Cloud basic informationCloud basic information

Summer project – Aditya Adhikary Class XISummer project – Aditya Adhikary Class XI

Timelines leading to cloud computing -1

• 1950’s – The idea of “utility computing”, people being able to use computing and software just as they use water or electricity – just by opening a tap. From a few power plants.

• 1990’s – Networked computers, eventually leading to the internet. The idea of a “server” that serves content – to a large number of “dumb” terminals, that only connect to the server.

• 2000’s – Virtualization technologies. The idea that a single “installed” piece of software (say, MS Word) – could be offered to a hundred different connected computers. Creating many virtual instances – and utilizing the spare server CPU capacities of many passive machines.

• 2004’s – Distributed (grid) computing – using the CPUs of hundreds and thousands of passive computers. The CERN Large Hadron Collider, the Human Genome project – all used thousands (and even millions) of spare computer CPUs.

All leading to something like this...

• A facility (power plant) that will supply computing when you open the internet tap. But behind it all, how are those thousands of virtual servers managed ?

Timelines leading to cloud computing -2

• 2005’s – The techniques of managing the work (inputs, outputs) done by so many different computers became publicly available. In particular, the Map-Reduce algorithm was extensively used by Google to manage its huge amount of data across thousands of servers.

• 2007’s – The idea that Services could substitute installed software started gaining ground. Service-Oriented-Architectures can be used to represent an installed program (say, MS Word). For example, Google Docs is, to an user on a browser, is just a set of service calls.

• 2010’s – Companies started offering Clouds for commercial use. Using them, one can “buy/hire” many things – someone may want (a) just some spare CPU capacity, OR (b) a virtual instance of MS Word OR (c) a school management software.

The definition of cloud

There is no particular definition – since “cloud” is a layman term or jargon.

The idea is about utilizing the shared resources of a large number of distributed computers, by connecting to such a facility over the internet, and using the computing services offered by paying for only a certain amount of computing.

• If one uses just the spare CPU capacity – that is Infrastructure – IAAS (infrastructure as a service)

• If one uses just the MS-Windows – that is Platform – PAAS (platform as a service)

• If one uses a school management system – that is Software – SAAS – Software as a service

• If one just stores Data – DAAS – Data as a service

• and so on...

Today, all of this is available to anyone just from an internet browser, free, or on payment. In the 1990s, all this would have meant installation of many pieces of hardware, servers and many licenses of software, CDs etc.

Flickr – photo album

From your viewpoint :

• You do not “install” Flickr on your own computer

• You “connect” to it

• You do not know where it is

• All you know is www.flickr.com

• And you know of some “services” : Save a photo, show a photo, search for photos.

From Flickr’s viewpoint :

• Your photos are stored anywhere on thousands of servers

• When you ask for Photo1, it will be fetched and sent to you

• There are millions, or even billions of photos

• Thousands, or even millions of users, asking for photos

Flickr computer engineers are concerned with this...

• Who asked

• For what

• Where is it

• How can it be sent faster

• Health of the network

• More things to serve as a service

• Thousands of servers

• Connected in some ways

• How to manage them

• How to duplicate, save, secure, fetch, and organize information in them.

• Hacking attacks

• Too much volume

• Sharp peaks and flat days

• 99.9999 % available

• At lowest cost

Advantages to you (or a company that uses the cloud)

•Use Flickr from anywhere, home, office, while travelling. From mobiles. You only need a browser.

•Connect only knowing www.flickr.com and know nothing else about servers, how-to, networks

•For 10000 photos, pay, say 2$ per month. For 10000000 photos, pay more.

Companies reduce their internal hardware – the cloud vendor does everything.

They only pay for as much computing as they need

When their business grows, they ask and pay for more

But !!! There are also some disadvantages.

Advantages and disadvantages

The current state – who are the big cloud providers ?

Miles to go…•The cloud story is only beginning. The technology part is done, the business part is still unfolding.

•There are still many issues – of data security, integration, vendor-differences, and costs

•The adoption of cloud by companies is slow. Start-up companies love the cloud – because they can start small and grow very big – with no hardware purchases at all.

•In reality, the cloud is ready and waiting, but empty of enough useful applications

•Like all software, early adopters have set up full fledged applications and late adopters are waiting and watching

•In another 10 years, will we see the end of “installed software and hardware” ? No IT inside companies ? Will we only rent software ?

•Only time will tell.

Thank you

For your time and attention.

A

A