Examining The Implications And Challenges In Cloud Computing Environments: An Exploratory Study

Commercial enterprises are increasingly utilizing cloud computing as a solution to fluctuating capacity challenges. Cloud computing offers the possibility of on-demand capacity, allowing commercial enterprises to “tweak” their network infrastructure based on increased or decreased demand. Pay-per-use of cloud computing allows not only tremendous cost advantage; it also provides complete flexibility for launching or testing new products or services. Benefits, such as greater utilization efficiencies and worldwide accessibility of data and applications, are sometimes offset by “perceived” loss of control of personal data. Commercial entities such as, IBM, Google and Microsoft are already utilizing cloud computing. These companies, along with many others, face multitudes of challenges at the critical junction of hosted infrastructure and the cloud. Some of these challenges include, but not limited to, resource allocation, usage of virtual machines and bandwidth requirements. Along with these challenges, one of the largest challenges is of the legal status and jurisdiction. Recent legal precedents could provide potentially devastating outcomes for companies looking to adopt cloud computing as part of their network infrastructure. These legal precedents create difficult propositions for corporations from security and compliance audit standpoints. This paper explores various implications in regards to, infrastructure, data security and privacy. The paper also explores how various laws and government directives around the globe affect the relatively new concept of cloud computing. The paper also explores inclusion of cloud computing studies to existing computer networking coursework. What is Cloud Computing? Almost 30 years ago, computer manufactures were working to develop a computer that would no longer rely on another system to produce an output. As a result, thick clients were developed to work independently of centralized computer systems. Clients have since grown to be vastly independent, but with the popularity of the internet, we have grown to appreciate the centralization of data and resources. Cloud computing refers to the word ‘cloud’ as the internet. Cloud computing is a style of computing in which we use the internet to access resources and applications to enhance the usability of computing systems. The idea of cloud computing incorporates multi-computing systems and services that offer an infrastructure that reduces the power needed to run client software independently. Cloud Computing and its services hide the complexity of the application and resource management by centralizing the application and taking the workload off the client. Cloud computing can be loosely defined as, an environment where any type of IT resource may be provided as a resource. Like a commercial utility company, these IT resources are shared among thousands of users and thus P ge 14599.2 distributing investment and maintenance costs. Using resources hosted on cloud, customers are able to access applications and associated data from an outsourced provider. Internal IT department would serve the organization by managing access to cloud providers and ensuring that these vendors provide adequate security, scalability and reliability. Organizations would certainly relinquish some operational control; however, the gains would be measurable in flexibility. For example, if demand for IT resources surges, add these resources from cloud provider and pay only for usage. In Contrast, if a company experiences slowdown, scale down the resources and pay less. Seasonal businesses would certainly benefit from allowed flexibility. What are the uses of Cloud Computing? Cloud computing provides many types of services. Web-based services, Software as a Service, Virtual Infrastructure as a Service, Physical Infrastructure as a Service, Software Platform as a Service, and Application Components as a Service all form this growing computing architecture. The most prevalent, by far, is the Web-based services in which we access most commonly by web-browsers. Two other services, however, are becoming increasingly prevalent in the role of everyday computing. Software as a Service (SaaS) is providing simplicity of development, installation, and management along with a new approach to licensing software. This licensing provides predictable payments, little to no upfront costs, scaling, and is subscription based. Virtual Infrastructure as a Service provides virtualization of computing systems, enabling developers to access and modify the computer resources needed. Companies such as Amazon provide services that enable developers to change resources on the fly using only a few lines of code. Virtual Infrastructures are typically built on large mainframes that store large amounts of data, providing access to many developers. SaaS is a way in which computer software is distributed and run. The application runs directly from an interface, such as internet explorer, thus eliminating the need for installation, updates, and storage of the application. Many cloud computing services have been running for several years. For instance, users have been using applications like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and Gmail. Each provides access to the same resource from various locations. Using these clients, email can be retrieved via cell phones, PDA’s, laptops, and many other computing systems irrespective of platforms. This provides a convenience of access and would otherwise slow the rate of communication. As software becomes a service, businesses are no longer tied to large investments made when purchasing software up front. The most common service provided by cloud computing today is Web-Based services. Websites such as YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, and Microsoft Office Live, host web-sites offering services. Software as a Service however, provides a web-application through the internet and uses a new type of subscription based licensing model. This model is growing rapidly due to its flexibility for application development and cost. A service that has taken popularity among developers is that of Virtual Infrastructure as a Service. This service includes access to virtual servers, data-storage, P ge 14599.3 and system configuration, via the internet. One of the most well known Virtual Infrastructure as a Service applications, in use today, is the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). This service allows access to computer systems via webservices. It allows full root access and control of a system. The word elastic refers to the flexibility in developer needs. This means the cost is dependent on the needs of the application. In some cases, this may provide cheaper costs to developers because it cuts the upfront costs for a complete system, such as server hardware and software. Maintenance on the data-centers that host this environment is handled by the host and therefore also reducing the cost for the developer. Pricing is handled through several factors including, processor speed, storage amount, data transfer, and other management services such as IP addressing. These computing environments also have several operating system choices available. Again, price can vary on the operating system and other software of choice. An additional advantage to Virtual Infrastructure as a Service is that it eliminates the occurrences of server sprawl that many large organizations tend to have. Server sprawl is defined as an affect of many under-utilized low-end servers that often only support one application. Businesses should try to maximize their return on investment by utilizing as much of the servers as possible and reduce the number of servers to support. Various Types of Cloud? Utility computing: Utility computing is where a service provider makes computing resources and infrastructure management available to the customer as needed, and charges them for specific usage rather than a flat rate. Like other types of on-demand computing (such as grid computing), the utility model seeks to maximize the efficient use of resources and/or minimize associated costs. Web services in the cloud: A client company will pay to use application programming interfaces, or API’s, of a software program they want to use (infoworld.com). They will then use these programs over an internet connection. While the company will pay less through this approach for much of the same functionality, many times they will only receive a partial version of the program rather than a full or advanced version of the software they wish to use. An example of this type of cloud service is Google Maps, map software that will allow you to view maps from around the world. Platform as a service: In this form of cloud computing a company will build or design their own application that will run on the vendor’s servers. These applications are then available for all end users at the company who requires the software. While this form of cloud computing certainly cost effective, the development and capabilities of the applications are restricted by what the provider’s servers and infrastructure is able to handle. An example of this type is the new Google Apps Engine. Managed service providers: Managed service providers offer backend technology support to various businesses via the Internet. These include, network monitoring, remote data backup, and network security, but can also include other more new age technology services such as Virtual Private Networks and Voice Over Internet Protocol P ge 14599.4 services.. An example of this type of application would be Google’s email security and archiving service, Postini. Service Commerce Platforms: Using this form of cloud computing users will be able to purchase various services using the Internet. Examples of these services include, travel or secretarial services. Internet integration: This method really is how other cloud methods are supported and integrated with the internet environment. It allo