Lesson1. What is Cloud Computing?

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
1. To identify cloud computing
2. To know the history of cloud computing
3. To identify benefits of cloud computing

Getting Started:

➢ Cloud computing is the delivery of

computing services.
➢ delivery of on-demand computing
services
➢ delivery of different services through
the Internet

Cloud Computing defined

According to https://azure.microsoft.com cloud computing is the delivery of
computing services. This services includes servers, storage, databases, networking,
software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster
innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

You typically pay only for cloud services you use, helping you lower your operating
costs, run your infrastructure more efficiently, and scale as your business needs change.

According to www.zdnet.com Rather than owning their own computing

infrastructure or data centers, companies can rent access to anything from applications
to storage from a cloud service provider.

Rather than keeping files on a proprietary hard drive or local storage

device, cloud-based storage makes it possible to save them to a remote database. As
long as an electronic device has access to the web, it has access to the data and the
software programs to run it. - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cloud-
computing.asp. It is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially
data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management
by the user. - "An Introduction to Dew Computing: Definition, Concept and Implications -
IEEE Journals & Magazine”
Nowadays, according to www.investopedia.com cloud computing is a popular
option for people and businesses for a number of reasons including cost savings,
increased productivity, speed and efficiency, performance, and security.

Understanding Cloud Computing

Investopedia.com explained that cloud

computing is named as such because the
information being accessed is found
remotely in the cloud or a virtual space.
There are companies that provide cloud
services enable users to store files and
applications on remote servers and then
access all the data via the Internet.
Therefor the user is not required to be in a
specific place to gain access to it,
allowing the user to work remotely.

In addition to this, the cloud

computing takes all the heavy lifting
involved in crunching and processing data away from the device that user carry around
or sit and work at. It also moves all of that work to huge computer clusters far away in
cyberspace. The Internet becomes the cloud, and the data, work, and applications are
available from any device with which you can connect to the Internet, anywhere in the
world.

Investopedia.com also states that cloud computing can be both public and private.
Public cloud services provide their services over the Internet for a fee. Private cloud
services, on the other hand, only provide services to a certain number of people. These
services are a system of networks that supply hosted services. There is also a hybrid option,
which combines elements of both the public and private services.

Zdnet.com further emphasize this by explaining that rather than owning their own
computing infrastructure or data centers, companies can rent access to anything from
applications to storage from a cloud service provider.

One benefit of using cloud computing services is that firms can avoid the upfront cost
and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, and instead simply
pay for what they use, when they use it.
In turn, providers of cloud computing services can benefit from significant economies of
scale by delivering the same services to a wide range of customers.

Sea.pcmag.com made that For it to

be considered "cloud computing,"
you need to access your data or your
programs over the internet, or at the
very least, have that data synced
with other information over the web.
In a big business, you may know all
there is to know about what's on the
other side of the connection; as an
individual user, you may never have
any idea what kind of massive data processing is happening on the other end in a data
centre that uses more power in a day than your whole town does in a year. The end result
is the same: with an online connection, cloud computing can be done anywhere,
anytime.

History of Cloud Computing

Zdnet.com narrated that

cloud computing as a term has
been around since the early
2000s, but the concept of
computing-as-a-service has
been around for much, much
longer -- as far back as the
1960s, when computer bureaus
would allow companies to rent
time on a mainframe, rather
than have to buy one
themselves. These 'time-sharing'
services were largely overtaken by the rise of the PC which made owning a computer
much more affordable, and then in turn by the rise of corporate data centers where
companies would store vast amounts of data.

But the concept of renting access to computing power has resurfaced again and
again -- in the application service providers, utility computing, and grid computing of the
late 1990s and early 2000s. This was followed by cloud computing, which really took hold
with the emergence of software as a service and hyper scale cloud computing providers
such as Amazon Web Services.
Dataversity.net stated that in the early years of computing, DARPA (the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency), presented MIT with $2 million for Project MAC that
allows MIT to develop technology allowing for a “computer to be used by two or more
people, simultaneously.” In this case, one of those gigantic, archaic computers using reels
of magnetic tape for memory and was the precursor to what has now become
collectively known as Cloud Computing. It acted as a primitive Cloud with two or three
people accessing it. The word “Virtualization” was used to describe this situation, though
the word’s meaning later expanded.

Back in 1969, J. C. R. Licklider helped develop the ARPANET (Advanced Research

Projects Agency Network), a “very” primitive version of the Internet. JCR, or “Lick” was
both a psychologist and a computer scientist, and promoted a vision called the
“Intergalactic Computer Network,” in which everyone on the planet would be
interconnected by way of computers, and able to access information from anywhere.
The Intergalactic Computer Network, otherwise known as the Internet, is necessary for
access to the Cloud.

The meaning of Virtualization began shifting in the 1970s, and now describes the
creation of a virtual machine, that acts like a real computer, with a fully functional
operating system. The concept of Virtualization has evolved with the Internet, as
businesses began offering “virtual” private networks as a rentable service. The use of
virtual computers became popular in the 1990s, leading to the development of
the modern Cloud Computing infrastructure.

The Late 1990s

Dataversity.net elaborated that cloud was used to express the empty space
between the end user and the provider. In 1997, Professor Ramnath Chellapa of Emory
University defined Cloud Computing as the new “computing paradigm, where the
boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale, rather than
technical limits alone.” This somewhat ponderous description rings true in describing the
Cloud’s evolution. Hence, the Cloud gained popularity as companies gained a better
understanding of its services and usefulness.

In 1999, Salesforce became a popular example of using Cloud Computing

successfully. They used it to pioneer the idea of using the Internet to deliver software
programs to the end users. The program (or application) could be accessed and
downloaded by anyone with Internet access. Businesses could purchase the software in
an on-demand, cost-effective manner, without leaving the office.
The Early 2000s

Then came 2002, where in Amazon introduced its web-based retail services. It was
the first major business to think of using only 10% of their capacity (which was
commonplace at the time) as a problem to be solved. The Cloud Computing
Infrastructure Model gave them the flexibility to use their computer’s capacity much
more efficiently. Soon after, other large organizations followed their example.

The year 2006, marked

Amazon to launch its Amazon Web
Services, which offers online services
to other websites, or clients. One of
Amazon Web Services’ sites, called
Amazon Mechanical Turk, provides a
variety of Cloud-based services
including storage, computation and
“human intelligence.” Another of
Amazon Web Services’ sites is the
Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2),
allowing individuals to rent virtual
computers and use their own
programs and applications. This is the
same year, were Google launched
the Google Docs services. Google
Docs was originally based on two
separate products, Google
Spreadsheets and Writely. Google purchased Writely, which offers renters the ability to
save documents, edit documents, and transfer them into blogging systems. Google
Spreadsheets is an Internet-based program allowing users to develop, update, and edit
spreadsheets, and to share the data online. An Ajax-based program is used, which is
compatible with Microsoft Excel. The spreadsheets can be saved in an HTML format.

In 2007, IBM, Google, and several universities joined forces to develop a server
farm for research projects needing both fast processors and huge data sets. The University
of Washington was the first to sign up and use resources provided by IBM and Google.
Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, Stanford University, the University of Maryland, and the
University of California at Berkeley, quickly followed suit. The universities immediately
realized computer experiments can be done faster and for less money, if IBM and Google
were supporting their research. Since much of the research was focused on problems
IBM and Google had interests in, they also benefitted from the arrangement. 2007 was
also the year when Netflix launched its streaming video service, using the Cloud, and
provided support for the practice of “binge-watching.”
 Eucalyptus offered the first AWS API compatible
platform, which was used for distributing private
Clouds, in 2008. In the same year,
NASA’s OpenNebula provided the first open-
source software for deploying Private and Hybrid
Clouds. Many of its most innovative features
focused on the needs of major businesses.

In 2011, IBM introduced the IBM

SmartCloud framework, in support of Smarter Planet (a cultural thinking project). Then,
Apple launched the ICloud, which focuses on storing more personal information (photos,
music, videos, etc.). Also, during this year, Microsoft began advertising the Cloud on
television, making the general public aware of its ability to store photos, or video, with
easy access.

Oracle introduced the Oracle Cloud in 2012, offering the three basics for business,
IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), and SAAS (Software-as-
a-Service).

Benefits Cloud Computing

Azure.microsoft.com states that cloud computing is a big shift from the traditional way
businesses think about IT resources. Here are seven common reasons organizations are
turning to cloud computing services:

1. Cost
Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying hardware and
software and setting up and running on-site data center—the racks of servers, the
round-the-clock electricity for power and cooling, and the IT experts for managing
the infrastructure. It adds up fast.

Guru99.com also explained that cost saving is one of the biggest Cloud
Computing benefits. It helps you to save substantial capital cost as it does not
need any physical hardware investments. Also, you do not need trained personnel
to maintain the hardware. The buying and managing of equipment is done by the
cloud service provider.

2. Global scale
The benefits of cloud computing services include the ability to scale
elastically. In cloud speak, that means delivering the right amount of IT resources—
 for example, more or less computing power, storage, bandwidth—right when
they’re needed, and from the right geographic location.

3. Performance
The biggest cloud computing services run on a worldwide network of
secure data centres, which are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of fast
and efficient computing hardware. This offers several benefits over a single
corporate datacentre, including reduced network latency for applications and
greater economies of scale.

4. Reliability
Cloud computing makes data backup, disaster recovery, and business
continuity easier and less expensive because data can be mirrored at multiple
redundant sites on the cloud provider’s network.

5. Security
Many cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and
controls that strengthen your security posture overall, helping protect your data,
apps, and infrastructure from potential threats.

6. Speed
Most cloud computing services are provided self service and on demand,
so even vast amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes,
typically with just a few mouse clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and taking
the pressure off capacity planning.

7. Productivity
On-site data centres typically require a lot of “racking and stacking”—
hardware setup, software patching, and other time-consuming IT management
chores. Cloud computing removes the need for many of these tasks, so IT teams
can spend time on achieving more important business goals.

Investopedia.com stated that cloud-based software offers companies from all

sectors a number of benefits, including the ability to use software from any device either
via a native app or a browser. As a result, users can carry their files and settings over to
other devices in a completely seamless manner.

Cloud computing is far more than just accessing files on multiple devices. Thanks
to cloud computing services, users can check their email on any computer and even
store files using services such as Dropbox and Google Drive. Cloud computing services
also make it possible for users to back up their music, files, and photos, ensuring those files
are immediately available in the event of a hard drive crash.
It also offers big businesses huge cost-saving potential. Before the cloud became a viable
alternative, companies were required to purchase, construct, and maintain
costly information management technology and infrastructure. Companies can swap
costly server centers and IT departments for fast Internet connections, where employees
interact with the cloud online to complete their tasks.

The cloud structure allows individuals to save storage space on their desktops or
laptops. It also lets users upgrade software more quickly because software companies
can offer their products via the web rather than through more traditional, tangible
methods involving discs or flash drives.

According to guru.com, strategic edge is one of the benefits that cloud

computing offers a competitive edge over your competitors. It is one of the best
advantages of Cloud services that helps you to access the latest applications any time
without spending your time and money on installations.

Cloud computing allows you to deploy your service quickly in fewer clicks. This
faster deployment allows you to get the resources required for your system within fewer
minutes.

With cloud computing, back-up and restore data is easier to get the back-up
and recovery of that, which is otherwise very time taking process on premise. In the
cloud, software integration is something that occurs automatically. Therefore, you don't
need to take additional efforts to customize and integrate your applications as per your
preferences. Hence, this makes the cloud computing reliable and can always get
instantly updated about the changes.

Employees who are working on the premises or at the remote locations can easily
access all the cloud services. All they need is an Internet connectivity. The cloud offers
almost limitless storage capacity. At any time you can quickly expand your storage
capacity with very nominal monthly fees. The cloud computing platform helps
employees who are located in different geographies to collaborate in a highly
convenient and secure manner. Last but not least, cloud computing gives you the
advantage of rapid deployment. So, when you decide to use the cloud, your entire
system can be fully functional in very few minutes. Although, the amount of time taken
depends on what kind of technologies are used in your business.

Apart from the above, some other Cloud Computing advantages are:

• On-Demand Self-service
• Multi-tenancy
 Offers Resilient Computing

• Offers Resilient Computing

• Fast and effective virtualization
• Provide you low-cost software
• Offers advanced online security
• Location and Device Independence
• Always available, and scales automatically to adjust to the increase in demand
• Allows pay-per-use
• Web-based control & interfaces
• API Access available.