What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing Defined
Our definition of cloud computing is based on five attributes: multitenancy (shared resources), massive scalability, elasticity, pay as you go, and self-provisioning of resources.
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| Fig. 1-1 Cloud Computing OR Local Storage http://amarjondhalekar.blogspot.com |
Multitenancy (shared resources)
Unlike previous computing models, which assumed dedicated resources (i.e., computing facilities dedicated to a single user or owner), cloud computing is based on a business model in which resources are shared (i.e., multiple users use the same resource) at the network level, host level, and application level.
Massive scalability
Although organizations might have hundreds or thousands of systems, cloud computing provides the ability to scale to tens of thousands of systems, as well as the ability to massively scale bandwidth and storage space.
Elasticity
Users can rapidly increase and decrease their computing resources as needed, as well as release resources for other uses when they are no longer required.
Pay as you go
Users pay for only the resources they actually use and for only the time they require them.
Self-provisioning of resources
Users self-provision resources, such as additional systems (processing capability, software, storage) and network resources.
The Evolution of Cloud Computing
As we noted earlier, within each wave there are subwaves, and there have already been several within the information age, as Figure 1-1 shows. We started with mainframe computers and progressed to minicomputers, personal computers, and so forth, and we are now entering cloud computing.
Another view illustrates that cloud computing itself is a logical evolution of computing.
Figure 1-2 displays cloud computing and cloud service providers (CSPs) as extensions of the Internet service provider (ISP) model.
At the beginning (ISP 1.0), ISPs quickly proliferated to provide access to the Internet for organizations and individuals. These early ISPs merely provided Internet connectivity for users and small businesses, often over dial-up telephone service.
As the access to the Internet became a commodity, ISPs consolidated and searched for other value-added services, such as providing access to email and to servers at their facilities (ISP 2.0).
This version quickly led to specialized facilities for hosting organizations’ (customers’) servers, along with the infrastructure to support them and the applications running on them. These specialized facilities are known as collocation facilities (ISP 3.0).
As collocation facilities proliferated and became commoditized, the next step in the evolution was the formation of application service providers (ASPs), which focused on a higher value-added service of providing specialized applications for organizations, and not just the computing infrastructure (ISP 4.0).
ISP - Internet service providers
" ISP literally means Internet service providers. It is a service (most of the time paid for) which allows you to connect to the Internet. "
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