IT145 4C - Cloud Computing Basics (2)

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1. ​Describe the functionalities of storage and database.

2. ​Describe database as a service in cloud computing, its advantage and disadvantage.

3. ​Identify client/server computing and its components.

what฀does฀cloud฀computing฀actually฀do?฀

We฀have฀applications฀running฀on฀our฀laptops,฀servers,฀phones฀and฀the฀like.฀

Cloud฀computing฀either฀has฀them฀too฀or฀has฀the฀potential฀to฀bring฀them฀to฀you.

Cloud฀computing฀brings฀you฀applications,฀a฀way฀of฀viewing,฀manipulating,฀and฀sharing฀data. The฀most฀common฀are฀storage฀and฀database.​

Storage

One฀of฀the฀uses฀for฀cloud฀computing฀is฀simply฀storage.

The฀ benefits฀are฀in฀line฀with฀the฀general฀benefits฀of฀cloud฀computing—if฀you฀lease฀storage฀space from฀a฀vendor,฀ you฀are฀not฀responsible฀to฀buy฀equipment,฀ pay฀to฀run฀it,฀ and฀pay฀to฀cool฀it. That’s฀all฀on฀the฀vendor.

But฀there฀are฀different฀options฀when฀it฀comes฀down฀to฀cloud฀storage.​

Database

Databases​ are฀repositories฀for฀information with links within the information that help฀make฀the฀data฀searchable.​

Distributed฀databases,฀like฀Amazon’s฀SimpleDB,฀spread฀information among฀physically฀dispersed฀hardware.฀But฀to฀the฀client,฀the

information฀seems฀to฀be฀located฀in฀one฀place.

Database

​The฀advantages฀of฀such฀a฀database฀include฀the฀following:

•฀  Improved฀availability฀ If฀there฀is฀a฀fault฀in฀one฀database฀system,฀it฀will฀only฀affect฀ one fragment of฀the฀information,฀not฀the฀entire฀database.

•฀  Improved฀performance฀ Data฀is฀located฀near฀the฀site฀with฀the฀greatest฀demand฀and฀ the database฀systems฀are฀parallelized,฀which฀allows฀the฀load฀to฀be฀balanced฀among฀ the฀servers.

•฀  Price฀ It฀is฀less฀expensive฀to฀create฀a฀network฀of฀smaller฀computers฀with฀the฀power฀ of one large one.

•฀  Flexibility฀ Systems฀can฀be฀changed฀and฀modified฀without฀harm฀to฀the฀entire฀ database.

Database

​Naturally฀there฀are฀disadvantages,฀including

•฀  Complexity฀ Database฀administrators฀have฀extra฀work฀to฀do฀to฀maintain฀the฀ system.

•฀  Labor฀costs฀ With฀that฀added฀complexity฀comes฀the฀need฀for฀more฀workers฀on฀the฀ payroll.

•฀  Security฀ Database฀fragments฀must฀be฀secured฀and฀so฀must฀the฀sites฀housing฀the฀ fragments.

•฀  Integrity฀ It฀may฀be฀difficult฀to฀maintain฀the฀integrity฀of฀the฀database฀if฀it฀is฀too฀ complex or changes too฀quickly.

•฀  Standards฀ There฀are฀currently฀no฀standards฀to฀convert฀a฀centralized฀database฀into฀ a฀cloud฀solution.

Database services

Another฀“as฀a฀service”฀offering฀that฀is฀becoming฀prevalent฀in฀the฀world฀of cloud฀computing฀ is฀Database฀as฀a฀Service฀(DaaS).

The฀idea฀behind฀DaaS฀is฀to฀avoid฀the฀complexity฀and฀cost฀of฀ running฀your฀own฀database.

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Database services

​DaaS฀offers฀these฀benefits:

•฀  Ease฀of฀use฀ There฀are฀no฀servers฀to฀provision฀and฀no฀redundant฀systems฀to฀worry฀ about.฀You฀don’t฀have฀to฀worry฀about฀buying,฀installing,฀and฀maintaining฀hardware฀ for฀the฀database.

•฀  Power฀ The฀database฀isn’t฀housed฀locally,฀but฀that฀doesn’t฀mean฀that฀it฀is฀not฀ functional฀and฀effective.฀Depending฀on฀your฀vendor,฀you฀can฀get฀custom฀data฀ validation฀to฀ensure฀accurate฀information.฀You฀can฀create฀and฀manage฀the฀database฀ with฀ease.​

Database services

​DaaS฀offers฀these฀benefits:

•฀ Integration฀ The฀database฀can฀be฀integrated฀with฀your฀other฀services฀to฀provide more value and power.฀For฀instance,฀you฀can฀tie฀it฀in฀with฀calendars,฀email,฀and฀ people฀to฀make฀your฀work฀more฀powerful.

•฀  Management฀ Because฀large฀databases฀benefit฀from฀constant฀pruning฀and฀ optimization, typically there฀are฀expensive฀resources฀dedicated฀to฀this฀task.฀With฀some฀DaaS฀offerings,฀this฀management฀canbe฀provided฀as฀part฀of฀the฀service฀for฀much฀less฀expense.฀The฀provider฀will฀often฀use฀offshore฀labor pools฀to฀take฀ advantage฀of฀lower฀labor฀costs฀there.

Database services

There are number of ​providers, let's take a look at two of the biggest players.

MySQL

​ Oracle

mysql

​In฀the฀spring฀of฀2008, Microsoft announced the cloud extension tool - introducing฀Microsoft฀SQL฀Server฀Data฀Services฀(SSDS).

SSDS฀looks฀very฀similar฀to฀Amazon’s฀SimpleDB,฀with฀a฀straightforward, schema-free฀ data฀storage,฀SOAP฀or฀REST฀APIs,฀and฀a฀pay-as-you-go฀payment฀system.

It฀is฀also฀able฀to฀ start฀small฀and฀scale฀larger฀as฀needed.​

mysql

​There฀are฀three฀core฀concepts฀in฀SSDS:

•฀ Authority฀ An฀authority฀is฀both฀a฀billing฀unit฀and฀a฀collection฀of฀containers. •฀ Container฀ A container฀ is a collection of entities and is what you search within.

•฀ Entity฀ An฀entity฀is฀a฀property฀bag฀of฀name฀and฀value฀pairs.​

Oracle

In฀the฀fall฀of฀2008฀Oracle฀introduced฀three฀services฀to฀provide฀database฀services฀to฀cloud฀ users.฀Customers฀can฀license

•฀ Oracle฀Database฀11g

•฀ Oracle฀Fusion฀Middleware

•฀ Oracle฀Enterprise฀Manager

Oracle

“Providing฀choice฀is฀the฀foundation฀of฀Oracle’s฀strategy฀to฀enable฀customers฀to฀become฀ more฀productive฀and฀lower฀their฀IT฀costs—whether it’s choice of hardware,฀operating฀ system,฀or฀on฀demand฀computing—extending this฀to฀the฀Cloud฀environment฀is฀a฀natural฀ evolution,”฀said฀Robert฀Shimp, Vice President of Oracle฀Global฀Technology฀Business฀Unit.

In฀this฀section฀we’ll฀talk฀about฀the฀merits฀of฀developing฀your฀own฀in-house “cloud”฀and฀ what฀is฀used฀in฀its฀composition.

COMPONENTS

There฀are฀two฀main฀components฀in฀client/server฀computing:฀servers฀and฀thin฀or฀light฀clients.

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The฀servers฀house฀the฀applications฀your฀organization฀needs฀to฀run,฀and the฀thin฀ clients—which฀do฀not฀have฀hard฀drives—display฀the฀results.

COMPONENTS

The฀network฀map฀in฀Figure฀1-5฀shows฀how฀they฀are฀deployed.

HYPERVISOR APPLICATIONS

Applications฀like฀VMware฀or฀Microsoft’s฀Hyper-V allow you to virtualize your servers so฀ that multiple virtual servers can run on one physical server.

These฀sorts฀of฀solutions฀provide฀the฀tools฀to฀supply฀a฀virtualized฀set฀of hardware฀to฀the฀ guest operating฀system. They฀also฀make฀it฀possible฀to฀install฀different฀operating฀systems฀on฀the same machine.

HYPERVISOR APPLICATIONS

A hypervisor is a process or a function to help admins isolate operating system and applications from the underlying hardware. Cloud computing uses it the most as it allows multiple guest operating systems (also known as virtual machines or VMs) to run simultaneously on a single host system.