CLOUD COMPUTING: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

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CLOUD COMPUTING PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

• BY
• PROF. (MRS.) S. C. CHIEMEKE
• DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
• UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY

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AGENDA

• Introduction
• Characteristics of Cloud Computing
• Types of Cloud Computing
• Deployment Types
• Benefits of using Cloud Computing
• Challenges of Cloud Computing in Nigeria
• Solutions
• Security Issues to consider before moving to
  the cloud
• Conclusion

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What is Cloud Computing?

• Cloud Computing is a general term used to
  describe a new class of network based computing
  that takes place over the Internet,
• basically a step on from Utility Computing
• a collection/group of integrated and networked
  hardware, software and Internet infrastructure
  (called a platform).
• Using the Internet for communication and
  transport provides hardware, software and
  networking services to clients
• These platforms hide the complexity and details
  of the underlying infrastructure from users and
  applications by providing very simple graphical
  interface or API (Applications Programming
  Interface).

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• Cloud computing is Internet-based computing,
  whereby shared resources, software and
  information are provided to computers and other
  devices on-demand, like the electricity grid.
• The cloud computing is a culmination of numerous
  attempts at large scale computing with seamless
  access to virtually limitless resources.
• on-demand computing, utility computing,
  ubiquitous computing, autonomic computing,
  platform computing, edge computing, elastic
  computing, grid computing,

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• A number of characteristics define cloud data,
  applications services and infrastructure
• Remotely hosted Services or data are hosted on
  remote infrastructure.
• Ubiquitous Services or data are available from
  anywhere.
• Commodified The result is a utility computing
  model similar to traditional that of traditional
  utilities, like gas and electricity - you pay for
  what you would want!

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

• National Institute of Standards and Technology
  (NIST) defines cloud computing as
• ...a model for enabling convenient, on-demand
  network access to a shared pool of configurable
  computing resources (e.g., networks, servers,
  storage, applications, and services) that can be
  rapidly provisioned and released with minimal
  management effort or service provider interaction
  (Metz, 2010).

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• Five characteristics of cloud computing is
  evident
• On demand self service
• With cloud-based services, many of the steps you
  follow to install applications can be eliminated
  and with a few clicks of a button, an application
  can be up and running in a matter of minutes.
• Resource pooling
• With current systems and data centers, IT
  departments often get stuck in a silo of their
  own creation. Institutions rarely share computing
  resources, and if they do, it is cumbersome to
  create and manage workflows that utilize these
  shared resources. With the cloud, users can
  provision computing resources based on their
  needs, and then destroy those resources, giving
  them back to the shared pool once their needs are
  met.

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• Rapid Elasticity
• Systems change constantly. To create the best
  experience for users, IT departments often must
  scale or update systems to meet user demand.
  Scaling or upgrading a system currently in
  production can be cumbersome and resource
  intensive for an IT department.
• Broad Network Access
• Traditionally, users have to install software to
  their computers and upgrade systems to handle the
  programs. If you're away from your computer, you
  may not have access to the software, which can
  cause frustration. Today, much of the software
  we use is available over the Internet
• Measured Services
• Cloud providers charge IT departments based on
  their use of computing resources. On the other
  hand, IT departments can use these metering (or
  measured) services to scale resources up and down
  based on information gathered from these
  particular tools.

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TYPES OF CLOUD COMPUTING
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TYPES OF CLOUD (Contd)

• Software as a Service (SaaS) Software delivery
  service that provides access to different
  computing software on the web. SaaS delivers a
  single application through the browser on
  thousands of customers using a multitenant.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
  Infrastructure comprises of hardware, software,
  networking components, servers and storage space.
  IaaS allows a company to pay for only as much
  capacity of data as needed.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) offers developers a
  medium through which they can create and develop
  software applications virtually. For example,
  Joomla and wordpress configured systems which
  allows remote software application development.
  PaaS providers use APIs website portals or
  gateway software installed on customers
  computers. PaaS providers include microsoft
  Azure, Google Maps etc.

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CLOUD APPLICATIONS

• SaaS resides here
• Most common Cloud / Many providers of different
  services
• Examples Sales Force, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail,
  Quicken Online
• Advantages Free, Easy, Consumer Adoption
• Disadvantages Limited functionality, no control
  or access to underlying technology

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Cloud Platforms

• Closed environments
• Typically applications must be developed with a
  particular platform in mind
• Multi tenant environments
• Highly scalable multi tier architecture
• Examples Google App Engine, Heroku, Mosso,
  Engine Yard, Joyent or Force.com (SalesForce Dev
  Platform)
• Advantages Good for developers, more control
  than Application Clouds, tightly configured
• Disadvantages Restricted to what is available,
  other dependencies

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CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE

• IaaS is the delivery of technology infrastructure
  as an on demand scalable service
• Usually billed based on usage
• Usually multi tenant virtualized environment
• Can be coupled with Managed Services for OS and
  application support
• Advantages Full control of environments and
  infrastructure
• Disadvantages premium price point, limited
  competition.

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DEPLOYMENT TYPES - CLOUD USAGE

• Private Clouds
• Usually owned by an Enterprise
• Functionality not exposed to the Customer
• Within the boundaries (firewall) of the
  organization
• E.g. CBN, FBN and UBA and MultiLinks have clouds
  designed by Onlak Computers (Cbusiness day)
• Public Clouds
• Enterprises use Cloud functionality from others
• Offer services to users outside of the Enterprise
• Exist beyond firewall, fully hosted and managed
  by the vendor
• e.g. Rivers Cloud in Rivers State with support
  from MTN and Globacom, Amazon's Web Services and
  Google appEngine .
• Hybrid Clouds
• Mix of Private and Public Clouds
• Partial Resource Outsourcing for Cost Reduction
• Control over Sensitive Data Code e.g.
  Junipper, IBN

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BENEFITS

• Ease of use
• Deploy infrastructure with a mouse or API
• No cabling, screwdrivers, racking, unboxing,
  buying
• Middle of the night
• Do it yourself remotely from anywhere anytime

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Contd..

• Flexibility and Storage
• Storage of files in the cloud allows for
  development and easy access of office files from
  anywhere. This gives room for workers to work
  together even when far apart, provided internet
  connection is available (Arno, 2011)
• Control your infrastructure with your application
  demands.
• No need to purchase expensive hardware's for
  scalability.

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Contd..

• Reliability
• Based on High quality hardware
• Design for failures
• Automatically spin up replacements
• Use multiple clouds

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Contd..

• Time Saving
• Easy access to information is guaranteed as can
  be seen with Yahoo mail, Gmail and mailbox
  generally.
• It is fast and easy in contrast to time required
  to download and install a software (Arno, 2011)

• Reduced Cost
• Prevents illegal reproduction and distribution of
  software
• Payment is made for only software used
  (Hinchcliffe, 2009)
• No need to buy in advance, Pay-as-you-go e.g.
  Sales force company charges from 5 to 25 per
  month for its services.

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CHALLENGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN NIGERIA

• PRIVACY
• Companys data are entrusted to system managed
  by companies on remote servers. The company
  managing customers information can accidentally
  or intentionally reveal it or utilize it for
  unauthorized purpose (Miller, 2011).
• Privacy statements written by cloud providers
  are written in very complicated ways and are not
  understood by customers (Pardeep, 2011). Cloud
  will also be a very attractive targets for
  hackers.

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• DATA AVAILABILITY
• Data availability is limited to internet access
  or connection. The epileptic power supply in
  Nigeria makes this a serious challenge.
  Customers want to move around with their
  information by storing their data on larger
  memory chips and carry it around. (Ume, 2012)
• TRADITIONAL SECURITY
• Cloud application integrating platforms are not
  securely created. Infrastructures used to
  integrate with cloud are not also fully secured.
  This is because the knowledge of authentication
  and authorization of cloud program have not been
  fully explored (Pardeep, 2011).

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SOLUTIONS

• Privacy and Control This can be assured by
  keeping cloud private or having a tight service
  level agreement (SLAs).
• Accessibility Filtering a packet-sniffer output
  to specific services as an effective way to
  address security issues shown by anomalous
  packets directed to specific ports or services.
  Shutting down of unused services, keep patches
  updated and reduce permission and access rights
  of application and users
• Authentication Use of encrypted protocol
  wherever possible (Basta, 2007).

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SOLUTIONS (CONTD..)

• Web Applications X10 language is looked at as
  one way to achieve better use of the cloud
  capabilities of massive parallel processing and
  concurrency
• Data Verification Talks are around the
  possibility of employing resource isolation to
  ensure security of data during processing, by
  isolating the processor caches in virtual
  machines and isolating those virtual caches from
  the Hypervisor.

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Security Issues to consider before moving to the
cloud

• There are significant security concerns that need
  to be reviewed when considering moving critical
  applications and sensitive data
• Wheres the data? Your cloud provider should
  agree in writing to provide the level of security
  required for your customers.
• Who has access? Anyone considering using the
  cloud needs to look at who is managing their data
  and what types of controls are applied to these
  individuals.
• What are your regulatory requirements? You must
  ensure that your cloud provider is able to meet
  the regulatory requirements and is willing to
  undergo certification, accreditation, and review.
• Do you have the right to audit? The cloud
  provider should agree in writing to the terms of
  audit.
• What type of training does the provider offer
  their employees? Knowing how your provider trains
  their employees is an important item to review.
• What type of data classification system does the
  provider use? Is the data classified? How is your
  data separated from other users? You will also
  want to know what type of encryption is being
  used.

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• What are the service level agreement (SLA) terms?
  The SLA serves as a contracted level of
  guaranteed service between the cloud provider and
  the customer that specifies what level of
  services will be provided.
• What is the long-term viability of the provider?
  How long has the cloud provider been in business
  and what is their track record. If they go out of
  business, what happens to your data? Will your
  data be returned, and if so, in what format?
• What happens if there is a security breach? If a
  security incident occurs, what support will you
  receive from the cloud provider?
• What is the disaster recovery/business continuity
  plan (DR/BCP)? While you may not know the
  physical location of your services, it is
  physically located somewhere. All physical
  locations face threats such as fire, storms,
  natural disasters, and loss of power. In case of
  any of these events, how will the cloud provider
  respond, and what guarantee of continued services
  are they promising?

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CONCLUSION

• While many people have concerns about its current
  uses, there is no doubt that it is changing the
  way we provide systems and services. The more
  informed IT departments are about the cloud, the
  better the position they will be in when making
  decisions about deploying, developing, and
  maintaining systems in the cloud. The decision
  to move to cloud-based services should fit into
  the organizations overall corporate objectives.
  Before any services are moved to the cloud, the
  organizations senior management should ensure
  such actions are consistent with their strategic
  plans.

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• Thank You