Cloud Computing Notes

Cloud computing represents a convergence of two major trends in IT:
- IT efficiency
- Business agility
The Cloud is:
- A parallel and distributed computing system.
- A collection of inter-connected and virtualized computers.
- Dynamically provisioned.
- Using a pay-per-use model.
- Guarantees are offered by the cloud provider through customized Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

A virtual machine is a computer file, typically called an image, that behaves like an actual computer.
Creates a computer within a computer.
Multiple virtual machines can run simultaneously on the same physical computer.
Each virtual machine provides its own virtual hardware, including CPUs, memory, hard drives, network interfaces, and other devices.

Illusion of infinite computing resources through abstracted or virtualized resources.
Elimination of an up-front monetary commitment.
Pay-per-use model (no on-going commitment – ability to pay for use as needed).
Self-service interface.

Dramatically lowers the cost of entry for smaller firms trying to benefit from compute-intensive business analytics.
Provides immediate access to hardware resources, leading to a faster time to market.
Can lower IT barriers to innovation.
Makes it easier for enterprises to scale their services according to client demand.
Enables new classes of applications and services, such as:
- Mobile interactive applications that are location-, environment- and context-aware and that respond in real time to information provided by human users and nonhuman sensors.
- Parallel batch processing, allowing users to analyze terabytes of data for relatively small periods of time.
- Business analytics that can use vast computer resources to understand customers, buying habits, supply chains, and so on from voluminous amounts of data.
- Extensions of compute-intensive desktop applications that can offload data crunching to the cloud, leaving only the rendering of processed data at the front-end.

Organizations face numerous requirements attempting to protect the privacy of individuals’ information.
It is not yet clear whether the cloud computing model provides adequate protection or whether organizations will be found in violation of regulations.

The full potential of cloud computing depends on the availability of high-speed access to all.

Enterprise applications must be reliable and available to support 24/7 operations.
Contingency plans must take effect smoothly in the event of failure or outages, and recovery plans must begin with minimum disruption for disastrous or catastrophic failure.

The interoperability and portability of information between private clouds and public clouds are critical enablers for broad adoption of cloud computing.

Growth is predicated on return on investment.
Need to carefully balance all costs and benefits in both short and long terms.
Hidden costs could include support, disaster recovery, application modification, and data loss insurance.

The IT organization will be affected as with other technology shifts.
Two dimensions of shifts:
- Acquiring new skill sets to deploy the technology in the context of solving a business problem.
- How technology changes the IT role.

Variability in terms of where the physical data resides, where processing takes place, and from where the data is accessed.
Different privacy rules and regulations may apply.

Moderna, a small company compared to other pharmaceuticals, used cloud-based tech to achieve higher efficiency and visibility across manufacturing, inventory, and accounting.

Speed to market
Reduced costs
Flexibility of operations
Business resilience
Innovation capabilities
Cloud technology allows startups and midsize companies to access big tech capabilities.

Can I trust my data in the cloud?
- Cloud providers operate comprehensive data security programs (e.g., data encryption).
Must I get rid of legacy infrastructure once and for all?
- Unwinding the spaghetti is difficult.
- Majority of leaders surveyed wanted to keep running legacy systems as long as possible.
- Lift and shift strategy – like moving an entire house and it’s contents from one place to another.
- This approach minimizes disruption.
How do I make the right cloud choices for my business?
- 3 major cloud choices: SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS

Cloud provider develops and maintains cloud application software.
Provides automatic software updates.
Makes software available to customers via the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Manages all the hardware and traditional software, including middleware, application software, and security.
SaaS customers can dramatically lower costs, deploy, scale, and upgrade business solutions more quickly, and predict total cost of ownership with greater accuracy.

PaaS, or platform as a service, is a set of cloud services to build and manage modern applications in the digital era—on-premises or in the cloud.
PaaS delivers the infrastructure and middleware components in the cloud to enable developers, IT administrators, and end users to build, integrate, migrate, deploy, secure, and manage mobile and web applications.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model in which computing resources are hosted in the cloud.
Businesses can use the IaaS model to shift some or all of their use of on- premises or collocated data center infrastructure to the cloud, where it is owned and managed by a cloud provider.
These cost-effective infrastructure elements can include compute, network, and storage hardware as well as other components and software.