Cloud technologies service delivery models. Cloud technologies for business. Cloud Services

The Internet has become an integral part of people's lives, and new opportunities are regularly emerging that can make various tasks easier. What's new are cloud technologies that can be used in different areas: education, medicine, logistics and so on.

What is cloud technology?

Let's start with a definition: cloud technologies imply the user's ability to access data without installing applications on his device, since all the software is provided by servers. It is important to know that such services can be either free or paid, and it all depends on the requests. To understand what the use of cloud technologies is, you need to understand their difference from conventional conditions.

1. Let's take email as an example, when mail client installed on the computer and all data is saved on the hard drive. In this case, the user decides what to do with the files.
2. If we talk about mail, which a person uses through a browser, then this is already a cloud technology. It is clear here that if problems arise with the server, then access to mail will be lost.

Benefits of cloud services

First, let's look at the existing advantages, which include:

1. To store information, you do not need to buy expensive computers and components, because everything will be stored on the cloud.
2. PC performance increases, because cloud technologies in office work and other areas launch programs remotely, so there is a lot left on the computer free space.
3. Maintenance problems are decreasing every year, because the number of physical servers, and the software is constantly updated.
4. The cost of purchasing software is reduced, since you only need to buy a program for the “cloud” once and that’s it, and sometimes you can even order its rental.
5. Cloud technologies have no restrictions on the amount of data stored. In most cases, the volume of such services amounts to millions of gigabytes.
6. Programs are updated automatically, so there is no need to monitor this, as is the case with downloaded applications.
7. The cloud can be used on any operating system since programs are accessed through web browsers.
8. New cloud technologies make it possible to have access to documents anytime and anywhere, because the main thing is the availability of the Internet.
9. Good security and protection against information loss, since sent data is automatically saved and copies are sent to backup servers.

Disadvantages of cloud technologies

The “cloud” also has a number of disadvantages that are worth knowing and taking into account:

1. Access is not possible in the absence of the Internet, and if there is no Internet, then it will be possible to work only with documents downloaded to the computer. It is worth noting that the Internet must be fast and of high quality.
2. The cloud service may be slower when transferring a large amount of information than with an installed program.
3. Rarely is security at a bad level, but in most cases the Cloud does backups, so no need to worry.
4. Many people are confused by the fact that they need to pay for the provision of a number of services, but this is a business project from which people need to earn money.

Application of cloud technologies

There is a certain classification cloud services, so the following categories of “clouds” are distinguished:

1. Public. This is an IT infrastructure that can be used by a large number of companies and services at once. The subscriber can be any company or individual. Users of public cloud technologies do not have the ability to manage and maintain the cloud, since this is only done by the owner of the service.
2. Private. When describing the types of cloud technologies, we should focus on this secure IT infrastructure, controlled and operated in the interests of only one organization. It can be located on the customer's premises or at an external operator.
3. Hybrid. This type has the main advantages of both previous options. This “cloud” is in most cases used by organizations that have seasonal periods of activity, that is, when there is not enough internal IT infrastructure, then part of the capacity is transferred to cloud technologies.

Cloud technologies in education

Computers and the Internet have also made their way into the education system, making it possible to improve and facilitate the process of performing a number of tasks. Cloud technologies in the educational process can be used for the following purposes:

1. Organization collaboration employees on important documents, such as an annual plan or program. Everyone is responsible for their own part of the document, and if necessary, all users will have the opportunity to leave comments and add information.
2. General project work, so the teacher can assign assignments to students, divide responsibilities and check reports, giving comments.
3. Cloud technologies can be used to create electronic diary and submitting any written assignments. This is a great option for children who are homeschooled or miss school for some reason.

Cloud technologies in medicine

Recently, the “cloud” has been actively introduced into medicine, which raises it to a new level. New technologies provide enormous potential for revolutionary changes, because it becomes much easier to maintain and systematize medical documentation. The use of cloud technologies in medicine is important because they help to quickly determine the diagnosis and make a conclusion. On this moment such a service is just beginning to be implemented, since there are still no regulatory mechanisms for maintaining medical confidentiality.

Cloud technologies in logistics

The cloud has excellent potential in transport and warehouse logistics. With the help of cloud technologies, it is possible to ensure full interaction of all participants in the chain, that is, the sender, operators, transport company and the recipient. All of them can communicate in real time, regardless of location. Using cloud technologies provides the following advantages:

• conduct open tenders for contractors;
• determine the most successful routes;
• control delivery;
• process and store all transportation data;
• improve the quality of order fulfillment.

Cloud technologies in banking

The competition among banks is enormous and not all are able to withstand times of crisis. Such financial institutions are beginning to use innovative technologies to reduce costs. Cloud data storage services are aimed at automating financial processes. As a result, there is an increase in the efficiency of credit institutions by reducing the cost of reporting. It is important to note that since there is a threat of attackers entering cloud storage, customer information is not stored there.

Cloud technologies for business

Business people use the cloud for the following purposes:

1. A virtual server is rented, thanks to which the manager can fully control all hosted services, regardless of the provider.
2. It’s easy to create a virtual contact center online, so you can save on renting premises and organizing workspaces. Work can begin within two days from the date of submission of the application to the provider.
3. Cloud services for business are used to create virtual office, that is, the workplace will not be tied to a specific computer. The “cloud” reproduces the company’s internal network, that is, it includes disks, folders and planning programs.

Games via cloud service

In the 2000s, cloud streaming services began to appear, allowing users to play heavy games over the Internet without downloading or loading their computer. In America and China this direction is already well developed. Microsoft recently made an official statement that they will be developing a DeLorean system, thanks to which a person will play through a cloud service, and the system will predict his actions before he presses the keys.

And again, hello, dear readers! :) Let's talk about cloud technologies .

You mean, today another article will be entirely devoted to a very entertaining and promising technology (so to speak, the “gold mine” of the IT industry), hiding under the pseudonym - cloud technologies or in common parlance - “cloud”.

We will talk about the very concept of cloud computing, we will give a variety of examples of its implementation (at the level of solutions for ordinary users), namely, we will talk about the theory, then we will smoothly move on to practice and a little... wander in the clouds :-)

Thus, the purpose of our note, as always good (it cannot be otherwise) is to systematize the basic information related to this topic and sort everything out.

So, Earthlings, get ready, now we will talk about cloud technologies, which, every day, are becoming closer and closer to us.

Let's fly..

Cloud technologies. About everything, a little bit

Behind last years, this topic has become one of the most popular in IT-sphere, many articles have been written about it, and more large quantity conferences, and how many solutions already exist on the market (and are fully used by us in Everyday life, sometimes even unconsciously), and cannot be counted at all.

However, as always, there is one thing "But"namely, the majority of users still don’t even know what kind of “know-how” cloud technologies are and why they gave up in the first place. Well, we will correct the current situation and we will begin, as it should be, from theory.

Cloud computing ( cloud computing) is a distributed data processing technology in which computer resources and capacities are provided to the user as an Internet service. If you explain accessible language, then this is your, in a sense, work platform on the Internet, or rather on remote server.

Let's look at an example to make sure that almost each of us, one way or another, has already encountered this decision.

Do you have e-mail ( e-mail)? Of course have. So, if you work with mail on some service site (for example), which allows you to use this mail, then this is nothing more than a cloud service, which is part of such a thing as cloud technologies. Or, for example, image processing.

If you reduce the size, flip your photo to Photoshop or another special program, then you have nothing to do with cloud technology - everything happens and is processed locally on your computer. But if, having downloaded an image, for example, through , you process it on the other side, in the browser, then this is that very “cloud”.

More details about cloud technologies

Actually, the whole difference lies solely in the method of storing and processing data. If all operations take place on your computer (using its power), then this is not a “cloud”, but if the process takes place on a server on the network, then this is precisely the trendy thing that is commonly called “cloud technology”.

In other words, cloud technologies are various hardware, software, methodologies and tools that are provided to the user as Internet services to realize their goals, objectives, and projects.

As practice shows, the terms “cloud technologies”/“cloud service”, with their generally accepted graphical representation in the form of “clouds”, only confuse users; in fact, their structure can be easily understood if it is presented in the form of the following pyramid.

The base of the infrastructure pyramid is a set of physical devices(servers, etc.), a “platform” is built above it - a set of services and the top - software available upon user request.

Also, you should know that cloud computing is a kind of basis vector obtained as a result of the synthesis of a number of technologies and approaches (so clever! :-)). To make it clear what I mean, here is the following diagram:

I think that now it has become a little clearer, since the scheme is quite simple. However, generally speaking, cloud technologies are a kind of mess that performs calculations with servers and other things without directly involving the resources of your computer.

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It may happen that we will all return to computers that are close in power to, so to speak, the first ones and, in fact, will be just a screen with a microprocessor, and all calculations and power will be located and performed remotely, i.e. in servers living there somewhere, namely, in the cloud mentioned repeatedly.

Services provided by cloud systems

Everything that concerns cloud computing(Further SS), usually called the word aaS. This is simply deciphered - " as a Service", that is, "as a service", or "as a service".

Currently, cloud technologies and, in fact, their concept involve providing following types services to its users:

• Storage-as-a-Service("storage as a service")
  This is perhaps the simplest of SS- services, which is disk space on demand. Each of us has at some point encountered a situation where an ominous warning appears on the monitor: " The logical drive is full, to free up space, remove unnecessary programs or data". Service Storage-as-a-Service makes it possible to save data in external storage, in the cloud. For you, it will look like an extra logical drive or folder. The service is basic for the rest, since it is included in almost all of them. An example would be other similar services.
• Database-as-a-Service("database as a service")
  This is probably more for administrators, because this thing provides the opportunity to work with databases, as if DBMS was installed on a local resource. Moreover, in this case it is much easier to “share” projects between different performers, not to mention how much money can be saved on and required for proper use DBMS in a large or even medium-sized organization.
• Information-as-a-Service("information as a service")
  Makes it possible to remotely use any type of information that can change every minute or even every second.
• Process-as-a-Service("process control as a service")
  Represents a remote resource that can link together multiple resources (such as services or data contained within a single cloud or other available clouds) to create a single business process.
• Application-as-a-Service("application as a service")
  It may also be called Software-as-a-Service(“Software as a service”). It is positioned as “software on demand”, which is deployed on remote servers and each user can access it via the Internet, and all updates and licenses for this software are regulated by the provider of this service. Payment, in this case, is made for the actual use of the latter. An example is Google Docs, Google Calendar and so on. online programs.
• Platform-as-a-Service("platform as a service")
  The user is provided with a computer platform with an installed operating system and some software.
• Integration-as-a-Service("integration as a service")
  This is an opportunity to receive a complete integration package from the cloud, including software interfaces between applications and managing their algorithms. This includes well-known services and features of enterprise application centralization, optimization and integration packages ( EAI), but provided as a "cloud" service.
• Security-as-a-Service("security as a service")
  This type services enables users to quickly deploy products that enable safe use web technologies, email correspondence, local network, which allows users of this service to save on deploying and maintaining their own.
• Management/Governance-as-a-Service("administration and management as a service")
  Makes it possible to manage and set operating parameters for one or many cloud services. These are mainly parameters such as topology, resource usage, virtualization.
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service("infrastructure as a service")
  The user is provided with a computer infrastructure, usually virtual platforms (computers) connected to a network, which he independently configures for his own purposes.
• Testing-as-a-Service("testing as a service")
  Makes it possible to test local or “cloud” systems using test software from the “cloud” (no equipment or software is required at the enterprise).

For clarity, let’s summarize all these services of the “cloud” architecture, into one diagram behind which cloud technologies lie (sorry, it’s in English):

Which shows the classification of services by type of service.

Now let’s look at what cloud technologies there are, so to speak, according to the form of ownership. Here, there are three categories:

• Public
• Private
• Hybrid.

Briefly about each:

• Public cloud is an IT infrastructure used simultaneously by many companies and services. Users do not have the ability to manage and maintain this “cloud”, and all responsibility for these issues rests with the owner of the resource. Any company can become a subscriber of the offered services and individual user.
  Examples include online services: Amazon EC2, Google App s/Docs, Microsoft Office Web.
• Private cloud is a secure IT infrastructure controlled and operated in the interests of a single organization. An organization can manage the private cloud in-house or outsource the task. The infrastructure can be located either on the premises of the customer or at an external operator (or partly at the customer and partly at the operator).
• Hybrid cloud is an IT infrastructure that uses best qualities public and private clouds when solving the problem. This type is often used when an organization has seasonal periods of activity, in other words, as soon as the internal IT infrastructure cannot cope with current tasks, part of the capacity is transferred to the public cloud (for example, large volumes statistical information), as well as to provide users with access to enterprise resources through the public cloud.

Confused? It’s okay, we’ll look at the examples soon and everything will fall into place;)

Cloud computing capabilities

Now let's look at the possibilities of cloud computing:

• Access to personal information from any computer connected to the Internet
• You can work with information from different devices (PCs, tablets, phones, etc.)
• It doesn’t matter which operating system you prefer to work in - web services work in the browser of any OS
• Both you and those around you can view and edit the same information simultaneously from different devices
• Many paid programs became free (or cheaper) web applications
• If something happens to your device (PC, tablet, phone), you will not lose important information, since it is no longer stored in device memory
• Fresh and updated information is always at hand
• You always use the most latest version programs and at the same time you do not need to monitor the release of updates
• You can combine your information with other users
• You can easily share information with loved ones or with people from anywhere in the world.

There are quite a lot of opportunities, however, there are also disadvantages (where would we be without them), which should also be mentioned.

“Fly in the ointment” - disadvantages:

• The need for constant connection.
  To gain access to cloud services, you need a constant connection to the Internet
• Software and its “customization”.
  There are restrictions on software that can be deployed on the clouds and provided to the user. The user has limitations in the software used and sometimes does not have the opportunity to customize it for his own purposes
• Confidentiality.
  The confidentiality of data stored in public clouds currently causes a lot of controversy, but in most cases, experts agree that it is not recommended to store the most valuable documents for a company on a public cloud, since there is currently no technology which would guarantee 100% data privacy
• Safety.
  The “cloud” itself is a fairly reliable system, but upon penetration, an attacker gains access to a huge data storage. Another disadvantage is the use of systems that use standard OS kernels as a hypervisor (for example Windows), which allows the use of viruses and system vulnerabilities
• High cost of equipment.
  For building own cloud it is necessary to allocate significant material resources, which is not beneficial for newly created and small companies
• Further monetization of the resource.
  It is possible that companies will in the future decide to charge users for the services they provide.

As you can see, there are two sides to the coin. However, this does not harm the development of technology, and may even spur it.

Cloud technologies - a view from the user's side. Solutions overview

We have come to perhaps the most interesting (and so beloved by many readers) part of the article - examples and, so to speak, practice. Here we will look at what solutions, services, programs already exist on the market and what you should pay attention to. Let's start with the services:

• iCloud
  Cloud service iCloud from company Apple(replaced MobileMe), fully automatic and free (albeit with minor functional limitations). It saves your all kinds of content (mail, calendar, contacts, documents, music, videos and images, etc.) on servers, and then delivers it to all devices ( iPhone, iPad, iPod touch,MacAndPC) by using wireless technology Push.
• Google Play
  A fresh cloud service called Google Play from the “good corporation”, which is designed for users to place movies, music, applications and books on specially designed storage digital information servers. Access to the service is provided directly from the browser, regardless of the OS, and therefore can be carried out both from a PC and from mobile devices on the base Android. Each user has the opportunity to place and store up to 20 -ten thousand musical recordings on free of charge, and also directly download to the server purchased in stores ( Android Market , Google Music and Google eBookstore) digital goods – movies, e-books, programs, music tracks, both purchased and rented.
• OnLive
  I think that everyone is familiar with the service, fortunately I have already written about it. Provides the opportunity to play modern games even on the simplest and weakest computer. Technically, it looks like this: the game itself is located on a remote server, and the graphics are processed there and are sent to the user’s computer in a “ready” form. Simply put, those calculations that, when normal game they are executed on the computer, etc., here they are already executed on the server, and your computer is used only as a monitor that receives the final image. If you don’t understand, all this means is that all problems with computer performance and the amount of free space on your hard drive are automatically removed, because no installation is even required. In addition, there is no need to pay quite a lot of money right away for a product (game, etc.) that you do not necessarily like. Moreover, it’s no secret that you don’t want to play through most games again, so it turns out that the cost of several hours (or even several days) of pleasure is unreasonably high. A much more convenient option would be one in which you pay only for the time you play. Or - you would pay some small fixed amount monthly, which would allow you to play any of the available games without restrictions. This is exactly what it offers OnLive.
• Xbox Live
  Another well-known gaming service, which also provides rich Internet functionality and is related to cloud technologies. The essence of the service is that owners of consoles Xbox 360 And PDA on the base Windows Phone 7 , can play computer games with each other and communicate, as well as buy add-ons and various multimedia content in the online store. It turns out that the service creates a kind of virtual universe for gamers, the components of which are located not on end-user consoles, but in the cloud.

So two latest services offer games as a service. Now let’s imagine that we are not talking about games, but about software. That is, you pay not for the product as such (for the box with the disc), but for the specific functions/opportunities that it provides you. Interesting? Here it is for me :)

Small note

And since we, as users, are most interested in software (and not all sorts of platforms as a service), now we will look at the “software landscape” ( SaaS) clouds. In other words, let's list the most popular software solutions, which, within the framework of the concept of cloud technologies, actually now exist on the market.

Actually, according to SaaS-concept, as mentioned above, you do not pay a lump sum when buying a product, but, as it were, rent it. Moreover, you use exactly those functions that you need (and, accordingly, pay for them). For example, once a year you need a certain program and you are not going to use it more often. So why buy a product that will sit idle?

And why waste space on it (in an apartment, if it’s a box with a disk, or on a hard drive, if it’s a file)? That's right, no why, because there is Alternative option- free online service (providing full functionality of this program).

Working with documents in cloud technologies

It was along this path that two headliners of the IT industry (and also competitors) took - Google And Microsoft. Both companies have released sets of services that allow you to work with documents.

From the outside Google - it's theirs Google Docs(now Google Drive):

Free online office, including text, table processor and “pribluda” for creating presentations, as well as an Internet service cloud storage files with file sharing functions.

This is web-based software, that is, a program that runs within a web browser without installation on the user’s computer, i.e. alternative version all sorts of Word, Excel etc. without the need to purchase and all that. Documents and tables created by the user are saved on special server Google or can be exported to a file.

This is one of the key advantages of the program, since access to the entered data can be carried out from any computer connected to the Internet (access is protected by a password).

From the outside Microsoft - it's theirs Microsoft Office Web Apps :

Applications Microsoft Office Web Apps, allow you to take advantage of the opportunities Microsoft Office, through a web browser and work with documents (and not only view them, but also edit them) directly on the website on which they are stored.

Thus, documents look exactly the same in the browser as in programs Office, i.e. complete, so to speak, unification.

It is also worth noting that both services are closely interconnected with mail ( Gmail in the first case and Hotmail in the second) and file storages, you want to use Google Docs, just create a free Google account and you will receive a set of programs for working with texts, spreadsheets etc., right in the browser. For many, Google Docs completely replaced, as mentioned above, paid MS Ooffice.

If you fail summary(for these two services), then we can say that the user is transferred from his usual offline environment to online.
Let's move on.

Cloud technologies and data storage

Cloud file storage is no less popular. The most famous repository is considered...

• Dropbox.
  You may have several computers, but with this cloud storage you can make a common folder with files for all your PCs and even smartphones. The most interesting thing is that you don’t have to do any special actions here, because the operating system itself will perceive the shared folder, like all other folders on the hard drive, and Dropbox will simply take care of synchronization. The service allows you to store up to 2 GB of data. Its main emphasis is on synchronization and information exchange. Dropbox keeps a history of downloads so that after deleting files from the server it is possible to restore data, plus a history of file changes is kept, which is available for the period of the last 30 days.
• Windows Live SkyDrive.
  Service SkyDrive allows you to save up to 7 GB (and files can be exchanged up to 100 MB) information in order using standard folders form. Images have a preview mode, as well as the ability to show them in the form of slides. In addition to the fact that the service is integrated with Microsoft Office, it also supports the new operating system (more precisely, the client SkyDrive built into applications Metro and allows you to upload documents and photos to the cloud in one click, and open files from remote storage).
• And of course Google Drive. There will be a separate article about it.

By the way, not only all kinds of offices and file storage use cloud technologies. For example, in the fight against digital “evil spirits” they also relied on cloud computing. And here is the result - a free antivirus Panda Cloud Antivirus.

It is based on innovative technology"collective intelligence" (which automatically identifies new threats in a minimum period of time) and allows you to minimize the impact of protection on the computer's system resources, using the computing power of cloud technologies for most operations: analysis, blocking and attempts to remove malware.

Antivirus servers use information received from millions of users of antivirus products Panda worldwide, for automatic detection and classification of new species malware appearing every day.

In a nutshell, it’s something like this, although there are still a lot of services that could be talked about, but then you’ll have to write a volume of War and Peace :)
So let's get to the results slowly.

Cloud technologies. Cloudy or clear?

To put it simply, the cloud is an opportunity to always have a guaranteed and secure access to all your personal information, as well as avoiding the need to keep a lot of unnecessary things in your pocket (all sorts of flash drives, disks, wires and all that other stuff) or buy a new computer/components/programs/games, etc. There is no doubt that at the moment, cloud technologies are one of the most popular and interesting topics V IT-sphere and more interesting solutions appearing in the world is connected precisely with them.

Certainly, to the average user It is still difficult to fully evaluate (and reveal) their full potential, but the fact that it exists is visible to the naked eye.

Thus, without any doubt, the future of cloud technologies seems very bright, because such giants ( Microsoft, Apple And Google) they just certainly don’t do anything and it’s absolutely clear that if they’ve already entered this uncharted territory, they clearly don’t intend to leave it, because two years ago the concept "cloud" seemed just a beautiful idea and a bold experiment, but today the benefits of cloud technologies can be felt even by those people who are not involved in program development, web technologies and other highly specialized things (the above-mentioned Xbox Live, Windows Live, OnLive, Google Docs- vivid examples of this).

Afterword

Something like that. I hope that the information was interesting, useful and exciting for you. Stay with the project - you are always welcome here;)

As usual, if you have questions, additions, and other differences, then comments are at your service.

PS: Thanks to team member 25 KADR for the existence of this article

MBOU Secondary School No. 9, Karabanovo

REPORT

In computer science

"Cloud technologies"

Completed: Plotnikov M.I.

Class 11A student

Chapter 1. The concept of “Cloud technologies”

Chapter 2. History of the emergence of cloud technologies

Chapter 3. Overview of cloud products

Chapter 4. Examples of “cloud technologies”

Chapter 5. Pros and cons of cloud technologies

Chapter 6. Prospects for the development of cloud technologies

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Everything is changing, the world does not stand still, and most Internet users are also changing their attitude towards the World Wide Web. The reason for this is “cloud technologies”, which set the “fashion” for using the Internet and storing files on the Internet. It is “behind the cloud” that Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and those “engines” on which services like Google Docs and Gmail are based now operate. All this is good, but so far it remains for the uninitiated only words, pompous and incomprehensible. So how does it work anyway?

Despite the fact that such terms as “cloud technologies” or “cloud computing” have long been heard by many, nevertheless, very few people understand what exactly cloud technology is.

At first glance, it may seem that everything is too confusing to delve into. In fact, this technology is very simple and almost every one of us has been using it for a long time, without even thinking about it. For example, all social networks, file hosting services, YouTube, email clients, etc. are based on the cloud. Banking services and much more.

In simple terms, cloud technology involves using a computer/web application located on remote servers through a convenient user interface or application format. Businesses and companies use different kinds applications in the cloud, such as for customer relationship management (CRM), human resources management, accounting, and other organizational needs.

Target: studying the issue of the emergence and development of “Cloud technologies”.

The work aims to: tasks :

• 
  formulate the concept of “Cloud technologies”,
• 
  talk about the main platforms using clouds,
• 
  present the positive and negative aspects of the service,
• 
  highlight prospects for further development in the world.

Chapter 1. The concept of “Cloud technologies”

Cloud technologies are data processing technologies in which computer resources are provided to the Internet user as an online service. The word “cloud” is present here as a metaphor, personifying a complex infrastructure that hides all the technical details behind it.

Cloud (scattered) computing (English cloud computing, the term Cloud (scattered) data processing is also used) is a data processing technology in which computer resources and power are provided to the user as an Internet service. The user has access to his own data, but cannot manage and does not have to care about the infrastructure, operating system and the actual software with which he works. The term "Cloud" is used as a metaphor based on the diagram of the Internet computer network, or as an image of a complex infrastructure behind which all the technical details are hidden. According to an IEEE document published in 2008, “Cloud computing is a paradigm in which information is permanently stored on servers on the Internet and temporarily cached on the client side, such as personal computers.” game consoles, laptops, smartphones, etc.”

Cloud data processing as a concept includes the concepts:

infrastructure as a service

platform as a service,

software as a service,

data as a service

workplace as a service

and other technological trends, which have in common the belief that the Internet is able to meet the data processing needs of users.

For cloud technologies, the most important feature is the uneven demand for Internet resources from users. To smooth out this unevenness, another intermediate layer is used - server virtualization. Thus, the load is distributed between virtual servers and computers.

Cloud technologies is one big concept that includes many different concepts that provide services. For example, software, infrastructure, platform, data, workplace, etc. Why is all this needed? The most important function of cloud technologies is to meet the needs of users who need to process data remotely.

What is not considered cloud computing? Firstly, this is autonomous computing on local computer. Secondly, this is “utility computing”, when a special execution service is ordered complex calculations or storage of data sets. Thirdly, this is collective (distributed) computing (grid computing). In practice, the boundaries between all these types of calculations are quite blurred. However, the future of cloud computing is still much larger than communal and distributed systems.

Cloud data storage (English: cloudstorage) is an online storage model in which data is stored on numerous servers distributed over the network, provided for use by clients, mainly by third parties. In contrast to the model of storing data on your own dedicated servers, purchased or rented specifically for such purposes, the number or any internal structure of servers to the client, in general case, not visible. The data is stored, as well as processed, in the so-called cloud, which, from the client’s point of view, is one large virtual server. Physically, such servers can be located remotely from each other geographically, even located on different continents.

In order to understand what a “cloud” is, it’s worth starting with the history of this issue. It is necessary to understand: is this technology really in the category of new ideas or is this idea not so new.

Introduction

History contains many examples of the gradual transformation of a product into a public service. This is, for example, the move from a heater to central steam heating. This demonstrates the process of how unique technologies become ubiquitous and become a service.

Just a couple of decades ago, information technology was practically not used in business. Now it is difficult to find a company that has refused this. Since the advantages of IT technologies are undeniable, and they are used everywhere, they can not be perceived as unique product, but as a service that is provided by some center.

This is why cloud technology is a popular topic in information sphere. It is quite easy to understand and realize the need to “move your business to the cloud.” And therefore research papers on this topic are more relevant than ever, not only from an IT point of view, but also from an economic one. In this work I considered the following important questions, like: “What is cloud computing?”, “What are the basic concepts of using it?”, “What are the advantages and disadvantages of this technology?” and “Why is Cloud so promising from an economic point of view?”

Basic Cloud Concepts

What is a "cloud"?

The “cloud” should be understood as a metaphor - in itself it means a remote computing center, to which access is provided on the basis of Pay-As-You-Go payment (payment for the actual use of service resources). Thus, software is no longer viewed as a product but is provided as a service. The user, in turn, no longer needs to worry about technical support, infrastructure, or the software itself, since the “cloud” hides all the details of its use.

It is worth noting that in this work cloud technologies are considered in relation to the B2B ("Business-to-business") model.

History of "clouds"

The idea of ​​using computing as a public service was first proposed back in the 1960s. It was expressed by the famous IT scientist, inventor of the Lisp language and founder of all functional programming, Stanford University professor John McCarthy.

The development of the technology closest to the modern concept of cloud computing is attributed to Salesforce (1999).

Success in this area immediately attracted the attention of IT industry giants. And already in 2005, the first “cloud” project called “Amazon Web Services"was launched by Amazon. The next development in this area belonged to Google, which began offering services called " Google Apps", and then a model of a platform service called "Google App Engine". And, finally, the third project was launched Microsoft company, announcing it at the P.D.C. 2008. It is called "Azure Services Platform".

The fact of high interest of the largest IT companies shows that “cloud computing” is a promising industry for development. Moreover, many experts call the release of "Microsoft Azure Service Platform" a new stage in the development of web technologies, since the "cloud" allows them to be taken to a new level.

Characteristics of "clouds"

· Self-service on demand- independent determination and change of computing needs and parameters.

· Universal network access - access to services regardless of the device used.

· Pooling of resources - the service provider pools resources to serve a large number of consumers.

· Elasticity - services can be provided, expanded, narrowed at any time, without additional costs for interaction with the supplier, as a rule, in automatic mode;

· Consumption accounting - consumed resources are automatically calculated at a certain level of abstraction, and based on these data the volume of services provided is estimated.

What types of "clouds" are there? Deployment Models

· Private cloud-- implies use by a limited number of persons, for example, by one organization.

· Public cloud -- intended for use by the general public.

· Public Cloud-- used by a community that has common goals (e.g. mission, security requirements, policies, etc.).

· A hybrid cloud is a combination of two or more different cloud infrastructures (private, public or public), which remain unique, but are interconnected by data and application technologies.

Service models

Nowadays, most “cloud centers” use a high level of abstractions, which allows you to use the computing power of the service without thinking about technological details.

The concept of “cloud technologies” includes three service-providing components:

· SaaS ("Software as a Service") - provision of an application as an "on-demand service". Such an application is most often accessed through an Internet browser.

· IaaS ("Infrastructure as a Service") - instead of purchasing software, special network equipment and other important resources, they can be obtained in the form of "outsourcing".

· PaaS ("Platform as a Service") - provision of a computing platform without the need to purchase and manage hardware and software.

· СaaS (“Communication as a Service”) – provision of communication services, such as IP telephony.

WaaS (“Workplace as a Service”, “Workplace as a service”) Ї special case IaaS allows you to remotely use and store your “workplace” (documentation, reports, projects).

From the above it follows that “cloud technologies” allow the use of data storage and computing power, which, thanks to high-level abstractions, are provided as services.

Many modern users of computers and mobile devices can no longer imagine life without the Internet, which has become firmly established in our everyday life. Relatively recently, new cloud technologies have appeared, which are quite different from classic models computer systems, although in some cases they work on similar principles. However, for many, the very concept of “cloud,” although familiar, still remains unclear. Read on to find out what it is.

What is cloud technology?

If we talk about the concept itself in simple language, we can say that technological solutions of this type basically involve the storage and use of information, software or special services without actually running on computers hard drives(they are used only for the initial installation of client software for the purpose of accessing cloud services).

In other words, the use of cloud technologies allows you to use only purely computing resources computer terminal or mobile device. This explanation may seem too confusing to many. Therefore, in order to understand what the use of cloud technologies looks like in practice, we can give the simplest example.

Most modern users, one way or another, use by email. Often, it is precisely the presence of such an address that is necessary for registration in Internet services, in social networks, online games, etc. In any Windows system has a built-in email Outlook client. When receiving or sending letters, they are all saved directly on the hard drive in the program folder.

It's another matter when the mailbox is located on a remote server (for example, Mail.Ru, Gmail, Yandex mail, etc.). The user simply enters the site, enters his registration data (login and password), after which he gains access to his mail. This is cloud technology in the simplest sense, since all correspondence is not stored on user computer(hard drive), but on a remote server. Actually, and special program to access mailbox not needed (a very ordinary web browser is sufficient, which in this case plays the role of a client application).

Thus, the most important thing is how cloud technologies differ from standard methods IT consists precisely in storing information or some kind of software on a remote server, which at one time was called the “cloud”, and in the ability sharing to data or software. Today you can see many services that are built exactly according to the principles of the cloud. But it was not always so.

Development of cloud technologies

In general, conversations about the introduction of such models have been going on since the late 60s of the last century. Then the concept of using the computing capabilities of computer systems around the world with an organization in the form of utilities, written by Joseph Licklider and John McCarthy.

The next step was the introduction in 1999 of so-called CRM systems in the form of websites provided by subscription, which provided access to computing resources via the Internet, which the online bookstore Amazon began to actively use in 2002, which later transformed into a huge IT corporation.

And only in 2006, thanks to the emergence of the Elastic Compute Cloud project, they started talking seriously about the full-scale implementation of cloud technologies and services. Naturally, the launch of the familiar Google Apps service, which took place in 2009, also played an important role in the provision of computing resources.

Modern cloud services

Since then, the cloud technology market has undergone quite serious changes. And the matter was not limited to providing computing resources alone.

New cloud technologies and services have begun to appear, which today can be roughly divided into several large categories:

• cloud information storage;
• gaming portals;
• antivirus platforms;
• web-based software.

Each of these groups includes many subcategories, but general outline they are all built on the same principles.

Required characteristics

According to generally accepted requirements National Institute US standards and technologies, there is a unified list of conditions that cloud information technologies must meet:

• independent user service on demand (the ability of the user to determine the degree of use of technological and computing resources in the form of data access speed, server processing time, storage volume, etc., without mandatory coordination or interaction with the service provider);
• access to a universal level network (access to data transfer regardless of the type of device used);
• pooling of computing resources (dynamic redistribution of power by pooling resources for large quantities users into a single pool);
• elasticity (the ability to provide, expand or narrow the range of services at any time automatically and without additional costs);
• accounting of services provided to consumers (abstraction of used traffic, number of users and transactions made by them, bandwidth etc.).

Common classification of deployment models

Speaking about cloud technologies, one cannot fail to mention their division by types of cloud service models used.

Among them there are several main groups:

• A private cloud is a separate infrastructure used only by one organization or enterprise that includes several users, or partner companies (contractors), which may belong to the organization itself or be outside its jurisdiction.
• Public cloud is a structure intended for use by the general public in free access and is typically managed by the owner (service provider).
• A public cloud is an organizational structure designed for groups of users who have common interests or goals.
• A hybrid cloud is a combination of two or more of the above types, which in the structure remain unique independent objects, but are interconnected according to strictly defined standardized rules for data transfer or application use.

Types of service models

Separately, we should highlight the methodology for classifying service models, that is, the entire set of tools and tools that a cloud service can provide to the user.

Among the main models are the following:

• SaaS (software as a service) is a model of a set of software provided by a cloud provider to a consumer, which can be used either directly in the cloud service from some device, or through access through thin clients, or through the interface of a special application.
• PaaS (platform as a service) is a structure that allows the user, based on the provided tools, to use the cloud to develop or create basic software for the purpose of subsequently hosting other software (own, purchased or replicated) based on database management systems, programming language execution environments, middleware Software, etc.;
• IaaS (infrastructure as a service) is a model for using a cloud service with independent resource management and the ability to host any type of software (even OS), but with limited control some network services (DNS, firewall, etc.).

Blocks of cloud services

Since cloud technologies require minimal user participation in the operation of the entire complex and are models consisting of many technological combinations that interact with each other through the use of middleware, at this stage Considering such services separately, we can highlight some important components of any hardware and software complex, which are usually called blocks:

• Self-service portal is a tool that allows the user to order a certain type of service with additional details specified (for example, for IssA this is an order virtual machine with clarification of processor type, volume random access memory And hard drive or refusal to use it).
• Service catalog is a set of basic services and associated templates for creation, which, through the transfer of automation, will be able to configure the created service in real-life computer systems and with a specific type of software.
• Orchestrator is a specialized means of monitoring the actions of the operations performed, provided by the template for each service.
• Tariffing and billing - accounting for services provided to the user, issuing invoices for payment to coordinate financial issues.

Additional methods

Among other things, sometimes in order to distribute the load, virtualization technology can be used in the form of a virtual server part, which is a kind of layer or connection between software services and hardware (distribution of virtual servers over real ones). This approach is not mandatory, however, cloud technologies in education use this technique quite often.

The antiviruses that download suspicious files not to computers, but to the cloud or “sandbox” (Sandbox), where a preliminary check is performed, after which permission is given to send it to the computer, or it is quarantined in the cloud itself.

Pros and cons of using cloud services

As for the pros and cons, of course there are. The positive aspect is that when accessing software, storage or creating their own infrastructure for users of such services, the costs associated with the purchase of additional or more powerful equipment or licensed software are significantly reduced.

On the other hand, most experts harshly criticize the use of cloud services simply because of their low security from outside interference. The issue of storing huge volumes of outdated or unused data is also on the agenda. A striking example of this is Google services, in which the user cannot delete any groups of data or unused services.

Payment issues

Naturally, the use of such services is paid, especially if these are cloud technologies in education (specialized libraries, educational platforms), access to specialized software or regular storage data with large reserved volumes disk space.

But for the average user, the same information storage services like DropBox, OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), Cloud Mail.Ru, Yandex.Disk and many others make concessions, allocating, depending on the service itself, about 15-20 GB disk space without payment. By modern standards, of course, not much, but enough to save some important data.

Conclusion

That's it for cloud technology. Many specialists and analysts promise them a great future, but the issue of information security or data confidentiality arises so acutely that without the use of new developments in the field of information security, such a bright prospect looks very doubtful.