Cloud Computing Research and Security Issues

Jianfeng Yang Zhibin Chen

College of Computer Science and Technology College of Computer Science and Technology
Sichuan University Sichuan University
Chengdu, China Chengdu, China
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract—Cloud computing, a rapidly developing information

technology, has aroused the concern of the whole world. Cloud II. WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING
computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared
resources, software and information, are provided to computers A. Definition
and devices on-demand, like the electricity grid [1]. Cloud “Cloud” is a virtualized pool of computing resources. It
computing is the product of the fusion of traditional computing can:
technology and network technology like grid computing,
distributed computing parallel computing and so on. It aims to • Manage a variety of different workloads, including the
construct a perfect system with powerful computing capability batch of back-end operations and user-oriented
through a large number of relatively low-cost computing entity, interactive applications.
and using the advanced business models like SaaS (Software as a
Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a • Rapidly deploy and increase workload by speedy
Service) to distribute the powerful computing capacity to end providing physical machines or virtual machines.
users’ hands. This article introduces the background and service
model of cloud computing. This article also introduces the • Support for redundancy, self-healing and highly
existing issues in cloud computing such as security, privacy, scalable programming model, so that workload can be
reliability and so on. Proposition of solution for these issues has recover from a variety of inevitable hardware/software
been provided also. failure

Keywords-cloud computing; security; privacy; issue

• Real-time monitor resources usage, rebalance the
allocation of resources when needed [4].
I. INTRODUCTION B. Service Model
Cloud computing is not a total new concept; it is originated • Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Software as a service is
from the earlier large-scale distributed computing technology. software that is deployed over the internet and/or is
However, it will be a subversion technology and cloud deployed to run behind a firewall in your local area
computing will be the third revolution in the IT industry, which network or personal computer. This is a “pay-as-you-
represent the development trend of the IT industry from go” model and was initially widely deployed for sales
hardware to software, software to services, distributed service force automation and Customer Relationship
to centralized service. Cloud computing is also a new mode of Management (CRM).
business computing, it will be widely used in the near future.
The core concept of cloud computing is reducing the • Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Platform as a service,
processing burden on the users’ terminal by constantly another SAAS, this kind of cloud computing provide
improving the handling ability of the “cloud”, eventually development environment as a service. You can use
simplify the users’ terminal to a simple input and output the middleman’s equipment to develop your own
devices, and busk in the powerful computing capacity of the program and deliver it to the users through Internet and
cloud on-demand. All of this is available through a simple servers.
Internet connection using a standard browser or other
connection [2]. However, there still exist many problems in • Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Infrastructure as a
cloud computing today, a recent survey shows that data service delivers a platform virtualization environment
security and privacy risks have become the primary concern for as a service. Rather than purchasing servers, software,
people to shift to cloud computing [3]. data center space or network equipment, clients instead
buy those resources as a fully outsourced service.
• Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS): According to Nicholas
Carr [5], “the idea of buying IT hardware or even an
entire data center as a pay-as-you-go subscription
service that scales up or down to meet your needs. But

978-1-4244-5392-4/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

 as a result of rapid advances in hardware virtualization, virtually any server, and there are the statistics that show that
IT automation, and usage metering and pricing, I think one-third of breaches result from stolen or lost laptops and
the concept of hardware-as-a-service, let’s call it HaaS, other devices and from employees’ accidentally exposing data
and may at last be ready for prime time.” This model is on the Internet, with nearly 16 percent due to insider theft [8].
advantageous to the enterprise users, since they do not
need to invest in building and managing data centers. B. Privacy
Different from the traditional computing model, cloud
C. Deployment Model computing utilizes the virtual computing technology, users’
• Public cloud: In public clouds, multiple customers personal data may be scattered in various virtual data center
share the computing resources provided by a single rather than stay in the same physical location, even across the
service provider, Customers can quickly access these national borders, at this time, data privacy protection will face
resources, and only pay for the operating resources. the controversy of different legal systems. On the other hand,
Although the public cloud has compelling advantages, users may leak hidden information when they accessing cloud
there existing the hidden danger of security, regulatory computing services. Attackers can analyze the critical task
compliance and quality of service (QoS). depend on the computing task submitted by the users [9].
• Private cloud: In the private cloud, computing C. Reliability
resources are used and controlled by a private
enterprise. It’s generally deployed in the enterprise’s Servers in the cloud have the same problems as your own
data center and managed by internal personnel or resident servers. The cloud servers also experience downtimes
service provider. The main advantage of this model is and slowdowns, what the difference is that users have a higher
that the security, compliance and QoS are under the dependent on cloud service provider (CSP) in the model of
control of the enterprises.[6] cloud computing. There is a big difference in the CSP’s service
model, once you select a particular CSP, you may be locked-in,
• Hybrid cloud: A third type can be hybrid cloud that is thus bring a potential business secure risk.
typical combination of public and private cloud. It
enables the enterprise to running state-steady workload D. Legal Issues
in the private cloud, and asking the public cloud for
intensive computing resources when peak workload Regardless of efforts to bring into line the lawful situation,
occurs, then return if no longer needed [7]. as of 2009, supplier such as Amazon Web Services provide to
major markets by developing restricted road and rail network
• Community cloud: Several organizations jointly and letting users to choose “availability zones” [10]. On the
construct and share the same cloud infrastructure as other hand, worries stick with safety measures and
well as policies, requirements, values, and concerns. confidentiality from individual all the way through legislative
The cloud community forms into a degree of economic levels.
scalability and democratic equilibrium. The cloud
infrastructure could be hosted by a third-party vendor E. Open Standard
or within one of the organizations in the community. Open standards are critical to the growth of cloud
computing. Most cloud providers expose APIs which are
III. CLOUD COMPUTING ISSUES typically well-documented but also unique to their
In the last few years, cloud computing has grown from implementation and thus not interoperable. Some vendors have
being a promising business concept to one of the fastest adopted others' APIs [11] and there are a number of open
growing segments of the IT industry. Now, recession-hit standards under development, including the OGF's Open Cloud
companies are increasingly realizing that simply by tapping Computing Interface. The Open Cloud Consortium (OCC) [12]
into the cloud they can gain fast access to best-of-breed is working to develop consensus on early cloud computing
business applications or drastically boost their infrastructure standards and practices.
resources, all at negligible cost. But as more and more
information on individuals and companies is placed in the F. Compliance
cloud, concerns are beginning to grow about just how safe an Numerous regulations pertain to the storage and use of
environment it is. data require regular reporting and audit trails, cloud providers
must enable their customers to comply appropriately with
A. Security these regulations. Managing Compliance and Security for
Where is your data more secure, on your local hard driver Cloud Computing, provides insight on how a top-down view
or on high security servers in the cloud? Some argue that of all IT resources within a cloud-based location can deliver a
customer data is more secure when managed internally, while stronger management and enforcement of compliance policies.
others argue that cloud providers have a strong incentive to In addition to the requirements to which customers are subject,
maintain trust and as such employ a higher level of security. the data centers maintained by cloud providers may also be
However, in the cloud, your data will be distributed over these subject to compliance requirements [13].
individual computers regardless of where your base repository
of data is ultimately stored. Industrious hackers can invade
G. Freedom trend in the future. Cloud computing brings us the
Cloud computing does not allow users to physically approximately infinite computing capability, good scalability,
possess the storage of the data, leaving the data storage and service on-demand and so on, also challenges at security,
privacy, legal issues and so on. To welcome the coming cloud
control in the hands of cloud providers. Customers will
computing era, solving the existing issues becomes utmost
contend that this is pretty fundamental and affords them the
urgency!
ability to retain their own copies of data in a form that retains
their freedom of choice and protects them against certain
issues out of their control whilst realizing the tremendous REFERENCES
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IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we discuss a fresh technology: cloud
computing. Describe its definition and some existing issues.
There is no doubt that the cloud computing is the development