The Services Provided by Cloud Computing - Assignment Example

In order to provide economic computer network solutions, the LDA is busy in research for the Computer Shop Limited. All the Information Technology Infrastructure functionalities are not available in the planned network. For this reason, Cloud Computing services are availed. Conversely, an appropriate Internet connectivity is needed in order to download or upload the applications based on Cloud Computing. An inclusive report over the services provided by Cloud Computing, Cloud distractions, huge data analysis, storage and architecture is explained. Cloud Computing Service Models The organization’s data center provides hardware and software services. These services are provisioned by the Cloud Computing applications on the web. Similarly, the Internet services that are provided via cloud computing are called as ‘Software as a Service’ SaaS. The vendors use the term Infrastructure as a service ‘IaaS’ and Platform as a service ‘PaaS’ in order to display their products and services. Due to huge variations, the terms that are explained here are not accepted worldwide. The department of commerce NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) defined some useful explanations that are based on three concepts Simple computing resources regarding Cloud infrastructure as a service ‘IaaS’ are provided. Software applications are accessed by Cloud Software as a service ‘SaaS’ that can operate cloud infrastructure. For implementing and developing applications along with programming language and tools, the Cloud Platform as a service ‘PaaS’ provides to the customers. The data center hardware and software contains the major components of a cloud. The resources are available for general public also referred as public clouds and the cloud service providers are known as utility computing. Furthermore, the clouds that are not accessible for public are called as private clouds. The combination of the two, ‘SaaS’ and utility computing forms Cloud computing. (ARMBRUST, FOX et al. 2010). There are three service models for cloud computing i.e. infrastructure as a service, platform as a service and software as a service (Wilshusen 2011). Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is comprised of three components i.e. software, platform and infrastructure. Organizations only provide software and platform and infrastructure is provided by a third party cloud computing vendor. The second service models i.e. platform as a service (PaaS) also comprises of three components i.e. software, platform and infrastructure. Organizations only provide a software or application that will be executed on the third party or the vendor’s platform and infrastructure. The third service model also includes the similar three components as mentioned before and called as software as a service (SaaS). Organizations only utilize the services provided by the vendors in terms of applications that can be accessed by the Internet. All the three components i.e. software, platform and infrastructure are the property of the vendor (Wilshusen 2011). In figure 1.1, cloud deployment models are demonstrated Figure 1.1 (Retreived from :Wilshusen, G. C. (2011). INFORMATION SECURITY: Additional guidance needed to address cloud computing concerns. GAO Reports, , 1.) Cloud computing four service models are shown in Fig 1.2 Figure 1.2 (Retreived from :Wilshusen, G. C. (2011). INFORMATION SECURITY: Additional guidance needed to address cloud computing concerns. GAO Reports, , 1.) ‘Business Cloud’ must choose the relevant client model, as it will be proportional to the business or customer requirements and may differ from organization to organization and business types. The first service model is called as the ‘Private Cloud’. A private cloud is solely a property of the organization i.e. software, platform and infrastructure is the property of the organization (Wilshusen 2011). The second service model is called as the community cloud that is accessible to several organizations that may be similar to business types and will focus on customer requiring a similar technology. The third model is the cloud known as ‘Public Cloud’. This type of service model is accessible to the public or global industry group. Lastly, the forth service model is called as the ‘Hybrid cloud’. It considers to be combined with two or more infrastructures that may support two or more clouds. However, the interaction between different clouds is bound on a standardized approach and proprietary technology (Wilshusen 2011). How the CLOUD Control Distractions The most effective sources that influence customer’s sentiments and reactions are considered huge information, mobility and evaluation of social media that helps to estimate the user’s potential and interest towards information technology. But on the other hand, if it is for in business then it can be troublesome as usual. However, the financial executives can control the past and future operations and can construct a firm foundation that helps an organization in achieving their goals (GRIFFIN & DANSON, 2012). Analytics on Big Data Loves the Cloud In recent years, the size of data or information is overwhelmed in organizations and thus it is growing on daily basis. In addition, the diversity, speed and complexity of the information are escalating rapidly. Thus it is important for the organizations to process and investigate these complex information sets that include both structured and unstructured data in order to keep up the record. Fortunately, Analytics is one of the major procedures that help any organization to control effectively huge data or information. However, the relationship is mutually dependent. According to the old statistical axiom “the larger the data sample, the more precise the measurements can be” (GRIFFIN & DANSON, 2012). The larger information sets helps the customers to apply the analytical techniques and procedures effectively. For example, the predictive and prescriptive modeling to enhance or to make better decisions. On the contrary, the cost needed for the management of larger data can be massive. For this reason Cloud come in. In fact, Cloud helps the organization in controlling the huge information and other helpful tools for financial controls. Thus by using the Cloud, companies can reduce their cost easily. It is also easy for the organizations to deploy the analytics by implementing data and analytics capabilities in the Cloud. Whenever there is a need for analytics, companies can utilize through platforms and infrastructure. The organizations only pay for the services that are needed in order to run their business but on the other hand, the Cloud service providers suffer for their operational complications. For this reason, organizations only bear the reduced cost or can only predict cost based on the desired needs. A recent joint report from Deloitte and Financial Executives Research Foundation, Leveling the Playing Field, inspects how the user-friendliness of analytics in the Cloud can level the playing field for mid-sized organizations, helping them to participate with larger business in a cost-effective manner by enhanced understanding their clients, operations and overall business. Enhanced Mobility In modern days, the availability of mobile solutions has stimulated the trouble free tools in order to improve the customer services and business modernizations. The mobility can help the organization to hire better staff to take actions for the given information, so that they can understand the reason for any mishaps in the business and can react promptly. For instance, for game days, one sports specialist team has deployed a mobile analytics solution for the purpose of customer service enhancement. Moreover, management of the team has located the staff all the way through the gaming zone in order to observe customers behavior and mark the issues. Proquest Incorporated As per project requirements, we have selected a small medium enterprise called as ‘Proquest Incorporated’. The Information technology architecture of the company incorporates three components i.e. business analytics expertise, a specialized tool designed precisely for small medium enterprise along with the provision of a quality cloud hosting provider. Likewise, the core competency of Proquest Inc. is business analytics. Moreover, the company is experienced in delivering business analytics bundled with powerful systems enabling their clients to make efficient decision making. Moreover, one of the primary services of the company facilitates IBM Cognos Express that is considered to be a leading solution among all the current business analytics tools for small medium enterprises. Moreover, IBM Cognos Express is also a first integrated business intelligence tool that is precisely developed to meet the requirements of small medium enterprises. The tool is bundled with critical reporting, scorecard, analysis, budgeting, forecasting dashboard and customization features and capabilities for the small medium enterprises at an affordable cost without large associated investments. Moreover, the tool incorporates a pre-configured solution that is very easy for installation and use for the end users. Proquest Incorporated Architecture The architecture of Proquest incorporated is designed on a private cloud that incorporates a virtual private network for communication between the database of the client and the hosting provider. The presence of virtual private network allows a secure data connection and transmission to the hosting provider, who is currently hosting Cognos application. Likewise, the dashboards and exclusive reports of Cognos for the customer are executed and data is converted into information associated with business insights. Similarly, the reports and dashboards of Cognos are then re-transmitted to the organization via a secure encrypted tunnel i.e. a Virtual Private Network connection. However, an alternate configuration is also possible that activates the data to be located at hosting provider end along with the actual execution of reports and dashboards. The preliminary discovery stage with the customer will analyze and decide options that will drive most value. If an organization does not have a database with capabilities of reporting, Proquest Inc. is capable of developing and designing a customized reporting tool, as per business requirements. Below are the three high level diagrams that will illustrate the schematic of the solution: Cloud Computing Storage A lot of space is required for the storage of cloud computing. For this purpose humongous data center are available that helps to store and manage data. There are number of threats and risks are involved for the data storage machines. In addition, these threats might involve cloud providers or the professional hackers if the data is not properly managed. The system may experience any failure or unavailability due to any insignificant security incident. For example, during the year 2008, a small bit that integrates along with a message used by the serves like Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) that offers a number of services regarding online data storage of a system shutdown for many hours (Talbot, 2010). In addition, in 2009 one more security issue took place. The password of an employer was hacked who is working on twitter thus, resulting in breaching an email security question pages that are present in Google apps account. Due to a server failure, one more incident happens that shows the removal of one million T-mobile smart phones. These cell phones are managing the data of the connected smart phones. At National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) an IT team lead related to cloud computing security ‘Peter Mell’ says “public cloud computing models are more vulnerable to threats, as every customer has access to a broad range of services and levels.” Thus if the security services are violated then it is possible for the hackers to gain all the access of the restricted area that contains confidential data. cloud computing also reflects significant risks, principal risks of cloud computing is associated with federal agencies and regulations. Any vulnerability found in the software, platform or infrastructure of the vendors will expose serious exposures, as information may be related to more than one organization. Moreover, employees working internally on the cloud computing premises of ‘Business Cloud’ may also expose a serious threat if no proper background employee checks were performed during recruitment procedures. Furthermore, if any governmental agencies for instance, military or other sensitive body is also using the same cloud from the same vendor is also most likely to be compromised, if any breach of any one of these fundamental concepts Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability is successful. In addition, the incident response function may not be efficient and effective if any incident occurs and affect the customer or employee. For instance, if a security incident affects the customer, the incident response function of the organization will trigger in a timely manner to isolate and investigate the root cause via root cause analysis. In a cloud computing scenario, it may be a different case and result in ambiguity, as from where the investigation should begin. If an incident is triggered from the vendor’s site, evidence is required to act accordingly and may consume more time that is always a critical success factor. Therefore, compliance of cloud computing vendors and implementing security controls as per the governmental information security requirements is the major concern of organizations associated with services on clouds. Moreover, organizations have also concerns on assessment of security controls and independent audit and limitations of the vendor because data of many organizations are located at the vendor site that may increase risk of the CIA (Wilshusen 2011). Therefore, an agreement is in process for establishing an independent organization that may conduct security audits and assessment. In this way, organizations can select vendors who are approved by these independent organizations maintaining the required security controls and standards. Cloud computing continues to benefit business by lowering down the cost associated with hardware, software and human resource. However, some of the debatable issues including personal privacy, lack of security control and sharing data are still seeking a solution. Likewise, providing superior benefits for ease of development, minimized costs, high scalability along with next generation architecture are facilitating Information technology to evaluate cost benefit analysis while doing risk assessment. At the same time, open source has played a vital role in cloud computing and facilitated to enable low cost input that can also be considered as free of cost and rich features for cloud service providers. Moreover, buzz in the industry concludes that the cloud computing service will utilize the open source to gain power and control to establish next generation proprietary platform-as-a service that is similar to Web 2.0. For achieving optimal benefits from Information technology, IT must be aligned with business objectives via strategic alignment, value delivery, risk management, resource management and performance management. The organization is has the acquisition of most up to date technology i.e. cloud computing supporting business analytics. By focusing on agile solution methods, that company will facilitate organizations to gain insights and competitive advantage that is a key objective for any organization. Moreover, the most positive factor of the company is the focus on key business objectives. In contrast to cloud computing, a more advanced and extended form of technology is Next Generation Business Analytics that facilitates organizations to analyze massive data available in large data sets collected by automated information systems and applications. Likewise, next generation solution supplement existing system and provide fast, flexible and low cost technologies that put more data directly in to the hands of end users with tools that allow deeper exploration and understanding of company customer and product performance. Moreover, these next generation technologies cover the below mentioned three aspects that were not covered by previous technologies: Detailed operational data on one location for thorough in-depth analysis IT development efforts are required and related lead times to produce and maintain standards and ad hoc reports No provision of ‘easy to use’ tools for end users A comparison of cloud computing with virtualization technology has a major difference. The virtual environment requires a facility with adequate temperature controlled environment. Moreover, servers with multiple processor cores are also required to execute more than one instances of an operating system virtually but physically on a single machine. Moreover, Storage area network is also essential for effective data communication within these virtual loaded images. Security is also a primary concern, as a breach in any one of the virtual clusters may result in a downtime of several systems. Furthermore, a full time employee or a vendor contract is required for configuring, developing and maintaining the infrastructure operational. Whereas, cloud computing technology minimize several risk factors, as Marketing headlines from the vendor side always highlights a promise of provisioning private cloud. However, the requirement of private cloud derives more, as business and cultural relationships are changed for facilitating them for evolution of public and private cloud computing. Moreover, business relationships with trading partners are also affected by cloud computing technological evolution, as they are expected to frequent change. Workstations, Printers, Internet Connection and Network Justification Figure 1.1 For accessing cloud computing online services via a web browser requires an updated or couple of years old workstation that supports all features of current Web browsers. However, for a fast and rich experience of cloud computing applications, a fast Internet connection is required along with an updated operating system with all critical updates installed. Likewise, upgrading old systems to Windows 7 will cost around ?70, however, hardware compatibility issues must be addressed, as Windows 7 or Vista does not support all VGA drivers or chipset available in the old system. As ‘business cloud’ websites are text based and no significant multimedia capture or editing is required, a nominal Internet connection is required. Moreover, for addressing storage requirements, all the documents, critical files and other stuff can be stored online that will significantly save the cost of maintaining and installing large storage devices. The network is built on a CAT 5 cable with a star topology. Likewise, 2 switches are adequate to connect the 22 staff members of ‘Business Cloud’. Moreover, printers are also connected to the network and can be shared among all the users connected. Furthermore, to avail cloud servicer, a WAN connection is required. In general, cloud computing service providers recommend bandwidth of the Internet connection required to establish fluent and robust connectivity between applications that are accessed from the cloud. We can assume that a broadband connection is used for establishing connectivity with the cloud service provider. Moreover, the router is connected with the two available switches. For security purpose, a firewall is installed after the DSL router or MODEM that will establish connectivity with the WAN. Furthermore, three servers are proposed that includes Customer Relationship Management Server, Email server and Application server. We have calculated Cost of 22 workstations is calculated below (Prices are taken from Amazon.co.uk): One HP Pavilion p6-2035 Desktop PC costs ?392.65. Hardware specification for this desktop are PC (Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Processor, RAM 4GB DDR3, HDD 500GB, Intel HD Graphics, Windows 7 Professional 64). If we calculate the cost of one workstation ?392.65 x 22 = ? 8628.3 (Total Cost of 22 Workstations) Cost of High quality Color A3 Printer Canon PIXMA iX 6550 x 1 = ?201.07 Cost of High speed Black and White A4 Printer Brother HL3070CW x 1 = ?204.30 For calculating price for a broadband connection following are the details that are included in a plan from ‘Talk Talk’ (, Broadband Providers Comparison for UK ADSL, Cable and Satellite): ?3.25 per month for up to 14Mb TalkTalk Broadband and calls 12 months half-price broadband (save ?39) Unlimited evening & weekend calls to local & national UK landline numbers 40GB monthly usage allowance included (heavy user) Customize your broadband plan with Boosts - only ?4 a month each Mega Download Boost increases usage allowance to 80GB Super Secure Boost adds F-Secure security protection for 3 PCs Special offer - now only ?2 a month with 30-day free trial Landline Boosts also available ?7.25 per month for up to 14Mb TalkTalk Plus Broadband and calls 6 months half-price broadband (save ?43.50) Free anytime calls to UK landline numbers (including 0870/0845) Free wider-range wireless 'N' router Unlimited monthly usage allowance included Switch to TalkTalk phone line rental from ?9.50 per month (required) No need to pay BT line rental or change phone number Only ?9.50 a month when paying 12 months in advance (usually ?13.80) Free connection for online orders - save ?30 Free wireless router - save ?30 30 day trial - option to cancel the service within 30 days Free technical support calls from your TalkTalk phone Single bill for broadband and phone Star topology will provide centralized administration and configuration of all the nodes on the network. Moreover, star topology initiates low broadcasts on the network, consequently, consuming low bandwidth and at the same time making the network capacity on optimal levels. It is highly recommended for consideration. The minimum hardware specifications of the workstations that will be installed in the current scenario are: System Specification Processor Intel QuadCore QE5400 2.7GHZ (2MB cache – 800MHZ FSB) Motherboard Intel DG41RQ (LGA775-SND+AGP+GIGA LAN-800MHZ FSB) Memory 1GB DDRII (800 Bus) Hard drive 320GB 3.5" SATA-II 7200RPM Optical drive DVD Drive 16 X Chassis Thermal HT Support Cost x 1 = $400 Network devices are the objects for any network. The network functionality relies on the network devices .The dependability of the network devices emphasizes on the requirements of Computer Shop Limited network. Fast Ethernet switches will be implemented instead of hubs within the local area network of the company. Switches are more powerful and intuitive as compared to hubs. The switches will be connected to the router. Routers are implemented on a Wide Area Network (WAN) as well as on the Local Area Network (LAN). For eliminating the unnecessary broadcast within a LAN domain, the Access Control List can be configured to minimize the unwanted broadcast from each network node. Access rights and permissions can also be configured for restricting the user at certain levels. The ACL can be configured for restricting and allowing the access of any network resource to the specific user or group of users. Likewise, it provides “a mechanism that implements access control for a system resource by listing the identities of the system entities that are permitted or denied access to the resource” (Access control list.2007). The network server can be a domain controller, firewall or Windows NT server. The requirement of the network server will emphasize on the requirements of the network. A large Network containing network nodes more than 50 may require a domain controller for the administration and configuration of user accounts and permissions. References Access List. 2007. Network Dictionary, , pp. 18-19. ARMBRUST, M., FOX, A., GRIFFITH, R., JOSEPH, A.D., KATZ, R., KONWINSKI, A., LEE, G., PATTERSON, D., RABKIN, A., STOICA, I. and ZAHARIA, M., 2010. A View of Cloud Computing. Communications of the ACM, 53(4), pp. 50-58. GRIFFIN, J., & DANSON, F. (2012). Analytics and the cloud - the future is here. Financial Executive, 28(9), 97-98. IBM unveils new business analytics software for midsized clients; IBM cognos express delivers low-cost analysis, reporting and planning capabilities to midsized organizations in a matter of hours. (2009). M2PressWIRE, REESE, G., 2009. Cloud Application Architectures: Building Applications and Infrastructure in the Cloud. O'Reilly Media. Talbot, D. (2010). Security in the ether. Technology Review, 113(1), 36. WILSHUSEN, G.C., 2011. INFORMATION SECURITY: Additional Guidance Needed to Address Cloud Computing Concerns. GAO Reports, , pp. 1. , Broadband Providers Comparison for UK ADSL, Cable and Satellite . Available: http://www.broadbandchecker.co.uk/broadband-checker.html [4/29/2012, 2012]. Read More