CLOUD COMPUTING

Refers to accessing, manipulating and configuring of applications online. In short, one can
obtain networked storage space and computer resources. It makes possible for one to access
his/her information anywhere and at any time. Unlike the traditional computer setup, which
requires one to be in the same location as data storage devices, this type of networking
removes you to be in the same location as the devices that stores the data. The cloud provider
can own and house both the hardware and software needed your applications.

Back up media sharing mobile

service

Search

Platform on demand

Social
Network

Management
applications

Storage on demand email

Fig 1.1: Cloud Services

Grid Computing

Refers to a group of computers from multiple locations to be connected to each other to

achieve common objective

Super Computers

Grid Computing
databases Laptops

Mobile phones PC’s

Fig 1.2: Devices and gadgets that can be used in Grid Computing

Characteristics of cloud computing

 Services are scalable i.e. services can be changed

 A user pays for services used
 Hardware used is controlled by a cloud vendor

Uses of Cloud Computing

 Creating new applications and services

 Store, backup and recovery of data
 Host website and blogs
 Stream audios and videos
 Deliver software on demand
 Analyse data for patterns and make predictions

Advantages of using Cloud Computing

 Applications can be accessed as utilities over the internet

  Applications can be accessed anytime anywhere as long as there is internet
connectivity
 Cloud applications do not require special software to be installed for one to
manipulate them
 It is cost effective as user does not buy expensive hardware and software

Disadvantages

 Security and privacy is of great concern due to hacking and misuse of

organisations’/users’ data by the personnel who manage the cloud service
 Difficult to switch form one cloud provider to another especially for private cloud

Types of clouds

There are different types of clouds that one can describe to depending with the one’s needs.
The types are public cloud, private cloud, community cloud and hybrid cloud.

1. Public Cloud which can be accessed by any subscriber with an internet connection.
Cloud infrastructure is hosted by the vendor and at the vendor’s premises. Customers
have no control and visibility over the infrastructure. Examples of public clouds are
Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), IBM’s
Blue Cloud, Sun Cloud, Google AppEngine and Windows Azure Services Platform.
Public clouds offer pay per usage model and only costs are based on the capacity that
is used.

2. Private Cloud-this is for a specific group or organization. It limits the access to that
group or organization only. Private clouds are data centre architecture and are more
expensive and more secure than the public clouds. They are driven by fears around
security and compliance and keeping assets within the firewall.

3. Community Cloud is shared among two or more organizations that have similar
cloud requirements. For example all Zimbabwean government organisations may
share computing infrastructure on the cloud to manage data or information related to
its citizens.

4. Hybrid Cloud is a combination of at least two clouds where the clouds included are a
mixture of public, private or community. An organization can host critical
applications on private and other less important applications with less security on
public cloud.
Storage Virtualisation

Storage virtualisation is the process of grouping the physical storage from multiple network
storage devices so that it looks like a single storage device. The process involves abstracting
and covering the internal functions of a storage device from the host application, host servers
or a general network in order to facilitate the application and network-independent
management of storage. It involves sharing of single physical instances of an application or
resource among customers

Application

Operating System

Virtual Infrastructure

Network and storage

Fig 1.3: Storage virtualisation structure

Cloud service models

This is the use of various services available from a cloud computing providers. Some of the
services available are software, servers, storage etc.

Cloud computing has three service models namely:

 Software as a Service (SaaS),

 Platform as a Service (PaaS)
 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
PaaS and SaaS cloud service models shall be explained fully.

Fig 1.4: Cloud computing models

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a service is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts

applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet. Examples of SaaS
include Microsoft Office 365, Google Apps, Salesforce, Cisco webEx, GoToMeeting and
Dropbox. Before the introduction of Software as a Service, most organisations and individuals
would buy disks with software updates and then run on the machines. SaaS removes the need
for organizations to install and run applications on their own computers or in their own data
centres. This eliminates the expense of hardware acquisition, provisioning and maintenance, as
well as software licensing, installation and support. SaaS are suitable for small companies
which cannot afford servers and need to launch ecommerce, short term projects which need
collaboration, applications which need both web and mobile access, for applications which are
not in demand very often such as tax software etc.

Characteristics of SaaS

 Software installed, tested and implemented over the internet and hosted by the SaaS
vendor who owns and runs it on computers in its data centre.
 The software is designed to run behind a firewall on a local area network (LAN) or
personal computer
  the software being located on external servers
 the consumer does manage the cloud infrastructure
 web access to commercial software
 make better use of resources
 users do not need necessarily to purchase hardware

Advantages of SaaS

 SaaS offers flexible payments as users pay for this service on a monthly basis using
a pay-as-you-go model.
 Users can terminate SaaS offerings at any time to stop recurring costs (such as
monthly subscription).
 SaaS offers high scalability, which gives customers the option to access more, or
fewer, services or features on-demand.
 less demand for the company to invest in new storage hardware
 users can access software from multiple locations through web browsers anytime of
the day and anywhere provided there is internet connectivity
 users have no obligation to download, install and update software on their computers

Disadvantages of SaaS

 slow internet connections can lower performance

 servers can be accessed by unauthorised users

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS is a cloud computing offering that provides users with a cloud environment in which they
can develop, manage and deliver applications. Examples of PaaS include Windows Azure,
Heroku, Apache Stratos, Google App Engine and Force.com. This is a platform that allows
the creation of web applications over the internet with no effort of buying and maintaining the
software and infrastructure involved. Software is delivered over the internet and gives the
developers freedom to concentrate on building the software while they do not have to be
concerned with the operating system, storage, software updates or infrastructure. The user
manages only the applications and data. The provider manages the operating system,
virtualization, servers, storage and networking. The PaaS provides a platform that abstracts the
infrastructure, operating system and middleware to drive developer productivity.

Characteristics of PaaS
 offers development and deployment tools required to develop applications
 the feature point and click enables non developers to create web applications through
the built in Application Programming Interface (API)
 built on virtualisation technology that is resources can be easily scaled up and down
as the business changes
  various users can access the same application
 web services and databases are integrated
Advantages of using PaaS
 administrative costs are low
 lower cost of ownership
 current software available
 gives developers the ability to create customized applications without maintaining the
software
 reduces the amount of coding
 allows easy migration to the hybrid model
Disadvantages of using PaaS
 portability issues between clouds (implementation of platforms vary e.g. hash table of
one table may differ from another)
 applications are event oriented

PaaS is suitable when multiple developers are working on the same project

Infrastructure as a Service/Cloud Infrastructure Service

Made up of highly scalable and compute resources. It is a fully service for accessing and
monitoring things like computer, networking, storage and other services. The IaaS allows
businesses to purchase resources on demand and as needed instead of having to buy
hardware. The servers, network, operating systems, storage etc are delivered through
virtualization technology. Cloud servers are provided to the client trough dashboard or an
API. Clients of this type have control over the entire infrastructure and clients can still access
their servers and storage directly but these can be accessed through virtual data centre in the
cloud.

Examples of IaaS

DigitalOcean, Linode, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco Metapod, Microsoft Azure,
Google Compute Engine (GCE)
The differences among IaaS, PaaS and SaaS

Table 1.1: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS Cloud service model differences

Features IaaS PaaS SaaS

Users get a work The user gets a ready

Users get the
environment on- to use package. The
infrastructure such as demand. A platform user just needs to
virtual machines and made of software, install it on their
firewalls for them to hardware, and systems and start
What is offered create a platform, operating systems. It using it. The pre-
which it can use to is a platform where configured package is
test applications. new codes can be as per user
added for the requirement, and the
development of the user may or may not
end product on a use have to pay to use the
& pay basis. services provided.
Basic layer of cloud
The middle layer of The final product,
Importance computing useful for
cloud computing that ready to use package.
administrators.
 enables development
of applications.
Medium technical
No technical
know-how necessary
Deep technical knowledge required.
for further
knowledge required. It is the end product.
development of the
IaaS is the basic layer The end-user just
service takes place in
Technicalities and if not built needs to use the
this layer. Proper
Involved strongly, it will not be product that has been
knowledge of coding
able to support the created. The SaaS
and application
further development provider handles all
development is
of the service. the technical aspects
essential to eliminate
of the product.
any possible bugs.
Servers, Load
Applications like
Balancers, Network Java Runtimes,
Gmail, Yahoo mail.
Deals with arrays, virtual databases like Oracle
Dropbox and Google
machines, storage and Web Servers.
Drive services.
disks.
Medium-skilled
developers use the
Most popular amongst
Used mostly by platform and the
users of emails and
highly experienced favourable work
entertainment stream
and skilled environment to
services. Users don’t
Popularity Graph developers. Custom develop their own
need to worry about
configuration applications.
technicalities. Users
according to their Developers don’t
simply enjoy the end
field of research. need to worry about
product or service.
traffic loads or server
management.
Cisco Metapod,
Amazon Web Apprenda, Google Google Apps, Cisco
Examples
Services, Microsoft App engine, Heroku WebEx, Workday
Azure

Questions

1. Differentiate between SaaS and PaaS. [4]

2. State and explain any three essential elements of cloud computing. [6]
3. Give any two advantages of public cloud over private cloud. [2]
4. Explain the following cloud service models:
a. SaaS
b. PaaS [4]
5. Explain the importance of cloud service providers? [4]