ASSIGNMENT

On

Cloud Computing

By

Pragya Chakshoo (4067)

To

Prof. Narender Singh Chauhan

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Origin Of Cloud
 Cloud came into existence with an idea of an “intergalactic computer network”
was introduced in the sixties by J.C.R. Licklider, who was responsible for
enabling the development of ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network) in 1969.

 One of the first milestones in cloud computing history was the arrival of
Salesforce.com in 1999, which pioneered the concept of delivering enterprise
applications via a simple website. The services firm paved the way for both
specialist and mainstream software firms to deliver applications over the internet.

 The next development was Amazon Web Services in 2002, which provided a
suite of cloud-based services including storage, computation and even human
intelligence through the Amazon Mechanical Turk.

What is Cloud Computing?

 Elementary: The cloud is just a mutation form of the Internet. Cloud computing
signifies storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your
computer’s hard drive. Cloud computing means storing and accessing data and
programs over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. The cloud is
just a metaphor for the Internet.
 Technically: Cloud computing refers to an efficient method of managing lots of
computer servers, data storage and networking. Cloud is a new evolution of IT
service delivery from a remote location, either over the Internet or an intranet,
involving multi-tenant environments enabled by virtualization.
 Research: 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.

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  Experts:
1. I have not heard two people say the same thing about cloud. There are
multiple definitions out there of “the cloud”.{Andy Isherwood, HP’s
Vice President of European Software Sales}
2. It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s a marketing hype
campaign.{Richard Stallman, Free Software Foundation founder}
3. Everyone who’s got an opinion will be telling the world and his dog
about their predictions for cloud computing.{Industry Expert}

Why the Name Cloud?

The term “Cloud” came from a network design that was used by network engineers to represent
the location of various network devices and there inter-connection.  The shape of this network
design was like a cloud.

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Why Cloud Computing?

 With increase in computer and Mobile user’s, data storage has become a priority in all
fields. Large and small scale businesses today thrive on their data & they spent a huge
amount of money to maintain this data. It requires a strong IT support and a storage hub.
Not all businesses can afford high cost of in-house IT infrastructure and back up support
services. For them Cloud Computing is a cheaper solution. Perhaps its efficiency in
storing data, computation and less maintenance cost has succeeded to attract even bigger
businesses as well.

 Cloud computing decreases the hardware and software demand from the user’s side. The
only thing that user must be able to run is the cloud computing systems interface
software, which can be as simple as Web browser, and the Cloud network takes care of
the rest. We all have experienced cloud computing at some instant of time, some of the
popular cloud services we have used or we are still using are mail services like gmail,
hotmail or yahoo etc.

 Cloud computing harnesses small business effectively having limited resources, it gives

small businesses access to the technologies that previously were out of their reach.  Cloud
computing helps small businesses to convert their maintenance cost into profit. Let’s see
how? In an in-house IT server, you have to pay a lot of attention and ensure that there are
no flaws into the system so that it runs smoothly. And in case of any technical glitch you
are completely responsible; it will seek a lot of attention, time and money for repair.
Whereas, in cloud computing, the service provider takes the complete responsibility of
the complication and the technical faults.

Cloud Computing Services

The three major Cloud Computing Offerings are

1. SaaS (Software as a Service)

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 SaaS or software as a service is a software distribution model in which applications are
hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network
(internet). SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying
technologies that supports Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) or Web Services.
Through internet this service is available to users anywhere in the world. Traditionaly,
software application needed to be purchased upfront &then installed it onto your
computer. SaaS users on the other hand, instead of purchasing the software subscribes to
it, usually on monthly basisvia internet. Anyone who needs an access to a particular piece
of software can be subscribe as a user, whether it is one or two people or every thousands
of employees in a corporation. SaaS is compatible with all internet enabled devices.

2. PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Platform as a service, is referred as PaaS, it provides a platform and environment to allow

developers to build applications and services. This service is hosted in the cloud and
accessed by the users via internet.To understand in a simple terms, let compare this with
painting a picture, where you are provided with paint colors, different paint brushes and
paper by your school teacher and you just have to draw a beautiful picture using those
tools. PaaS services are constantly updated & new features added. Software developers,
web developers and business can benefit from PaaS. It provides platform to support
application development. It includes software support and management services, storage,
networking, deploying, testing, collaborating, hosting and maintaining applications.

3. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

IaaS (Infrastructure As A Service) is one of the fundamental service model of cloud

computing alongside PaaS( Platform as a Service). It provides access to computing
resources in a virtualized environment “the cloud” on internet.  It provides computing
infrastructure like virtual server space, network connections, bandwidth, load balancers
and IP addresses. The pool of hardware resource is extracted from multiple servers and
networks usually distributed across numerous data centers.  This provides redundancy
and reliability to IaaS. IaaS(Infrastructure as a service) is a complete package for

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 computing. For small scale businesses who are looking for cutting cost on IT
infrastructure, IaaS is one of the solutions. Annually a lot of money is spent in
maintenance and buying new components like hard-drives, network connections, external
storage device etc. which a business owner could have saved for other expenses by using
IaaS.

Types of Clouds

There are four different cloud models that you can subscribe according to business needs.
Following are the different Types of Clouds:

1. Private Cloud: Here, computing resources are deployed for one particular organization. 

This method is more used for intra-business interactions.  Where the computing resources
can be governed, owned and operated by the same organization.
2. Community Cloud: Here, computing resources are provided for a community and
organizations. 
3. Public Cloud: This type of cloud is used usually for B2C (Business to Consumer) type
interactions.  Here the computing resource is owned, governed and operated by
government, an academic or business organization. 
4. Hybrid Cloud: This type of cloud can be used for both type of interactions -  B2B
(Business to Business) or B2C ( Business to Consumer). This deployment method is
called hybrid cloud as the computing resources are bound together by different clouds.

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Architectures
Cloud Computing Architecture is a combination of components required for a Cloud
Computing service. A Cloud computing architecture consists of several components like a front-
end platform, a back-end platform or servers, a network or internet service, and a cloud based
delivery service.

Front-end – This is the part seen by the client, i.e. the computer user. This merges the client’s
network and applications used to access the cloud via a user interface such as a web browser.

Back- End – The back end of the cloud computing architecture is the ‘cloud’ itself, comprising
various computers, servers and data storage devices.

Importantly; it is the responsibility of the back end to enable built-in security mechanism,
traffic control and protocols.
The server employs certain protocols known as middleware, which help the connected
devices to communicate with each other.

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Pros and Cons
Pros
 Say ‘Goodbye’ to costly systems: Cloud hosting enables the businesses to enjoy
minimal expenditure. As everything can be done in the cloud, the local systems of the
employees have very less to do with. It saves the dollars that are spent on costly devices.
 Access from infinite options: Another advantage of cloud computing is accessing the
environment of cloud not only from the system but through other amazing options. These
options are tablets, I Pad, net books and even mobile phones. It not only increases efficiency
but enhances the services provided to the consumers.
 Software Expense: Cloud infrastructure eliminates the high software costs of the
businesses. The numbers of software are already stored on the cloud servers. It removes the
need for buying expensive software and paying for their licensing costs..
 Data Centralization: Another key benefit of cloud services is the centralized data. The
information for multiple projects and different branch offices are stored in one location that
can be accessed from remote places.
 Data Recovery: Cloud computing providers enables automatic data backup on the cloud
system. The recovery of data when a hard drive crash is either not possible or may cost a huge
amount of dollars or wastage of valuable time.
 Sharing Capabilities: We talked about documents accessibility, let’s hit sharing too. All
your precious documents and files can be emailed, and shared whenever required. So, you can
be present wherever you are not!
 Cloud Security: Cloud service vendor chooses only the highest secure data centers for
your information. Moreover, for sensitive information in the cloud there are proper auditing,
passwords, and encryptions.
 Free Cloud Storage: Cloud is the best platform to store all your valuable information.
The storage is free, limitless and forever secure, unlike your system.

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Cons
 Net Connection: For cloud computing, an internet connection is a must to access your
precious data.
 Low Bandwidth: With a low bandwidth net, the benefits of Cloud computing cannot be
utilized. Sometimes even a high bandwidth satellite connection can lead to poor quality
performance due to high latency.
 Affected Quality: The internet is used for various reasons such as listening to audios,
watching videos online, downloading and uploading heavy files, printing from the cloud and
the list goes on. The quality of Cloud computing connection can get affected when a lot of
people utilize the net at the same time.
 Security Issues: Of course, cloud computing keeps your data secure. But for maintaining
complete security, an IT consulting firm’s assistance and advice is important. Else, the
business can become vulnerable to hackers and threats.
 Non-negotiable Agreements: Some cloud computing vendors have non-negotiable
contracts for the companies. It can be disadvantageous for a lot of businesses.
 Cost Comparison: Cloud software may look like an affordable option when compared to
an in-house installation of software. But it is important to compare the features of the installed
software and the cloud software. As some specific features in the cloud software can be
missing that might be essential for your business. Sometimes you are charged extra for
unrequired additional features.
 No Hard Drive: As Steve Jobs, the late chairman of Apple had exclaimed “I don’t need
a hard disk on my computer if I can get to the server faster… carrying around these non-
connected computers is byzantine by comparison.” But some people who use programs
cannot do without an attached hard drive.
 Lack of full support: Cloud-based services do not always provide proper support to the
customers. The vendors are not available on e-mail or phones and want the consumers to
depend on FAQ and online community for support. Due to this, complete transparency is
never offered.
 Incompatibility: Sometimes, there are problems of software incompatibility. As some
applications, tools, and software connect particularly to a personal computer.

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 Minimal flexibility: The application and services run on a remote server. Due to this,
enterprises using cloud computing have minimal control over the functions of the software as
well as hardware. The applications can never be run locally due to the remote software.

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