Analysis on the Concepts of Cloud Computing

Dhivyaa M, Praveena E
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology,
Affiliated to Anna University, Coimbatore
Sugunapuram, Coimbatore – 641 008
[email protected]
[email protected]

Abstract— Cloud computing, another buzz word that has come storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly
up in today’s world of computers. Though there are dozens of provisioned and released with minimal management effort
definitions on cloud computing, there seems to be no consensus or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes
on what a Cloud is. On the other hand, cloud computing is not a availability and is composed of five essential
completely new concept. Cloud computing is a natural evolution
of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented
characteristics, three service models, and four deployment
architecture and utility computing. It has an intricate connection models.
to the relatively new but thirteen-year established Grid
A. Essential characteristics:
Computing Paradigm. This paper strives to make understand the
concept of cloud computing, and the layers of cloud computing
• On-demand self-service. A consumer can
(service models).
unilaterally provision computing capabilities,
such as server time and network storage, as
Keywords— Cloud Computing, cloud, virtualization, needed automatically without requiring human
interaction with each service’s provider.
I. INTRODUCTION
The “Cloud” is a familiar cliché as a metaphor for the • Broad network access. Capabilities are available
internet, but when combined with “Computing”, the meaning over the network and accessed through standard
gets bigger and fuzzier. Many people go very broad arguing mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous
that anything consumed outside the firewall is in “the cloud” thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile
but some analysts and vendors narrowly define cloud as an phones, laptops, and PDAs).
updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers
• Resource pooling. The provider’s computing
available over the internet.
resources are pooled to serve multiple
There is little consensus on how to define the cloud and one
consumers using a multi-tenant model, with
among those saturated definitions are:
different physical and virtual resources
A large-scale distributed computing paradigm that is
dynamically assigned and reassigned according
driven by economics of scale, in which a pool of
to consumer demand. There is a sense of
abstracted, virtualized, dynamically-scalable, managed
location independence in that the customer
computing power, storage, platforms and services are
generally has no control or knowledge over the
delivered to external customers over the Internet
exact location of the provided resources but may
There are a few key points in this definition. First, cloud
be able to specify location at a higher level of
computing is a specialized distributed computing paradigm; it
abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).
differs from traditional ones in that 1) it is massively scalable
Examples of resources include storage,
2) can be encapsulated as an abstract entity that delivers
processing, memory, network bandwidth, and
different levels of services to customers outside the cloud, 3)
virtual machines.
it is driven by economies of scale, 4) the services can be
dynamically configured (via virtualization) and delivered on • Rapid elasticity. Capabilities can be rapidly and
demand. elastically provisioned, in some cases
automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly
released to quickly scale in. To the consumer,
II. DEFINING CLOUD COMPUTING
the capabilities available for provisioning often
The National Institute of Standards and Technology appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in
(NIST) provide a more objective and specific definition: any quantity at any time.
Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient,
on-demand network access to a shared pool of • Measured Service. Cloud systems automatically
configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, control and optimize resource use by leveraging
 a metering capability at some level of abstraction compliance considerations). It may be managed
appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, by the organizations or a third party and may
processing, bandwidth, and active user exist on premise or off premise.
accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, • Public cloud. The cloud infrastructure is made
controlled, and reported providing transparency available to the general public or a large industry
for both the provider and consumer of the group and is owned by an organization selling
utilized service. cloud services.
B. Service Models: • Hybrid cloud. The cloud infrastructure is a
composition of two or more clouds (private,
• Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS). The community, or public) that remain unique
capability provided to the consumer is to use the entities but are bound together by standardized
provider’s applications running on a cloud or proprietary technology that enables data and
infrastructure. The applications are accessible application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for
from various client devices through a thin client load-balancing between clouds).
interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based
email). The consumer does not manage or
control the underlying cloud infrastructure III. CLOUD COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE
including network, servers, operating systems, The cloud computing system can be divided into two
storage, or even individual application sections: the front-end and the back-end. They connect to each
capabilities, with the possible exception of other through a network, usually the internet. The front end is
limited user-specific application configuration the side the user, or client sees. The back-end is the “cloud”
settings. section of the system.
• Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS). The
capability provided to the consumer is to deploy
onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created
or acquired applications created using
programming languages and tools supported by
the provider. The consumer does not manage or
control the underlying cloud infrastructure
including network, servers, operating systems, or
storage, but has control over the deployed
applications and possibly application hosting
environment configurations.
• Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The
capability provided to the consumer is to
provision processing, storage, networks, and
other fundamental computing resources where
the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary
software, which can include operating systems
and applications. The consumer does not manage
or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but
has control over operating systems, storage, The front-end includes the client’s computer and the
deployed applications, and possibly limited application required to access the cloud computing system. On
control of select networking components (e.g., the back-end of the system are various computers, servers, and
host firewalls). data storage systems that create the “cloud” of computing
services. A central server administers the system, monitoring
C. Deployment Models: traffic and client demands to ensure everything runs smoothly.
It follows a set of protocols and uses a special kind of
• Private cloud. The cloud infrastructure is software called middleware. Middleware allows networked
operated solely for an organization. It may be computers to communicate with each other.
managed by the organization or a third party and
may exist on premise or off premise.
• Community cloud. The cloud infrastructure is
IV. SERVICE MODELS
shared by several organizations and supports a
specific community that has shared concerns Most of the time cloud computing is concerned with accessing
(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and online software applications, data storage and processing
power. The fundamental, practical building blocks of cloud and individuals who require direct access to cloud computing
computing are therefore what are known as Software as a hardware on which they can run their own applications cannot
Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and use SaaS. Rather, they need to cloud compute at the platform
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). or infrastructure level using either platform as a service (PaaS)
or infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

B. Platform as a Service (PaaS):

A platform is a software environment used to develop and run

applications. For example, Microsoft Word is an application
that runs on the Microsoft Windows platform. When people
choose to cloud compute using platform as a service or 'PaaS',
they obtain access to an online platform provided by a cloud
computing vendor. They can then use this platform to develop
and deliver their own online (SaaS) applications.
Applications developed using PaaS may be used privately by
just one or a few users within a particular company. However,
they can also be offered free or for-a-fee to anybody on the
Layers of cloud computing web. This means that if you have a great idea for a new online
application then you can use PaaS to turn it into a reality!
A. Software as a Service (SaaS): Several cloud suppliers now offer PaaS tools. Most notably
these include Google App Engine, Microsoft, and Force.com.
Software as a service is where computer applications are All such offerings effectively provide their customers with a
accessed over the Internet rather than being installed on a box of cloud computing Lego. New applications are then
local computing device or in a local data centre. So, for constructed from the plastic bricks on offer. Relatively non-
example, people may use an online word processor technical people can therefore create new online applications
like Google Docs, an online database application like Zoho very quickly. Indeed,Force.com claims that their "simplified
Creator, an online photo editor like Pixlr, or an online programming model and cloud-based environment mean
invoicing application such as Zoho Invoice. Many SaaS [customers] can build and run applications five times faster, at
applications are free to use, at least initially. You can find about half the cost of traditional software platforms".
links to a great many in the Cloud Computing Directory. And Whilst PaaS is great in many situations, its users do need to be
you can find a video introduction to some great free SaaS mindful of the involved flexibility verses power trade-off.
applications here. What this means is that whilst PaaS makes it relatively easy to
SaaS can provide its users with many benefits. These include create new online applications, users are nevertheless
the general cloud computing advantages of dynamic constrained by the particular programming languages and
scalability and any device independence, as well as the benefit tools provided by their PaaS supplier. In other words, PaaS
of being able to use an application without incurring fixed vendors have total control over which Lego bricks they allow
costs. Many SaaS applications are also collaborative. This their customers to build with. Whilst this ensures that
allows multiple users to share documents and even to work on applications built using the tools on offer will always function
them at the same time. For example, in the Google correctly, it is nevertheless restrictive. It is for this reason that
Docs spreadsheet different users can work on different cells many companies and some individuals choose to cloud
simultaneously. The cells different users are working on are compute at the infrastructure level.
locked-off and highlighted in different colours. A real-time
chat window can also be opened up alongside the spreadsheet C. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):
to further enhance collaboration. For more information on
collaborative working using Google Docs, you can watch the Infrastructure as a service or "IaaS" is where a cloud supplier
now classic video Google Docs in Plain English. provides online infrastructure on which their customers can
Taking collaboration further still, the outputs of some SaaS store data and develop and run whatever applications they
applications can be embedded in other web pages as web please. IaaS therefore allows companies to move their existing
service gadgets. For example, a Google Docs or Zoho programs and data into the cloud and to close down their own
Sheet chart can be mashed into another website. There it will local servers and data centres.
automatically update when the data in the online spreadsheet Whilst computing applications run on platforms, platforms in
that is generating it is changed. SaaS applications are also turn run on computing infrastructure. So, for example, whilst
constantly updated, which can free users of the "upgrade hell" the Microsoft Word application runs on the Microsoft
of a major traditional software package revision. Windows platform, in turn the Microsoft Windows platform
The disadvantage of SaaS is that it is basically a take-it-or- runs on the infrastructure of an IBM-compatible PC.
leave-it form of cloud computing. This means that businesses
The fundamental building block of cloud computing
infrastructure is the server. Cloud computing servers are
basically computers on which online applications can be run
and data can be stored. When provided by an IaaS vendor,
cloud servers can also be real or virtual.
Real or "dedicated" servers are individual circuit boards –
known as blades – mounted within equipment racks in a data
centre. In contrast virtual servers – also known as "virtual
server instances" – are software-controlled slices of real,
physical servers. Virtual servers are created by a process
called virtualization that allows many users to share the
processing power of one physical server.
Dedicated physical servers and virtual server instances can
perform exactly the same functions. However, there are some
differences between them. For a start, virtual server instances
are cheaper to supply as each does not require its own piece of
physical hardware in a cloud data centre. On the other hand,
virtual server instances are sometimes seen as less secure by
those who do not want to share server hardware with other
customers. For this reason, four categories of IaaS are
available. These are most commonly known as "private
clouds", "dedicated hosting", "hybrid hosting" and "cloud
hosting".

V. CONCLUSION
Even to date there still seems to be no consensus on what a
cloud is. This article points to an effective definition for cloud
computing, and introduces the concept of cloud computing. It
also points the three most important layers in cloud computing
and describes each in a simple manner.

VI. REFERENCES
[1] “Cloud Computing” Wikipedia.org Available :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
[2] Christopher Barnatt, “A Brief Guide to Cloud Computing
[3] ”How cloud computing works?” howstuffworks.com Available :
http://communication.howstuffworks.com/cloud-computing.htm
[4] “Research Report : 2011 cloud computing predictions for vendors and
solution providers” Available : http://cloudcomputing.blogspot.com/