cloud computing 101 basic concepts and library applications marshall breeding director for...
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CLOUD COMPUTING 101Basic concepts and library applications
Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technology and ResearchVanderbilt University LibraryFounder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/http://twitter.com/mbreedingInternet Librarian 2011Oct 18, 2011
Summary
So exactly what does it mean to move data and services to the “cloud”? This cybertour discusses the concept; the advantages of cloud computing, where your documents and data live on the internet; how you can utilize web services in the cloud; and what libraries are currently doing in the cloud.
Continuum of Abstraction
Locally owned and installed servers Co-located servers Co-located virtual servers Web hosting Server hosting services Application Service Provider Software-as-a-service Infrastructure-as-a-service Platform-as-a-serviceThe Advance of Computing From the Ground to the CloudComputers in Libraries, December 2009http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=14384
What is Cloud computing?
Wikipedia:
“Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
Cloud computing as marketing term
Cloud computing used very freely, tagged to almost any virtualized environment
Any arrangement where the library relies on some kind of remote hosting environment for major automation components
Includes almost any vendor-hosted product offering
Cloud computing – characteristics
Web-based Interfaces Externally hosted Pricing: subscription or utility Highly abstracted computing model Provisioned on demand Scaled according to variable needs Elastic – consumption of resources can
contract and expand according to demand
Fundamental technology shift Mainframe computing Client/Server Cloud Computing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrick/61952845/
http://soacloudcomputing.blogspot.com/2008/10/cloud-computing.html
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-2001/jw-1019-jxta.html
Local Computing
Traditional model Locally owned and managed Shifting from departmental to enterprise Departmental servers co-located in
central IT data centers Increasingly virtualized
Virtualization
The ability for multiple computing images to simultaneously exist on one physical server
Physical hardware partitioned into multiple instances using virtual machine management tools such as Vmware
Applicable to local, remote, and cloud models
Application service provider
Business applications hosted by software vendor
Standalone application on discrete or virtualized hardware
Staff and public clients accessed via the Internet
Same user interfaces and functionality as if installed locally
Software-as-a-Service
Complete software application, customized for customer use
Software delivered through cloud infrastructure, data stored on cloud
Eg: Salesforce.com—widely used business infrastructure
Enterprise SaaS deployments Many universities outsourcing mail Retain institutional domain names
Google Apps Education Edition Gmail
Microsoft Live@Edu
Infrastructure-as-a-service
Provisioning of Equipment Servers, storage
Virtual server provisioning Examples:
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) Rackspace Cloud (
http://www.rackspacecloud.com/) EMC2 Atmos (http://www.atmosonline.com/)
Amazon EC2
Machine Instances Red Hat Enterprise Linux Debian Fedora Ubuntu Linux Open Solaris Windows Server 2003/2008
Storage-as-a-Service
Provisioned, on-demand storage Bundled to, or separate from other cloud
services
Platform-as-a-Platform as a Service
Virtualized computing environment for deployment of software
Application engine, no specific server provisioning
Examples: Google App Engine
SDKs for Java, Python Heroku: ruby platform Amazon Web Service
Private vs Public cloud
Public – multi-tenant provisioning Logically isolated computing environment Theoretical security / competitive concerns
Private – cloud architecture, institutionally controlled Enforces physical segregation Leverages cost and scalability Institutions may require private clouds from
providers Institutions may operate their own cloud
infrastructure for internal clients
Library automation through SaaS Almost all library automation products
offered through hosted options Saas or ASP?
ILS Products offered as SaaS (mostly ASP_
SirsiDynix Symphony SirsiDynix Horizon Innovative Interfaces Millennium Ex Libris Aleph EOS International EOS.Web Evergreen – Equinox Software Koha – LibLime, ByWater, many others
internationally …many other examples …
Multi-tenant SaaS
Serials Solutions Summon Web-scale management solution 360 Search, 360 Link, KnowledgeWorks
Ex Libris Alma Primo Central
BiblioCommons OCLC Web-scale Management Services
Repositories in the cloud
Dspace – institutional repository application
Fedora – generalized repository platform DuraSpace – organization now over both
Dspace and Fedora DuraCloud – shared, hosted repository
platform Pilot since 2009, production in early 2011 http://www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php
Caveats and concerns with SaaS Libraries must have adequate bandwidth
to support access to remote applications without latency
Quality of service agreements that guarantee performance and reliability factors
Configurability and customizability limitations
Access to API’s Ability to interoperate with 3rd party
applications Eg: Connect SaaS ILS with discovery
product from another vendor
Cost implications
Total cost of ownership Do all cost components result in increased or
decreased expense Personnel costs – need less technical administration Hardware – server hardware eliminated Software costs: subscription, license,
maintenance/support Indirect costs: energy costs associated with power and
cooling of servers in data center IaaS: balance elimination of hardware investments
for ongoing usage fees Especially attractive for development and prototyping
Risks and concerns
Privacy of data Policies, regulations, jurisdictions
Ownership of data Avoid vendor lock-in
Integrity of Data Backups and disaster recovery
Security issues
Most providers implement stronger safeguards beyond the capacity of local institutions
Virtual instances equally susceptible to poor security practices as local computing
Cloud computing trends for libraries Increased migration away from local
computing toward some form of remote / hosted / virtualized alternative
Cloud computing especially attractive to libraries with few technology support personnel
Adequate bandwidth will continue to be a limiting factor
Increased pressure
Library automation vendors promoting SaaS offerings Some companies already exclusively SaaS
Software pricing increasingly favorable to SaaS
Caveat
technologies promoted by companies and organizations have a vested interest in their adoption
Critically assess viability of the technology and its appropriateness for your organization