CST3003 Assignment 1

AN ANALYSIS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AND

TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE ORGANIZATION

Prepare for:
Zheng Qi
Manager
Center for mobile devices study

Prepared by:
Li Simin
IT manager

Date of submission:

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 Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction to Cloud Computing................................................................................ 3

1.1 What is the cloud? .................................................................................................... 4

1.1.1 Characteristics o ......................................................................................... 4
1.1.2 Service Models........................................................................................... 4
1.1.3 Depoyment of Cloud Services ...................................................................... 4

2. How can you use the Cloud?...................................................................................... 5

3. Types of clouds ...................................................................................................... 6

4. Choosing a cloud provider ..................................................................................... 6
4.1.1 Software as a Service. o ............................................................................... 6
4.1.2 Platform as Services .................................................................................... 6
4.1.3 Infrastructure as a Service. o ........................................................................ 6

5. Cloud Service and Benefits ........................................................................................ 7

6. Dvantages of Cloud Computing .................................................................................. 9

7. Disadvantages of Cloud Computing ............................................................................ 10

8. Why cloud Services are Popular ................................................................................. 10

9. Potential Privacy Risks .............................................................................................. 11

Conclusion................................................................................................................... 12

List of References

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 1.0 Introduction to Cloud Computing

When you store your photos online instead of on your home computer, or use
webmail or a social networking site, you are using a “cloud computing” service. If you
are an organization, and you want to use, for example, an online invoicing service instead
of updating the in-house one you have been using for many years, that online invoicing
service is a “cloud computing” service. Cloud computing refers to the delivery of
computing resources over the Internet.

Instead of keeping data on your own hard drive or updating applications for your
needs, you use a service over the Internet, at another location, to store your information
or use its applications. Doing so may give rise to certain privacy implications. For that
reason the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has prepared some
responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). We have also developed a Fact Sheet
that provides detailed information on cloud computing and the privacy challenges it
presents.

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 1.1 What is the cloud?
Cloud computing is receiving a great deal of attention, both in publications and
among users, from individuals at home to the U.S. government. Yet it is not always clearly
defined. 1 Cloud computing is a subscription-based service where you can obtain
networked storage space and computer resources. One way to think of cloud computing
is to consider your experience with email. Your email client, if it is Yahoo!, Gmail,
Hotmail, and so on, takes care of housing all of the hardware and software necessary to
support your personal email account.

When you want to access your email you open your web browser, go to the email
client, and log in. The most important part of the equation is having internet access. Your
email is not housed on your physical computer; you access it through an internet
connection, and you can access it anywhere.

If you are on a trip, at work, or down the street getting coffee, you can check your
email as long as you have access to the internet. Your email is different than software
installed on your computer, such as a word processing program. When you create a
document using word processing software, that document stays on the device you used to
make it unless you physically move it. An email client is similar to how cloud computing
works. Except instead of accessing just your email, you can choose what information you
have access to within the cloud.

Characteristics
The characteristics of cloud computing include on-demand self service, broad
network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. On-demand self
service means that customers (usually organizations) can request and manage their own
computing resources. Broad network access allows services to be offered over the Internet
or private networks. Pooled resources means that customers draw from a pool of
computing resources, usually in remote data centres. Services can be scaled larger or
smaller; and use of a service is measured and customers are billed accordingly.

Service models
The cloud computing service models are Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform
as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). In a Software as a Service
model, a pre-made application, along with any required software, operating system,
hardware, and network are provided. In PaaS, an operating system, hardware, and
network are provided, and the customer installs or develops its own software and
applications. The IaaS model provides just the hardware and network; the customer
installs or develops its own operating systems, software and applications.

Deployment of cloud services

Cloud services are typically made available via a private cloud, community cloud,
public cloud or hybrid cloud.

Generally speaking, services provided by a public cloud are offered over the
Internet and are owned and operated by a cloud provider. Some examples include services
aimed at the general public, such as online photo storage services, e-mail services, or

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social networking sites. However, services for enterprises can also be offered in a public
cloud.

In a private cloud, the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for a specific

organization, and is managed by the organization or a third party.

In a community cloud, the service is shared by several organizations and made

available only to those groups. The infrastructure may be owned and operated by the
organizations or by a cloud service provider.

A hybrid cloud is a combination of different methods of resource pooling (for

example, combining public and community clouds).

2. How can you use the cloud?

The cloud makes it possible for you to access your information from anywhere at
any time. While a traditional computer setup requires you to be in the same location as
your data storage device, the cloud takes away that step.

The cloud removes the need for you to be in the same physical location as the
hardware that stores your data. Your cloud provider can both own and house the hardware
and software necessary to run your home or business applications.

This is especially helpful for businesses that cannot afford the same amount of
hardware and storage space as a bigger company. Small companies can store their
information in the cloud, removing the cost of purchasing and storing memory devices.
Additionally, because you only need to buy the amount of storage space you will use, a
business can purchase more space or reduce their subscription as their business grows or
as they find they need less storage space.

One requirement is that you need to have an internet connection in order to access
the cloud. This means that if you want to look at a specific document you have housed in
the cloud, you must first establish an internet connection either through a wireless or
wired internet or a mobile broadband connection. The benefit is that you can access that
same document from wherever you are with any device that can access the internet. These
devices could be a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.

This can also help your business to function more smoothly because anyone who
can connect to the internet and your cloud can work on documents, access software, and
store data. Imagine picking up your smartphone and downloading a .pdf document to
review instead of having to stop by the office to print it or upload it to your laptop. This
is the freedom that the cloud can provide for you or your organization.

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 3. Types of clouds
There are different types of clouds that you can subscribe to depending on your
needs. As a home user or small business owner, you will most likely use public cloud
services.

1. Public Cloud - A public cloud can be accessed by any subscriber with an internet
connection and access to the cloud space.

2. Private Cloud - A private cloud is established for a specific group or

organization and limits access to just that group.

3. Community Cloud - A community cloud is shared among two or more

organizations that have similar cloud requirements.

4. Hybrid Cloud - A hybrid cloud is essentially a combination of at least two

clouds, where the clouds included are a mixture of public, private, or community.

4. Choosing a cloud provider

Each provider serves a specific function, giving users more or less control over
their cloud depending on the type. When you choose a provider, compare your needs to
the cloud services available. Your cloud needs will vary depending on how you intend
to use the space and resources associated with the cloud. If it will be for personal home
use, you will need a different cloud type and provider than if you will be using the cloud
for business. Keep in mind that your cloud provider will be pay-as-you-go, meaning that
if your technological needs change at any point you can purchase more storage space (or
less for that matter) from your cloud provider.

There are three types of cloud providers that you can subscribe to: Software as a
Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
These three types differ in the amount of control that you have over your information,
and conversely, how much you can expect your provider to do for you. Briefly, here is
what you can expect from each type.

1. Software as a Service - A SaaS provider gives subscribers access to both

resources and applications. SaaS makes it unnecessary for you to have a physical copy
of software to install on your devices. SaaS also makes it easier to have the same
software on all of your devices at once by accessing it on the cloud. In a SaaS
agreement, you have the least control over the cloud.

2. Platform as a Service - A PaaS system goes a level above the Software as a

Service setup. A PaaS provider gives subscribers access to the components that they
require to develop and operate applications over the internet.

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 3. Infrastructure as a Service - An IaaS agreement, as the name states, deals
primarily with computational infrastructure. In an IaaS agreement, the subscriber
completely outsources the storage and resources, such as hardware and software, that
they need.

As you go down the list from number one to number three, the subscriber gains
more control over what they can do within the space of the cloud. The cloud provider
has less control in an IaaS system than with an SaaS agreement.

What does this mean for the home user or business looking to start using the
cloud? It means you can choose your level of control over your information and types of
services that you want from a cloud provider. For example, imagine you are starting up
your own small business.

You cannot afford to purchase and store all of the hardware and software
necessary to stay on the cutting edge of your market. By subscribing to an Infrastructure
as a Service cloud, you would be able to maintain your new business with just as much
computational capability as a larger, more established company, while only paying for
the storage space and bandwidth that you use. However, this system may mean you
have to spend more of your resources on the development and operation of applications.

As you can see, you should evaluate your current computational resources, the
level of control you want to have, your financial situation, and where you foresee your
business going before signing up with a cloud provider.

If you are a home user, however, you will most likely be looking at free or low-
cost cloud services (such as web-based email) and will not be as concerned with many
of the more complex cloud offerings.

After you have fully taken stock of where you are and where you want to be,
research into each cloud provider will give you a better idea of whether they are right
for you.

5. Cloud Service and Benefits

“The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing” by Peter Mell and Tim Grance
(version 14, 10/7/2009) described previously in this chapter (refer to Figure 1.1) that
classified cloud computing into the three SPI service models (SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS) and
four cloud types (public, private, community, and hybrid), also assigns five essential
characteristics that cloud computing systems must offer:

• On-demand self-service: A client can provision computer resources without the

need for interaction with cloud service provider personnel.

• Broad network access: Access to resources in the cloud is available over the
network using standard methods in a manner that provides platform-independent access
to clients of all types. This includes a mixture of heterogeneous operating systems, and
thick and thin platforms such as laptops, mobile phones, and PDA.

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 • Resource pooling: A cloud service provider creates resources that are pooled
together in a system that supports multi-tenant usage. Physical and virtual systems are
dynamically allocated or reallocated as needed. Intrinsic in this concept of pooling is the
idea of abstraction that hides the location of resources such as virtual machines,
processing, memory, storage, and network bandwidth and connectivity.

• Rapid elasticity: Resources can be rapidly and elastically provisioned. The

system can add resources by either scaling up systems (more powerful computers) or
scaling out systems (more computers of the same kind), and scaling may be automatic
or manual. From the standpoint of the client, cloud computing resources should look
limitless and can be purchased at any time and in any quantity.

• Measured service: The use of cloud system resources is measured, audited,

and reported to the customer based on a metered system. A client can be charged based
on a known metric such as amount of storage used, number of transactions, network I/O
(Input/Output) or bandwidth, amount of processing power used, and so forth. A client is
charged based on the level of services provided. While these five core features of cloud
computing are on almost anybody's list, you also should consider these additional
advantages:

• Lower costs: Because cloud networks operate at higher efficiencies and with
greater utilization, significant cost reductions are often encountered.

• Ease of utilization: Depending upon the type of service being offered, you
may find that you do not require hardware or software licenses to implement your
service.

• Quality of Service: The Quality of Service (QoS) is something that you can
obtain under contract from your vendor.

• Reliability: The scale of cloud computing networks and their ability to provide
load balancing and failover makes them highly reliable, often much more reliable than
what you can achieve in a single organization

. • Outsourced IT management: A cloud computing deployment lets someone

else manage your computing infrastructure while you manage your business. In most
instances, you achieve considerable reductions in IT staffing costs.

• Simplified maintenance and upgrade: Because the system is centralized, you

can easily apply patches and upgrades. This means your users always have access to the
latest software versions.

• Low Barrier to Entry: In particular, upfront capital expenditures are

dramatically reduced. In cloud computing, anyone can be a giant at any time. This very
long list of benefits should make it obvious why so many people are excited about the
idea of cloud computing. Cloud computing is not a panacea, however. In many
instances, cloud computing doesn't work well for particular applications. Cloud
computing is not a new technology, rather a new way of delivering computing
resources.

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 Computing services ranging from data storage and processing, to software, such
as email handling, are now available instantly, commitment-free and on-demand. Since
we are in a time of belt-tightening, this new economic model for computing has found
fertile ground and is seeing massive global investment.

Cloud Computing can refer to several different service types, including

Application/Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Are there any benefits of cloud computing for information security? Cloud
computing has significant potential to improve security and resilience and the report
lists and describes some of the main benefits, which include - Security and the benefits
of scale: put simply, all kinds of security measures are cheaper when implemented at
larger scale.

- Security as a market differentiator: Security is a priority concern for many

cloud customers; many of them will make buying choices on the basis of the reputation
for confidentiality, integrity and resilience and the security servicesoffered by a provider

6. Advantages of Cloud Computing

Speaking about advantages of Cloud Computing we present bellow the main
benefits for businesses in general, focusing at some points on examples for small
businesses: Cost efficiency - Cloud computing is probably the most cost efficient
method to use, maintain and upgrade, as explained in [5]. Traditional desktop software
costs companies a lot, in terms of finance. Adding up the licensing fees for multiple
users can prove to be very expensive for the establishment concerned. The cloud, on the
other hand, is available at much cheaper rates and hence, can significantly lower the
company’s IT expenses.

Besides, there are many one-time-payment, pay-as-you-go and other scalable

options available, which makes it very reasonable for the company in question. Paper
[6] adds up that it lowers the cost for smaller firms which intend to apply the compute-
intensive techniques. Almost Unlimited Storage. Storing information in the cloud gives
you almost unlimited storage capacity. Backup and Recovery. Since all the data is
stored in the cloud, backing it up and restoring the same is relatively much easier than
storing the same on a physical device. Furthermore, standardized API used to
implement parallel applications.

The MPI implications for virtualized resources might be analysed through its
implementation. The analysis of performance achievement implies the understanding of
the complex process of the application's adoption of MPI and its impact on cloud
resources. MPI sustains I/O operations, collective communication and point-to-point
communication [6]. The improvements of MPI on the application reflect the mapping of
the processors from the clusters.

The CPUs evaluation might provide indicators regarding this aspect. From the
performance point of view we propose a comparison for different characteristics of the
parallel computing technologies. From the programming languages perspective, for

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MPI, there are used C++, Java and C#, for Dryad there are C# and DryadLINQ, for
MapReduce and Hadopp the main used language is Java. The data usage is assured by
MPI, Dryad and MapReduce through directories, shared files and local disks and for
Hadoop by HDFS.

The communication is achieved in MapReduce by distribution network, in

Hadoop by HDFS, in MPI and Dryad by files and TCP pipes. The failures are worked
on differently according to what technology is utilized; for MPI there is OpenMPI and
for Dryad the failure is handled by the re-execution of maps. Cloud technologies
enhance the way Big data is handled and the processes used for failures approaches. The
minuses might be considered when the computation is moved to data and the parallel
computing is done on the local storage.

7. Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

In spite of its many benefits, as mentioned above, Cloud computing also has its
disadvantages. Businesses, especially smaller ones, need to be aware of these aspects
before going in for this technology. The main risks involved in Cloud Computing are:
Technical Issues. Though it is true that information and data on the Cloud can be
accessed any time and from anywhere, there are moments when the system can have
some serious malfunction.

Businesses should be aware of the fact that this technology is always prone to
outages and other technical issues. Even the best Cloud service providers run into this
kind of trouble, in spite of keeping up high standards of maintenance. Security in the
Cloud.

The other major issue of Cloud is represented by security. Before applications

make it difficult to get customer service promptly – or at all. Sending an email and
hoping for a response within 48 hours is not an acceptable way for most of us to run a
business".

The New York Times writes: "The bottom line: If you need handholding or if
you are not comfortable trying to find advice on user forums, the cloud probably is not
ideal" Thinking About Moving to the Cloud? There Are Trade-Offs. As paper [8]
explains about adoption of Cloud computing, “it doesn't mean that every small business
should immediately throw out all their servers and software and conduct all their
business operations in the cloud”.

Small business owners have different needs and different comfort levels. It may
be more advantageous for you to use cloud computing only for certain applications. Or
even not at all. Previously to adopting Cloud computing, business owners should
consider how these disadvantages of cloud computing could affect their small business.

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 8. Why cloud services are popular
Cloud services are popular because they can reduce the cost and complexity of
owning and operating computers and networks. Since cloud users do not have to invest
in information technology infrastructure, purchase hardware, or buy software licences,
the benefits are low up-front costs, rapid return on investment, rapid deployment,
customization, flexible use, and solutions that can make use of new innovations. In
addition, cloud providers that have specialized in a particular area (such as e-mail) can
bring advanced services that a single company might not be able to afford or develop.

Some other benefits to users include scalability, reliability, and efficiency.

Scalability means that cloud computing offers unlimited processing and storage capacity.
The cloud is reliable in that it enables access to applications and documents anywhere in
the world via the Internet. Cloud computing is often considered efficient because it allows
organizations to free up resources to focus on innovation and product development.

Another potential benefit is that personal information may be better protected in

the cloud. Specifically, cloud computing may improve efforts to build privacy protection
into technology from the start and the use of better security mechanisms. Cloud
computing will enable more flexible IT acquisition and improvements, which may permit
adjustments to procedures based on the sensitivity of the data.

Widespread use of the cloud may also encourage open standards for cloud
computing that will establish baseline data security features common across different
services and providers. Cloud computing may also allow for better audit trails. In
addition, information in the cloud is not as easily lost (when compared to the paper
documents or hard drives, for example).

9. Potential privacy risks

While there are benefits, there are privacy and security concerns too. Data is
travelling over the Internet and is stored in remote locations. In addition, cloud providers
often serve multiple customers simultaneously. All of this may raise the scale of exposure
to possible breaches, both accidental and deliberate.

Concerns have been raised by many that cloud computing may lead to “function
creep” — uses of data by cloud providers that were not anticipated when the information
was originally collected and for which consent has typically not been obtained.
Given how inexpensive it is to keep data, there is little incentive to remove the
information from the cloud and more reasons to find other things to do with it. 4 Security
issues, the need to segregate data when dealing with providers that serve multiple
customers, potential secondary uses of the data—these are areas that organizations should
keep in mind when considering a cloud provider and when negotiating contracts or
reviewing terms of service with a cloud provider.
Given that the organization transferring this information to the provider is
ultimately accountable for its protection, it needs to ensure that the personal information
is appropriate handled.

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 Conclusions
To summarize, the cloud provides many options for the everyday computer user
as well as large and small businesses. It opens up the world of computing to a broader
range of uses and increases the ease of use by giving access through any internet
connection. However, with this increased ease also come drawbacks.

You have less control over who has access to your information and little to no
knowledge of where it is stored. You also must be aware of the security risks of having
data stored on the cloud.

The cloud is a big target for malicious individuals and may have disadvantages
because it can be accessed through an unsecured internet connection. If you are
considering using the cloud, be certain that you identify what information you will be
putting out in the cloud, who will have access to that information, and what you will need
to make sure it is protected.
Additionally, know your options in terms of what type of cloud will be best for
your needs, what type of provider will be most useful to you, and what the reputation and
responsibilities of the providers you are considering are before you sign up.

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 List of References

Lewis, Grace. Cloud Computing: Finding the Silver Lining, Not the Silver
Bullet. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/newsitems/cloudcomputing.cfm (2009). 2. Lewis,
Grace. Basics About Cloud Computing.
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/whitepapers/cloudcomputingbasics.cfm
(2010). 3. Jansen, Wayne & Grance, Timothy. Guidelines on Security and Privacy in
Public Cloud Computing. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011. 4.
Strowd, Harrison & Lewis, Grace. T-Check in System-of-Systems Technologies: Cloud
Computing (CMU/SEI-2010-TN-009). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon
University, 2010. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/10tn009.cfm

Chappell, D., A short introduction to cloud platforms: An enterprise-oriented

view, White Paper, 13 pages, San Francisco, Chappell and Associates, 2008
Marc Jansen, What does it service management look like in the Cloud? An ITIL
based approach, Proceedings of the International Conference on COMPUTERS,
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS and COMPUTING (ICDCC'11), Barcelona, Spain,
September 15-17, 2011, pp. 87-92, ISBN: 978-1-61804-030-5
I. Foster, C. Kesselman, J. Nick, S. Tuecke, The Physiology of the Grid: An
Open Grid Services Architecture for Distributed Systems Integration. Globus Project,
2002.
I. Raicu, Y. Zhao, I. Foster, A. Szalay. Accelerating Largescale Data Exploration
through Data Diffusion, International Workshop on Data-Aware Distributed Computing,
2008.
Priya Viswanathan, Cloud Computing – Is it Really All That Beneficial?
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing,
http://mobiledevices.about.com/od/additionalres ources/a/Cloud-Computing-Is-It-
Really-AllThat-Beneficial.htm
Evangelinos, C. and C. Hill. 2008, Cloud Computing for parallel Scientific HPC
Applications: Feasibility of Running Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Climate Models on
Amazon's EC2, The First Workshop on Cloud Computing and its Applications
(CCA’08). Chicago, IL

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