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CLOUD COMPUTING
UNIT -I

Introduction to Cloud Computing :

Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services such as servers, storage, databases,
networking, software, analytics, intelligence, and more, over the Cloud (Internet).

Cloud Computing provides an alternative to the on-premises datacentre. With an on-premises

datacentre, we have to manage everything, such as purchasing and installing hardware,
virtualization, installing the operating system, and any other required applications, setting up the
network, configuring the firewall, and setting up storage for data. After doing all the set-up, we
become responsible for maintaining it through its entire lifecycle.

But if we choose Cloud Computing, a cloud vendor is responsible for the hardware purchase and
maintenance. They also provide a wide variety of software and platform as a service. We can
take any required services on rent. The cloud computing services will be charged based on usage.

Advantages of cloud computing :

o Cost: It reduces the huge capital costs of buying hardware and software.
o Speed: Resources can be accessed in minutes, typically within a few clicks.
o Scalability: We can increase or decrease the requirement of resources according to the
business requirements.
o Productivity: While using cloud computing, we put less operational effort. We do not
need to apply patching, as well as no need to maintain hardware and software. So, in this
way, the IT team can be more productive and focus on achieving business goals.
o Reliability: Backup and recovery of data are less expensive and very fast for business
continuity.
o Security: Many cloud vendors offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls
that strengthen our data security.

Characteristics of Cloud Computing :

There are basically 5 essential characteristics of Cloud Computing.
1. On-demand self-services:
The Cloud computing services does not require any human administrators, user themselves
are able to provision, monitor and manage computing resources as needed.
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2. Broad network access:

The Computing services are generally provided over standard networks and heterogeneous
devices.
3. Rapid elasticity:
The Computing services should have IT resources that are able to scale out and in quickly
and on as needed basis. Whenever the user require services it is provided to him and it is
scale out as soon as its requirement gets over.
4. Resource pooling:
The IT resource (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) present are
shared across multiple applications and occupant in an uncommitted manner. Multiple
clients are provided service from a same physical resource.
5. Measured service:
The resource utilization is tracked for each application and occupant, it will provide both
the user and the resource provider with an account of what has been used. This is done for
various reasons like monitoring billing and effective use of resource.

Cloud Computing Models :

The cloud computing model affords the opportunity to deliver applications via the Internet,
preclude the costs of owning and operating data centers, and leverage the work of software
developers. Cloud computing and services are typically based on the ownership of the
infrastructure (and to whom services are offered) and based on the general architecture visible to
users (e.g., are they providing a platform for applications, or are they providing complete
application software solutions as a service). Based on these services provided Cloud computing
can be divided into three main models:

 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
 Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and

 Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

These three services make up the Cloud Computing Stack, with SaaS on top, PaaS in the middle,
and IaaS on the bottom.
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There are more than 3 service models that are widely in use today. More service models like
‘Data Analytics as a Service’ and ‘HPC/Grid as a Service’ are emerging as useful models. To
select the right service model factors such as availability of suitable application software, need
for development and testing environment, need for effective computing infrastructure control and
management required distribution of data, services, and infrastructure, existence, and complexity
of enterprise IT, infrastructure, and datacenter/warehouse are essential.

Cloud computing can also be categorized based on the deployment models. These classifications
are based on the ability of an organization to manage business needs and secure assets

1. Public cloud
2. Private cloud
3. Hybrid cloud

Examples of cloud computing

Many of us use cloud computing every day. And, that too without realizing it. When you ask
Google for an answer, your computer or laptop isn't playing many parts in finding the answers
you need.

Words involved in your queries are sent to one of hundreds of thousands of clustered PCs
managed by Google. And, upon successful search, you get the answer. The entire process
happens in a split second. When you do a Google search, the real work in finding your answers
might be done by a computer/server sitting in California, Dublin, Tokyo, or New Zealand.

The Web-based email system is one of the common examples. Hotmail is one of the oldest
which came along and carried email off into the cloud.
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Preparing documents over the Net is a relatively newer example of cloud computing. Log on to a
web-based service such as Google Documents, Google Forms, etc. and you can create a
document, spreadsheet, presentation, or whatever you like using Web-based software. The
document you produce is stored remotely, on a Web server, so you can access it from any
Internet-connected computer, anywhere in the world, any time you like, and download when you
want it.

When you use your computer for a web-based service like this, you are outsourcing your
computing needs to companies like Google. Google invests in software development and keeps it
up-to-date. They generate revenue by offering a host of paid services and through advertising as
well.

Types of cloud computing models

The different cloud computing models are:

 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - This means buying access to raw computing hardware
over the Net, such as servers or storage. Web hosting like GoDaddy is a simple example
of IaaS: you pay a monthly subscription or a per-megabyte/gigabyte fee to have a hosting
company serve up files for your website from their servers.

 Software as a Service (SaaS) - This means using a complete application running on

someone else's system. Some of the best examples in our day-to-day life are Web-based
email and Google Documents.
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 Platform as a Service (PaaS) – In this module, you develop your web-based applications
so they run on systems software and hardware of the cloud provider. Like an e-commerce
website where the shopping cart, checkout, and payment mechanism are running on a
merchant's server. Big Basket, Flipkart, etc. are few examples of PaaS.

What is Public Cloud?

Public cloud is a classic cloud computing model. In this model, the users can access a large pool
of computing power over the internet (whether that is IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS). One of the
significant benefits here is the ability to rapidly scale a service. The cloud computing suppliers
have vast amounts of computing power, which they share out between a large number of
customers -- the 'multi-tenant architecture. The huge scale of public cloud implies that they have
enough spare capacity that they can easily cope up with the customer needing more resources.
This is why it is often used for low-sensitive applications which demand a varying amount of
resources.

What is a Private Cloud?

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Private cloud allows organizations to benefit from some of the advantages of public cloud -- but
without the concerns about relinquishing control over data and services because it is tucked away
behind the corporate firewall. Companies can control exactly where their data is being held and
can build the infrastructure in a way they want -- largely for IaaS or PaaS projects -- to give
developers access to a pool of computing power that scales on-demand without putting security
at risk. This additional security comes at a cost, as few companies will have the scale of AWS,
Microsoft, or Google. This means they will not be able to create the same economies of scale to
get costs down. Still, for companies requiring additional security, a private cloud may be a useful
stepping stone, helping them to understand cloud services or rebuild internal applications for the
cloud, before shifting them into the public cloud.

What is Hybrid Cloud?

A hybrid cloud is where all users are in reality. It is a bit of this, a bit of that. Here the companies
can store some data in the public cloud, few projects in the private cloud, manage multiple
vendors, and usage of different levels of cloud usage. According to research by TechRepublic,
the main reasons for choosing a hybrid cloud include disaster recovery planning and the desire to
avoid hardware costs when expanding their existing data center.

Cloud Computing Technologies :

A list of cloud computing technologies are given below -

o Virtualization

o Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

o Grid Computing

o Utility Computing

Virtualization :
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Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual environment to run multiple applications and

operating systems on the same server. The virtual environment can be anything, such as a

single instance or a combination of many operating systems, storage devices, network

application servers, and other environments.

The concept of Virtualization in cloud computing increases the use of virtual machines. A virtual

machine is a software computer or software program that not only works as a physical

computer but can also function as a physical machine and perform tasks such as running

applications .

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) :

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) allows organizations to access on-demand cloud-based

computing solutions according to the change of business needs. It can work without or with

cloud computing. The advantages of using SOA is that it is easy to maintain, platform

independent, and highly scalable.

Service Provider and Service consumer are the two major roles within SOA.

Applications of Service-Oriented Architecture

There are the following applications of Service-Oriented Architecture -

o It is used in the healthcare industry.

o It is used to create many mobile applications and games.

o In the air force, SOA infrastructure is used to deploy situational awareness systems.

The service-oriented architecture is shown below:

Grid Computing :

Grid computing is also known as distributed computing. It is a processor architecture that

combines various different computing resources from multiple locations to achieve a common
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goal. In grid computing, the grid is connected by parallel nodes to form a computer cluster.

These computer clusters are in different sizes and can run on any operating system.

Grid computing contains the following three types of machines -

1. Control Node: It is a group of server which administrates the whole network.

2. Provider: It is a computer which contributes its resources in the network resource pool.

3. User: It is a computer which uses the resources on the network.

Mainly, grid computing is used in the ATMs, back-end infrastructures, and marketing research.

Utility Computing :

Utility computing is the most trending IT service model. It provides on-demand computing

resources (computation, storage, and programming services via API) and infrastructure based

on the pay per use method. It minimizes the associated costs and maximizes the efficient use of

resources. The advantage of utility computing is that it reduced the IT cost, provides greater

flexibility, and easier to manage.

Large organizations such as Google and Amazon established their own utility services for

computing storage and application.

cloud based services:

Cloud based services provide information technology (IT) as a service over the Internet or

dedicated network, with delivery on demand, and payment based on usage. Cloud based

services range from full applications and development platforms, to servers, storage, and

virtual desktops.

How cloud based services work:

Cloud based services have several common attributes:

 Virtualization - cloud computing utilizes server and storage virtualization extensively to

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allocate/reallocate resources rapidly

 Multi-tenancy - resources are pooled and shared among multiple users to gain economies of

scale

 Network-access - resources are accessed via web-browser or thin client using a variety of

networked devices (computer, tablet, smartphone)

 On demand - resources are self-provisioned from an online catalogue of pre-defined

configurations

 Elastic - resources can scale up or down automatically

 Metering/chargeback - resource usage is tracked and billed based on service arrangement

Cloud Computing Applications :

Cloud service providers provide various applications in the field of art, business, data storage

and backup services, education, entertainment, management, social networking, etc.

The most widely used cloud computing applications are given below -

1. Art Applications

Cloud computing offers various art applications for quickly and easily design attractive cards,

booklets, and images. Some most commonly used cloud art applications are given below:

i Moo

Moo is one of the best cloud art applications. It is used for designing and printing business

cards, postcards, and mini cards.

ii. Vistaprint

Vistaprint allows us to easily design various printed marketing products such as business cards,

Postcards, Booklets, and wedding invitations cards.

iii. Adobe Creative Cloud

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Adobe creative cloud is made for designers, artists, filmmakers, and other creative

professionals. It is a suite of apps which includes PhotoShop image editing programming,

Illustrator, InDesign, TypeKit, Dreamweaver, XD, and Audition.

2. Business Applications

Business applications are based on cloud service providers. Today, every organization requires

the cloud business application to grow their business. It also ensures that business applications

are 24*7 available to users.

There are the following business applications of cloud computing -

i. MailChimp

MailChimp is an email publishing platform which provides various options to design,

send, and save templates for emails.

iii. Salesforce

Salesforce platform provides tools for sales, service, marketing, e-commerce, and more. It also

provides a cloud development platform.

iv. Chatter

Chatter helps us to share important information about the organization in real time.

v. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a collaboration platform which provides communication, management, and social

collaboration tools.

vi. Paypal

Paypal offers the simplest and easiest online payment mode using a secure internet account.

Paypal accepts the payment through debit cards, credit cards, and also from Paypal account

holders.
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vii. Slack

Slack stands for Searchable Log of all Conversation and Knowledge. It provides a user-

friendly interface that helps us to create public and private channels for communication.

viii. Quickbooks

Quickbooks works on the terminology "Run Enterprise anytime, anywhere, on any device.

provides online accounting solutions for the business. It allows more than 20 users to work

simultaneously on the same system.

3. Data Storage and Backup Applications

Cloud computing allows us to store information (data, files, images, audios, and videos) on the

cloud and access this information using an internet connection. As the cloud provider is

responsible for providing security, so they offer various backup recovery application for

retrieving the lost data.

A list of data storage and backup applications in the cloud are given below -

i. Box.com

Box provides an online environment for secure content management,

workflow, and collaboration. It allows us to store different files such as Excel, Word, PDF, and

images on the cloud. The main advantage of using box is that it provides drag & drop
service for

files and easily integrates with Office 365, G Suite, Salesforce, and more than 1400 tools.

ii. Mozy

Mozy provides powerful online backup solutions for our personal and business data. It

schedules automatically back up for each day at a specific time.

iii. Joukuu

Joukuu provides the simplest way to share and track cloud-based backup files. Many users use
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joukuu to search files, folders, and collaborate on documents.

iv. Google G Suite

Google G Suite is one of the best cloud storage and backup application. It includes Google

Calendar, Docs, Forms, Google+, Hangouts, as well as cloud storage and tools for managing

cloud apps. The most popular app in the Google G Suite is Gmail. Gmail offers free email

services to users.

4. Education Applications

Cloud computing in the education sector becomes very popular. It offers various online

distance learning platforms and student information portals to the students. The advantage of

using cloud in the field of education is that it offers strong virtual classroom environments, Ease

of accessibility, secure data storage, scalability, greater reach for the students, and minimal

hardware requirements for the applications.

There are the following education applications offered by the cloud -

i. Google Apps for Education

Google Apps for Education is the most widely used platform for free web-based email,

calendar, documents, and collaborative study.

ii. Chromebooks for Education

Chromebook for Education is one of the most important Google's projects. It is designed
for the purpose that it enhances education innovation.

iii. Tablets with Google Play for Education

It allows educators to quickly implement the latest technology solutions into the classroom and
make it available to their students.

iv. AWS in Education

AWS cloud provides an education-friendly environment to universities, community colleges,

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and schools.

5. Entertainment Applications

Entertainment industries use a multi-cloud strategy to interact with the target audience. Cloud
computing offers various entertainment applications such as online games and video
conferencing.
i. Online games

Today, cloud gaming becomes one of the most important entertainment media. It offers

various online games that run remotely from the cloud. The best cloud gaming services are

Shaow, GeForce Now, Vortex, Project xCloud, and PlayStation Now.

ii. Video Conferencing Apps

Video conferencing apps provides a simple and instant connected experience. It allows us to

communicate with our business partners, friends, and relatives using a cloud-based video

conferencing. The benefits of using video conferencing are that it reduces cost, increases

efficiency, and removes interoperability.

6. Management Applications :

Cloud computing offers various cloud management tools which help admins to manage all

types of cloud activities, such as resource deployment, data integration, and disaster recovery.

These management tools also provide administrative control over the platforms, applications,
and infrastructure.

Some important management applications are -

i. Toggl

Toggl helps users to track allocated time period for a particular project.

ii. Evernote

Evernote allows you to sync and save your recorded notes, typed notes, and other notes in one
convenient place. It is available for both free as well as a paid version.

It uses platforms like Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Browser, and Unix.
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iii. Outright

Outright is used by management users for the purpose of accounts. It helps to track income,

expenses, profits, and losses in real-time environment.

iv. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting provides Video Conferencing and online meeting apps, which allows you to start

a meeting with your business partners from anytime, anywhere using mobile phones or tablets.

Using GoToMeeting app, you can perform the tasks related to the management such as join

meetings in seconds, view presentations on the shared screen, get alerts for upcoming

meetings, etc.

7. Social Applications

Social cloud applications allow a large number of users to connect with each other using social

networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, etc.

There are the following cloud based social applications -

i. Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website which allows active users to share files, photos,

videos, status, more to their friends, relatives, and business partners using the cloud storage

system. On Facebook, we will always get notifications when our friends like and comment on

the posts.

ii. Twitter

Twitter is a social networking site. It is a microblogging system. It allows users to follow high

profile celebrities, friends, relatives, and receive news. It sends and receives short posts called

tweets.
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iii. Yammer

Yammer is the best team collaboration tool that allows a team of employees to chat, share

images, documents, and videos.

iv. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network for students, freshers, and professionals.

Virtualization :

Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual environment to run multiple applications and

operating systems on the same server. The virtual environment can be anything, such as a

single instance or a combination of many operating systems, storage devices, network

application servers, and other environments.

The concept of Virtualization in cloud computing increases the use of virtual machines. A virtual

machine is a software computer or software program that not only works as a physical

computer but can also function as a physical machine and perform tasks such as running

applications or programs as per the user's demand.

Types of Virtualization

A list of types of Virtualization is given below -

i. Hardware virtualization

ii. Server virtualization

iii. Storage virtualization

iv. Operating system virtualization

1) Hardware Virtualization:

When the virtual machine software or virtual machine manager (VMM) is directly installed on
the hardware system is known as hardware virtualization.
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The main job of hypervisor is to control and monitoring the processor, memory and other
hardware resources.

After virtualization of hardware system we can install different operating system on it and run
different applications on those OS.

Usage:

Hardware virtualization is mainly done for the server platforms, because controlling virtual
machines is much easier than controlling a physical server.

2) Operating System Virtualization:

When the virtual machine software or virtual machine manager (VMM) is installed on the Host
operating system instead of directly on the hardware system is known as operating system
virtualization.

Usage:

Operating System Virtualization is mainly used for testing the applications on different platforms
of OS.

3) Server Virtualization:

When the virtual machine software or virtual machine manager (VMM) is directly installed on
the Server system is known as server virtualization.

Usage:

Server virtualization is done because a single physical server can be divided into multiple servers
on the demand basis and for balancing the load.

4) Storage Virtualization:

Storage virtualization is the process of grouping the physical storage from multiple network
storage devices so that it looks like a single storage device.

Storage virtualization is also implemented by using software applications.

Usage:

Storage virtualization is mainly done for back-up and recovery purposes.

Load Balancing in Cloud Computing :

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Load balancing is the method that allows you to have a proper balance of the amount of work

being done on different pieces of device or hardware equipment. Typically, what happens is

that the load of the devices is balanced between different servers or between the CPU and hard

drives in a single cloud server.

Load balancing was introduced for various reasons. One of them is to improve the speed and

performance of each single device, and the other is to protect individual devices from hitting

their limits by reducing their performance.

Cloud load balancing is defined as dividing workload and computing properties in cloud

computing. It enables enterprises to manage workload demands or application demands by

distributing resources among multiple computers, networks or servers. Cloud load balancing

involves managing the movement of workload traffic and demands over the Internet.

of the servers, mainly for the popular web servers. There are two primary solutions to

overcome the problem of overloading on the server-

o First is a single-server solution in which the server is upgraded to a higher-performance

server. However, the new server may also be overloaded soon, demanding another

upgrade. Moreover, the upgrading process is arduous and expensive.

o The second is a multiple-server solution in which a scalable service system on a cluster

of servers is built. That's why it is more cost-effective and more scalable to build a server

cluster system for network services.

Cloud-based servers can achieve more precise scalability and availability by using farm server

load balancing. Load balancing is beneficial with almost any type of service, such as HTTP,

SMTP, DNS, FTP, and POP/IMAP.

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It also increases reliability through redundancy. A dedicated hardware device or program

provides the balancing service.

Different Types of Load Balancing Algorithms in Cloud Computing:

1. Static Algorithm

Static algorithms are built for systems with very little variation in load. The entire traffic is

divided equally between the servers in the static algorithm. This algorithm requires in-depth

knowledge of server resources for better performance of the processor, which is determined at

the beginning of the implementation.

2. Dynamic Algorithm

The dynamic algorithm first finds the lightest server in the entire network and gives it priority

for load balancing. This requires real-time communication with the network which can help

increase the system . Here, the current state of the system is used to control the load.

The characteristic of dynamic algorithms is to make load transfer decisions in the current

system state. In this system, processes can move from a highly used machine to an

underutilized machine in real time.

3. Round Robin Algorithm

As the name suggests, round robin load balancing algorithm uses round-robin method to assign

jobs. First, it randomly selects the first node and assigns tasks to other nodes in a round-robin

manner. This is one of the easiest methods of load balancing.

Processors assign each process circularly without defining any priority. It gives fast response in

case of uniform workload distribution among the processes.

Scalability and Elasticity in Cloud Computing :

Cloud Elasticity :
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The Elasticity refers to the ability of a cloud to automatically expand or compress the

infrastructural resources on a sudden-up and down in the requirement so that the workload

can be managed efficiently. This elasticity helps to minimize infrastructural cost. This is not

applicable for all kind of environment, it is helpful to address only those scenarios where the

resources requirements fluctuate up and down suddenly for a specific time interval. It is not

quite practical to use where persistent resource infrastructure is required to handle the heavy

workload.

It is most commonly used in pay-per-use, public cloud services. Where IT managers are willing

to pay only for the duration to which they consumed the resources.

Cloud Scalability :

Cloud scalability is used to handle the growing workload where good performance is also

needed to work efficiently with software or applications. Scalability is commonly used where

the persistent deployment of resources is required to handle the workload statically.

Types of Scalability :

1. Vertical Scalability (Scale-up) –

In this type of scalability, we increase the power of existing resources in the working

environment in an upward direction.

2. Horizontal Scalability –

In this kind of scaling, the resources are added in a horizontal row.

3. Diagonal Scalability –

It is a mixture of both Horizontal and Vertical scalability where the resources are added both

vertically and horizontally.

Difference Between Cloud Elasticity and Scalability :

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Cloud Elasticity Cloud Scalability

Elasticity is used just to meet the sudden up

and down in the workload for a small period Scalability is used to meet the static increase
1 of time. in the workload.

Elasticity is used to meet dynamic changes,

where the resources need can increase or Scalability is always used to address the
2 decrease. increase in workload in an organization.

Elasticity is commonly used by small Scalability is used by giant companies whose

companies whose workload and demand customer circle persistently grows in order to
3 increases only for a specific period of time. do the operations efficiently.

It is a short term planning and adopted just Scalability is a long term planning and
to deal with an unexpected increase in adopted just to deal with an expected increase
4 demand or seasonal demands. in demand.

What is cloud deployment?

Today, organizations have many exciting opportunities to reimagine, repurpose and reinvent
their businesses with the cloud. The last decade has seen even more businesses rely on it for
quicker time to market, better efficiency, and scalability. It helps them achieve lo ng-term digital
goals as part of their digital strategy.

Though the answer to which cloud model is an ideal fit for a business depends on your
organization's computing and business needs. Choosing the right one from the various types of
cloud service deployment models is essential. It would ensure your business is equipped with the
performance, scalability, privacy, security, compliance & cost-effectiveness it requires. It is
important to learn and explore what different deployment types can offer - around what
particular problems it can solve.

Read on as we cover the various cloud computing deployment and service models to help
discover the best choice for your business.

What Is A Cloud Deployment Model?

It works as your virtual computing environment with a choice of deployment model depending
on how much data you want to store and who has access to the Infrastructure.
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Different Types Of Cloud Computing Deployment Models

Most cloud hubs have tens of thousands of servers and storage devices to enable fast loading. It
is often possible to choose a geographic area to put the data "closer" to users. Thus, deployment
models for cloud computing are categorized based on their location. To know which model
would best fit the requirements of your organization, let us first learn about the various types.

Public Cloud

The name says it all. It is accessible to the public. Public deployment models in the cloud are
perfect for organizations with growing and fluctuating demands. It also makes a great choice for
companies with low-security concerns. Thus, you pay a cloud service provider for networking
services, compute virtualization & storage available on the public internet. It is also a great
delivery model for the teams with development and testing. Its configuration and deployment are
quick and easy, making it an ideal choice for test environments.

Benefits of Public Cloud

o Minimal Investment - As a pay-per-use service, there is no large upfront cost and is ideal
for businesses who need quick access to resources
o No Hardware Setup - The cloud service providers fully fund the entire Infrastructure
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o No Infrastructure Management - This does not require an in-house team to utilize the
public cloud.

Limitations of Public Cloud

o Data Security and Privacy Concerns - Since it is accessible to all, it does not fully protect
against cyber-attacks and could lead to vulnerabilities.
o Reliability Issues - Since the same server network is open to a wide range of users, it can
lead to malfunction and outages
o Service/License Limitation - While there are many resources you can exchange with
tenants, there is a usage cap.

Private Cloud

Now that you understand what the public cloud could offer you, of course, you are keen to know
what a private cloud can do. Companies that look for cost efficiency and greater control over
data & resources will find the private cloud a more suitable choice.

It means that it will be integrated with your data center and managed by your IT team.
Alternatively, you can also choose to host it externally. The private cloud offers bigger
opportunities that help meet specific organizations' requirements when it comes to customization.
It's also a wise choice for mission-critical processes that may have frequently changing
requirements.
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Benefits of Private Cloud

o Data Privacy - It is ideal for storing corporate data where only authorized personnel gets
access
o Security - Segmentation of resources within the same Infrastructure can help with better
access and higher levels of security.
o Supports Legacy Systems - This model supports legacy systems that cannot access the
public cloud.

Limitations of Private Cloud

o Higher Cost - With the benefits you get, the investment will also be larger than the public
cloud. Here, you will pay for software, hardware, and resources for staff and training.
o Fixed Scalability - The hardware you choose will accordingly help you scale in a certain
direction
o High Maintenance - Since it is managed in-house, the maintenance costs also increase.

Community Cloud

The community cloud operates in a way that is similar to the public cloud. There's just one
difference - it allows access to only a specific set of users who share common objectives and use
cases. This type of deployment model of cloud computing is managed and hosted internally or by
a third-party vendor. However, you can also choose a combination of all three.
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Benefits of Community Cloud

o Smaller Investment - A community cloud is much cheaper than the private & public
cloud and provides great performance
o Setup Benefits - The protocols and configuration of a community cloud must align with
industry standards, allowing customers to work much more efficiently.

Limitations of Community Cloud

o Shared Resources - Due to restricted bandwidth and storage capacity, community

resources often pose challenges.
o Not as Popular - Since this is a recently introduced model, it is not that popular or
available across industries

Hybrid Cloud

As the name suggests, a hybrid cloud is a combination of two or more cloud architectures. While
each model in the hybrid cloud functions differently, it is all part of the same architecture.
Further, as part of this deployment of the cloud computing model, the internal or external
providers can offer resources.

Let's understand the hybrid model better. A company with critical data will prefer storing on a
private cloud, while less sensitive data can be stored on a public cloud. The hybrid cloud is also
frequently used for 'cloud bursting'. It means, supposes an organization runs an application on-
premises, but due to heavy load, it can burst into the public cloud.
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Benefits of Hybrid Cloud

o Cost-Effectiveness - The overall cost of a hybrid solution decreases since it majorly uses
the public cloud to store data.
o Security - Since data is properly segmented, the chances of data theft from attackers are
significantly reduced.
o Flexibility - With higher levels of flexibility, businesses can create custom solutions that
fit their exact requirements

Limitations of Hybrid Cloud

o Complexity - It is complex setting up a hybrid cloud since it needs to integrate two or

more cloud architectures
o Specific Use Case - This model makes more sense for organizations that have multiple
use cases or need to separate critical and sensitive data

What is Replication?
Data replication is the process by which data residing on a physical/virtual server(s) or cloud
instance (primary instance) is continuously replicated or copied to a secondary server(s) or cloud
instance (standby instance). Organizations replicate data to support high availability, backup,
and/or disaster recovery. Depending on the location of the secondary instance, data is either
synchronously or asynchronously replicated. How the data is replicated impacts Recovery Time
Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO).
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For example, if you need to recover from a system failure, your standby instance should be on
your local area network (LAN). For critical database applications, you can then replicate data
synchronously from the primary instance across the LAN to the secondary instance. This makes
your standby instance “hot” and in sync with your active instance, so it is ready to take over
immediately in the event of a failure. This is referred to as high availability (HA).

Cloud monitoring :

Cloud monitoring is a method of reviewing, observing, and managing the operational workflow
in a cloud-based IT infrastructure. Manual or automated management techniques confirm the
availability and performance of websites, servers, applications, and other cloud infrastructure.
This continuous evaluation of resource levels, server response times, and speed predicts possible
vulnerability to future issues before they arise.

Types of cloud monitoring

The cloud has numerous moving components, and for top performance, it’s critical to safeguard
that everything comes together seamlessly. This need has led to a variety of monitoring
techniques to fit the type of outcome that a user wants. The main types of cloud monitoring are:

Database monitoring :
Because most cloud applications rely on databases, this technique reviews processes, queries,
availability, and consumption of cloud database resources. This technique can also track queries
and data integrity, monitoring connections to show real-time usage data. For security purposes,
access requests can be tracked as well. For example, an uptime detector can alert if there’s
database instability and can help improve resolution response time from the precise moment that
a database goes down.

Website monitoring :

A website is a set of files that is stored locally, which, in turn, sends those files to other
computers over a network. This monitoring technique tracks processes, traffic, availability, and
resource utilization of cloud-hosted sites.

Virtual network monitoring :

This monitoring type creates software versions of network technology such as firewalls, routers,
and load balancers. Because they’re designed with software, these integrated tools can give you a
wealth of data about their operation. If one virtual router is endlessly overcome with traffic, for
example, the network adjusts to compensate. Therefore, instead of swapping hardware,
virtualization infrastructure quickly adjusts to optimize the flow of data.
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Cloud storage monitoring :

This technique tracks multiple analytics simultaneously, monitoring storage resources and
processes that are provisioned to virtual machines, services, databases, and applications. This
technique is often used to host infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS)
solutions. For these applications, you can configure monitoring to track performance metrics,
processes, users, databases, and available storage. It provides data to help you focus on useful
features or to fix bugs that disrupt functionality.

 Scaling for increased activity is seamless and works in organizations of any size

 Dedicated tools (and hardware) are maintained by the host

 Installation is simple because infrastructure and configurations are already in place

 Subscription-based solutions can keep your costs low

Software-defined networking (SDN):

Software-defined networking (SDN) is the decoupling of the network control logic from the
devices performing the function, such as routers, which control the movement of information in
the underlying network. This approach simplifies the management of infrastructure, which may
be specific to one organization or partitioned to be shared among several.

SDN features controllers that overlay above the network hardware in the cloud or on-premises,
offering policy-based management. Technically speaking,
the network control plane and forwarding plane are separated from the data plane (or underlying
infrastructure), enabling the organization to program network control directly. This differs
significantly from traditional data center environments. In a traditional environment, a router or
switch — whether in the cloud or physically in the data center — will only be aware of the status
of network devices adjacent to it. With SDN, the intelligence is centralized and prolific; it can
view and control everything.
The components of software-defined networking

Software-defined networking (SDN) consists of two main components that may or may not be
located in the same physical area:

 Applications that relay information about the network or requests for specific resource
availability or allocation.
 SDN controllers that communicate with the applications to determine the destination of
data packets. The controllers are the load balancers within SDN.
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In addition to these components, OpenFlow is a programmable networking protocol that directs

traffic among network devices and is used in SDN. The Open Networking Foundation (ONF)
helped to standardize the OpenFlow protocol and other open source SDN technologies. These
components work together to form SDN ecosystems to ensure proper network traffic flow.

The role of virtualization in software-defined networking

The term “Virtual Network” is sometimes erroneously used synonymously with the term SDN.
These two concepts are distinctly different, but they do work well together.

What is network functions virtualization?

Network functions virtualization (NFV) is the replacement of network appliance hardware with

virtual machines. The virtual machines use a hypervisor to run networking software and
processes such as routing and load balancing.

NFV allows for the separation of communication services from dedicated hardware, such as
routers and firewalls. This separation means network operations can provide new services
dynamically and without installing new hardware. Deploying network components with network
functions virtualization takes hours instead of months like with traditional networkingAdditional
reasons to use network functions virtualization include:

 Pay-as-you-go: Pay-as-you-go NFV models can reduce costs because businesses

pay only for what they need.
 Scalability: Scaling the network architecture with virtual machines is faster and
easier, and it does not require purchasing additional hardware.
Benefits of network functions virtualization
 Physical security controls are not effective: Virtualizing network components
increases their vulnerability to new kinds of attacks compared to physical equipment
that is locked in a data center.
 Malware is difficult to isolate and contain: It is easier for malware to travel among
virtual components that are all running off of one virtual machine than between
hardware components that can be isolated or physically separated.
An NFV architecture consists of three parts:
 Centralized virtual network infrastructure: An NFV infrastructure may be based
on either a container management platform or a hypervisor thatabstracts the
compute, storage and network resources.
 Software applications: Software replaces the hardware components of a traditional
network architecture to deliver the different types of network functionality
(virtualized network functions).
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 Framework: A framework (often known as MANO – management, automation and

network orchestration) is needed to manage the infrastructure and provision network
functionality.
History of network functions virtualization
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), a consortium of service providers
including AT&T, China Mobile, BT Group, Deutsche Telekom and many others, first presented
the idea of a network functions virtualization standard at the OpenFlow World Congress in 2012.
These service providers had been looking for a way to accelerate the deployment of network
services.
NFV vs. SDN :

While NFV separates networking services from dedicated hardware appliances, software-defined
networking, or SDN, separates the network control functions such as routing, policy definition
and applications from network forwarding functions. With SDN, a virtual network control plane
decides where to send traffic, enabling entire networks to be programmed through one pane of
glass. SDN allows network control functions to be automated, which makes it possible for the
network to respond quickly to dynamic workloads. A software-defined network can sit on top of
either a virtual network or a physical network, but a virtual network does not require SDN to
operate. Both SDN and NFV rely on virtualization technology to function.

Identity and Access Management :

IAM is a cloud service that controls the permissions and access for users and cloud resources.
IAM policies are sets of permission policies that can be attached to either users or cloud
resources to authorize what they access and what they can do with it.

The concept “identity is the new perimeter” goes as far back as the ancient times of 2012, when
AWS first announced their IAM service. We’re now seeing a renewed focus on IAM due to the
rise of abstracted cloud services and the recent wave of high-profile data breaches.

Services that don’t expose any underlying infrastructure rely heavily on IAM for security. For
example, consider an application that follows this flow: a Simple Notification Service (SNS)
topic triggers a Lambda function, which in turn puts an item in a DynamoDB table. In this type
of application, there is no network to inspect, so identity and permissions become the most
significant aspects of security.
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Figure 1: Example application flow

As an example of the impact of a strict (or over-permissive) IAM profile, let’s consider the
Lambda function. The function is only supposed to put items in the DynamoDB table. What
happens if the function has full DynamoDB permissions? If the function is compromised for
whatever reason, the DynamoDB table is immediately compromised as well, since the function
could be leveraged to exfiltrate data.

If the IAM profile follows the “least-privilege” principle and only allows the function to put
items in the table, the blast radius will be greatly reduced in the case of an incident. A hands-on
example of this can be found in this CNCF webinar.

Managing a large number of privileged users with access to an ever-expanding set of services is
challenging. Managing separate IAM roles and groups for these users and resources adds yet
another layer of complexity. Cloud providers like AWS and Google Cloud help customers solve
these problems with tools like the Google Cloud IAM recommender (currently in beta) and the
AWS IAM access advisor. These tools attempt to analyze the services last accessed by users and
resources, and help you find out which permissions might be over-privileged.

cloud SLA (cloud service-level agreement) :

A cloud SLA (cloud service-level agreement) is an agreement between a cloud service

provider and a customer that ensures a minimum level of service is maintained. It guarantees
levels of reliability, availability and responsiveness to systems and applications.

specifies who governs when there is a service interruption and describes penalties if service
levels are not met.
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A cloud infrastructure can span geographies, networks and systems that are both physical and
virtual. While the exact metrics of a cloud SLA can vary by service provider, the areas covered
are uniform:

 volume and quality of work (including precision and accuracy);

 speed;

 responsiveness; and

 efficiency.

The SLA document aims to establish a mutual understanding of the services, prioritized areas,
responsibilities, guarantees and warranties provided by the service provider. It clearly outlines
metrics and responsibilities among the parties involved in cloud configurations, such as the
specific amount of response time to report or address system failures.

The importance of a cloud SLA

Service-level agreements are fundamental as more organizations rely on external providers for
their critical systems, applications and data. A cloud SLA ensures cloud providers meet certain
enterprise-level requirements and provide customers with a clearly defined set of deliverables. It
also describes financial penalties, such as credits for service time, if the provider fails to live up
to the guaranteed terms.

What is Cloud Billing?

There are two terms running hot in the tech world cloud computing and online billing that has a
great impact on the financial structure of many companies. Both of these things are automating
the financial world and considered as a huge break through on the internet. Until today, both
techs were separate and normally either one of them was used by businesses. Tech experts
innovated a combination of both and solve a hell lot of problems. It is called cloud billing. Let
me elaborate it more.
Cloud billing is the combination of cloud computing and electronic billing. Many businesses are
expanding their horizon by shifting to such a billing platform which is on premises. Cloud billing
is revolutionizing the computer system which provides the flexibility for the billing and help to
access the data easily.This is a great way to manage different products and services as well as
subscription based offers. Billing is the main interaction with any client customer relationship as
with proper and well managed billing relationship is made strong.
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Few of the benefits are as follows:

 Licensing costs are reduced; hence increase in revenues
 Service costs are reduced
 Security and data protection
 Flexible pricing
 On-demand scalability
 Improves customer relationships
Cloud billing can prove to be a great investment for your business. With the reduced costs and
proper handling, it can lead you to revenue offerings. Because it uses the local server, not the
personal server, as other processing storage systems, and because of that it reduces the expenses
point of view of any company and gains the profit accordingly. So keep in mind, a cloud
computing provider billing system should have the following important functions.
 Different plans for pricing like per month or per annum should be supported. Functions like
automated activation, safe processing and an option for the cancellation of fees should be there.
Cloud billing is very new technology in the industry but flourishing and spreading very fast. It’s
an advanced form of cloud computing and electronic billing and many companies who are doing
business are using this service but still it needs a lot to be improved.