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Unit 1: Introduction to Cloud Computing

either creates or opens the requested document. After the web application is launched, the Notes
system’s monitoring and metering functions track the usage of the cloud so that resources are
apportioned and attributed to the proper user(s).
Figure 1.2: Cloud Architecture behind Cloud Computing

Source: http://www.fabricatingandmetalworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/architecture.jpg
As you can see, key to the notion of cloud computing is the automation of many management
tasks. The system is not a cloud if it requires human management to allocate processes to
resources. What you have in this instance is merely a twenty-first-century version of old-fashioned
data centre-based client/server computing?
Generally, the cloud network layer should offer:

High bandwidth: Allowing users to have uninterrupted access to their data and applications.
Agile network: On-demand access to resources requires the ability to move quickly and
efficiently between servers and possibly even clouds.

Network security: Security is always important, but when you are dealing with
multi-tenancy, it becomes much more important because you’re dealing with segregating
multiple customers.

1.3.2 Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is a model of networked enterprise storage where data is stored not only in the
user’s computer, but in virtualized pools of storage which are generally hosted by third parties,
too. Hosting companies operate large data centers, and people who require their data to be
hosted buy or lease storage capacity from them. The data center operators, in the
background, virtualize the resources according to the requirements of the customer and expose
them as storage pools, which the customers can themselves use to store files or data objects.
Physically, the resource may span across multiple servers. The safety of the files depends upon
the hosting websites.
Cloud storage services may be accessed through a web service Application Programming
Interface (API), a cloud storage gateway or through a Web-based user interface.
One of the primary uses of cloud computing is for data storage. With cloud storage, data is
stored on multiple third-party servers, rather than on the dedicated servers used in traditional
networked data storage.

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