Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing means storing and accessing the data and programs on remote
servers that are hosted on the internet instead of the computer’s hard drive or
local server. Cloud computing is also referred to as Internet-based computing.
Cloud Computing Architecture: Cloud computing architecture refers to the
components and sub-components required for cloud computing. These
components typically refer to:
Front end (fat client, thin client)
Back-end platforms (servers, storage)
Cloud-based delivery and a network (Internet, Intranet, Intercloud).

Web Service
A web service is a set of open protocols and standards that allow data to be
exchanged between different applications or systems. Web services can be used
by software programs written in a variety of programming languages and
running on a variety of platforms to exchange data via computer networks such
as the Internet in a similar way to inter-process communication on a single
computer.
Functions of Web Services
 It’s possible to access it via the internet or intranet networks.
 XML messaging protocol that is standardized.
 Operating system or programming language independent.
 Using the XML standard, it is self-describing.
 A simple location approach can be used to locate it.
Example: Flipkart offers a web service that displays prices for items offered on
Flipkart.com. The front end or presentation layer can be written in .Net or Java,
but the web service can be communicated using either programming language.

SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture)

SOA is an architectural approach in which applications make use of services
available in the network. In this architecture, services are provided to form
applications, through a network call over the internet. It uses common
communication standards to speed up and streamline the service integrations in
applications. Each service in SOA is a complete business function in itself. The
services are published in such a way that it makes it easy for the developers to
assemble their apps using those services. Note that SOA is different from
microservice architecture.
 SOA allows users to combine a large number of facilities from existing
services to form applications.
 SOA encompasses a set of design principles that structure system
development and provide means for integrating components into a
coherent and decentralized system.
 SOA-based computing packages functionalities into a set of interoperable
services, which can be integrated into different software systems
belonging to separate business domains.
There are two major roles within Service-oriented Architecture:
1. Service provider: The service provider is the maintainer of the service
and the organization that makes available one or more services for others
to use. To advertise services, the provider can publish them in a registry,
together with a service contract that specifies the nature of the service,
how to use it, the requirements for the service, and the fees charged.
 2. Service consumer: The service consumer can locate the service metadata
in the registry and develop the required client components to bind and use
the service.

Web 2.0
Web 2.0 refers to worldwide websites which highlight user-generated content,
usability, and interoperability for end users. Web 2.0 is also called the
participative social web. It does not refer to a modification to any technical
specification, but to modify the way Web pages are designed and used. The
transition is beneficial but it does not seem that when the changes occur.
Interaction and collaboration with each other are allowed by Web 2.0 in a social
media dialogue as the creator of user-generated content in a virtual community.
Web 2.0 is an enhanced version of Web 1.0.
Five Major Features of Web 2.0:
1. Free sorting of information, permits users to retrieve and classify the
information collectively.
2. Dynamic content that is responsive to user input.
 3. Information flows between the site owner and site users using evaluation
& online commenting.
4. Developed APIs to allow self-usage, such as by a software application.
5. Web access leads to concerns different, from the traditional Internet user
base to a wider variety of users.
Usage of Web 2.0 –
The social Web contains several online tools and platforms where people share
their perspectives, opinions, thoughts, and experiences. Web 2.0 applications
tend to interact much more with the end-user. As such, the end-user is not only
a user of the application but also a participant in these 8 tools mentioned below:
1. Podcasting
2. Blogging
3. Tagging
4. Curating with RSS
5. Social bookmarking
6. Social networking
7. Social media
8. Web content voting
Mashups
A mashup (computer industry jargon), in web development, is a web page or
web application that uses content from more than one source to create a single
new service displayed in a single graphical interface.
Advantages:
Using mashups has become an important and popular part of the web. It has
several benefits described below:
1. Providing aggregated content in one place so that users don’t have to
browse through different services.
2. A more rich, interactive user interface.
3. The development cycle is generally faster, due to the reason that
developers require less code to build them.
4. Promoting greater collaborations between companies/services.
5. The cost of developing a mashup website is comparatively lower because
of the reduced effort in application development.

Grid Computing
Grid Computing can be defined as a network of computers working together to
perform a task that would rather be difficult for a single machine. All machines
on that network work under the same protocol to act as a virtual supercomputer.
The task that they work on may include analysing huge datasets or simulating
situations that require high computing power. Computers on the network
contribute resources like processing power and storage capacity to the network.
Grid Computing is a subset of distributed computing, where a virtual
supercomputer comprises machines on a network connected by some bus,
mostly Ethernet or sometimes the Internet. It can also be seen as a form of
Parallel Computing where instead of many CPU cores on a single machine, it
contains multiple cores spread across various locations. The concept of grid
computing isn’t new, but it is not yet perfected as there are no standard rules
and protocols established and accepted by people.
Advantages of Grid Computing:
1. It is not centralized, as there are no servers required, except the control
node which is just used for controlling and not for processing.
2. Multiple heterogeneous machines i.e machines with different Operating
Systems can use a single grid computing network.
3. Tasks can be performed parallelly across various physical locations and
the users don’t have to pay for them (with money).
Disadvantages of Grid Computing:
1. The software of the grid is still in the involution stage.
2. A superfast interconnect between computer resources is the need of hour.
3. Licensing across many servers may make it prohibitive for some
applications.
4. Many groups are reluctant with sharing resources.

Utility Computing
Utility computing is a service provisioning model that offers computing
resources such as hardware, software, and network bandwidth to clients as and
when they require them on an on-demand basis. The service provider charges
only as per the consumption of the services, rather than a fixed charge or a flat
rate. 
Utility computing is a subset of cloud computing, allowing users to scale up and
down based on their needs. Clients, users, or businesses acquire amenities such
as data storage space, computing capabilities, applications services, virtual
servers, or even hardware rentals such as CPUs, monitors, and input devices.

Hardware virtualization
Hardware virtualization is the method used to create virtual versions of physical
desktops and operating systems. It uses a virtual machine manager (VMM)
called a hypervisor to provide abstracted hardware to multiple guest operating
systems, which can then share the physical hardware resources more efficiently.
Hardware virtualization offers many benefits, such as better performance and
lower costs.

Hardware virtualization enables a single physical machine to function as

multiple machines by creating simulated environments. The physical host uses
software called a hypervisor that creates an abstraction layer between the
software and hardware and manages the shared physical hardware resources
between the guest and host operating systems. The hypervisor connects directly
to the hardware and enables it to be split into multiple distinct environments or
virtual machines. These VMs use the resources of the physical host, including
CPU, memory, and storage, which are allocated to the guests as needed. When
done for server platforms, hardware virtualization is called server virtualization.
Hardware virtualization makes it possible to use a physical machine’s full
capacity and, by isolating VMs from one another, to protect against malware.

Virtual Appliances
A virtual appliance is a software application residing and operating in a
preconfigured virtual environment or platform. Virtual appliances are accessed
remotely by users and do not require locally-installed hardware.
Applications of all sizes and complexity can be hosted through remote
infrastructures. Virtual machines mirror typically installed computer OSs, but
do not contain software applications. In other words, a virtual appliance is
essentially a software appliance that is installed on a virtual machine.

Virtual appliances have several benefits, particularly ease of deployment. Users

are not responsible for managing hardware and software compatibility or OS
considerations such as integration and isolation in the event of a system crash.
Virtual appliances play a significant role in cloud computing’s software as a
service (SaaS) model where remote software access is delivered through a Web
browser.

Open Virtualization Format

Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is a specification that describes an open-
standard, secure, efficient, portable and extensible format for packaging and
distributing software for virtual machines. The OVF standard is independent of
any particular hypervisor or processor architecture.

With the increasing demand for virtualization technology software, there is a

great need for an open standard way to package and distribute the virtual
appliances that can be run on virtual machines.
The Open Virtualization Format allows customers to experience the enhanced
flexibility, portability, platform independence, verification, versioning, signing
and licensing terms that virtualization provides.

OVF facilitates flexible, secure and efficient distribution of enterprise software

by providing virtual machine mobility across multiple platforms. This helps
customers and vendors deploy a virtual machine that follows OVF specification
on any virtualization platform.

Autonomic computing
Autonomic computing is a computer's ability to manage itself automatically
through adaptive technologies that further computing capabilities and cut down
on the time required by computer professionals to resolve system difficulties
and other maintenance such as software updates.

The move toward autonomic computing is driven by a desire for cost reduction
and the need to lift the obstacles presented by computer system complexities to
allow for more advanced computing technology. Autonomic computing was
implemented by IBM in 2001.

Areas of autonomic computing

 Self-Configuration: The system must be able to configure itself

automatically according to the changes in its environment.

 Self-Healing: IBM mentions that an autonomic system must have

property by which it must be able to repair itself from errors and also
route the functions away from trouble whenever they are encountered.
  Self-Optimization: According to IBM an autonomic system must be able
to perform in an optimized manner and ensure that it follows an efficient
algorithm for all computing operations.

 Self-Protection: the IBM States that an autonomic system must be able to

perform detection, identification, and protection from the security and
system attacks so that systems’ security and integrity remain intact.

Characteristics
1. The Autonomic system knows itself. This means that it knows its
components, specifications capacity, and the real-time status. It also has
knowledge about its own, borrowed, and shared resources.
2. It can configure itself again and again and run its setup automatically as
and when required.
3. It has the capability of optimizing itself by fine-tuning workflows.
4. It can heal itself. This is a way of mentioning that it can recover from
failures.
5. It can protect itself by detecting and identifying various attacks on it.
6. It can open itself. This means that it must not be a proprietary solution
and must implement open standards.
7. It can hide. This means that it has the ability to allow resource
optimization, by hiding its complexity.
8. An autonomic system according to IBM must be able to know or expect
what kind of demand is going to arise for its resources to make it a
transparent process for the users to see this information.

Deployment Models
The cloud deployment model identifies the specific type of cloud environment
based on ownership, scale, and access, as well as the cloud’s nature and
purpose. The location of the servers you’re utilizing and who controls them are
defined by a cloud deployment model. It specifies how your cloud infrastructure
will look, what you can change, and whether you will be given services or will
have to create everything yourself. Relationships between the infrastructure and
your users are also defined by cloud deployment types.
1. Public Cloud
The public cloud makes it possible for anybody to access systems and services.
The public cloud may be less secure as it is open for everyone. The public cloud
is one in which cloud infrastructure services are provided over the internet to
the general people or major industry groups. The infrastructure in this cloud
model is owned by the entity that delivers the cloud services, not by the
consumer. It is a type of cloud hosting that allows customers and users to easily
access systems and services. This form of cloud computing is an excellent
example of cloud hosting, in which service providers supply services to a
variety of customers. In this arrangement, storage backup and retrieval services
are given for free, as a subscription, or on a per-use basis. Example: Google
App Engine etc.
Advantages of the public cloud model:
 Minimal Investment: Because it is a pay-per-use service, there is no
substantial upfront fee, making it excellent for enterprises that require
immediate access to resources.
 No setup cost: The entire infrastructure is fully subsidized by the cloud
service providers, thus there is no need to set up any hardware.
 Infrastructure Management is not required: Using the public cloud does
not necessitate infrastructure management.
 No maintenance: The maintenance work is done by the service provider
(Not users).
 Dynamic Scalability: To fulfill your company’s needs, on-demand
resources are accessible.
2. Private Cloud
The private cloud deployment model is the exact opposite of the public cloud
deployment model. It’s a one-on-one environment for a single user (customer).
There is no need to share your hardware with anyone else. The distinction
between private and public cloud is in how you handle all of the hardware. It is
also called the “internal cloud” & it refers to the ability to access systems and
services within a given border or organization. The cloud platform is
implemented in a cloud-based secure environment that is protected by powerful
firewalls and under the supervision of an organization’s IT department.
The private cloud gives the greater flexibility of control over cloud resources.
Advantages of the private cloud model:
 Better Control: You are the sole owner of the property. You gain
complete command over service integration, IT operations, policies, and
user behaviour.
 Data Security and Privacy: It’s suitable for storing corporate information
to which only authorized staff have access. By segmenting resources
 within the same infrastructure, improved access and security can be
achieved.
 Supports Legacy Systems: This approach is designed to work with legacy
systems that are unable to access the public cloud.
 Customization: Unlike a public cloud deployment, a private cloud allows
a company to tailor its solution to meet its specific needs.
3. Hybrid cloud
By bridging the public and private worlds with a layer of proprietary software,
hybrid cloud computing gives the best of both worlds. With a hybrid solution,
you may host the app in a safe environment while taking advantage of the
public cloud’s cost savings. Organizations can move data and applications
between different clouds using a combination of two or more cloud deployment
methods, depending on their needs.
Advantages of the hybrid cloud model:
 Flexibility and control: Businesses with more flexibility can design
personalized solutions that meet their particular needs.
 Cost: Because public clouds provide for scalability, you’ll only be
responsible for paying for the extra capacity if you require it.
 Security: Because data is properly separated, the chances of data theft by
attackers are considerably reduced.
4. Community cloud
It allows systems and services to be accessible by a group of organizations. It is
a distributed system that is created by integrating the services of different clouds
to address the specific needs of a community, industry, or business. The
infrastructure of the community could be shared between the organization
which has shared concerns or tasks. It is generally managed by a third party or
by the combination of one or more organizations in the community.
Advantages of the community cloud model:
 Cost Effective: It is cost-effective because the cloud is shared by multiple
organizations or communities.
 Security: Community cloud provides better security.
 Shared resources: It allows you to share resources, infrastructure, etc.
with multiple organizations.
 Collaboration and data sharing: It is suitable for both collaboration and
data sharing.
Service Models
Cloud Computing can be defined as the practice of using a network of remote
servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a
local server or a personal computer. Companies offering such kinds of cloud
computing services are called cloud providers and typically charge for cloud
computing services based on usage. Grids and clusters are the foundations for
cloud computing.
1. Software as a Service(SaaS)
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a way of delivering services and applications
over the Internet. Instead of installing and maintaining software, we simply
access it via the Internet, freeing ourselves from the complex software and
hardware management. It removes the need to install and run applications on
our own computers or in the data centers eliminating the expenses of hardware
as well as software maintenance.
SaaS provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-as-you-
go basis from a cloud service provider. Most SaaS applications can be run
directly from a web browser without any downloads or installations required.
The SaaS applications are sometimes called Web-based software, on-demand
software, or hosted software.
Advantages of SaaS
 Cost-Effective: Pay only for what you use.
 Reduced time: Users can run most SaaS apps directly from their web
browser without needing to download and install any software. This
reduces the time spent in installation and configuration and can reduce
the issues that can get in the way of the software deployment.
 Accessibility: We can Access app data from anywhere.
 Automatic updates: Rather than purchasing new software, customers rely
on a SaaS provider to automatically perform the updates.
 Scalability: It allows the users to access the services and features on-
demand.
The various companies providing Software as a service are Cloud9 Analytics,
Salesforce.com, Cloud Switch, Microsoft Office 365, Big Commerce, Eloqua,
dropBox, and Cloud Tran.
Examples of SaaS
 Google Workspace (formerly GSuite)
  Dropbox.
 Salesforce.
 Cisco WebEx.
 SAP Concur.
 GoToMeeting.

2. Platform as a Service
PaaS is a category of cloud computing that provides a platform and environment
to allow developers to build applications and services over the internet. PaaS
services are hosted in the cloud and accessed by users simply via their web
browser.
A PaaS provider hosts the hardware and software on its own infrastructure. As a
result, PaaS frees users from having to install in-house hardware and software to
develop or run a new application. Thus, the development and deployment of the
application take place independent of the hardware.
The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure
including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over
the deployed applications and possibly configuration settings for the
application-hosting environment. To make it simple, take the example of an
annual day function, you will have two options either to create a venue or to
rent a venue but the function is the same.
Advantages of PaaS:
 Simple and convenient for users: It provides much of the infrastructure
and other IT services, which users can access anywhere via a web
browser.
 Cost-Effective: It charges for the services provided on a per-use basis
thus eliminating the expenses one may have for on-premises hardware
and software.
 Efficiently managing the lifecycle: It is designed to support the complete
web application lifecycle: building, testing, deploying, managing, and
updating.
 Efficiency: It allows for higher-level programming with reduced
complexity thus, the overall development of the application can be more
effective.
The various companies providing Platform as a service are Amazon Web
services Elastic Beanstalk, Salesforce, Windows Azure, Google App Engine,
cloud Bess and IBM smart cloud.
3. Infrastructure as a Service
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a service model that delivers computer
infrastructure on an outsourced basis to support various operations. Typically
IaaS is a service where infrastructure is provided as outsourcing to enterprises
such as networking equipment, devices, database, and web servers.
It is also known as Hardware as a Service (HaaS). IaaS customers pay on a per-
user basis, typically by the hour, week, or month. Some providers also charge
customers based on the amount of virtual machine space they use.
It simply provides the underlying operating systems, security, networking, and
servers for developing such applications, and services, and deploying
development tools, databases, etc.
Advantages of IaaS:
 Cost-Effective: Eliminates capital expense and reduces ongoing cost and
IaaS customers pay on a per-user basis, typically by the hour, week, or
month.
 Website hosting: Running websites using IaaS can be less expensive than
traditional web hosting.
 Security: The IaaS Cloud Provider may provide better security than your
existing software.
 Maintenance: There is no need to manage the underlying data center or
the introduction of new releases of the development or underlying
software. This is all handled by the IaaS Cloud Provider.
The various companies providing Infrastructure as a service are Amazon web
services, Bluestack, IBM, Openstack, Rackspace, and Vmware.

Properties and characteristics of cloud computing

 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.
 Broad network access:
The Computing services are generally provided over standard networks and
heterogeneous devices.
 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.
 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.
 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.

Challenges and risks in cloud computing

Security, Privacy, and Trust
Security and privacy affect the entire cloud computing stack, since there is a
massive use of third-party services and infrastructures that are used to host
important data or to perform critical operations. In this scenario, the trust toward
providers is fundamental to ensure the desired level of privacy for applications
hosted in the cloud.
Data Lock-In and Standardization
A major concern of cloud computing users is about having their data locked-in
by a certain provider. Users may want to move data and applications out from a
provider that does not meet their requirements. However, in their current form,
cloud computing infrastructures and platforms do not employ standard methods
of storing user data and applications. Consequently, they do not interoperate and
user data are not portable.
The answer to this concern is standardization. In this direction, there are efforts
to create open standards for cloud computing
Availability, Fault-Tolerance, and Disaster Recovery
 It is expected that users will have certain expectations about the service level to
be provided once their applications are moved to the cloud. These expectations
include availability of the service, its overall performance, and what measures
are to be taken when something goes wrong in the system or its components. In
summary, users seek for a warranty before they can comfortably move their
business to the cloud.
Fault tolerance refers to the ability of a system (computer, network, cloud
cluster, etc.) to continue operating without interruption when one or more of its
components fail.
 The term cloud disaster recovery (cloud DR) refers to the strategies and
services enterprises apply for the purpose of backing up applications, resources,
and data into a cloud environment. Cloud DR helps protect corporate resources
and ensure business continuity.
Resource Management and Energy-Efficiency
One important challenge faced by providers of cloud computing services is the
efficient management of virtualized resource pools. Physical resources such as
CPU cores, disk space, and network bandwidth must be sliced and shared
among virtual machines running potentially heterogeneous workloads.
Cloud computing is a highly scalable and cost - effective infrastructure for
running High Performance Computing, enterprise and Web applications.
However, the growing demand of Cloud infrastructure has drastically increased
the energy consumption of data centers, which has become a critical issue.
Hence, energy efficient solutions are required to minimize this energy
consumption. 

Cloud Computing Architecture

The cloud computing architecture comprises two fundamental components, i.e.
frontend and backend. Frontend works as a client in such architecture and
communicates with the backend via a network or internet. In the cloud
computing architecture, the client-side or frontend is visible to the end-user. The
frontend sends queries to the backend via the middleware. 
The backend protects the data and respond to the queries asked by the frontend.
The backend is a bigger part of the whole cloud computing architecture
Components:
1. Frontend:
The front end infrastructure includes everything that the end-user interacts with.
It is the broader assimilation of various sub-components that together offer the
user interface. And it forms an essential part of how the end-user connects to the
cloud computing infrastructure. The front-end cloud infrastructure includes
components like local networks, web browsers, and web applications.
The main front-end cloud components are described below:

 User Interface: The user interface refers to all the things that end-user
access to send requests or perform any task on the Cloud. Some of the
popular cloud-based user interfaces are Google Doc, Gmail, etc.

 Software: The software architecture in the front end is the software that
runs on the user’s end. Frontend software architecture primarily
comprises client-side applications or browsers.
  Client Device or Network: Being a crucial part of the frontend
architecture, Client Device or Network refers to the hardware at the end
user’s side. It can be any input device or PC. In cloud computing, the
client-side device doesn’t require extraordinary ability to process the
heavy load. The cloud can take the entire heavy load and processes the
same.

2. Backend:
The backend architecture in the cloud empowers the frontend architecture. It
comprises hardware & storage and they are located on a remote server. The
cloud service provider controls and handles this backend cloud architecture.
Ideal backend cloud architecture always should be robust as it holds the whole
infrastructure on the cloud. The prime components of backend cloud
architecture are:
 Application: The Application is a substantial part of the backend
architecture. It refers to the user interface that the backend offers to the
end-user to send queries. This layer of the backend takes care of the
client’s requests and requirements.

 Service: This is a magical area of the backend cloud architecture. It adds

utility to the entire backend architecture. The service handles every task
that runs on the cloud computing system. Some of the cloud services are
application development environment, storage, and web services.
Besides, service can execute a wide array of tasks on the cloud runtime.

 Cloud Runtime: The term ‘Cloud Runtime’ is the concept where the
services run. It’s like a cloud operating system where technology like
virtualization is used. Virtualization as a key technology on the cloud
which allows multiple runtimes on the same server. For instance,
virtualization is a way via which we can create a base of software. In
simple words, it’s the virtual representation of apps, servers, storage as
well as networks. When we create runtimes with the support of
virtualization software, they are called as Hypervisors. Some of the
leading hypervisors are Oracle Virtual Box, Oracle VM for x86,
VMWare Fusion, etc.

 Storage: Storage in the cloud is where the data resides of a cloud

application. The data storage varies as per different cloud service
provides. However, all of them have a common dedicated segment for
cloud storage. Some of the examples of storage are solid-state drives,
hard drives, Intel Optane DC Persistent storage, etc. The hard drives in
 the server bays form storage in the cloud backend architecture. And
especially in a cloud computing system, the software partitions the drives
as per the needs of the OS in the cloud to run myriad services.

 Infrastructure: The engine that steers all the cloud software services is
called infrastructure. It includes CPU, Motherboard, Graphics Processing
Unit (GPU), network cards, accelerator cards, etc. The infrastructure
models always depend on the workloads of the clients.

 Management: The management software allocates specific resources to

specific tasks and responsible for the flawless functioning of any cloud
environment. In technical terms, management is the ‘middleware’ and it
coordinates between the frontend and backend architecture in a cloud
computing system.

 Security: Security is an integral and critical part of any cloud computing

infrastructure. We create security infrastructure by keeping the debugging
process in mind. In case of any issue, debugging should be easy. Regular
storage backup is the first step to ensure security in a cloud computing
system. And virtual firewalls are other crucial elements of the cloud
security infrastructure

3. Cloud-based Delivery
In layman’s language, cloud-based delivery is anything we are offering to the
end-users from the cloud via some software, infrastructure, and platforms. We
can deliver cloud computing services via the below-mentioned models:

 Software as a Service (SaaS): Offering cloud computing services via

licensed software or subscription. In this delivery model, the end-users
don’t need to buy or install any hardware at their locations.

 Platform as a Service (PaaS): This model offers a platform that allows the
end-users to develop, run as well as manage applications on the cloud.
In PaaS, a third-party service provider facilitates hardware & software
tools.

 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This model facilitates computer

hardware like networking technology, servers, storage, and data center
space as a service. It also includes the delivery of virtualization
technology and operating system.

Cloud Infrastructure Management: Features

Cloud infrastructure consists of all of the hardware and software elements
needed for cloud computing, including:  

 Compute (server) 
 Networking 
 Storage 
 Virtualization resources 

Cloud infrastructure types usually also include a user interface (UI) for

managing these virtual resources. 

Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS, is a prominent and accessible example of

this model. With IaaS, a team or enterprise acquires the computing
infrastructure it needs over the Internet, including computing power (whether on
physical or, more likely, virtual machines), storage and plenty of related needs
such as load balancers and firewalls. They do this in lieu of provisioning and
managing their own physical infrastructure. Instead, they lease the resources
they need from the IaaS provider. 

Cloud infrastructure management comprises the processes and tools needed to

effectively allocate and deliver key resources when and where they are required.
The UI, or dashboard, is a good example of such a tool; it acts as a control panel
for provisioning, configuring and managing cloud infrastructure. Cloud
infrastructure management is useful in delivering cloud services to both: 
 
 Internal users, such as developers or any other roles that consume
cloud resources. 
 External users, such as customers and business partners.
Features:

1. Provisioning and configuration: 

Developers, systems engineers and other IT professionals use these tools to set
up and configure the hardware and software resources they need. This would
include: 

 Spinning up a new server 

 Installing an operating system or other software 
 Allocating storage resources and other cloud infrastructure needs 
This also includes features for enabling and managing self-service provisioning,
in which end users use a dashboard or other mechanisms for standing up their
own resources as needed, based on predetermined rules. 

2. Visibility and monitoring: 

Cloud infrastructure management tools allow operators to “see” their

environments. More importantly, they include or integrate with monitoring tools
that: 

 Check system health 
 Deliver real-time alerts and notifications 
 Create reporting and analytics 

3. Resource allocation: 

Related to cost optimization, resource allocation features enable granular

control over how users consume cloud infrastructure, including self-service
provisioning. This is similar to budgeting: dividing up shared resources
appropriately and in some cases creating criteria for going over budget. 

4. Cost optimization:

 Managing costs is a critical capability of cloud infrastructure management

tools. Without this component, enterprises run an increased risk of “sticker
shock” when the cloud bill arrives. Proactively monitoring costs via strategies
such as turning off unused or unnecessary resources is key to maximizing the
ROI of cloud infrastructure. 

5. Automation: 

Cloud infrastructure management tools sometimes offer automation capabilities

for various operational tasks, such as configuration management, auto-
provisioning and auto-scaling.  

6. Security:

 Cloud infrastructure management tools are another part of a holistic cloud

security strategy. They are one mechanism for properly configuring a cloud
provider’s native security controls based on a particular setup and needs.