Cloud Computing : Properties & Overview

Introduction

In traditional desktop computing we run copies of software in our own PC and data is stored in there, hence traditional computing is PC centric. Cloud computing is an emerging Paradigm in computer industry where the computing is moved to a cloud of computers. Here documents are stored on a collection of servers accessed via internet. The data is also stored in servers. Hence the cloud computing is document centric.

Cloud Computing

What is Cloud Computing?

The cloud is a large group of interconnected computers. We usually use the symbol of cloud to denote the complicated networks in circuit. That is why the name cloud computing is given for these network of computers. These computers may be personal or public. Cloud computing extends beyond a single company or enterprise. Access is via internet and it offers massive computing power and storage capability and enables wide scale group collaboration.Basically it is a coming back to the centralized computing infrastructure which was popular in 1950s and 60s.

Key Properties of Cloud Computing

The key properties of Cloud computing are

1. User centric : This means once a user is connected to cloud any data there, such as images, videos, applications, becomes his property. Not only the data but the devices connected also becomes his and he can share it with other users.
2. Task Centric : Cloud computing focus on what one need and how application can do it for us. Here documents are given more priority than the applications which create them.
3. Powerful : Powerful in the sense that as there is large computers more computing power and mass data storage possible.
4. Self Healing : Is called Self healing because hot backups are available for every document in the cloud. Hence if one document crashes there will be it's duplicate ready to run.
5. Multi-tenancy & Intelligence: Multi-tenancy refers to sharing of data and costs across a large pool of users. As various data are stored in cloud data mining and analysis are necessary for accessing information in an intelligent manner.
6. Programmable : Many processes in cloud computing shall be automate such as backing up crashed data with it's duplicate. Hence programming is associated with cloud computing.
7. Flexible : Flexible as the  users may be of different varieties and hence it has to match with their needs.
   

Understanding Cloud Computing

1. Understanding Cloud Architecture

Individual users connect to the cloud from their own personal computers or portable devices, over the Internet. To these individual users, the cloud is seen as a single application, device, or document. The hardware in the cloud is invisible.

Oracle Private Cloud

2. Understanding Cloud Storage

In Cloud computing data is stored on multiple third party servers rather than on the dedicated servers in traditional network data storage.

3. Understanding Cloud Services

The wide range of applications and programs include Cloud Services. Any web-based service or application offered via cloud computing is called cloud services.

Benefits From Cloud Computing

1. Reduces Run time and Response time : As there is large computing capability run time and response time get reduced.

2. Minimize Infrastructure risk : As there is service providers to provide necessary infrastructure and services infrastructure risk get reduced. We need not purchase infrastructure.

3. Lower Cost of Entry : For new organizations the infra structure and services can be rented and this reduces their cost of entry into the market.

4. Increased Pace of innovation : As the new and small firms can compete with the leaders in the industry with the help of cloud computing, this increases the pace of innovation.

5. Cost Conscious users are satisfied : Most of the users are cost conscious. They are well satisfied by the services cloud computing provides.

Cloud Computing Services

1.Amazone Web Service

Amazone web services is the set of cloud computing services offered by Amazone. Different services provided by Amazone are

a) Elastic Cloud Computing (EC2)

b) Simple Storage Service (S3)

c) Simple Queue Service (SQS)

d) Simple Database Service (SDS)

2. Google App Engine

Google App Engine allows you to run your web Applications on Google’s infrastructure.

The environment includes following features.

• dynamic web serving, with full support for common web technologies

• persistent storage with queries, sorting and transactions

• automatic scaling and load balancing

• APIs for authenticating users and sending email using Google Accounts

• a fully featured local development environment that simulates Google App Engine on your computer

Cloud Computing In Real Domain

•Time Machine

Times machine is a New York Times project in which one can read any issue from Volume 1, Number 1 of The New York Daily Times, on September 18, 1851 through to The New York Times of December 30, 1922. It used Amazon’s EC2 platform..

• IBM Google University Academic Initiative

Google and IBM came up with an initiative to advance large-scale distributed computing by providing hardware, software, and services to universities .Their idea was to prepare students ‘to harness the potential of modern computing systems.’

• SmugMug

SmugMug is an online photo hosting application which is fully based on cloud computing services which is based on Amazon’s S3 services.

• Nasdaq

NASDAQ which had lots of stock and fund data wanted to make extra revenue selling historic data for those stocks and funds. For this Amazon’s S3 service is used to host data.

Conclusion

Thus cloud computing provides a supercomputing power .This cloud of computers extends beyond a single company or enterprise.In cloud computing, there are large self-managed server pools available which reduces the overhead and eliminate management headache.The applications and data served by the cloud are available to broad group of users, cross-enterprise and cross-platform.Also it is a new emerging architecture needed to expand the Internet to become the computing platform of the future.

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Comments

Hrithik roshan on August 12, 2013:

simple and useful

naga on July 25, 2013:

it is interesting andbeautyful

save my system from United Kingdom - London on May 05, 2010:

Cloud computing is great concept. It reduces lots of loads on dedicated server. You can store your data in encrypted mode so that only you can access it with ease and prevent from spoofing. You can simply adapt any strategy for effective business.

Consonus Tech on March 10, 2010:

Great Hub. I have one more idea that you can add to the list of benefits. Companies can benefit from virtual infrastructure scalability, meaning they can easily match their resources to their demands as it changes during the business cycle or within a busy season.