Collegenote
- Defining the Cloud
- Cloud Computing
- Emergence of Cloud Computing
- Cloud Based Service Models
- Grid Computing or Cloud Computing
- Components of Cloud Computing
- Cloud Computing Deployment Models
- Benefits of using cloud models
- Legal Issues in Using Cloud Models
- Ethical issues in cloud computing
- Characteristics of Cloud Computing
- Evolution of cloud computing
- Challenges for cloud computing
- Grid Computing
- Distributed Computing in Grid and Cloud
- Cloud Communication
- Communication-as-a-Service (CaaS)
- Advantages of CaaS
- Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
- Popular IaaS solutions
- Modern On-Demand Computing
- Amazon’s Elastic Cloud
- Amazon EC2 Service Characteristics
- Elastic IP Addressing
- Monitoring-as-a-Service (MaaS)
- The Traditional On-Premises Model
- Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
- Key Characteristics of PaaS
- Software-as-a-Service
- SaaS Implementation Issues
- The key characteristics of SaaS
- Benefits of SaaS Model
- Jericho Cube Model
- XaaS
- Evolution from Managed service providers (MSP) to Cloud Computing
- Single Purpose architectures to multi-purpose architectures
- Service Oriented Architectures (SOA)
- Combining Cloud and SOA
- Characterizing SOA
- Open Source Software in Data Centers
- Data center virtualization
- Cloud data center
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) #
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is the delivery of computer infrastructure (typically a platform virtualization environment) as a service. IaaS leverages significant technology, services, and data center investments to deliver IT as a service to customers. Unlike traditional outsourcing, which requires extensive due diligence, negotiations ad infinitum, and complex, lengthy contract vehicles, IaaS is centered around a model of service delivery that provisions a predefined, standardized infrastructure specifically optimized for the customer’s applications.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) includes the capability to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources; the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems; storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls). Services offered by this paradigm include: server hosting, web servers, storage, computing hardware, operating systems, virtual instances, load balancing, Internet access, and bandwidth provisioning. IaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as; images in a virtual machine image library, raw (block) and file-based storage, firewalls, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs) and software bundles. Examples of IaaS providers include Amazon CloudFormation, Amazon EC2, Windows Azure Virtual Machines, DynDNS, Google Compute Engine, HP Cloud, Rackspace Cloud, ReadySpace Cloud Services, and Terremark.
The IaaS cloud computing paradigm has a number of characteristics such as: the resources are distributed and support dynamic scaling, it is based on a utility pricing model and variable cost, and the hardware is shared among multiple users. This cloud computing model is particularly useful when the demand is volatile and a new business needs computing resources and it does not want to invest in a computing infrastructure or when an organization is expanding rapidly.
IaaS provides the hardware and the software for servers, storage, networks, including operating systems and storage management software. The Infrastructure as a Service poses the most challenges.
IaaS providers manage the transition and hosting of selected applications on their infrastructure. Provider-owned implementations typically include the following layered components:
- Computer hardware (typically set up as a grid for massive horizontal scalability)
- Computer network (including routers, firewalls, load balancing, etc.)
- Internet connectivity (often on OC 192 backbones)
- Platform virtualization environment for running client-specified virtual machines
- Service-level agreements
- Utility computing billing
Rather than purchasing data center space, servers, software, network equipment, etc., IaaS customers essentially rent those resources as a fully outsourced service. Usually, the service is billed on a monthly basis, just like a utility company bills customers. The customer is charged only for resources consumed. The chief benefits of using this type of outsourced service include:
- Ready access to a preconfigured environment that is generally ITIL-based (The Information Technology Infrastructure Library [ITIL] is a customized framework of best practices designed to promote quality computing services in the IT sector.)
- Use of the latest technology for infrastructure equipment
- Secured, “sand-boxed” (protected and insulated) computing platforms that are usually security monitored for breaches
- Reduced risk by having off-site resources maintained by third parties
- Ability to manage service-demand peaks and valleys
- Lower costs that allow expensing service costs instead of making capital investments
- Reduced time, cost, and complexity in adding new features or capabilities