebserver).
Thisapproachhelpsmaximizetheuseofcomputingpowerwhilereducingtheoverallcostofresourcesby
usinglesspower,airconditioning,rackspace,etc.tomaintainthesystem.Withcloudcomputing,multiple
userscanaccessasingleservertoretrieveandupdatetheirdatawithoutpurchasinglicensesfordifferent
applications.
Theterm"movingtocloud"alsoreferstoanorganizationmovingawayfromatraditionalCAPEXmodel
(buythededicatedhardwareanddepreciateitoveraperiodoftime)totheOPEXmodel(useashared
cloudinfrastructureandpayasoneusesit).[dubiousdiscuss]
Proponentsclaimthatcloudcomputingallowscompaniestoavoidupfrontinfrastructurecosts,andfocus
onprojectsthatdifferentiatetheirbusinessesinsteadofoninfrastructure.[4]Proponentsalsoclaimthat
cloudcomputingallowsenterprisestogettheirapplicationsupandrunningfaster,withimproved
manageabilityandlessmaintenance,andenablesITtomorerapidlyadjustresourcestomeetfluctuating
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

1/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

andunpredictablebusinessdemand.[4][5][6]Cloudproviderstypicallyusea"payasyougo"model.Thiscan
leadtounexpectedlyhighchargesifadministratorsdonotadapttothecloudpricingmodel.[7]
Thepresentavailabilityofhighcapacitynetworks,lowcostcomputersandstoragedevicesaswellasthe
widespreadadoptionofhardwarevirtualization,serviceorientedarchitecture,andautonomicandutility
computinghaveledtoagrowthincloudcomputing.[8][9][10]Companiescanscaleupascomputingneeds
increaseandthenscaledownagainasdemandsdecrease.
Cloudvendorsareexperiencinggrowthratesof50%perannum.[11]
Contents[hide]
1Historyofcloudcomputing
1.1Originoftheterm
1.2The1970s
1.3The1990s
1.4TheNewMillenium:2000s
2Similarconcepts
3Characteristics
4Servicemodels
4.1Infrastructureasaservice(IaaS)
4.2Platformasaservice(PaaS)
4.3Softwareasaservice(SaaS)
5Cloudclients
5.1CloudProviderInterface
6Deploymentmodels
6.1Privatecloud
6.2Publiccloud
6.3Hybridcloud
6.4Others
6.4.1Communitycloud
6.4.2Distributedcloud
6.4.3Intercloud
6.4.4Multicloud
7Architecture
7.1Cloudengineering
8Securityandprivacy
9Thefuture
10Seealso
11References
12Externallinks

Historyofcloudcomputing

[ editsource|edit ]

data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

2/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Originoftheterm

[ editsource|edit ]

Theoriginofthetermcloudcomputingisunclear.Theexpressioncloudiscommonlyusedinscienceto
describealargeagglomerationofobjectsthatvisuallyappearfromadistanceasacloudanddescribes
anysetofthingswhosedetailsarenotinspectedfurtherinagivencontext.[12]Anotherexplanationisthat
theoldprogramsdrawnetworkschematicssurroundedtheiconsforserverswithacircle,andaclusterof
serversinanetworkdiagramhadseveraloverlappingcircles,whichresembledacloud.[13]
InanalogytoaboveusagethewordcloudwasusedasametaphorfortheInternetandastandardized
cloudlikeshapewasusedtodenoteanetworkontelephonyschematicsandlatertodepicttheInternet
incomputernetworkdiagrams.Withthissimplification,theimplicationisthatthespecificsofhowtheend
pointsofanetworkareconnectedarenotrelevantforthepurposesofunderstandingthediagram.The
cloudsymbolwasusedtorepresentnetworksofcomputingequipmentintheoriginalARPANETbyasearly
as1977,[14]andtheCSNETby1981[15]bothpredecessorstotheInternetitself.
Referencestocloudcomputinginitsmodernsenseappearedasearlyas1996,withtheearliestknown
mentioninaCompaqinternaldocument.[16]
Thepopularizationofthetermcanbetracedto2006whenAmazon.comintroducedtheElasticCompute
Cloud.[17]

The1970s

[ editsource|edit ]

Duringthemid1970s,timesharingwaspopularlyknownasRJE(RemoteJobEntry)[citationneeded]this
terminologywasmostlyassociatedwithlargevendorssuchasIBMandDEC.[citationneeded]IBMdeveloped
theVMOperatingSystem(firstreleasedin1972)toprovidetimesharingservices[citationneeded]viavirtual
machines.

The1990s

[ editsource|edit ]

Inthe1990s,telecommunicationscompanies,whopreviouslyofferedprimarilydedicatedpointtopoint
datacircuits,beganofferingvirtualprivatenetwork(VPN)serviceswithcomparablequalityofservice,butat
alowercost.Byswitchingtrafficastheysawfittobalanceserveruse,theycoulduseoverallnetwork
bandwidthmoreeffectively.[citationneeded]Theybegantousethecloudsymboltodenotethedemarcation
pointbetweenwhattheproviderwasresponsibleforandwhatuserswereresponsiblefor.Cloud
computingextendsthisboundarytocoverallserversaswellasthenetworkinfrastructure.[18]
Ascomputersbecamemoreprevalent,scientistsandtechnologistsexploredwaystomakelargescale
computingpoweravailabletomoreusersthroughtimesharing.[citationneeded]Theyexperimentedwith
algorithmstooptimizetheinfrastructure,platform,andapplicationstoprioritizeCPUsandincrease
efficiencyforendusers.[19]

TheNewMillenium:2000s

[ editsource|edit ]

Since2000cloudcomputinghascomeintoexistence.Inearly2008,NASA'sOpenNebula,enhancedinthe
RESERVOIREuropeanCommissionfundedproject,becamethefirstopensourcesoftwarefordeploying
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

3/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

privateandhybridclouds,andforthefederationofclouds.[20]Inthesameyear,effortswerefocusedon
providingqualityofserviceguarantees(asrequiredbyrealtimeinteractiveapplications)tocloudbased
infrastructures,intheframeworkoftheIRMOSEuropeanCommissionfundedproject,resultinginareal
timecloudenvironment.[21]Bymid2008,Gartnersawanopportunityforcloudcomputing"toshapethe
relationshipamongconsumersofITservices,thosewhouseITservicesandthosewhosellthem"[22]and
observedthat"organizationsareswitchingfromcompanyownedhardwareandsoftwareassetstoperuse
servicebasedmodels"sothatthe"projectedshifttocomputing...willresultindramaticgrowthinIT
productsinsomeareasandsignificantreductionsinotherareas."[23]
MicrosoftAzurebecameavailableinlate2008.
InJuly2010,RackspaceHostingandNASAjointlylaunchedanopensourcecloudsoftwareinitiative
knownasOpenStack.TheOpenStackprojectintendedtohelporganizationsoffercloudcomputing
servicesrunningonstandardhardware.TheearlycodecamefromNASA'sNebulaplatformaswellas
fromRackspace'sCloudFilesplatform.[24]
OnMarch1,2011,IBMannouncedtheIBMSmartCloudframeworktosupportSmarterPlanet.[25]Among
thevariouscomponentsoftheSmarterComputingfoundation,cloudcomputingisacriticalpiece.
OnJune7,2012,OracleannouncedtheOracleCloud.[26]WhileaspectsoftheOracleCloudarestillin
development,thiscloudofferingispoisedtobethefirsttoprovideuserswithaccesstoanintegratedsetof
ITsolutions,includingtheApplications(SaaS),Platform(PaaS),andInfrastructure(IaaS)layers.[27][28][29]

Similarconcepts

[ editsource|edit ]

Cloudcomputingistheresultoftheevolutionandadoptionofexistingtechnologiesandparadigms.The
goalofcloudcomputingistoallowuserstotakebenetfromallofthesetechnologies,withouttheneedfor
deepknowledgeaboutorexpertisewitheachoneofthem.Thecloudaimstocutcosts,andhelpsthe
usersfocusontheircorebusinessinsteadofbeingimpededbyITobstacles.[30]
Themainenablingtechnologyforcloudcomputingisvirtualization.Virtualizationsoftwareseparatesa
physicalcomputingdeviceintooneormore"virtual"devices,eachofwhichcanbeeasilyusedand
managedtoperformcomputingtasks.Withoperatingsystemlevelvirtualizationessentiallycreatinga
scalablesystemofmultipleindependentcomputingdevices,idlecomputingresourcescanbeallocated
andusedmoreefficiently.VirtualizationprovidestheagilityrequiredtospeedupIToperations,and
reducescostbyincreasinginfrastructureutilization.Autonomiccomputingautomatestheprocessthrough
whichtheusercanprovisionresourcesondemand.Byminimizinguserinvolvement,automationspeeds
uptheprocess,reduceslaborcostsandreducesthepossibilityofhumanerrors.[30]
Usersroutinelyfacedifficultbusinessproblems.CloudcomputingadoptsconceptsfromServiceoriented
Architecture(SOA)thatcanhelptheuserbreaktheseproblemsintoservicesthatcanbeintegratedto
provideasolution.Cloudcomputingprovidesallofitsresourcesasservices,andmakesuseofthewell
establishedstandardsandbestpracticesgainedinthedomainofSOAtoallowglobalandeasyaccessto
cloudservicesinastandardizedway.
Cloudcomputingalsoleveragesconceptsfromutilitycomputingtoprovidemetricsfortheservicesused.
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

4/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Suchmetricsareatthecoreofthepubliccloudpayperusemodels.Inaddition,measuredservicesarean
essentialpartofthefeedbackloopinautonomiccomputing,allowingservicestoscaleondemandandto
performautomaticfailurerecovery.
CloudcomputingisakindofgridcomputingithasevolvedbyaddressingtheQoS(qualityofservice)
andreliabilityproblems.Cloudcomputingprovidesthetoolsandtechnologiestobuilddata/compute
intensiveparallelapplicationswithmuchmoreaffordablepricescomparedtotraditionalparallel
computingtechniques.[30]
Cloudcomputingsharescharacteristicswith:
ClientservermodelClientservercomputingrefersbroadlytoanydistributedapplicationthat
distinguishesbetweenserviceproviders(servers)andservicerequestors(clients).[31]
Gridcomputing"Aformofdistributedandparallelcomputing,wherebya'superandvirtualcomputer'
iscomposedofaclusterofnetworked,looselycoupledcomputersactinginconcerttoperformvery
largetasks."
MainframecomputerPowerfulcomputersusedmainlybylargeorganizationsforcriticalapplications,
typicallybulkdataprocessingsuchas:censusindustryandconsumerstatisticspoliceandsecret
intelligenceservicesenterpriseresourceplanningandfinancialtransactionprocessing.
UtilitycomputingThe"packagingofcomputingresources,suchascomputationandstorage,asa
meteredservicesimilartoatraditionalpublicutility,suchaselectricity."[32][33]
PeertopeerAdistributedarchitecturewithouttheneedforcentralcoordination.Participantsare
bothsuppliersandconsumersofresources(incontrasttothetraditionalclientservermodel).

Characteristics

[ editsource|edit ]

Cloudcomputingexhibitsthefollowingkeycharacteristics:
Agilityimproveswithusers'abilitytoreprovisiontechnologicalinfrastructureresources.
Costreductionsclaimedbycloudproviders.Apublicclouddeliverymodelconvertscapitalexpenditure
tooperationalexpenditure.[34]Thispurportedlylowersbarrierstoentry,asinfrastructureistypically
providedbyathirdpartyanddoesnotneedtobepurchasedforonetimeorinfrequentintensive
computingtasks.Pricingonautilitycomputingbasisisfinegrained,withusagebasedoptionsand
fewerITskillsarerequiredforimplementation(inhouse).[35]TheeFISCALproject'sstateoftheart
repository[36]containsseveralarticleslookingintocostaspectsinmoredetail,mostofthemconcluding
thatcostssavingsdependonthetypeofactivitiessupportedandthetypeofinfrastructureavailablein
house.
Deviceandlocationindependence[37]enableuserstoaccesssystemsusingawebbrowser
regardlessoftheirlocationorwhatdevicetheyuse(e.g.,PC,mobilephone).Asinfrastructureisoffsite
(typicallyprovidedbyathirdparty)andaccessedviatheInternet,userscanconnectfrom
anywhere.[35]
Maintenanceofcloudcomputingapplicationsiseasier,becausetheydonotneedtobeinstalledon
eachuser'scomputerandcanbeaccessedfromdifferentplaces.
Multitenancyenablessharingofresourcesandcostsacrossalargepoolofusersthusallowingfor:
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

5/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

centralizationofinfrastructureinlocationswithlowercosts(suchasrealestate,electricity,etc.)
peakloadcapacityincreases(usersneednotengineerforhighestpossibleloadlevels)
utilisationandefficiencyimprovementsforsystemsthatareoftenonly1020%utilised.[38][39]
Performanceismonitored,andconsistentandlooselycoupledarchitecturesareconstructed
usingwebservicesasthesysteminterface.[35][40][41]
Productivitymaybeincreasedwhenmultipleuserscanworkonthesamedatasimultaneously,rather
thanwaitingforittobesavedandemailed.Timemaybesavedasinformationdoesnotneedtobere
enteredwhenfieldsarematched,nordousersneedtoinstallapplicationsoftwareupgradestotheir
computer.[42]
Reliabilityimproveswiththeuseofmultipleredundantsites,whichmakeswelldesignedcloud
computingsuitableforbusinesscontinuityanddisasterrecovery.[43]
Scalabilityandelasticityviadynamic("ondemand")provisioningofresourcesonafinegrained,self
servicebasisinnearrealtime[44][45](Note,theVMstartuptimevariesbyVMtype,location,OSand
cloudproviders[44]),withoutusershavingtoengineerforpeakloads.[46][47][48]
Securitycanimproveduetocentralizationofdata,increasedsecurityfocusedresources,etc.,but
concernscanpersistaboutlossofcontrolovercertainsensitivedata,andthelackofsecurityforstored
kernels.Securityisoftenasgoodasorbetterthanothertraditionalsystems,inpartbecauseproviders
areabletodevoteresourcestosolvingsecurityissuesthatmanycustomerscannotaffordto
tackle.[49]However,thecomplexityofsecurityisgreatlyincreasedwhendataisdistributedoverawider
areaoroveragreaternumberofdevices,aswellasinmultitenantsystemssharedbyunrelated
users.Inaddition,useraccesstosecurityauditlogsmaybedifficultorimpossible.Privatecloud
installationsareinpartmotivatedbyusers'desiretoretaincontrolovertheinfrastructureandavoid
losingcontrolofinformationsecurity.
TheNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology'sdefinitionofcloudcomputingidentifies"fiveessential
characteristics":
Ondemandselfservice.Aconsumercanunilaterallyprovisioncomputingcapabilities,suchas
servertimeandnetworkstorage,asneededautomaticallywithoutrequiringhumaninteraction
witheachserviceprovider.
Broadnetworkaccess.Capabilitiesareavailableoverthenetworkandaccessedthrough
standardmechanismsthatpromoteusebyheterogeneousthinorthickclientplatforms(e.g.,
mobilephones,tablets,laptops,andworkstations).
Resourcepooling.Theprovider'scomputingresourcesarepooledtoservemultiple
consumersusingamultitenantmodel,withdifferentphysicalandvirtualresources
dynamicallyassignedandreassignedaccordingtoconsumerdemand.
Rapidelasticity.Capabilitiescanbeelasticallyprovisionedandreleased,insomecases
automatically,toscalerapidlyoutwardandinwardcommensuratewithdemand.Tothe
consumer,thecapabilitiesavailableforprovisioningoftenappearunlimitedandcanbe
appropriatedinanyquantityatanytime.
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

6/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Measuredservice.Cloudsystemsautomaticallycontrolandoptimizeresourceuseby
leveragingameteringcapabilityatsomelevelofabstractionappropriatetothetypeofservice
(e.g.,storage,processing,bandwidth,andactiveuseraccounts).Resourceusagecanbe
monitored,controlled,andreported,providingtransparencyforboththeproviderand
consumeroftheutilizedservice.
NationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology[3]

Servicemodels

[ editsource|edit ]

Thoughserviceorientedarchitectureadvocates"everythingasaservice"(withthe
acronymsEaaSorXaaSorsimplyaas),[50]cloudcomputingprovidersoffertheir"services"accordingto
differentmodels,[3][51][needquotationtoverify]whichhappentoformastack:infrastructure,platformand
softwareasaservice.[52]

Infrastructureasaservice(IaaS)
[ editsource|edit ]

Seealso:Category:Cloudinfrastructure
Inthemostbasiccloudservicemodelandaccording
totheIETF(InternetEngineeringTaskForce)
providersofIaaSoffercomputersphysicalor(more
often)virtualmachinesandotherresources.
(Ahypervisor,suchasXen,Oracle
VirtualBox,KVM,VMwareESX/ESXi,orHyperVruns
thevirtualmachinesasguests.Poolsofhypervisors
withinthecloudoperationalsystemcansupportlarge
numbersofvirtualmachinesandtheabilitytoscale
servicesupanddownaccordingtocustomers'varying
requirements.IaaScloudsoftenofferadditional

Cloudcomputinglayersaccessiblewithinastack

resourcessuchasavirtualmachinediskimagelibrary,
rawblockstorage,fileorobjectstorage,firewalls,loadbalancers,IPaddresses,virtuallocalarea
networks(VLANs),andsoftwarebundles.[53]IaaScloudproviderssupplytheseresourcesondemandfrom
theirlargepoolsofequipmentinstalledindatacenters.Forwideareaconnectivity,customerscanuse
eithertheInternetorcarrierclouds(dedicatedvirtualprivatenetworks).
Todeploytheirapplications,cloudusersinstalloperatingsystemimagesandtheirapplicationsoftwareon
thecloudinfrastructure.Inthismodel,theclouduserpatchesandmaintainstheoperatingsystemsandthe
applicationsoftware.CloudproviderstypicallybillIaaSservicesonautilitycomputingbasis:costreflects
theamountofresourcesallocatedandconsumed.[54][55][56][57]

Platformasaservice(PaaS)

[ editsource|edit ]

Mainarticle:Platformasaservice
Seealso:Category:Cloudplatforms
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

7/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

InthePaaSmodels,cloudprovidersdeliveracomputingplatform,typicallyincludingoperatingsystem,
programminglanguageexecutionenvironment,database,andwebserver.Applicationdeveloperscan
developandruntheirsoftwaresolutionsonacloudplatformwithoutthecostandcomplexityofbuyingand
managingtheunderlyinghardwareandsoftwarelayers.WithsomePaaSofferslikeMicrosoft
AzureandGoogleAppEngine,theunderlyingcomputerandstorageresourcesscaleautomaticallyto
matchapplicationdemandsothattheclouduserdoesnothavetoallocateresourcesmanually.The
latter[which?]hasalsobeenproposedbyanarchitectureaimingtofacilitaterealtimeincloud
environments.[58][needquotationtoverify]EvenmorespecificapplicationtypescanbeprovidedviaPaaS,such
asmediaencodingasprovidedbyserviceslikebitcodin.com[59]ormedia.io.[60]
SomeintegrationanddatamanagementprovidershavealsoembracedspecializedapplicationsofPaaS
asdeliverymodelsfordatasolutions.ExamplesincludeiPaaSanddPaaS.iPaaS(IntegrationPlatformasa
Service)enablescustomerstodevelop,executeandgovernintegrationflows.[61]UndertheiPaaS
integrationmodel,customersdrivethedevelopmentanddeploymentofintegrationswithoutinstallingor
managinganyhardwareormiddleware.[62]dPaaS(DataPlatformasaService)deliversintegrationand
datamanagementproductsasafullymanagedservice.[63]UnderthedPaaSmodel,thePaaSprovider,
notthecustomer,managesthedevelopmentandexecutionofdatasolutionsbybuildingtailoreddata
applicationsforthecustomer.dPaaSusersretaintransparencyandcontroloverdatathroughdata
visualizationtools.[64]

Softwareasaservice(SaaS)

[ editsource|edit ]

Mainarticle:Softwareasaservice
Inthesoftwareasaservice(SaaS)model,usersgainaccesstoapplicationsoftwareanddatabases.Cloud
providersmanagetheinfrastructureandplatformsthatruntheapplications.SaaSissometimesreferredto
as"ondemandsoftware"andisusuallypricedonapayperusebasisorusingasubscription
fee.[citationneeded]
IntheSaaSmodel,cloudprovidersinstallandoperateapplicationsoftwareinthecloudandcloudusers
accessthesoftwarefromcloudclients.Cloudusersdonotmanagethecloudinfrastructureandplatform
wheretheapplicationruns.Thiseliminatestheneedtoinstallandruntheapplicationontheclouduser's
owncomputers,whichsimplifiesmaintenanceandsupport.Cloudapplicationsdifferfromother
applicationsintheirscalabilitywhichcanbeachievedbycloningtasksontomultiplevirtualmachinesat
runtimetomeetchangingworkdemand.[65]Loadbalancersdistributetheworkoverthesetofvirtual
machines.Thisprocessistransparenttotheclouduser,whoseesonlyasingleaccesspoint.To
accommodatealargenumberofcloudusers,cloudapplicationscanbemultitenant,meaningthatany
machinemayservemorethanoneclouduserorganization.
ThepricingmodelforSaaSapplicationsistypicallyamonthlyoryearlyflatfeeperuser,[66]soprices
becomescalableandadjustableifusersareaddedorremovedatanypoint.[67]
ProponentsclaimthatSaaSgivesabusinessthepotentialtoreduceIToperationalcostsbyoutsourcing
hardwareandsoftwaremaintenanceandsupporttothecloudprovider.Thisenablesthebusinessto
reallocateIToperationscostsawayfromhardware/softwarespendingandfrompersonnelexpenses,
towardsmeetingothergoals.Inaddition,withapplicationshostedcentrally,updatescanbereleased
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

8/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

withouttheneedforuserstoinstallnewsoftware.OnedrawbackofSaaScomeswithstoringtheusers'
dataonthecloudprovider'sserver.Asaresult,[citationneeded]therecouldbeunauthorizedaccesstothe
data.Forthisreason,usersareincreasingly[quantify]adoptingintelligentthirdpartykey
managementsystemstohelpsecuretheirdata.[citationneeded]

Cloudclients

[ editsource|edit ]

Seealso:Category:Cloudclients
Usersaccesscloudcomputingusingnetworkedclientdevices,suchasdesktop
computers,laptops,tabletsandsmartphonesandanyEthernetenableddevicesuchasHomeAutomation
Gadgets.Someofthesedevicescloudclientsrelyoncloudcomputingforalloramajorityoftheir
applicationssoastobeessentiallyuselesswithoutit.Examplesarethinclientsandthebrowser
basedChromebook.Manycloudapplicationsdonotrequirespecificsoftwareontheclientandinsteaduse
awebbrowsertointeractwiththecloudapplication.WithAjaxandHTML5theseWebuserinterfacescan
achieveasimilar,orevenbetter,lookandfeeltonativeapplications.Somecloudapplications,however,
supportspecificclientsoftwarededicatedtotheseapplications(e.g.,virtualdesktopclientsandmostemail
clients).Somelegacyapplications(lineofbusinessapplicationsthatuntilnowhavebeenprevalentinthin
clientcomputing)aredeliveredviaascreensharingtechnology.

CloudProviderInterface

[ editsource|edit ]

ACloudProviderInterface(CPI)provideanabstractionfromanunderlyingIaaSbydefiningasetof
functionsformanagingvirtualmachineslifecycleinwhichmightrunanelasticservice.
References:
http://france.emc.com/collateral/whitepaper/h12825cloudfoundrypaasvblockwp.pdf

EMCwhite

paperonCloudFoundry
https://bosh.io/ BOSH,anopensourceCPIformultiplesPaaS

Deploymentmodels

[ editsource|edit ]

Privatecloudiscloudinfrastructure
operatedsolelyforasingle
organization,whethermanaged
internallyorbyathirdparty,and
hostedeitherinternallyor
externally.[3]Undertakingaprivate
cloudprojectrequiresasignificantlevel
anddegreeofengagementtovirtualize
thebusinessenvironment,andrequires
theorganizationtoreevaluatedecisions
aboutexistingresources.Whendone

Cloudcomputingtypes

data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3A

9/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

right,itcanimprovebusiness,butevery
stepintheprojectraisessecurityissuesthatmustbeaddressedtopreventseriousvulnerabilities.Selfrun
datacenters[68]aregenerallycapitalintensive.Theyhaveasignificantphysicalfootprint,requiring
allocationsofspace,hardware,andenvironmentalcontrols.Theseassetshavetoberefreshed
periodically,resultinginadditionalcapitalexpenditures.Theyhaveattractedcriticismbecauseusers"still
havetobuy,build,andmanagethem"andthusdonotbenefitfromlesshandson
management,[69]essentially"[lacking]theeconomicmodelthatmakescloudcomputingsuchanintriguing
concept".[70][71]

Publiccloud

[ editsource|edit ]

Acloudiscalleda"publiccloud"whentheservicesarerenderedoveranetworkthatisopenforpublicuse.
Publiccloudservicesmaybefree.[72]Technicallytheremaybelittleornodifferencebetweenpublicand
privatecloudarchitecture,however,securityconsiderationmaybesubstantiallydifferentforservices
(applications,storage,andotherresources)thataremadeavailablebyaserviceproviderforapublic
audienceandwhencommunicationiseffectedoveranontrustednetwork.Generally,publiccloudservice
providerslikeAmazonAWS,MicrosoftandGoogleownandoperatetheinfrastructureattheirdata
centerandaccessisgenerallyviatheInternet.AWSandMicrosoftalsoofferdirectconnectservicescalled
"AWSDirectConnect"and"AzureExpressRoute"respectively,suchconnectionsrequirecustomersto
purchaseorleaseaprivateconnectiontoapeeringpointofferedbythecloudprovider.[35]

Hybridcloud

[ editsource|edit ]

Hybridcloudisacompositionoftwoormoreclouds(private,communityorpublic)thatremaindistinct
entitiesbutareboundtogether,offeringthebenefitsofmultipledeploymentmodels.Hybridcloudcanalso
meantheabilitytoconnectcollocation,managedand/ordedicatedserviceswithcloudresources.[3]
Gartner,Inc.definesahybridcloudserviceasacloudcomputingservicethatiscomposedofsome
combinationofprivate,publicandcommunitycloudservices,fromdifferentserviceproviders.[73]Ahybrid
cloudservicecrossesisolationandproviderboundariessothatitcan'tbesimplyputinonecategoryof
private,public,orcommunitycloudservice.Itallowsonetoextendeitherthecapacityorthecapabilityofa
cloudservice,byaggregation,integrationorcustomizationwithanothercloudservice.
Variedusecasesforhybridcloudcompositionexist.Forexample,anorganizationmaystoresensitive
clientdatainhouseonaprivatecloudapplication,butinterconnectthatapplicationtoabusiness
intelligenceapplicationprovidedonapubliccloudasasoftwareservice.[74]Thisexampleofhybridcloud
extendsthecapabilitiesoftheenterprisetodeliveraspecificbusinessservicethroughtheadditionof
externallyavailablepubliccloudservices.Hybridcloudadoptiondependsonanumberoffactorssuchas
datasecurityandcompliancerequirements,levelofcontrolneededoverdata,andtheapplicationsan
organizationuses.[75]
AnotherexampleofhybridcloudisonewhereITorganizationsusepubliccloudcomputingresourcesto
meettemporarycapacityneedsthatcannotbemetbytheprivatecloud.[76]Thiscapabilityenableshybrid
cloudstoemploycloudburstingforscalingacrossclouds.[3]Cloudburstingisanapplicationdeployment
modelinwhichanapplicationrunsinaprivatecloudordatacenterand"bursts"toapubliccloudwhenthe
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3

10/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

demandforcomputingcapacityincreases.Aprimaryadvantageofcloudburstingandahybridcloudmodel
isthatanorganizationonlypaysforextracomputeresourceswhentheyareneeded.[77]Cloudbursting
enablesdatacenterstocreateaninhouseITinfrastructurethatsupportsaverageworkloads,anduse
cloudresourcesfrompublicorprivateclouds,duringspikesinprocessingdemands.[78]
Thespecializedmodelofhybridcloud,whichisbuiltatopheterogeneoushardware,iscalled"Cross
platformHybridCloud".AcrossplatformhybridcloudisusuallypoweredbydifferentCPUarchitectures,for
example,x8664andARM,underneath.Userscantransparentlydeployapplicationswithoutknowledgeof
thecloud'shardwarediversity.[79]ThiskindofcloudemergesfromtheraiseofARMbasedsystemonchip
forserverclasscomputing.

Others

[ editsource|edit ]

Communitycloud [ editsource|edit ]
Communitycloudsharesinfrastructurebetweenseveralorganizationsfromaspecificcommunitywith
commonconcerns(security,compliance,jurisdiction,etc.),whethermanagedinternallyorbyathirdparty,
andeitherhostedinternallyorexternally.Thecostsarespreadoverfewerusersthanapubliccloud(but
morethanaprivatecloud),soonlysomeofthecostsavingspotentialofcloudcomputingarerealized.[3]
Distributedcloud [ editsource|edit ]
Acloudcomputingplatformcanbeassembledfromadistributedsetofmachinesindifferentlocations,
connectedtoasinglenetworkorhubservice.Itispossibletodistinguishbetweentwotypesofdistributed
clouds:publicresourcecomputingandvolunteercloud.
Publicresourcecomputing:Thistypeofdistributedcloudresultsfromanexpansivedefinitionof
cloudcomputing,becausetheyaremoreakintodistributedcomputingthancloudcomputing.
Nonetheless,itisconsideredasubclassofcloudcomputing,andsomeexamplesincludedistributed
computingplatformssuchasBOINCandFolding@Home.
Volunteercloud:Volunteercloudcomputingischaracterizedastheintersectionofpublicresource
computingandcloudcomputing,whereacloudcomputinginfrastructureisbuiltusingvolunteered
resources.Manychallengesarisefromthistypeofinfrastructure,becauseofthevolatilityofthe
resourcesusedtobuiltitandthedynamicenvironmentitoperatesin.Itcanalsobecalledpeertopeer
clouds,oradhocclouds.AninterestingeffortinsuchdirectionisCloud@Home,itaimstoimplementa
cloudcomputinginfrastructureusingvolunteeredresourcesprovidingabusinessmodeltoincentivize
contributionsthroughfinancialrestitution[80]
Intercloud [ editsource|edit ]
Mainarticle:Intercloud
TheIntercloud[81]isaninterconnectedglobal"cloudofclouds"[82][83]andanextensionoftheInternet
"networkofnetworks"onwhichitisbased.Thefocusisondirectinteroperabilitybetweenpubliccloud
serviceproviders,moresothanbetweenprovidersandconsumers(asisthecaseforhybridandmulti
cloud).[84][85][86]

data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3

11/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Multicloud [ editsource|edit ]
Mainarticle:Multicloud
Multicloudistheuseofmultiplecloudcomputingservicesinasingleheterogeneousarchitecturetoreduce
relianceonsinglevendors,increaseflexibilitythroughchoice,mitigateagainstdisasters,etc.Itdiffersfrom
hybridcloudinthatitreferstomultiplecloudservices,ratherthanmultipledeploymentmodes(public,
private,legacy).[87][88]

Architecture

[ editsource|edit ]

Cloudarchitecture,[89]thesystems
architectureofthesoftwaresystemsinvolvedin
thedeliveryofcloudcomputing,typicallyinvolves
multiplecloudcomponentscommunicatingwith
eachotheroveraloosecouplingmechanismsuch
asamessagingqueue.Elasticprovisionimplies
intelligenceintheuseoftightorloosecouplingas
appliedtomechanismssuchastheseandothers.

Cloudengineering

[ editsource|edit ]

Cloudengineeringistheapplication
ofengineeringdisciplinestocloudcomputing.It

Cloudcomputingsamplearchitecture

bringsasystematicapproachtothehighlevel
concernsofcommercialization,standardization,andgovernanceinconceiving,developing,operatingand
maintainingcloudcomputingsystems.Itisamultidisciplinarymethodencompassingcontributionsfrom
diverseareassuchassystems,software,web,performance,information,security,platform,risk,
andqualityengineering.

Securityandprivacy

[ editsource|edit ]

Mainarticle:Cloudcomputingissues
Cloudcomputingposesprivacyconcernsbecausetheserviceprovidercanaccessthedatathatisonthe
cloudatanytime.Itcouldaccidentallyordeliberatelyalterorevendeleteinformation.[90]Manycloud
providerscanshareinformationwiththirdpartiesifnecessaryforpurposesoflawandorderevenwithouta
warrant.Thatispermittedintheirprivacypolicieswhichusershavetoagreetobeforetheystartusing
cloudservices.[91]Solutionstoprivacyincludepolicyandlegislationaswellasendusers'choicesforhow
dataisstored.[90]Userscanencryptdatathatisprocessedorstoredwithinthecloudtoprevent
unauthorizedaccess.[2][90]
AccordingtotheCloudSecurityAlliance,thetopthreethreatsinthecloudare"InsecureInterfacesand
API's","DataLoss&Leakage",and"HardwareFailure"whichaccountedfor29%,25%and10%ofall
cloudsecurityoutagesrespectivelytogethertheseformsharedtechnologyvulnerabilities.Inacloud
providerplatformbeingsharedbydifferentuserstheremaybeapossibilitythatinformationbelongingto
data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3

12/13

9/15/2015

CloudcomputingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

differentcustomersresidesonsamedataserver.Therefore,Informationleakagemayarisebymistake
wheninformationforonecustomerisgiventoother.[92]Additionally,EugeneSchultz,chieftechnology
officeratEmaginedSecurity,saidthathackersarespendingsubstantialtimeandeffortlookingforwaysto
penetratethecloud."TherearesomerealAchilles'heelsinthecloudinfrastructurethataremakingbig
holesforthebadguystogetinto".Becausedatafromhundredsorthousandsofcompaniescanbestored
onlargecloudservers,hackerscantheoreticallygaincontrolofhugestoresofinformationthroughasingle
attackaprocesshecalled"hyperjacking".
Thereistheproblemoflegalownershipofthedata(Ifauserstoressomedatainthecloud,canthecloud
providerprofitfromit?).ManyTermsofServiceagreementsaresilentonthequestionofownership.[93]
Physicalcontrolofthecomputerequipment(privatecloud)ismoresecurethanhavingtheequipmentoff
siteandundersomeoneelse'scontrol(publiccloud).Thisdeliversgreatincentivetopubliccloud
computingserviceproviderstoprioritizebuildingandmaintainingstrongmanagementofsecure
services.[94]Somesmallbusinessesthatdon'thaveexpertiseinITsecuritycouldfindthatit'smoresecure
forthemtouseapubliccloud.
Thereistheriskthatendusersdon'tunderstandtheissuesinvolvedwhensigningontoacloudservice
(personssometimesdon'treadthemanypagesofthetermsofserviceagreement,andjustclick"Accept"
withoutreading).Thisisimportantnowthatcloudcomputingisbecomingpopularandrequiredforsome
servicestowork,forexampleforanintelligentpersonalassistant(Apple'sSiriorGoogleNow).
Fundamentallyprivatecloudisseenasmoresecurewithhigherlevelsofcontrolfortheowner,however
publiccloudisseentobemoreflexibleandrequireslesstimeandmoneyinvestmentfromtheuser.[95]

Thefuture

[ editsource|edit ]

AccordingtoGartnersHypecycle,cloudcomputinghasreachedamaturitythatleadsitintoaproductive
phase.Thismeansthatmostofthemainissueswithcloudcomputinghavebeenaddressedtoadegree
thatcloudshavebecomeinterestingforfullcommercialexploitation.Thishoweverdoesnotmeanthatall
theproblemslistedabovehaveactuallybeensolved,onlythattheaccordingriskscanbetoleratedtoa
certaindegree.[96]Cloudcomputingisthereforestillasmucharesearchtopic,asitisamarket
offering.[97]WhatisclearthroughtheevolutionofCloudComputingservicesisthattheCTOisamajor
drivingforcebehindCloudadoption.[98]ThemajorCloudtechnologydeveloperscontinuetoinvestbillions
ayearinCloudR&Dforexample,in2011Microsoftcommitted90%ofits$9.6bnR&Dbudgetto
Cloud.[99]Additionally,moreindustriesareturningtocloudtechnologyasanefficientwaytoimprove
qualityservicesduetoitscapabilitiestoreduceoverheadcosts,downtime,andautomateinfrastructure
deployment.[100]

data:text/htmlcharset=utf8,%3Ch1%20id%3D%22firstHeading%22%20class%3D%22firstHeading%22%20lang%3D%22en%22%20style%3D%22color%3

13/13

You might also like