Unit 1 Cloud Computing

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Unit-1

Introduction

Content

• Why Cloud Computing?

• What is Cloud Computing?

• Advantages of Cloud Computing

• Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

• Examples of Cloud

Why Cloud computing?

Developing in the cloud enables users to get their applications to market quickly. Hardware
failures do not result in data loss because of networked backups. Cloud computing uses remote
resources, saving organizations the cost of servers and other equipment.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing Definition


Cloud Definition: The cloud in cloud computing provides the means through which everything
— from computing power to computing infrastructure, applications, business processes to
personal collaboration — can be delivered to a user as a service wherever and whenever the user
needs. The cloud itself is a set of hardware, networks, storage, services, and interfaces that
enable the delivery of computing as a service. Cloud services include the delivery of software,
infrastructure, and storage over the Internet (either as separate components or a complete
platform) based on user demand.

Other Definition of cloud computing

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, 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. Cloud computing refers to both the applications delivered as
services over the Internet and the hardware and system software in the datacenters that provide
those services.

The cloud embodies the following basic characteristics:

❖ Elasticity and the ability to scale up and down


❖ Self-service provisioning and automatic de-provisioning
❖ Application programming interfaces (APIs)
❖ Billing and metering of service usage in a pay-as-you-go model
❖ Security

Elasticity and scalability

The service provider can‘t anticipate how customers will use the service. One customer might
use the service three times a year during peak selling seasons, whereas another might use it as a
primary development platform for all of its applications. Therefore, the service needs to be
available all the time (7 days a week, 24 hours a day) and it has to be designed to scale upward
for high periods of demand and downward for lighter ones. Scalability also means that an
application can scale when additional users are added and when the application requirements
change. This ability to scale is achieved by providing elasticity.
Self-service provisioning

Customers can easily get cloud services without going through a lengthy process. The customer
simply requests an amount of computing, storage, software, process, or other resources from the
service provider. While the on-demand provisioning capabilities of cloud services eliminate
many time delays, an organization still needs to do its homework. These services aren‘t free;
needs and requirements must be determined before capability is automatically provisioned.

Application programming interfaces (APIs)

Cloud services need to have standardized APIs. These interfaces provide the instructions on how
two application or data sources can communicate with each other. A standardized interface lets
the customer more easily link a cloud service, such as a customer relationship management
system with a financial accounts management system, without having to resort to custom
programming.

Billing and metering of services

A cloud environment needs a built-in service that bills customers. And, of course, to calculate
that bill, usage has to be metered (tracked). Even free cloud services (such as Google‘s Gmail or
Zoho‘s Internet-based office applications) are metered. In addition to these characteristics, cloud
computing must have two overarching requirements to be effective:

• A comprehensive approach to service management


• A well-defined process for security management

Performance monitoring and measuring

A cloud service provider must include a service management environment. A service


management environment is an integrated approach for managing the physical environments and
IT systems. This environment must be able to maintain the required service level for that
organization. In other words, service management has to monitor and optimize the service or sets
of services. Service management has to consider key issues, such as performance of the overall
system, including security and performance. For example, an organization using an internal or
external email cloud service would require 99.999 percent uptime with maximum security. The
organization would expect the cloud provider to prove that it has met its obligations.

3
Many cloud service providers give customers a dashboard — a visualization of key service
metrics — so they can monitor the level of service they‘re getting from their provider. Also,
many customers use their own monitoring tools to determine whether their service level
requirements are being met.

Security

Many customers must take a leap of faith to trust that the cloud service is safe. Turning over
critical data or application infrastructure to a cloud-based service provider requires making sure
that the information can‘t be accidentally accessed by another company (or maliciously accessed
by a hacker). Many companies have compliance requirements for securing both internal and
external information. Without the right level of security, one might not be able to use a
provider‘s offerings.

• Cloud computing has mainly five characteristics:


1. On-demand self-service, the services are available on demand, the user can get the services at
any time, all it takes is an Internet connection.
2. Broad network access, the cloud is accessed remotely over the network, while the access to
the cloud is through the internet; it means that it is accessible to its computing capabilities,
software, and hardware from anywhere.
3. Resources pooling in an independent location and resources serve a large number of users
with all their different devices and their required resources.
4. Rapid elasticity, dealing with the cloud is very easy, the user can simply reduce or increase
the capacity, and also it’s faster than the regular computing types.
5. Measured Service, the cloud systems control and reuse the resources by using measurement
capabilities and according to the type of service, these services also have financial return,
depending on usage.

Applications:
• Email
– Gmail, Yahoo mail
• Online Collaboration tools
– Google docs for collaboration on documents
– Google Hangouts for video conferencing
• Big Data Analytics
– Provides a cost effective and scalable infrastructure to support big data and business
analytics.
• Test and Development
– now readily available environments tailored for your needs at your fingertips.
• Storage

Advantages of Cloud Computing

• Lower computer costs

• Instant software updates

• Unlimited storage capacity

• Increased data reliability

• Universal document access

• Device independence

• Lowers the outlay expense for start up companies

• Easier group collaboration

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

• Requires a constant Internet connection

• Does not work well with low-speed connections

• Governance and Regulatory compliance

– Not all service providers have well-defined


service-level agreements.

• Stored data might not be secure:

– Limited knowledge of the physical location of


stored data

– Multi-tenant platform

– Limited capabilities for monitoring access to


applications hosted on cloud.


5 Real-World Examples of Cloud Computing
• Ex: Dropbox, Gmail, Facebook.
• Ex: Maropost for Marketing, Hubspot, Adobe Marketing Cloud.
• Ex: SlideRocket, Ratatype, Amazon Web Services.
• Ex: ClearDATA, Dell's Secure Healthcare Cloud, IBM Cloud.
• Uses: IT consolidation, shared services, citizen services
EVOLUTION OF CLOUD COMPUTING AND BASIC TERMINOLOGIES
Cluster Computing
Cluster computing it’s a group of computers connected to each other and work together as a single computer.
These computers are often linked through a LAN.

The cluster is a tightly coupled systems, and from its characteristics that it’s a centralized job management
and scheduling system.

All the computers in the cluster use the same hardware and operating system, and the computers are the same
physical location and connected with a very high speed connection to perform as a single computer.

The resources of the cluster are managed by centralized resource manager.


Architecture: The architecture of cluster computing contains some main components and they are:

1. Multiple stand alone computers.

2. Operating system.

3. High performance interconnects.

4. Communication software.

5. Different applications

Advantages:
software is automatically installed and configured, and the nodes of the cluster can be added and managed
easily, so it’s very easy to deploy, it’s an open system, and very cost effective to acquire and manage, clusters
have many sources of support and supply, it’s fast and very flexible, the system is optimized for performance
as well as simplicity and it can change software configurations at any time, also it saves the time of searching
the net for latest drivers, The cluster system is very supportive as it includes software updates.

Disadvantages
it’s hard to be managed without experience, also when the size of cluster is large, it’ll be difficult to find out
something has failed, the programming environment is hard to be improved when software on some node is
different from the other.

Grid Computing
Grid computing is a combination of resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common
target, and this group of computers can distributed on several location and each a group of grids can be
connected to each other.

The computers in the grid are not required to be in the same physical location and can be operated
independently, so each computer on the grid is concerned a distinct computer.

The computers in the grid are not tied to only on operating system and can run different OSs and different
hardware, when it comes to a large project, the grid divides it to multiple computers to easily use their
resources.

Architecture:
Fabric layer to provide the resources which shared access is mediated by grid computing.
Connectivity layer and it means the core communication and authentication protocols required for grid
specific network functions.
Resource layer and it defines the protocols, APIs and SDK for secure negotiations, imitations, monitoring
control, accounting and payment of sharing operations on individual resources.
Collective layer which it contains protocols and services that capture interactions among a collection of
resources
Application layer, it’s user applications that operate within environment.

Advantages:
One of the advantages of grid computing that you don’t need to buy large servers for applications that can be
split up and farmed out to smaller commodity type servers,
secondly it’s more efficient in use of resources.
Also the grid environments are much more modular and don't have much points of failure.
About policies in the grid it can be managed by the grid software, beside that upgrading can be done without
scheduling downtime, and jobs can be executed in parallel speeding performance.

Disadvantages:
It needs fast interconnect between computers resources,
some applications may need to be pushed to take full advantage of the new model,
licensing across many servers may make it forbidden for some applications,
the grid environments include many smaller servers across various administrative domains. also political
challenges associated with sharing resources especially across different admin domains.

Utility Computing
Utility Computing refers to a type of computing technologies and business models which provide services
and computing resources to the customers, such as storage, applications and computing power.

This repackaging of computing services is the foundation of the shift to on demand computing, software as a
service and cloud computing models which late developed the idea of computing, applications and network
as a service.

Utility computing is kind of virtualization, that means the whole web storage space and computing power
which it’s available to users is much larger than the single time-sharing computer.

Multiple backend web servers used to make this kind of web service possible.

Utility computing is similar to cloud computing and it often requires a cloud-like infrastructure.

Advantages:
the client doesn't have to buy all the hardware, software and licenses needed to do business. Instead, the
client relies on another party to provide these services.
It also gives companies the option to subscribe to a single service and use the same suite of software
throughout the entire client organization.
it offers compatibility of all the computers in large companies.

Disadvantages:
The service could be stopped from the utility computing company for any reason such as a financial trouble
or equipment problems.
Also utility computing systems can also be attractive targets for hackers, and much of the responsibility of
keeping the system safe falls to the provider

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a term used when we are not talking about local devices which it does all the hard work
when you run an application, but the term used when we’re talking about all the devices that run remotely on
a network owned by another company which it would provide all the possible services from e-mail to
complex data analysis programs.

This method will decrease the users’ demands for software and super hardware.

The only thing the user will need is running the cloud computing system software on any device that can
access to the Internet

cloud and utility computing often conjoined together as a same concept but the difference between them is
that
utility computing relates to the business model in which application infrastructure resources are delivered,
whether these resources are hardware, software or both.
While cloud computing relates to the way of design, build, and run applications that work in a virtualization
environment, sharing resources and boasting the ability grow dynamically, shrink and the ability of self
healing.
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Cloud Computing
Business Models
Karri Huhtanen
16th of November 2010
Positioning the Players
Cloud Infrastructure as a Platform as a Service Software as a Service
Technology Service
Providers

HP Google App Engine Cordys


IBM
Facebook Zynga
RackSpace
Force.Com SalesForce
OpenStack
Microsoft Azure
Eucalyptus
VMWare Dropbox
Amazon Web Services
Oracle Animoto

Techila Arch Red


Cloud Technology Providers
• Hardware, software and services for building private and public
clouds
• Products based on the components needed for example for large-
scale virtualisation, data storage, databases etc.
• Some of the products based on the in-house solutions for building
clouds before the cloud was called cloud (Rackspace =>
OpenStack)
• Some deliberately designed for this purpose (Eucalyptus), business
model open source with commercial support services, OEM
branding (HP)
• Grid computing platform (Techila)
• Also complete (private) cloud implementations offered as a
infrastructure service (HP, IBM, Rackspace)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• At the simplest only data center or virtualisation services
rebranded.
• Competitive advantage usually based on the more efficient
utilisation of existing infrastructure and position (excess capacity,
datacenters, economies of scale (software, hardware, Internet etc.))
• Products and services developed from the infrastructure building
and management solutions (for example Amazon Web Services
(IaaS provider)  Amazon.com (customer))
• Packaged to be easy to buy, utilise and deploy
• Charging based on the resources and services used (time,
bandwidth, transactions, storage etc.) Custom units and different
measure methods make the comparison of the provider prices
harder.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Adds a layer of abstraction over actual infrastructure (key asset of
the PaaS provider)
• Sandboxed, more locked-in access to interfaces and resources – but
also more tasks handled by provider (automation, load balancing,
billing etc.)
• Services build on the platform promoted in the PaaS providers
store (e.g. Google Apps Marketplace) => PaaS revenue from both
providing resources and helping to bill/sell services
• More data to be analysed or mined (Facebook, Google, if not all)
• PaaS customers can be also sources of innovation and targets for
acquirement => it is easy to integrate services, which already utilise
the same platform
• Some PaaS (Force.com) developed also from the SaaS
(SalesForce.com) using the already build datacenters and
infrastructure.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
• The utilisers of IaaS and PaaS
• As many business models as there are companies
• Even more reasons to utilise: scaling, costs, robustness,
reliability, latency, promotion, distribution, economies of
scale, marketing, exit strategy etc.
• Pricing model depends on the service: subscriptions,
pay-per-use, pay-per-seat, freemium model etc.
• Customer value (and charging) > Service production
costs
• Customer charges must cover the risks of service
disruption and possible service level agreement (SLA)
compensations.
Additional Models
• Building management systems, for example
Canonical Landscape, Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud
• Cloud Management Platform, for example
Rightscale, scaling, deploying and connecting cloud
services
• Integrating existing software to ready-to-use cloud
images, charging for subscription or support
• Developing cloud services or migrating services to
cloud: e.g. Codento, Vincit, Arch Red etc.
Author’s
recommendation for
Summary market entry

Cloud Infrastructure as a Platform as a Service Software as a Service


Technology Service
Providers

Rightscale
HP Google App Engine
Cordys
IBM Vendor lock-in tightens, but opportunities for innovation, business
models and market entryFacebook Zynga decrease
increase, need for venture capital
RackSpace
Force.Com SalesForce
OpenStack
Microsoft Azure Canonical Landscape
Eucalyptus
VMWare Market entry costs and capital investment needs increase,
Dropbox
Amazon Web Services
Oracle need for venture capital increases
Animoto
Techila
Arch Red
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Topic: The Cloud Architecture; Models – Delivery and
Deployment

LAYERED CLOUD ARCHITECTURE

NIST CLOUD REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE


This Figure presents an overview of the NIST cloud computing reference architecture, which identifies
the major actors, their activities and functions in cloud computing. The diagram depicts a generic high-
level architecture and is intended to facilitate the understanding of the requirements, uses,
characteristics and standards of cloud computing. NIST cloud computing reference architecture defines
five major actors: cloud consumer, cloud provider, cloud carrier, cloud auditor and cloud broker

Cloud Consumer
The cloud consumer is the principal stakeholder for the cloud computing service. A cloud consumer
represents a person or organization that maintains a business relationship with, and uses the service from
a cloud provider. A cloud consumer browses the service catalog from a cloud provider, requests the
appropriate service, sets up service contracts with the cloud provider, and uses the service. The cloud
consumer may be billed for the service provisioned, and needs to arrange payments accordingly.
Cloud consumers need SLAs to specify the technical performance requirements fulfilled by a cloud
provider. SLAs can cover terms regarding the quality of service, security, remedies for performance
failures. A cloud provider may also list in the SLAs a set of promises explicitly not made to consumers,
i.e. limitations, and obligations that cloud consumers must accept. A cloud consumer can freely choose a
cloud provider with better pricing and more favorable terms. Typically a cloud provider’s pricing policy
and SLAs are non-negotiable, unless the customer expects heavy usage and might be able to negotiate for
better contracts.
Cloud Provider
A cloud provider is a person, an organization; it is the entity responsible for making a service available to
interested parties. A Cloud Provider acquires and manages the computing infrastructure required for
providing the services, runs the cloud software that provides the services, and makes arrangement to
deliver the cloud services to the Cloud Consumers through network access.
For Software as a Service, the cloud provider deploys, configures, maintains and updates the operation of
the software applications on a cloud infrastructure so that the services are provisioned at the expected
service levels to cloud consumers. The provider of SaaS assumes most of the responsibilities in managing
and controlling the applications and the infrastructure, while the cloud consumers have limited
administrative control of the applications.
Cloud Auditor
A cloud auditor is a party that can perform an independent examination of cloud service controls with the
intent to express an opinion thereon. Audits are performed to verify conformance to standards through
review of objective evidence. A cloud auditor can evaluate the services provided by a cloud provider in
terms of security controls, privacy impact, performance, etc.
A privacy impact audit can help Federal agencies comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations
governing an individual‟s privacy, and to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an
individual‟s personal information at every stage of development and operation.

Cloud Broker
As cloud computing evolves, the integration of cloud services can be too complex for cloud consumers to
manage. A cloud consumer may request cloud services from a cloud broker, instead of contacting a cloud
provider directly. A cloud broker is an entity that manages the use, performance and delivery of cloud
services and negotiates relationships between cloud providers and cloud consumers.
In general, a cloud broker can provide services in three categories :
Service Intermediation: A cloud broker enhances a given service by improving some specific capability
and providing value-added services to cloud consumers. The improvement can be managing access to
cloud services, identity management, performance reporting, enhanced security, etc.
Service Aggregation: A cloud broker combines and integrates multiple services into one or more new
services. The broker provides data integration and ensures the secure data movement between the cloud
consumer and multiple cloud providers.
Service Arbitrage: Service arbitrage is similar to service aggregation except that the services being
aggregated are not fixed. Service arbitrage means a broker has the flexibility to choose services from
multiple agencies. The cloud broker, for example, can use a credit-scoring service to measure and select
an agency with the best score.
Cloud Carrier
A cloud carrier acts as an intermediary that provides connectivity and transport of cloud services between
cloud consumers and cloud providers. Cloud carriers provide access to consumers through network,
telecommunication and other access devices. For example, cloud consumers can obtain cloud services
through network access devices, such as computers, laptops, mobile phones, mobile Internet devices
(MIDs), etc [1]. The distribution of cloud services is normally provided by network and
telecommunication carriers or a transport agent, where a transport agent refers to a business organization
that provides physical transport of storage media such as high-capacity hard drives. Note that a cloud
provider will set up SLAs with a cloud carrier to provide services consistent with the level of SLAs
offered to cloud consumers, and may require the cloud carrier to provide dedicated and secure
connections between cloud consumers and cloud providers.
Deployment Models: PUBLIC PRIVATE HYBRID CLOUD

Difference Private Public Hybrid


The data stored in the public
cloud is usually multi-tenant,
Multi-tenancy: the
Single tenancy: there’s which means the data from
data of multiple
only the data of a single multiple organizations is stored
Tenancy organizations in stored
organization stored in in a shared environment. The
in a shared
the cloud. data stored in private cloud is
environment.
kept private by the
organization.
The services running on a
No: only the private cloud can be accessed
Yes: anyone can use
Exposed to organization itself can only the organization’s users,
the public cloud
the Public use the private cloud while the services running on
services.
services. public cloud can be accessed by
anyone.
Anywhere on the Inside the organization’s
Internet where the network for private cloud
Data Center Inside the organization’s
cloud service services as well as anywhere on
Location network.
provider’s services are the Internet for public cloud
located. services.
The organization must The cloud service
The organization itself must
have their own provider manages the
Cloud Service manage the private cloud, while
administrators services, where the
Management the public cloud is managed by
managing their private organization merely
the CSP.
cloud services. uses them.
Must be provided by the
The CSP provides all The organization must provide
organization itself,
Hardware the hardware and hardware for the private cloud,
which has to buy
Components ensures it’s working at while the hardware of CSP is
physical servers to build
all times. used for public cloud services.
the private cloud on.
Can be quite expensive, The private cloud services must
The CSP has to
since the hardware, be provided by the
provide the hardware,
applications and organization, including the
set-up the application
Expenses network have to be hardware, applications and
and provide the
provided and managed network, while the CSP
network accessibility
by the organization manages the public cloud
according to the SLA.
itself. services.
What is Public Cloud Computing?
A cloud platform that is based on standard cloud computing model in which service provider
offers resources, applications storage to the customers over the internet is called as public cloud
computing. The hardware resources in public cloud are shared among similar users and
accessible over a public network such as the internet. Most of the applications that are offered
over internet such as Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings such as cloud storage and online
applications uses Public Cloud Computing platform. Budget conscious startups, SMEs not keen
on high level of security features looking to save money can opt for Public Cloud Computing.

Advantage of Public Cloud Computing


1. It offers greater scalability
2. Its cost effectiveness helps you save money.
3. It offers reliability which means no single point of failure will interrupt your service.
4. Services like SaaS, (Paas), (Iaas) are easily available on Public Cloud platform as it can be
accessed from anywhere through any Internet enabled devices.
5. It is location independent – the services are available wherever the client is located.

Disadvantage of Public Cloud Computing


1. No control over privacy or security
2. Cannot be used for use of sensitive applications
3. Lacks complete flexibility as the platform depends on the platform provider
4. No stringent protocols regarding data management
What is Private Cloud Computing?
A cloud platform in which a secure cloud based environment with dedicated storage and
hardware resources provided to a single organization is called Private Cloud Computing. The
Private cloud can be either hosted within the company or outsourced to a trusted and reliable
third-party vendor. It offers company a greater control over privacy and data security. The
resources in case of private cloud are not shared with others and hence it offer better
performance compared to public cloud. The additional layers of security allow company to
process confidential data and sensitive work in the private cloud environment.

Advantage of Private Cloud Computing


1. Offers greater Security and Privacy
2. Offers more control over system configuration as per the company’s need
3. Greater reliability when it comes to performance
4. Enhances the quality of service offered by the clients
5. Saves money

Disadvantage of Private Cloud


1. Expensive when compared to public cloud
2. Requires IT Expertise

What is Hybrid Cloud Computing?


Hybrid Cloud computing allows you to use combination of both public and private cloud. This
helps companies to maximize their efficiency and deliver better performance to clients. In this
model companies can use public cloud for transfer of non-confidential data and switch on to
private cloud in case of sensitive data transfer or hosting of critical applications. This model is
gaining prominence in many business as it gives benefits of both the model.

Advantage of Hybrid Cloud Computing


1. It is scalable
2. It is cost efficient
3. Offers better security
4. Offers greater flexibility

Disadvantage of Hybrid Cloud Computing


1. Infrastructure Dependency
2. Possibility of security breach through public cloud
Delivery Models: IAAS, PAAS & SAAS

IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service

This is a virtual equivalent of a traditional data center. Cloud infrastructure providers use
virtualization technology to deliver scalable compute resources such as server s, network s and
storage to their clients. This is beneficial for the clients, as they don’t have to buy personal
hardware and manage its component s. Instead, they can deploy their platforms and application s
within the provider’s virtual machines that offer the same technologies and capabilities as a
physical data center.

An IaaS provider is responsible for the entire infrastructure, but users have total control over it.
In turn, users are responsible for installing and maintaining apps and operating systems, as well
as for security, runtime, middleware and data.

IaaS users can compare the cost and performance of different providers in order to choose the
best option, as they can access them through a single API.

IaaS Key Features

 Highly scalable resources


 Enterprise-grade infrastructure
 Cost depends on consumption
 Multitenant architecture, i.e. a single piece of hardware serves many users
 The client gets complete control over the infrastructure

IaaS Advantages

 The most flexible and dynamic model


 Cost-effective due to pay-as-you-go pricing
 Easy to use due to the automate d deployment of hardware
 Management tasks are virtualized, so employees have more free time for other tasks

IaaS Disadvantages

 Data security issues due to multitenant architecture


 Vendor outages make customers unable to access their data for a while
 The need for team training to learn how to manage new infrastructure

When to Use IaaS

IaaS can be especially advantageous in some situations:

 If you are a small company or a startup that has no budget for creating your own infrastructure
 If you are a rapidly growing company and your demands are unstable and changeable
 If you are a large company that wants to have effective control over infrastructure but pay only
for the resources you actually use

Examples of IaaS

The best-known IaaS solution s vendors are Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine (GCE),
Amazon Web Services ( AWS ), Cisco Metapod, DigitalOcean, Linode and Rackspace.

PaaS: Platform as a Service

PaaS in cloud computing is a framework for software creation delivered over the internet. This is
the offering of a platform with built-in software components and tools, using which developer s
can create, customize, test and launch applications. PaaS vendors manage servers, operating
system updates, security patches and backups. Clients focus on app development and data
without worrying about infrastructure, middleware and OS maintenance.

The main difference between IaaS and PaaS lies in the degree of control given to users.

PaaS Key Features

 Allows for developing, testing and hosting apps in the same environment
 Resources can be scaled up and down depending on business needs
 Multiple users can access the same app in development
 The user doesn’t have complete control over the infrastructure
 Web services and databases are integrated
 Remote teams can collaborate easily

PaaS Advantages

 PaaS-built software is highly scalable, available and multi-tenant, as it is cloud-based


 The development process is quickened and simplified
 Reduced expenses for creating, testing and launching apps
 Automated company policy
 Reduced amount of coding required
 Allows for easy migrating to the hybrid cloud
PaaS Disadvantages

 Data security issues


 Compatibility of existing infrastructure (not every element can be cloud-enabled)
 Dependency on vendor’s speed, reliability and support

When to Use PaaS

Such solutions are especially profitable to developers who want to spend more time coding,
testing and deploying their applications. Utilizing PaaS is beneficial when:

 Multiple developers work on one project


 Other vendors must be included
 You want to create your own customized apps

Examples of PaaS

The best-known PaaS solutions vendors are Google App Engine, Amazon AWS, Windows
Azure Cloud Services, Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Apache Stratos and OpenShift.

SaaS: Software as a Service

With this offering, users get access to the vendor’s cloud-based software. Users don’t have to
download and install SaaS applications on local devices, but sometimes they may need plugins.
SaaS software resides on a remote cloud network and can be accessed through the web or APIs.
Using such apps, customers can collaborate on projects, as well as store and analyze data.

SaaS is the most common category of cloud computing. The SaaS provider manages everything
from hardware stability to app functioning. Clients are not responsible for anything in this
model; they only use programs to complete their tasks. In this case, the client software
experience is fully dependent on the provider.

SaaS Key Features

 The subscription model of utilizing


 No need to download, install or upgrade software
 Resources can be scaled depending on requirements
 Apps are accessible from any connected device
 The provider is responsible for everything

SaaS Advantages

 No hardware costs
 No initial setup costs
 Automated upgrades
 Cross-device compatibility
 Accessible from any location
 Pay-as-you-go model
 Scalability
 Easy customization
SaaS Disadvantages

 Loss of control
 Limited range of solutions
 Connectivity is a must

When to Use SaaS

Utilizing SaaS is most beneficial in the following situations:

 If your company needs to launch a ready-made software quickly


 For short-term projects that require collaboration
 If you use applications on a temporary basis
 For applications that need both web and mobile access

Examples of SaaS

The best-known SaaS solutions vendors are Google Apps, Dropbox, Gmail, Salesforce, Cisco
WebEx, Concur, GoToMeeting, Office365.

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