7.1 Fundamentals of Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing and Its Relevance to the Organization

Consider a situation in which an organization is faced with the need to rapidly expand a new product line, which could increase the company’s competitive advantage in their industry. What is the timeline to purchase physical equipment and install, configure, implement, and support the needed resources, including human resources? Depending on the organization’s purchasing requirements, it could be a minimum of thirty days to push a purchase order through, if funding is available. Depending on the amount of equipment ordered, delivery may take forty-five to sixty days or more. Once the equipment is received, there is the configuration and implementation aspect of the project. This step depends on the abilities of the staff and whether there are special application requirements, testing, or piloting of the resources.

Take the same project and consider how it may look different if it is planned and executed in the context of cloud computing, often referred to simply as “the cloud,” which is information technology (IT) resources that are available through the internet on an on-demand or pay-as-you-go basis without the users needing to manage it. The organization would need a cloud provider, a company that provides on-demand services such as data storage, applications, and infrastructure in a platform accessible through the internet. Once the organization has a cloud provider, it then becomes a cloud consumer, which is an entity that uses and maintains access to the computing resources of a cloud provider. The organization can use the cloud provider’s portal to order, build, configure, and implement the needed infrastructure, which is the facility and system used to support an organization’s operations. The organization can then use a portal to complete the same build, configuration, software installation, testing, and piloting to be accomplished in the physical environment (Figure 7.2).

Figure 7.2 A cloud-based environment connects a cloud consumer to cloud components like servers and firewalls via the internet. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license; credit “File server”: modification of work “Simpleicons Interface folder-open-shape” by SimpleIcon/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0; credit “Application server”: modification of work “Application Server” by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Database Server”: modification of work “Database Server” by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Infrastructure”: modification of work “Network (22612) – The Noun Project by Ann Fandrey/Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0; credit “Router”: modification of work “Router (16624) – The Noun Project” by Christopher Pond/Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0; credit “Firewall”: modification of work “Firewall (computing)” by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

The organization will need to determine the competitive advantage of each approach to expanding to a new product line. It might take several months if the organization decides to use their own infrastructure to implement an on-premise environment, which is the physical hardware, such as servers, network equipment, and workstations. The cost of that implementation could occur concurrently to the rollout of a new product line that the system will support, thus maximizing the capital expenditure for the project (Figure 7.3). The cloud scenario, which could be implemented in days rather than months, might meet the immediate needs of a new project that must adhere to specific deadlines that do not offer an extended amount of start-up time.

Figure 7.3 An on-premise environment is connected to the internet through a firewall, and network traffic passes through a router and switch. The infrastructure consists of application, file, FTP, email, print, and database servers. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license; credit "Firewall": modification of work “Firewall (computing)” by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit "Router": modification of work "Router (16624) - The Noun Project" by Christopher Pond/Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0; credit "Switch": modification of work "Noun Project switch icon" by "IconMark"/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0; credit "Application server": modification of work "Application server" by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit "File server": modification of work “Simpleicons Interface folder-open-shape” by SimpleIcon/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0; credit "FTP server" and "Database server": modification of work “Database Server” by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit "Email server": modification of work "E-mail-server" by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit "Print server": modification of work "Fax server" by Openclipart/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Cloud computing environments and on-premise environments have the same functionality, but they have some fundamental differences. One main difference is the physical environment. In an on-premise facility, an organization owns and manages their own infrastructure. In a cloud environment, the cloud provider owns, operates, and manages the computing equipment. Both computing environments have a physical hardware component, yet the cloud environment offers services to the cloud consumers using virtualization, in which a physical computer environment creates a simulated computer environment (Figure 7.4). Virtualization software takes physical hardware, such as a server, and converts it to resources that are then reallocated through code to re-create an IT resource that functions in the same manner as the physical equivalent.

Figure 7.4 An interface virtualizes the resources, such as CPUs, RAM, network, and, in some cases, storage, of the physical server. It divides these resources while allocating what is needed for each computer accessing the server. (credit: modification of work from Introduction to Computer Science. attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

In an on-premise environment, the organization provides access to the different platforms, such as Exchange, file, and database, and applications, such as email, the web, and data entry. Access to the internet occurs through the on-premise network infrastructure and is monitored and maintained by the organization.

In a cloud environment, the cloud provider owns and manages physical hardware to deliver virtualized access through the internet to the server, network equipment, and workstations. The cloud environment can support access via any device, from any location, at any time based on the contracted services the cloud consumer purchases. For example, a cloud environment in a school allows a student to review their grades at any time. The student can use their smartphone to access the school portal, and with the correct credentials, they can log in and access the platform that houses their grades.

Cloud environments are based on the services the cloud provider offers to the cloud consumer. Amazon Web Services (also known as AWS or AWS Marketplace) provides many services based on the categories the cloud consumer procures. Some of the service categories are operating systems, security, networking, and storage.

Though companies, such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft Azure, offer a wide range of services, some cloud environments specialize in services that meet a single requirement for a cloud consumer. One example of a single service is a development environment, such as those provided by DigitalOcean. This environment allows developers to build a web and application platform that can be scaled to their needs and can run independently from their production environment.

Data storage is a problem that all organizations face—from how much they create to how long they should retain it. The amount of data generated is relevant to their customer base, products, and services. This, in turn, creates an issue with determining the amount of storage required at any given time. Cloud storage offers organizations the opportunity to implement accessible elastic storage, meaning that it can expand or collapse based on demand. Cloud providers such as Wasabi Technologies (also known as Wasabi) specialize in offering only storage environments, such as hot site storage, network-attached storage, and data lakes. In hot site storage, mission-critical data are stored in one location where the organization can have immediate access to the data. In network-attached storage (NAS), the storage system is flexible and attaches to an organization’s network infrastructure. In a data lake, large amounts of structured and unstructured data are stored in a repository.

Cloud Computing Compared to On-Premises Hosting

There are several advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing. First, consider the difference between an organization that has on-premise equipment and one that uses a cloud computing environment. Each organization has data storage, website hosting, and system availability for an end user, or the entity that makes use of the technology provided by an organization.

When organizations have their own equipment to provide the services to their end users on-premise, the organization manages, maintains, and supports all services in-house. These services are dependent on the services the organization provides to their customers and the industry in which they operate. The support of these services includes, but is not limited to, the facility, utilities, hardware, software, and other equipment necessary to perform the functions the end users need to complete their job function. In most cases, the company has its own personnel to support the equipment and services necessary to support the technology and systems the organization operates, such as Active Directory services, website development, and data storage.

In cloud computing, the resources are located external to the organization’s facilities and accessed through the internet. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), “Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”¹ According to this definition, there are five essential characteristics: on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service; three service models: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS); and four deployment models: community cloud, private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud² (Figure 7.5).

Figure 7.5 The NIST Cloud Computing Model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

Cloud computing infrastructure is based on a physical environment that uses virtualization technology to expand the capabilities of the physical equipment. Virtualization offers the cloud environment scalability, which is the ability of the resource to be scaled up or down with minimal effort, as well as flexibility, access to system resources, and a cost factor based on services that are contracted. The process of virtualization requires a platform to operate the virtual infrastructure, another platform that creates the virtual environment, and a service to manage the virtualized resources.

There are many server virtualization software companies, such as VMware, Microsoft, SUSE Linux, and Citrix. Each server virtualization software package offers different features (such as resource allocation, high availability, and centralized management) based on the cloud environment that is to be created according to the cloud consumer’s needs.

The Role of Information Systems Professionals in Cloud Computing

The cloud network infrastructure has evolved from the traditional physical network to software-defined networks. A software-defined network (SDN) is a network that uses software for traffic management in programmable controllers and interfaces. The evolution to SDNs means that the roles and specialties of IS professionals have also evolved. Network engineering, systems administration, and cybersecurity are a few of the important specialties involved in cloud computing. A network engineer is the person with the skill to design, implement, and manage a network in support of an organization’s mission. They will need to understand not only networking principles but also virtualization, coding languages (such as Java, JavaScript, and Python), and server administration. The system administrator is the person who manages and maintains the IT and IS resources for an organization. They will need to handle server administration, and they will also have to know the different operating systems and the virtualization system management interfaces. An operating system (OS) is the software installed on a computer system, such as Windows, Linux, or Unix, that manages the resources. The system administrator will need to be proficient in server virtualization software, coding languages, and platform-specific applications.

A cybersecurity specialist is a person who identifies and develops security strategies, verifies needed security improvements, and implements security strategies for an organization. This position needs a person who can recognize the possible risks that an organization might encounter. People pursuing cybersecurity need to understand cyber threats, and they will also need to know networking, system operations, physical security, and information security. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cybersecurity positions should grow 33 percent between 2023 and 2033.³