SaaS data loss: The problem you didn’t know you had
What is Cloud Computing and Why is it Important?
In order to understand the core principles of an open cloud, we need to first level set on some basic definitions and concepts of cloud computing itself. First, what is the cloud? The architecture and terminology of cloud computing is as clearly and precisely defined as, well, a cloud. Since cloud computing is really a culmination of many technologies such as grid computing, utility computing, SOA, Web 2.0, and other technologies, a precise definition is often debated.
While definitions, taxonomies and architectures are interesting, it is more important to understand the value propositions for cloud computing. We need to understand how suppliers of cloud technology will come together to deliver on the promise of cloud computing. The key characteristics of the cloud are the ability to scale and provision computing power dynamically in a cost efficient way and the ability of the consumer (end user, organization or IT staff) to make the most of that power without having to manage the underlying complexity of the technology. The cloud architecture itself can be private (hosted within an organization’s firewall) or public (hosted on the Internet). These characteristics lead to a set of core value propositions:
Scalability on Demand
All organizations have to deal with changes in their environments. The ability of cloud computing solutions to scale up and down is a major benefit. If an organization has periods of time in which their computing resource needs are much higher or lower than normal, cloud technologies (both private and public) can deal with those changes. The organization pays for the IT resources it actually uses; it does not have to maintain multiple sets of artificially high levels of resources to handle peak demands.
Streamlining the Data Center
An organization of any size will have a substantial investment in its data center. That includes buying and maintaining the hardware and software, providing the facilities in which the hardware is housed and hiring the personnel who keep the data center running. An organization can streamline its data center by taking advantage of cloud technologies internally or by offloading workload into the public.
Improving Business Processes
The cloud provides an infrastructure for improving business processes. An organization and its suppliers and partners can share data and applications in the cloud, allowing everyone involved to focus on the business process instead of the infrastructure that hosts it.
Minimizing Startup Costs
For companies that are just starting out, organizations in emerging markets, or even “Skunk Works” groups in larger organizations, cloud computing greatly reduces startup costs. The new organization starts with an infrastructure already in place, so the time and other resources that would be spent on building a data center are borne by the cloud provider, whether the cloud is private or public.
Next page: Challenges and Barriers to Adoption
COMMENTS
Appropos of mine, 3rd April 06:26
See this post to alt.folklore.computers, dated today (Sunday the 5th):
m3ws9zb091.fsf@garlic.com
If you don't grok usenet, ask for help. Or just google the above Message-ID. No, that's not my post. I do know and trust the poster in RealLife[tm], especially when it comes to knowledge of the early days of computing ... At the moment, I don't know if there are any replies to mine ... it would appear the mods are taking the weekend off (hell, *I* would! :-)
@Murray Hynd
"The cloud concept is not new, but the multi-vendor 'happy shiny cloud club' approach is."
No, it fucking is NOT new! Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, people ... Have you "pro-cloud" fucktards (cloudtards? Hmmm ... I kinda like that ...) even bothered to look at how the Internet itself works, much less the history of the very medium that you are using? In the early days, I could use processing power & storage pretty much anywhere ... and it could still be that way, in todays world. Trouble is that anyone could see what I was doing back then. There was no privacy. The same is true today.
"As for 'can I trust this cloud thingy with my data etc', well that question is already out in the wild, re: outsource your IT... data: will they lose it, screw it, share it or sell it off? A matter of trust, which has more than a few seeds of suspicion anyway."
::rolls eyes::
We went thru' all this in the late '70s as what we now call "The Internet" was being developed ... Basically, the bottom line is that sharing the cost of the links (I pay my end, you pay yours [and it was dial-up @200bps {or sometimes Switched56} back then]), but data and processing is best kept protected and local, for all kinds of reasons.
Connectivity is good. Allowing all and sundry access to sensitive data is bad.
Yes, encryption is stronger today. I'd rather use the CPU cycles to keep the data local.
People who forget history are doomed to repeat it ...
Tiger his pinstripe suit
i.e. same pattern, different cover... still an angry cat with big claws inside....
Some observations:
The cloud concept is not new, but the multi-vendor 'happy shiny cloud club' approach is. The question is however, which vendors are going to win in this new slice+dice end-state?
As for 'can I trust this cloud thingy with my data etc', well that question is already out in the wild, re: outsource your IT... data: will they lose it, screw it, share it or sell it off? A matter of trust, which has more than a few seeds of suspicion anyway.
For example, say you have outsourced some of your UK or USA-based infrastructure with explicit local-only support access to it. If there is a possibility of outage and breaching SLA's you don't think for an instant outsourcer doesn't have foreign workers looking after your infrastructure remotely from their home country so they don't breach SLA? And of course you'd know a-l-l about ... uh-huh... (an FD 4 years ago went from tanned face to ashen white in seconds after I'd told him "if they can see your UK data in India, they can copy it - data export anyone?") ROFLMAO...
An amusing outcome: cloud computing ideals come of age, everyone hauls it back inhouse and get a better/faster/more agile infrastructure because its cheaper than farming it out, which now includes a reeling back in of offshore contracts - oh yeah, its safer too. External cloud organisations perhaps leveraged for peak/overload scenarios.
Maybe going back to the old days of some software development is outsourced but the 'stuff' stays in your basement?
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