Essentials of Cloud Computing

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the concept of cloud computing by presenting a quick refresh of traditional computing model, namely monolithic computing, client–server computing, distributed computing, cluster computing, grid computing, etc., as well as comparing and contrasting it with other computing models, including recent advancements.

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the fundamentals of cloud computing. It covers the features of cloud computing, architecture of cloud computing, different service classes and deployment models of cloud computing.

One may wonder that how cloud computing provides resource sharing the same physical hardware infrastructure among different users who deal with different kinds of jobs. There should be something which makes offering of infrastructure or platform or software to many users in a multi-tenancy environment. This chapter aims to present the key technological foundations and key business drivers of cloud computing.

This chapter describes cloud networking concepts. At first it describes the evolution of popular networking models for enterprises such as flat networking, hierarchical model and leaf-spine model. Secondly it describes the need to automate the configuration of huge number of network elements using software. It presents the concepts of software-defined networking (SDN). Ultimately, it describes the significance of software implemented networking functionalities and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) for optimization of networks.

The objective of this chapter is to provide a complete idea about storage devices right from conventional storages to software-defined storage.

The objective of this chapter is present security-related concepts in the cloud. The reader will understand how security is provided in different service models, IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. For better understanding different kinds of security threats in cloud are presented. The reader will understand that implementing security is a shared responsibility and the cloud user is responsible for data security, compliance, regulatory and privacy requirements. In addition, the reader will also come to know about the security challenges that occur due to the integration of the IoT with cloud.

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the fundamentals of cloud migration. It describes cloud migration process and different migration strategies. At the end of this chapter a reader can understand different phases of migration process and methods.

The objective of this chapter is to highlight the basic concepts behind cloud monitoring. The reader will come to know how monitoring plays a crucial role in achieving the fundamental characteristics of cloud computing and optimizing the cloud. In the recent past, the concept of cloud observability gains a lot of interest. Auto-remediation is the direct result of observability. Deeper automation of various operations can be initiated and implemented with the maturity and stability of the observability process, product, patterns and practices.

Having taught technological aspects, migration and monitoring aspects, the reader must be interested in knowing about how the cloud computing environment is managed. The objective of this chapter is to introduce the basics of cloud management. By the end of the chapter the reader will understand different cloud management functionalities and how they are managed by cloud management platforms and tools.

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the basics of cloud governance, management and brokerage.

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the basics of cloud integration and orchestration in multi-cloud environments. Through this chapter, the reader will come to why do we need multi-cloud environment and hybrid IT, its challenges and how cloud integration and orchestration help to resolve some of the challenges. The reader also comes to know about existing tools for cloud orchestration.

Undoubtedly, the cloud journey is on the fast track. There are many powerful technologies and tools to simplify and speed up cloud processes and operations. Pioneering algorithms are being unearthed to advance the cloud movement. Enabling frameworks, integrated platforms, knowledge guides, design patterns, evaluation metrics, best practices, a growing array of tools and other enablers from product, platform, and tool vendors and service organizations are collectively making the cloud paradigm mesmerizing. It all started with server virtualization. Then came a number of automated tools to accelerate and augment IT server operations. Thereby every physical server machine gets segmented into a few logical/virtual machines (VMs). With such segmentation, the IT resource utilization efficiency has gone up significantly. Further on, provisioning and using coarse-grained IT resources such as virtual machines became easier and faster. That is, the on-demand computing method emerged and evolved quietly. In other words, the computing requirements of individuals and industries are getting fulfilled rapidly through VMs. Typically provisioning and bringing VMs into real action consumes a few minutes. But doing so with physical machines takes a few hours. The IT costs came down sharply with the virtualization concept. In a nutshell, the much-needed IT agility, affordability and adaptivity requirements are being neatly guaranteed through the virtualization. There are Virtual Machine Monitors (VMMs) (alternatively referred to as hypervisors) to realize the distinct benefits of virtualization.

There are many things happening concurrently these days in the information and communication technologies (ICT) space. With the faster maturity and stability of digitization and edge technologies (miniaturized yet multi-faceted sensors, actuators, RFID tags, barcodes, chips, stickers, microcontrollers, single-board computers (SBCs), beacons, LED lights, etc.), all kinds of physical, mechanical, electrical and electronics systems in our everyday environments like homes, educational campuses, retail stores, warehouses, manufacturing floors, eating joints, entertainment plazas, airports, defense zones, nuclear installations, etc. become digitized. Also, there is a widespread deployment of 5G communication networks across the globe. Besides the success of different network topologies, there are several short-range, energy-efficient, low-power and cost communication technologies emerging and evolving fast. Now with the ready availability of highly reliable and high-bandwidth communication capability, all sorts of digitized elements become connected artifacts. That is, these methodically empowered entities gain the power of finding and connecting with one another in the vicinity to accomplish bigger and better tasks through purpose-specific collaborations. Further on, they get linked up with cloud-based software modules and databases. Increasingly such networked embedded systems are being referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) elements. Another prominent and pertinent term is none other than the paradigm of “cyber-physical systems (CPS).” That is, ground-level physical entities get integrated with remotely held or cloud-hosted cyber-resources such as software applications, databases. With such enablement, physical systems, which we can touch and feel, are to join in the mainstream computing.