Cloud Computing Architecture Unit II

Study Notes

Utility-oriented data centers underpin cloud computing, providing the infrastructure for service implementation and delivery.
Cloud services, including hardware, platforms, and software, utilize distributed infrastructure, either provider-owned or rented from third parties.
Implementation of cloud computing can occur through various setups, such as data centers, cluster collections, or heterogeneous distributed systems combining desktop PCs, workstations, and servers.
Clouds are generally constructed using one or more data centers, often leveraging virtualized hardware resources for workload isolation and efficiency.
Different service layers can be applied over virtual infrastructure, including virtual machine managers, development platforms, or specific middleware applications.
Cloud computing delivers IT services on-demand in an Internet-centric manner, encompassing the entire computing stack.

Cloud computing facilitates IT services consumed as utilities over the Internet, covering infrastructure, development platforms, and applications.

Organized into a layered structure, the architecture spans from hardware appliances to comprehensive software systems.
Physical infrastructure can be heterogeneous, consisting of various resources, like clusters and networked PCs, managed by core middleware.
Core middleware provides a runtime environment for applications, optimizing resource usage while ensuring application isolation through virtualization technologies.
Hypervisors manage hardware resource pools, converting them into collections of virtual machines, which allows fine partitioning of CPU and memory.
Programming-level virtualization can create portable runtime environments tailored to specific technologies or languages (e.g., Java, .NET, Python).

IaaS solutions are crucial for cloud management and typically categorized into companies offering management layers and those providing both management and infrastructure.
IaaS is efficient for designing system infrastructure yet provides limited application-building capabilities.
Infrastructure- and Hardware-as-a-Service (IaaS/HaaS) deliver customizable infrastructure on-demand using hardware virtualization.
Web services and RESTful APIs enable automated program interaction with service components, promoting integration within software systems.
Centralized management layers (like schedulers) coordinate virtual machine instances and manage tasks such as pricing, billing, and monitoring.

SaaS applications are deployed from centralized data centers across networks, available on a subscription or recurring fee basis.
Users achieve access to the applications without owning them, with varied business models impacting pricing and efficiency.
Initially, Application Service Providers (ASPs) offered hosted solutions for packaged applications, sharing core characteristics with SaaS, such as application access and centralized management.
As cloud computing evolved, SaaS became integrated with broader cloud computing services, emphasizing a one-to-many software delivery model.