Computer Engineering : The Cloud

With the unprecedented growth and spread of information, there is no wonder why large Information Technology companies have been investing in the “cloud”. To expand, when referring to Cloud Computing, this means to access and store information not stored with in your computer whether it be public, private, or hybrid cloud computing. In technological terms, the server you are accessing is somewhere else and therefore, the information and tools you are using are “up in the clouds” but more so stored in another server space. However, whether you are paying for

Cloud computing is the answer for “affordable” business technology platforms. It is a more affordable solution for media content than any other medium, and this is why Netflix, Amazon.com, and Apple are among the leaders in cloud usage and development. Ultimately cloud computing will be the primary way data services are accessed by businesses and consumers alike. Marston, Li, Bandyopadhyay, Zhang, and Ghalsasi 2009 conclude cloud computing offers companies the opportunity to deploy cutting edge IT services without the enormous upfront costs that deter so many organizations from making the investment in infrastructure. Now that affordable solutions are becoming more readily available it is likely that more small and

What precisely is Cloud Computing? And why are so many organizations switching to this new phenomenon? Cloud computing is defined as “the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a metered service over a network, typically the Internet” (Wikipedia). My goal in this paper is to discuss what exactly cloud computing is and how it is affecting how businesses work now. I will be discussing the top leading groups that have administered and executed “the cloud” in their daily routines for successful business. I also will be focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing and how it can be beneficial

By 2020, Forbes (McKendrick, 2012) has estimated that the cloud market will be worth $270 billion; this suggests that the market is expanding rapidly and users are becoming more aware of this feature. Many people, though, still ponder over the exact purpose of cloud computing: Cloud computing is a group of offline servers that are networked together to allow data to be stored centrally. For example, Drop box is an established cloud storage company that allows users to store documents, images and videos on their servers. This type of cloud computing is known as ‘Software-as-a-Service’, which are business applications that are hosted by the provider and delivered as a service (Hurwitz, 2010). Hurwitz also mentions two other types of cloud computing: ‘Platform as a Service (PaaS)’ and ‘Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)’. ‘Platform as a service’ is where the consumer will create an application, using tools and software from the provider, then the provider will administer the consumer with networks, storage and servers. ‘Infrastructure’ as a service is where the provider will provide the consumer with physical computer or virtual machine.

Cloud computing refers to an internet based computing technology where shared servers provide infrastructure, software and various other resource to customers on a “pay-as-use” basis. Cloud users need not know how the resources are managed. Hence they can concentrate on the business functionality of the service rather than the underlying functionality involved in the management of the resources. These customers do not own the physical infrastructure, but rent these resources from a third-party agency. This concept is widely utilised by the industry, government and in the educational sector due to the ability to provide robust, resilient and scalable computing power. The resources are provisioned to the user based on determining the required computing resources by the customer.

Through the use of the Internet and remotely located servers, cloud computing’s technology allows companies to save money, by eliminating the need to maintain servers and other hardware locally. Having a central location for files, applications, and servers; companies benefit by saving money they would have otherwise invested in equipment maintenance, bandwidth, storage (hard drives), and memory use.

5). A virtualized infrastructure – better known as virtualization – is where servers are consolidated (MSV, 2012, p. 5). For instance, an organization can have individual servers for each of the following “roles like Web Servers, Database Servers and Messaging Servers” (MSV, 2012, p. 4). Instead of having a plethora of servers to handle these many different roles each server is virtualized to take on multiple roles here by “the data center infrastructure can be consolidated from hundreds of servers to just tens of servers” (MSV, 2012, p. 4). Initially this technology was implemented in data centers as a means for organizations to lower the datacenters total cost of ownership hereby saving companies significant amounts of money on power bills, cooling equipment, and hardware in general (MSV, 2012, p. 5). Although today 's cloud technology is widely developing into a product called Software as a Service (SaaS) (Srinivasan, 2013, p.48). In example, services like iCloud, Google Drive, or OneDrive from Microsoft are considered SaaS (Srinivasan, 2013, p.49). These examples offer a certain amount of free storage space for users who employ their services and have an account which is usually free as well.

Cloud computing is one of the newest major evolutions in the technology industry. It is a paradigm where computing resources become available at any time, from anywhere just having an Internet connection. The cloud eliminates the need to be physically close to the hardware containing the data user wants to obtain. It can own both hardware and software necessary to run business applications. Cloud service also reduces costs for a company, by excluding the need to buy additional servers and memory storages. Furthermore, because this method of computing uses the pay-as-you-go payment method, it charges organisation based on the usage. This means that business can purchase more space or reduce their subscription as it is required

Cloud computing, in its most basic form, is “using computer services [such as computer and data storage, management and processing] that are delivered over a network” (Kim & Solomon, 2013, p. 189). For example, an organization may require a great deal of storage for their data but may not want to purchase the servers, the physical space for the servers, or the personnel to manage the infrastructure. Instead, they take advantage of the many cloud computing options and outsource their needs, hiring someone to do everything off-site usually with the goal of reducing their overall cost of ownership. As defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), cloud computing has five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models (Mell & Grance, 2011) which will be covered, briefly, in the next few sections.

Firms are increasingly turning to cloud computing as a means of managing their IT infrastructure. Notably, the industry is expected to expand 19% to $162 billion by 2020 (Columbus, 2017). This trend can be explained by the business benefits and solutions to problems cloud services including infrastructure, software programs, and platforms as services (IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS respectively) provide.

A major shift in the way companies obtain software and computing capacity is under way as more companies tap into Web-based applications like cloud computing and Web 2.0. A host of providers including Amazon, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft are helping businesses use the Internet to tap into everything from more server capacity to software that helps manage the workload. Assigning these tasks to an offsite location is known as cloud computing (Kroenke, 2013, King, 2008, Wardley, 2012, Hinchcliffe, 2014).

The largest Buzzword in emerging trends for the computer world is “Cloud”. Cloud computing in the future for data, services and platform. The concept of cloud computing is to make whatever aspect it is being used in available at all times and to act as a resource. Turning computing into a utility will transform how the IT industry uses services, designs hardware and uses network infrastructures. The term “Cloud” however has many meanings, but understanding what exactly is meant by cloud computing is the first step to

Cloud computing is a part of internet growth, it’s the next generation of internet. Cloud computing deliver everything –computing resource, infrastructure, application, and business process to personal collaboration – and can be access as service wherever and whenever through various devices. The cloud itself is a set of hardware, networks, storages, services, and interface that enable to delivery of computing as services based on user demand. (Hurwitz, J, 2009)

Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services over the internet. It is the use of computing services over the web located in another site or provided by a third party vendor as opposed to using one’s own hard disk, personal computer or server. Cloud services allow individuals and business organizations to exploit software and hardware that are set up by third parties at remote locations. Therefore, we can define cloud computing as computing services where a broad set of systems are connected to private or public networks, to provide dynamically quantifiable infrastructure for application, data, and file storage (Kling 2014).

The technology used in Cloud Computing is often centralized on demand and can be offered in terms of services. Just like most internet service providers, the cloud services provide platforms for their clients to create web services (applications) on the internet. These applications are accessed through the web opposed to running off your local hard drive. Cloud computing enables its users to conveniently use various resources like storage, servers, and applications that can be launched with minimal effort. In common terms, cloud computing proposes three types of services: 1) SaaS: Software as a service, 2) PaaS: Platform as a service, and 3) IaaS: Infrastructure as a service. Cloud