Cloud Computing & Applications (SECE4022) PDF

# Cloud Computing & Applications (SECE4022) ## Faculty: Ankur N. Shah - Assistant Professor - Computer Engineering - P P Savani University # Unit-2: Cloud Architecture, Services and Applications - Exploring the Cloud Computing Stack - Connecting to the Cloud - Infrastructure as a Service - Platfo...

# Cloud Computing & Applications (SECE4022) ## Faculty: Ankur N. Shah - Assistant Professor - Computer Engineering - P P Savani University # Unit-2: Cloud Architecture, Services and Applications - Exploring the Cloud Computing Stack - Connecting to the Cloud - Infrastructure as a Service - Platform as a Service - Saas Vs. Paas - Using PaaS Application Frameworks - Software as a Service - Cloud Deployment Models - Public vs Private Cloud - Cloud Solutions - Cloud ecosystem - Service management - Identity as a Service - Compliance as a Service # Exploring the Cloud Computing Stack - The cloud computing stack, often referred to as the cloud service model, is a conceptual framework that categorizes managed cloud services into different layers based on the types of resources offered. - The three primary layers of the cloud computing stack are: - [1] Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - [2] Platform as a Service (PaaS) - [3] Software as a Service (SaaS) ## Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - IaaS is also known as Hardware as a Service (HaaS). - It is one of the layers of the cloud computing platform. - It allows customers to outsource their IT infrastructures such as servers, networking, processing, storage, virtual machines, and other resources. Customers access these resources on the Internet using a pay-as-per use model. - IaaS cloud computing platform layer eliminates the need for every organization to maintain the IT infrastructure. - IaaS is offered in three models: public, private, and hybrid cloud. - The private cloud implies that the infrastructure resides at the customer-premise. - In the case of public cloud, it is located at the cloud computing platform vendor's data center, and the hybrid cloud is a combination of the two in which the customer selects the best of both public cloud or private cloud. - IaaS provider provides the following services - - **Compute:** Computing as a Service includes virtual central processing units and virtual main memory for the Virtual Machines (VMs) that is provisioned to the end-users. - **Storage:** IaaS provider provides back-end storage for storing files. - **Network:** Network as a Service (NaaS) provides networking components such as routers, switches, and bridges for the VMs. - **Load balancers:** It provides load balancing capability at the infrastructure layer. - There are the following advantages of IaaS computing layer: - **Shared infrastructure:** IaaS allows multiple users to share the same physical infrastructure. - **Web access to the resources:** IaaS allows IT users to access resources over the internet. - **Pay-as-per-use model:** IaaS providers provide services based on the pay-as-per-use basis. The users are required to pay for what they have used. - **Focus on the core business:** IaaS providers focus on the organization's core business rather than on IT infrastructure. - **On-demand scalability:** On-demand scalability is one of the biggest advantages of IaaS. Using IaaS, users do not worry about to upgrade software and troubleshoot the issues related to hardware components. - There are the following disadvantages of IaaS computing layer: - **Security:** Security is one of the biggest issues in laaS. Most of the laas providers are not able to provide 100% security. - **Maintenance & Upgrade:** Although IaaS service providers maintain the software, but still user or organization needs to remain dependent on service provider. - **Interoperability issues:** It is difficult to migrate VM from one laaS provider to the other, so the customers might face problem related to vendor lock-in. # Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a runtime environment. - It allows programmers to easily create, test, run, and deploy web applications. - You can purchase these applications from a cloud service provider on a pay-as-per use basis and access them using the Internet connection. - In PaaS, back end scalability is managed by the cloud service provider, so end-users do not need to worry about managing it. - **Example:** Google App Engine, Force.com, Joyent, Azure etc. - PaaS providers provide the Programming languages, Application frameworks, Databases, and Other tools. - There are the following advantages of PaaS: - **Simplified Development:** PaaS allows developers to focus on development and innovation without worrying about platform management. - **Lower risk:** No need for investment in hardware and software. Developers only need a PC and an internet connection to start building applications. - **Prebuilt business functionality:** Some PaaS vendors also provide already defined business functionality so that users can avoid building everything from very scratch and hence can directly start the projects only. - **Instant community:** PaaS vendors frequently provide online communities where the developer can get the ideas to share experiences and seek advice from others. - **Scalability:** Applications deployed can scale from one to thousands of users without any changes to the applications. - There are the following disadvantages of PaaS: - **Vendor lock-in:** One has to write the applications according to the platform provided by the PaaS vendor, so the migration of an application to another PaaS vendor would be a problem. - **Data Privacy:** Corporate data, whether it can be critical or not, will be private, so if it is not located within the walls of the company, there can be a risk in terms of privacy of data. - **Integration with the rest of the systems applications:** It may happen that some applications are local, and some are in the cloud. So there will be chances of increased complexity when we want to use data which in the cloud with the local data. # Software as a Service (SaaS) - SaaS is also known as "On-Demand Software". - It is a software distribution model in which services are hosted by a cloud service provider. - These services are available to end-users over the internet so, the end-users do not need to install any software on their devices to access these services. - There are the following services provided by SaaS providers - - **Business Services:** SaaS Provider provides various business services to start-up the business. The SaaS business services include ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), billing, and sales. - **Document Management:** SaaS document management is a software application offered by a third party (SaaS providers) to create, manage, and track electronic documents. - **Social Networks:** As we all know, social networking sites are used by the general public, so social networking service providers use SaaS for their convenience and handle the general public's information. - **Mail Services:** To handle the unpredictable number of users and load on e-mail services, many e-mail providers offering their services using SaaS. - Following are advantages of SaaS. - SaaS is easy to buy: SaaS pricing is based on a monthly fee or annual fee subscription, so it allows organizations to access business functionality at a low cost, which is less than licensed applications. - One to Many: SaaS services are offered as a one-to-many model means a single instance of the application is shared by multiple users. - Less hardware required for SaaS: The software is hosted remotely, so organizations do not need to invest in additional hardware. - Low maintenance required for SaaS: Software as a service removes of the need installation, set-up, and daily maintenance for the organizations. - The initial set-up cost for SaaS is typically less than the enterprise software. SaaS vendors are pricing their applications based on some usage parameters, such as a number of users using the application. So SaaS does easy to monitor and automatic updates. - No special software or hardware versions required: All users will have the same version of the software and typically access it through the web browser. SaaS reduces IT support costs. - Multidevice support: SaaS services can be accessed from any device such as desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, and thin clients. - API Integration: SaaS services easily integrate with other software or services through standard APIs. - No client-side installation: SaaS services are accessed directly from the service provider using the internet connection, so do not need to require any software installation. - Following are disadvantages of SaaS. - Security: Actually, data is stored in the cloud, so security may be an issue for users. However, cloud computing is not more secure than in-house deployment. - Latency issue: Since data and applications are stored in the cloud at a variable distance from the end-user, there is a possibility that there may be greater latency when interacting with the application compared to local deployment. Therefore, the SaaS model is not suitable for applications whose demand response time is very fast may be in milliseconds. - Total Dependency on Internet: Without an internet connection, most SaaS applications are not usable. - Switching between SaaS vendors is difficult: Switching SaaS vendors involves the difficult and slow task of transferring the very large data files over the internet and then converting and importing them into another SaaS also. # Connecting to the Cloud - Clients can connect to a cloud service in a number of different ways. Following are the two most common ways: - [1] A Web browser - [2] A exclusive application - These applications can be running on a server, a PC, a mobile device etc. The major problem with any of this method is security. - There are three basic methods for providing security: - [1] Use a secure protocol to transfer data such as HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), FTPS (File Transfer Protocol Secure), or Ipsec (Internet Protocol Security), or connect using a secure shell such as SSH (Secure Shell) to connect a client to the cloud. - [2] Create a virtual connection using a virtual private network (VPN), or with a remote data transfer protocol where the data is protected. - [3] Encrypt the data so that even if the data is caught or changed, the data will not be meaningful. - The best client connections use two or more of these techniques to communicate with the cloud. # Cloud Solutions - Cloud solutions are applications, storage, and other resources that are accessed via the internet using a shared pool of computing resources. Users can access these resources through web browsers or APIs, making them accessible from various devices and locations. - Some of the main types of cloud computing include: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), and Software as a service (SaaS). - Some of the top cloud service providers include: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) etc. - Some examples of cloud solutions include: - **Private cloud:** Dedicated to a single organization, these clouds can be hosted on-premises or by third-party providers. - **Hybrid cloud:** A combination of private and public cloud services. # Cloud Ecosystem - A cloud ecosystem is a complex system of interdependent components that all work together to enable cloud services. - In nature, an ecosystem is composed of living and nonliving things that are connected and work together. - In cloud computing, the ecosystem consists of hardware and software as well as cloud customers, cloud engineers, consultants, integrator and partners. - In the cloud ecosystem architecture that has a cloud provider in the center linking with a variety of entities. - There are many interconnecting partners of the central cloud provider such as the companies that supply software and equipment, consultants, and third-party service providers. - A robust ecosystem provides a cloud provider's customers with an easy way to find and purchase business applications and respond to changing business needs. - When the apps are sold through a provider's app store such as AWS Marketplace, Microsoft Azure Marketplace (for cloud software) or Microsoft AppSource (for business applications), the customer essentially has access to a catalog of different vendors' software and services that have already been assessed and reviewed for security, risk and cost. ## Advantages of Cloud Ecosystem - **[1] Cost Efficiency:** Cloud services work on the philosophy of provision of services according to use hence only charging consumers according to the amount of services consumed. These prevent the need for excessive initial investments in plants and equipment. - **[2] Scalability:** Cloud services can be very flexible in that they can be rapidly increased or decreased in response to the amount of current demand which means a business sure does not have to invest mostly into infrastructure and physical hardware. - **[3] Flexibility and Accessibility:** Cloud services are location-independent, allowing for work from other places that may be near or far from the office. Such flexibility means that businesses can grow and extend their operations to target customers in different world regions. - **[4] Reliability:** Cloud providers dedicate a lot of resources to policies and backups to guarantee availability and prevent loss of data. - **[5] Integration and Collaboration:** When it comes to integration, cloud services provide a high level of integration potential where businesses can integrate the cloud services with other systems and services. This promotes teamwork and allows for efficiency because it allows for a smooth transition between the various platforms and apps. ## Deployment models of Cloud Ecosystem - Public cloud - Private cloud - Hybrid cloud - Community cloud - Multi cloud ## Service models of Cloud Ecosystem - Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Software as a Service (SaaS) ## Players of Cloud Ecosystem - **[1] Cloud Providers:** These are the main ones that provide infrastructures, platforms, and software or services through the World Wide Web. Some notable players that offer cloud computing services include AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, etc. - **[2] Users:** Customers include businesses, organizations, developers, and individuals that use cloud services intending to host their applications and store data. - **[3] Developers:** Developers are essential for the construction and deployment of applications in cloud systems. - **[4] Integration Partners:** Integration partners are dedicated to the integration of different features of cloud services, and various applications to improve their usage in the cloud. - **[5] Partners and Resellers:** The value-added resellers and partnerships are important in extending the market coverage of the cloud providers through providing services, solutions, and support to customers. - **[6] Third-party Service Providers:** These are companies or individuals that operate in the same value chain as cloud service providers but perform different roles. They can offer security services for cloud environments, management or monitoring of cloud services as well as advisory services to improve the efficiency of cloud solutions. # Cloud Service Management (CSM) - Cloud service management (CSM) is the process of managing cloud services, products, and resources. - It's a way to control and maintain cloud environments, including public, private, hybrid, community and multicloud environments. - [Image of a CSM system] - Cloud is nowadays preferred by huge organizations as their primary data storage. - A small downtime or an error can cause a great deal of loss and inconvenience for the organizations. - So it is necessary to design, handle and maintain a cloud computing service. For these specific members of cloud service management are responsible who make sure things work out as supposed and all arising issues are addressed. - Cloud service management (CSM) include: system backup, security procedure, monitoring capability and scaling ability, monitoring audit log, moving workload, testing and validation, solving user queries etc. # Identity as a Service (IDaaS) - More and more companies are turning to remote and hybrid work models. For IT departments, that means taking extra measures to ensure secure employee access to company resources - wherever they work. - But in a remote environment, all the necessary identity and access management (IAM) authentications for applications, company servers, and resources can be dangerous. That's where Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) comes in. - IDaaS provides IT teams with a cloud-based, centralized system for managing and authenticating user access to various resources. - IDaaS can be used for a number of different applications. - [1] Adaptive multi-factor authentication is one such use. This is a feature where users submit multiple factors to gain entry to the network- thus increasing security over single-factor authentication-and access is granted dynamically, depending on how much risk users present. - [2] Another application is single sign-on. This allows users to sign on only once at the network boundary, and with that single effort, obtain access to whichever parts of the company's collection of programs and resources are authorized. - [3] A third application for IDaaS is Universal Directory (UD). UD is a central, cloud-based system for firms to ensure that only those users with the right security permissions can access restricted data. # Compliance as a Service (CaaS) - Compliance as a service (CaaS) is a cloud service that specifies how a managed service provider (MSP) helps an organization meet its regulatory compliance (Agreement). - Cloud compliance issues occur as any cloud consumer make use of cloud storage and backup services. - Cloud computing by its very nature extents various rules. The laws of the country of request from where it originates many not necessarily match the laws of the country in which the request is being processed, and probably laws of neither location match the laws of the country in which the service is delivered. - Compliance is a difficult issue which needs considerable expertise. - Compliance as a Service (CaaS) is a service model that allows third-party compliance experts to offer compliance implementation, management and maintenance services to regulated companies in various industries, often such as healthcare, financial and government. - Such third-party compliance services come as organizations that offer experts in various regulatory compliance rules and regulations. - Companies can outsource such third-party organizations to assist them in compliance-related activities, like... - Assessing compliance risks - Training staff - Implementing the necessary controls - Based on the industry, CaaS offers a variety of compliance services. Following are some of the common services CaaS provides. - Compliance monitoring - Testing products and services for compliance issues - Continuous compliance risk assessment - Providing coaching and mentoring for organizations - Providing due diligence audits - Automated compliance analytics and reporting - CaaS providers help ensure the organization fully complies with the required regulations, including information security, data privacy and communication compliance.