Cloud Computing: A Delicate Balance Of Risk And Benefit

Cloud computing technology is enabling IT to do more with the infrastructure that already exists, as well as adding new ways to expand capacity quickly and economically by using external cloud computing resources. This technology is enabling IT managers to treat infrastructure as a common substrate on which they can provision services to users faster in a much more flexible and cost-effective way –without having to re-design or add to the underlying infrastructure. Given the benefits of cloud computing, its broad appeal is not surprising. However, this new approach does raise some concerns. Chief among them is securing data in the cloud. This paper, will briefly review the basic fundamentals of cloud computing and describe how virtualization and the Cloud initiative are enabling enterprises to move toward a flexible, federated computing model with a cohesive mix of private external and internal cloud environments. It then discusses the risk and benefits of cloud computing. Area to be discuss in this paper: 1. Introduction 2. Fundamentals of Cloud Computing 3. Types of Cloud computing 4. Risk and Benefits of Cloud Computing 5. Conclusion

    Introduction: My paper is about Cloud Computing or specifically about how Cloud computing technology is enabling IT to do more with the infrastructure that already exists, as well as adding new ways to expand capacity quickly and economically by using external cloud computing resources. This technology is enabling IT managers to treat infrastructure as a common substrate on which they can provide services to users faster in a much more flexible and cost-effective way –without having to re-design or add to the underlying infrastructure.
This Review paper also discuss about types of Cloud Computing or risk and benefits of Cloud Computing. Then describe how virtualization and the Cloud initiative are enabling enterprises to move toward a flexible, federated computing model with a cohesive mix of private external and internal cloud environments.
2.    Definition of Cloud Computing: Cloud computing is a general term for  anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to represent the Internet in flow-charts and diagrams.  A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting. It is sold on demand, typically by the minute or the hour; it is elastic -- a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time; and the service is fully managed by the provider (the consumer needs nothing but a personal computer and Internet access). Significant innovations in virtualization and distributed computing, as well as improved access to high-speed Internet and a weak economy, have accelerated interest in cloud computing. Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.

3.    Essential Characteristics:
On-demand self-service: A consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service’s provider.
Broad network access: Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).
Resource pooling: The provider’s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the customer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or data center). Examples of resources include storage, processing, memory, network bandwidth, and virtual machines.
Rapid elasticity: Capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.
Measured Service: Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.
Service Models:
Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.
Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS): The capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. 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 application hosting environment configurations.
Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).

4.    Deployment Models:
Private cloud: The cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.
Community cloud: The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.
Public cloud: The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
Hybrid cloud: The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).

Risk and Benefits: There's no getting away from it: Cloud Computing has many potential benefits, but it has a number of drawbacks as well.
On the positive side, having applications provided from the cloud offers enterprises the possibility of all seizes the possibility of low-cost compute resources that are almost infinitely scalable. There's the ability to pay "by the hour" for resources only when they are needed, and for sudden surges in demand for resources to be accommodated very easily. Cloud computing also frees up capital that would otherwise be tied up in hardware and data center bricks and mortar, and it frees up IT staffers who would otherwise be tending to servers so they can work on more productive IT endeavors.
But it's not all sunshine and roses: The drawbacks revolve around issues about data security and how sensible it is to store it with a third party (assuming regulatory requirements permit it); portability and the possibility of being locked in to one cloud provider; reliability; data logging; speed and the inevitable latency when dealing with servers in the cloud half a continent away; and geo-political worries — wherein the world is the cloud data center running your apps, and do you want it there? It is a very real concern for businesses in many other countries.

5.    Conclusion: Experienced business managers know that Cloud Computing, like most trends and new concepts in the industry, has a tendency to be over hyped. That can create unrealistic expectations and disappointing results from early adopter and first implementations. The best way to prevent this is to have a realistic plan for Cloud Computing adoption, one that assures the applications being targeted are the ones with the best potential for generating benefits. That way you are likely to reap the rewards of the risk and gain the competitive advantage you sought by using Cloud Computing in the first place.

6.    Remember:
1.    Cloud computing is all about efficient use of resources, principally, managing capital and technology support costs. Cloud computing is not about technology, it's about Process and the Business model.
2.    Some solutions should not be pushed to The Cloud regardless of the perceived fiscal values.
3.    Some applications and IT teams are not ready for Cloud integration.
4.    The Cloud reduces your workload in the long run, but to get started, you have to figure out which model of cloud computing is right for you; which applications or services are best suited to it; and how to ensure the proper levels of security, compliance, and up-time.
5.    Cloud applications don’t have to be all-or-nothing in the cloud: you can have applications that take full advantage of the rapid deployment and scalability in the cloud, without having sensitive data in public clouds.
6.    Whether Cloud Computing is a viable choice for your business or not, define the governance.

7.    References:
1.    Peter Mell and Tim Grance, (2009), “The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing” version 15.     
2.    www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/hipods/
3.    aaron@spinnakerlabs.com
4.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
5.    Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate  Online by Michael Miller