Cloud technologies for dummies. Know where your data is. Development of cloud technologies

Taking into account the specifics of the implementation of the scientific and educational process using distance educational technologies, we can highlightthe following advantages of cloud services:

availability on any personal computer and mobile device, which ensures savings in high-performance software and hardware systems on the side of educational institutions (cloud service users). Clients of cloud services can access their workspace from anywhere connected to the Internet;

the reliability of cloud services is ensured by the fact that the software and hardware platform is located in specialized Data Processing Centers (DPCs), which include 100% redundancy of the network and hardware infrastructure;

economic benefit. The presence of platforms such as Google docs does not require educational institutions to purchase licensed software, configure it, and update it.

Disadvantages cloud servers are:

the need for a constant connection to the Internet. In settlements remote from information and communication centers, the likelihood of technical and technological problems in accessing the Internet can be high. On the other hand, with the development of 3G, 4G technologies, satellite and mobile transport environments this disadvantage will be practically excluded in the future;

limited software scalability. Many cloud services provide a minimal set of tools for setting up the service workspace. Accordingly, the user often cannot optimally configure his workspace;

inaccessibility of implementing these technologies to small companies due to the high cost of cloud software and hardware.

Model concept cloud computing is often viewed in two ways, some see it as security risks and new “threat vectors”, but at the same time this system has new features to improve security. Improved infrastructure visibility, automation, and standardization all enhance information security. For example, if we use a predefined set of Cloud interfaces in parallel with centralized identity management, along with access control policies, then we reduce the risk of clients accessing unwanted resources by an order of magnitude. Security measures such as the execution of computing services in isolated domains and the use of data encryption significantly increase the security of information, reducing its losses. It is worth adding that the use of automatic initialization and recovery of executable images will reduce the attack surface, allowing you to solve a number of legal aspects.

How to “increase the number of advantages”?

Ensuring security in a Cloud environment is a rather difficult task, the reason for this is the additional risk that arises due to the fact that important services are often provided by third-party organizations on an outsourcing basis. This significantly complicates such aspects as data availability and confidentiality, maintaining integrity, and service availability.
The Cloud Computing concept involves transferring control over operations and data to the Cloud service provider from the client organization. Including the tasks of installing update packages and configuring firewalls can be transferred to the Cloud service provider from the end user.
The consequence of this is the need for clients to establish trusting relationships with suppliers, while assessing the risks and how competently the configuration and management of security tools will be carried out on their behalf. Relationships built on this principle have great importance, because customers, even though the workload is in the Cloud environment, are responsible for the protection and compliance of their critical data.
It is precisely because of the risks associated with outsourcing services that some organizations prefer hybrid or private models over Cloud environments.
Other aspects of Cloud Computing also require a review of risk and security. The reason for this is the difficulty of establishing the location physical storage data. Previously visible security processes in such a system are hidden by layers of abstraction, which in turn creates compliance and security challenges.

Serious differences in terms of security in traditional IT environments and Cloud environments are also due to the large-scale collective use of Cloud infrastructure. Very often, users who represent completely different organizations and at the same time have different levels trust, have the same set of system resources.

At the same time, such aspects of today's dynamic IT environments as workload balancing and SLA , assume a large number of possibilities of data corruption and misconfiguration.

Of course, a shared infrastructure requires a high level of automation and standardization of processes, which will contribute to more high degree safety due to the elimination of opportunities for operator errors.

However, the risks inherent in large-scale infrastructure sharing mean that issues such as isolation, compliance, and identity must be given great importance in cloud computing models.

And yet, what is the main advantage of “clouds”?

One of the main benefits of the cloud is cost reduction. However, some analysts provide examples in which the total total costs of owning a cloud solution may be higher than with the classical scheme, and therefore it is necessary to evaluate the cost-effectiveness. The initial costs required to deploy a “cloud” information system are lower than with the classical approach, but in the future they can grow significantly. For example, Richard Jimarck (Hyperformix), Amy Spellmann (Optimal Innovations) and Mark Preston (RS Performance) conducted detailed analysis prospects for an online store whose management has to make a choice: maintain its own server or resort to the Amazon cloud computing service. For both options, costs and energy consumption were calculated for two years in advance. These calculations showed that the cost of a website created with the help of Amazon will initially be lower than the cost of internal server. However, over time they will begin to exceed them, even taking into account the saved energy. This is explained by the fact that the customer needs the solution not from time to time, but constantly, and ever-increasing cloud computing will require more and more computing power, which increases the payment for the “cloud”. In addition, the rental price includes costs such as software development, maintenance, hardware maintenance, and the customer pays for the services directly from the supplier. As a consequence of this, and also taking into account the risk assessments described above, it is recommended to develop “cloud” projects so that the solution provider creates the entire infrastructure to order, according to the “private cloud” principle, and there is no rental fee for the use of this resource. Naturally, it will not be possible to completely refuse the services of the supplier, because it is also necessary technical support, and project improvements, and support. However, their cost and the contractor’s labor costs will be similar to the classical scheme, which will not affect the final cost of the project for the customer and, accordingly, the economic efficiency of the “cloud” in comparison with the usual classical model.

Many modern users computers and mobile devices They can no longer imagine life without the Internet, which has become firmly established in our everyday life. Relatively recently, new cloud technologies have appeared that are quite different from classical models of computer systems, although in some respects they work on similar principles. However, for many, the very concept of “cloud,” although familiar, still remains unclear. Read on to find out what it is.

What is cloud technology?

If we talk about the concept itself in simple language, we can say that technological solutions of this type basically imply the storage and use of information, software or special services without actually using them on computers hard drives(they are used only for the initial installation of client software for the purpose of accessing cloud services).

In other words, the use of cloud technologies allows you to use only the purely computing resources of a computer terminal or mobile device. This explanation may seem too confusing to many. Therefore, in order to understand what the use of cloud technologies looks like in practice, we can give the simplest example.

Most modern users, one way or another, use by email. Often, it is the presence of such an address that is necessary for registration in Internet services, social networks, online games, etc. In any Windows system has a built-in mail client Outlook. When receiving or sending letters, they are all saved directly on the hard drive in the program folder.

It's another matter when the mailbox is located on a remote server (for example, Mail.Ru, Gmail, Yandex mail, etc.). The user simply enters the site, enters his registration data (login and password), after which he gains access to his mail. This is cloud technology in the simplest sense, since all correspondence is stored not on the user’s computer (hard drive), but on a remote server. Actually, and special program to access mailbox not needed (a very ordinary web browser is sufficient, which in this case acts as a client application).

Thus, the most important thing that distinguishes cloud technologies from standard IT methods is precisely the storage of information or some software on a remote server, which at one time was called the “cloud”, and the possibility of sharing access to data or BY. Today you can see many services that are built exactly according to the principles of the cloud. But it was not always so.

Development of cloud technologies

In general, conversations about the introduction of such models have been going on since the late 60s of the last century. Then the concept of using the computing capabilities of computer systems around the world with an organization in the form of utilities, written by Joseph Licklider and John McCarthy.

The next step was the introduction in 1999 of so-called CRM systems in the form of websites provided by subscription, which provided access to computing resources via the Internet, which the online bookstore Amazon began to actively use in 2002, which later transformed into a huge IT corporation.

And only in 2006, thanks to the emergence of the Elastic Compute Cloud project, they started talking seriously about the full-scale implementation of cloud technologies and services. Naturally, the launch of the familiar Google Apps service, which took place in 2009, also played an important role in the provision of computing resources.

Modern cloud services

Since then, the cloud technology market has undergone quite serious changes. And the matter was not limited to providing computing resources alone.

New cloud technologies and services have begun to appear, which today can be roughly divided into several large categories:

• cloud information storage;
• gaming portals;
• antivirus platforms;
• web-based software.

Each of these groups includes many subcategories, but in general terms they are all built on the same principles.

Required characteristics

According to the generally accepted requirements of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, there is single list conditions that cloud information technologies must meet:

• independent user service on demand (the ability of the user to determine the degree of use of technological and computing resources in the form of data access speed, server processing time, storage volume, etc., without mandatory coordination or interaction with the service provider);
• access to a universal level network (access to data transfer regardless of the type of device used);
• pooling of computing resources (dynamic redistribution of power by combining resources for a large number of users into a single pool);
• elasticity (the ability to provide, expand or narrow the range of services at any time automatic mode and at no additional cost);
• accounting for services provided to consumers (abstracting the traffic used, the number of users and the transactions they make, bandwidth, etc.).

Common classification of deployment models

Speaking about cloud technologies, one cannot fail to mention their division by types of cloud service models used.

Among them there are several main groups:

• A private cloud is a separate infrastructure used only by one organization or enterprise that includes several users, or partner companies (contractors), which may belong to the organization itself or be outside its jurisdiction.
• A public cloud is a structure intended for use by the general public in free access and, as a rule, under the control of the owner (service provider).
• A public cloud is an organizational structure designed for groups of users who have common interests or goals.
• A hybrid cloud is a combination of two or more of the above types, which in the structure remain unique independent objects, but are interconnected according to strictly defined standardized rules for data transfer or application use.

Types of Service Models

Separately, we should highlight the methodology for classifying service models, that is, the entire set of tools and tools that a cloud service can provide to the user.

The main models include the following:

• SaaS (software as a service) is a model of a set of software provided by a cloud provider to a consumer, which can be used either directly in a cloud service from a device, or through access through thin clients, or through the interface of a special application.
• PaaS (platform as a service) is a structure that allows the user, based on the provided tools, to use the cloud to develop or create basic software for the purpose of subsequently hosting other software (own, purchased or replicated) based on database management systems, programming language execution environments, middleware Software, etc.;
• IaaS (infrastructure as a service) is a model for using a cloud service with independent resource management and the ability to host any type of software (even OS), but with limited control of some network services (DNS, firewall, etc.).

Blocks of cloud services

Since cloud technologies require minimal user participation in the operation of the entire complex and are models consisting of many technological combinations that interact with each other through the use of middleware, at this stage of considering such services, we can separately highlight some important components of any software and hardware complex that are accepted call them blocks:

• Self-service portal is a tool that allows the user to order a certain type of service with additional details (for example, for IssA this is an order for a virtual machine with clarification of the processor type, volume random access memory And hard drive or refusal to use it).
• Service catalog - a set of basic services and associated templates for creation, which, through the transfer of automation, will be able to configure the created service into real existing ones computer systems and with a certain type of software.
• Orchestrator is a specialized tool for monitoring the actions of the operations performed, provided by the template for each service.
• Tariffing and billing - accounting for services provided to the user, issuing invoices for payment to coordinate financial issues.

Additional methods

Among other things, sometimes, in order to distribute the load, virtualization technology can be used in the form of a virtual server part, which is a kind of layer or connection between software services and hardware (distribution of virtual servers over real ones). This approach is not mandatory, however, cloud technologies in education use this technique quite often.

Antiviruses also look quite interesting; they download suspicious files not to computers, but to the cloud or “sandbox” (Sandbox), where a preliminary check is carried out, after which permission is given to send it to the computer, or it is quarantined in the very cloud.

Pros and cons of using cloud services

As for the pros and cons, of course there are. The positive aspect is that by accessing software, storage or creating their own infrastructure for users of such services, the costs associated with purchasing additional or more powerful hardware or licensed software are significantly reduced.

On the other hand, most experts harshly criticize the use of cloud services simply because of their low security from outside interference. The issue of storing huge volumes of outdated or unused data is also on the agenda. A striking example of this is Google services, in which the user cannot delete any data groups or unused services.

Payment issues

Naturally, the use of such services is paid, especially if these are cloud technologies in education (specialized libraries, educational platforms), access to specialized software or regular data storage with large reserved volumes disk space.

But for the average user, the same information storage services like DropBox, OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), Cloud Mail.Ru, Yandex.Disk and many others make concessions, allocating, depending on the service itself, about 15-20 GB disk space without payment. By modern standards, of course, not much, but enough to save some important data.

Conclusion

That's it for cloud technology. Many specialists and analysts promise them a great future, but the issue of information security or data confidentiality arises so acutely that without the use of new developments in the field of information security, such a bright prospect looks very doubtful.

MBOU Secondary School No. 9, Karabanovo

REPORT

In computer science

« Cloud technologies»

Completed: Plotnikov M.I.

Class 11A student

Chapter 1. The concept of “Cloud technologies”

Chapter 2. History of the emergence of cloud technologies

Chapter 3. Overview of cloud products

Chapter 4. Examples of “cloud technologies”

Chapter 5. Pros and cons of cloud technologies

Chapter 6. Prospects for the development of cloud technologies

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Everything is changing, the world does not stand still, and most Internet users are also changing their attitude towards the World Wide Web. The reason for this is “cloud technologies”, which set the “fashion” for using the Internet and storing files on the Internet. It is “behind the cloud” that Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and those “engines” on which services like Google Docs and Gmail are based now operate. All this is good, but so far it remains for the uninitiated only words, pompous and incomprehensible. So how does it work anyway?

Despite the fact that such terms as “cloud technologies” or “cloud computing” have long been heard by many, nevertheless, very few people understand what exactly cloud technology is.

At first glance, it may seem that everything is too confusing to delve into. In fact, this technology is very simple and almost every one of us has been using it for a long time, without even thinking about it. For example, everything works on the basis of the cloud social media, file hosting services, YouTube, email clients, banking services and much more.

On in simple language cloud technology involves the use of a computer/web application located on remote servers through a user-friendly user interface or application format. Businesses and companies use various types of applications in the cloud, such as for customer relationship management (CRM), human resources, accounting, and other organizational needs.

Target: studying the issue of the emergence and development of “Cloud technologies”.

The work aims to: tasks :

• 
  formulate the concept of “Cloud technologies”,
• 
  talk about the main platforms using clouds,
• 
  present the positive and negative aspects of the service,
• 
  highlight prospects for further development in the world.

Chapter 1. The concept of “Cloud technologies”

Cloud technologies are data processing technologies in which computer resources are provided to the Internet user as an online service. The word “cloud” is present here as a metaphor, personifying a complex infrastructure that hides all the technical details behind it.

Cloud (scattered) computing (English cloud computing, the term Cloud (scattered) data processing is also used) is a data processing technology in which computer resources and power are provided to the user as an Internet service. The user has access to his own data, but cannot manage and does not have to care about the infrastructure, operating system and the actual software with which he works. The term "Cloud" is used as a metaphor based on the diagram of the Internet computer network, or as an image of a complex infrastructure behind which all the technical details are hidden. According to an IEEE document published in 2008, “Cloud computing is a paradigm in which information is permanently stored on servers on the Internet and temporarily cached on the client side, e.g. personal computers, game consoles, laptops, smartphones, etc.”

Cloud data processing as a concept includes the concepts:

infrastructure as a service

platform as a service,

software as a service,

data as a service,

workplace as a service

and other technological trends, which have in common the belief that the Internet is able to meet the data processing needs of users.

For cloud technologies itself main feature is the uneven demand for Internet resources from users. To smooth out this unevenness, another intermediate layer is used - server virtualization. Thus, the load is distributed between virtual servers and computers.

Cloud technologies is one big concept that includes many different concepts that provide services. For example, software, infrastructure, platform, data, workplace, etc. Why is all this needed? The most important function of cloud technologies is to meet the needs of users who need to process data remotely.

What is not considered cloud computing? Firstly, this is autonomous computing on local computer. Secondly, this is “utility computing”, when the service of performing particularly complex calculations or storing data arrays is ordered. Thirdly, this is collective (distributed) computing (grid computing). In practice, the boundaries between all these types of calculations are quite blurred. However, the future of cloud computing is still much larger than communal and distributed systems.

Cloud data storage (English: cloudstorage) is an online storage model in which data is stored on numerous servers distributed over the network, provided for use by clients, mainly by third parties. In contrast to the model of storing data on your own dedicated servers, purchased or rented specifically for such purposes, the number or any internal structure of servers to the client, in general case, not visible. The data is stored, as well as processed, in the so-called cloud, which, from the client’s point of view, is one large virtual server. Physically, such servers can be located remotely from each other geographically, even located on different continents.

In order to understand what a “cloud” is, it’s worth starting with the history of this issue. It is necessary to understand: is this technology really in the category of new ideas or is this idea not so new.

The topic of cloud computing, “clouds,” is experiencing a very noticeable crisis in 2011. On the one hand, it has clearly reached the peak of popularity: the word “cloud” itself has penetrated almost everything, and not just professional ones, publications and conversations on IT topics. It seems that the entire IT world has either already become “cloud”, or is about to become so. On the other hand, everyone is pretty tired of this topic and increasingly only causes irritation and rejection. I’m tired of the repetition of the same words (both “for” and “against”), because of the imposition of a picture of a “beautiful tomorrow” and the lack of visible progress in moving towards this tomorrow. If a year ago the word “cloudy” in the title of the event attracted the audience, today it increasingly, on the contrary, scares it away... Moreover, not only listeners, but also speakers are tired of “clouds”, because they repeat the same baits (“ increasing efficiency”, “reducing costs”, “preserving investments”) - hard work.

The situation is actually quite typical for the IT industry, as well as for any technological areas. The problem is that the meaning of real innovative ideas is dissolved in conversations about fashion, when the desire of marketers to quickly promote new technologies results in “confusing listeners”, when serious discussions of proposed innovations are replaced by sermons and incantations.

The consequence of this is, among other things, that the topic moves from the category of realities into the realm of mythology. In particular, real difficulties (and discussion of the possibilities of overcoming them) simply fade into the distant background, but mythical ideas come forward.

So, the number one problem for IT clouds is the lack of a clear, structured understanding on the market of what it is and what, in fact, is new about them. In the absence of such a common understanding, discussions on this topic become not only unnecessary, but also harmful. In the past year, the topic of “lack of understanding” is increasingly being raised at various kinds of IT events, and as an illustration, the famous Indian parable is given about the dispute between blind men who tried to answer the question “what is this?” by feeling different (each different) parts of the body elephant.

But we are not blind people. We just walk around wearing blindfolds, you can take them off and start talking, not only by touching, but also by looking. And not only talk, but also do so that new ideas and technologies really help in using IT to improve business efficiency and quality of life.

We need to start with a definition

The definition is necessary so that we can understand what is innovative about the proposal, how it differs from those already available on the market. This needs to be sorted out, because a fairly significant part of the IT community today is sure that “clouds” are just a new name for things that have long been familiar. And an equally significant part has a not very correct (or even completely incorrect) idea of ​​​​what the essence of the ideas of cloud computing is.

In particular, many people equate the cloud with outsourcing or any online services. Such ideas are incorrect: not all online services are cloud-based, and the use of cloud models is not always associated with the transfer of organizational functions to external contractors.

First, let's note the vagueness of the term “cloud,” which is often used as a synonym for “cloud computing” or as a designation for any IT accessed via the Internet. This is incorrect because “cloud” means “cloud infrastructure,” i.e., an IT infrastructure that has certain specific properties. This will be discussed in more detail below, but let us immediately note that the key point here is not the method of accessing IT resources (although this is also important), but the organization of the IT infrastructure (computing process). And it is also important to note that “cloud computing” is not a solution or a project, but a concept (model) for constructing and using IT resources. Specific solutions and projects can only satisfy this model to one degree or another, but cannot be “cloud computing” in themselves.

Perhaps the most paradoxical thing about cloud terminology is that a fairly clear definition of it appeared at the very beginning of the “cloud era” more than three years ago and has been detailed since then, but essentially remains unchanged. This is the definition recorded on Wikipedia in early 2009.

Cloud Computing is a style of development and use computer technology(computing), in which dynamically scalable resources are provided over the Internet as a service.

By that time, three main categories of clouds had already been identified: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS). But - and this is important - in early 2009, cloud computing was almost exclusively associated with services from external providers, that is, outsourcing. The possibilities of using cloud models in companies’ internal IT infrastructures began to be discussed and then promoted on the market only in the second half of 2009. And while the IT community continued (and in many ways continues today) to associate the concept of cloud computing almost exclusively with external services, in fact, the emphasis in the practical implementation of cloud infrastructure (IaaS) quickly shifted towards proprietary (internal) schemes.

New NIST definition

Probably, today, as the main one, we need to accept the latest (16th over the past two years) version of the formulation, published this fall by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the form of recommendations. First of all, you need to pay attention to the explanations given in the preamble of this document

It states, in particular, that these NIST guidance materials are intended for US federal agencies, although they can also be used by non-governmental organizations on a voluntary basis. The paragraph “Goals and scope” states that cloud computing is an evolving paradigm. The NIST definition covers its key aspects, intended to provide a broad comparison of cloud services and deployment strategies, and to bring the “what is cloud computing” debate to a close and move toward a discussion of how best to use it. The definitions given in the document are presented in a fairly simple taxonomy, which in the future does not exclude changes in the description of individual elements of this paradigm.

A quite high-quality translation of the NIST definition itself was made, in particular, by Vladimir Yeskin on his website; We present this formulation (with some clarifications) here:

Cloud computing is a model for providing ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to pools of computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, services) that can be quickly provisioned or released with minimal management effort and service provider interaction.

It goes on to say (and is explained in detail - see the sidebar “Properties and models of cloud computing”) that the cloud model has five main properties (on-demand self-service, wide network access, resource pooling, instantaneous elasticity, measured services). It consists of three service models (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) and four deployment models (private, public, utility and hybrid).

A little analysis of the definition

How does this definition differ from the one given above, three years ago? It seems to us that this is a detailed formulation of properties, but nothing more. After all, the words “dynamically scalable” include the concepts of “self-service”, “resource pools” and “elasticity”, and “service over the Internet” - “measured service and network access” (note: not just a service, but a measured one).

Let's now look at what is the innovation of cloud computing, or, more precisely, of services for the provision of IT resources that meet the requirements of the cloud computing (cloud services) model. From the NIST definition it is clear that the requirement for cloud service is that it must operate in a cloud infrastructure, which is described as follows:

Cloud infrastructure refers to a set of hardware and software that has the five basic properties of cloud computing. Cloud infrastructure is considered to contain both a physical layer and an abstraction layer. The physical layer consists of the hardware resources needed to support the cloud of services provided, and typically includes servers, storage systems, and networking components. The abstraction layer consists of the software deployed at the physical layer and contains all the basic properties of clouds. Conceptually, the abstraction level is higher than the physical level.

You need to pay special attention to this formulation: a new concept appears in it - “level of abstraction”. In NIST recommendations this concept is not disclosed anywhere, but yet it is key, this is precisely the element that makes traditional hardware infrastructure cloud-based. In fact, the abstraction layer is the underlying cloud software platform, implemented today, usually in the form of a dynamic virtualization operating environment (cloud OS) in which virtual machines or a cloud application platform operate. Simplifying somewhat, we can say that this is a layer of hypervisors (vSphere, Hyper-V, Xen, etc.), virtual-physical IT infrastructure management tools and billing systems.

Note also that the term “cloud” is used here as a synonym for “cloud infrastructure” (hardware-virtualization computing environment). The descriptions of the properties and models of cloud computing in general are quite clear. But I would still like to focus on the definition of a private cloud - it is not related to its location or even to who manages or legally owns it (user or provider), but to the fact that this infrastructure is intended to serve only one organization. That is, a private cloud is a custom-made individual project, in contrast to a public cloud, which, by analogy, can be compared to a packaged product.

Well, it would seem that this is where the conversation about terminology can end, taking into account the NIST definition. But if you look at this issue more carefully, it will become clear that it is too early to put an end to this. For example, the very concept of service implies the pair “consumer - supplier”. In the definition of SaaS, the provider (who owns the applications) is explicitly mentioned, but for PaaS and IaaS, the role of the provider is not so clearly defined. Or here’s another question: who is the service provider in a private cloud if it is owned and managed by the organization itself?

But even more questions arise if you start to try on the ideal model of cloud computing to the real practice of creating and using IT. So this conversation must continue.

Properties and models of cloud computing

Basic properties

Self-service on demand (On-demand self-service). The consumer has the opportunity to access the provided computing resources unilaterally as needed, automatically, without the need to interact with employees of each service provider.

Broad network access. The provided computing resources are available over the network through standard mechanisms for various platforms, thin and thick clients ( mobile phones, tablets, laptops, workstations, etc.).

Resource pooling. The provider's computing resources are pooled to serve many consumers using a multi-tenant model. Pools include various physical and virtual resources, which can be dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer requests. There is no need for the consumer to know exact location resources, but you can specify their location at a higher level of abstraction (for example, country, region, or data center). Examples of this type of resource include storage systems, computing power, memory, throughput networks.

Rapid elasticity. Resources can be elastically allocated and released, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale with demand. For the consumer, the possibilities for providing resources are seen as unlimited, that is, they can be appropriated in any quantity and at any time.

Measured service. Cloud systems automatically manage and optimize resources using measurement tools implemented at the abstraction level for various types of services ((for example, management external memory, processing, bandwidth, or active user sessions). The resources used can be tracked and controlled, providing transparency for both the provider and the consumer using the service.

Cloud service models

Software as a service (SaaS). The ability to provide the consumer with the use of provider applications running in the cloud infrastructure. Applications are accessible from a variety of client devices or through thin client interfaces such as a web browser (such as webmail) or program interfaces. The consumer does not manage the underlying cloud infrastructure, including networks, servers, operating systems, storage systems, and even individual application settings, with the exception of some custom settings application configuration.

Platform as a Service (PaaS). The ability to provide consumer (created or purchased) applications for deployment on the cloud infrastructure, implemented using programming languages, libraries, services and tools supported by the service provider. The consumer does not manage the underlying cloud infrastructure, including networks, servers, operating systems, and storage systems, but does have control over the deployed applications and possibly some configuration parameters of the hosting environment.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The ability to provide processing, storage, networking, and other fundamental computing resources to the consumer to deploy and run arbitrary software, which may include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not control the underlying cloud infrastructure, but has control over operating systems, storage systems, deployed applications, and perhaps limited control over the selection of network components (for example, a host with firewalls).

Deployment Models

Private cloud. Cloud infrastructure prepared for the exclusive use of a single organization that includes multiple consumers (for example, business units). Such a cloud can be owned, managed and maintained by the organization itself, by a third party, and located both on- and off-premises.

Community cloud and Community cloud. Cloud infrastructure prepared for the exclusive use of a specific community of customers from organizations that share common concerns (eg, missions, security requirements, policies). The cloud can be owned, operated and maintained by one or more organizations in the community, by a third party, and located both on and off the organization's premises.

Public (or shared) cloud (Public cloud). Cloud infrastructure prepared for open use by the general public. It may be owned, operated, and maintained by business, scientific, and government organizations in any combination thereof. The cloud exists on the territory of the cloud provider.

Hybrid cloud. A cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more different cloud infrastructures (private, public or government) that have unique entities, but are interconnected by standardized or proprietary technologies that allow data or applications to be transferred between components (for example, for load balancing between clouds) .

May 19-20.
I will be glad to receive any of your comments and remarks.
UPD Unfortunately, there is no way to move it to a thematic blog: (Let it hang here:)
UPD2 Thanks for the karma, I moved it to this blog (I didn’t find the Cloud Computing blog, wasn’t I looking well?)
UPD3 Did I really get to the main page, or am I dreaming? o_o
Caution: a lot of bukof! :)

Annotation: This work examines new technology called cloud computing, the basics of its application, the advantages of its use in general compared to other technologies and in the field of Internet startups in particular, as well as the problems that arise when providing and using clouds.

Introduction
History knows many examples of how a certain product gradually turned into a certain public service. It is enough to recall only the transition from gas burners and gas cylinders to the public gas supply service. Such examples provide us with an understanding of how the uniqueness of technology gradually becomes widespread, turning into a service.
More recently, literally 20 years ago, the share of use information technologies in business was less than 5-10%. Now it’s almost 100%. The transition from uniqueness to scale makes it possible to perceive computing power no longer as a separate computer server located in an organization’s building, but as a service that is provided by some distant data center.

This is actually why cloud computing is called a new trend in the development of information technology. This is why many companies are beginning to understand the importance and necessity of “moving to the cloud.” And that is why it is now necessary to carry out research projects in this area. This work is the first steps in analyzing cloud computing and its applicability in Internet business in current realities. What is "cloud computing"? What advantages do they present compared to other similar technologies? Why are “clouds” especially important when applied to Internet start-ups? I will try to answer these questions in this work.

1. Basic concepts of cloud computing technology

1.1. What is a "cloud"?
First, how should we understand the term “cloud computing”? What does it mean by “cloud”? It is correct to understand the “cloud” as a metaphor for a remote computing data center, to which access is provided on a pay-as-you-go basis (payment for the actual use of the computing service). Thus, the software is effectively provided to the user as a service. A cloud computing user does not need to worry about either the infrastructure or the actual software, the cloud successfully hides all the technical and software details.
I would like to note that in this report cloud technologies are considered only in relation to the b2b model. An analysis of the possibility of using them for end users is not carried out in this work.

1.2. Historical reference
The first ideas about using computing as a public service were proposed back in the 1960s by the famous computer scientist, inventor of the Lisp language, and professor at MIT and Stanford University, John McCarthy. The emergence of the first technology close to the modern understanding of the term “cloud computing” is attributed to Salesforce.com, founded in 1999. It was then that the first offer of a new type of b2b product “Software as a Service” (“Software as a Service”, “SaaS”) appeared. Salesforce's certain success in this area has piqued the interest of IT industry giants, who hastily announced their research in the field of cloud technologies. And now the first business solution called “Amazon Web Services” was launched in 2005 by Amazon.com, which has been actively modernizing its data centers since the dot-com crisis. Google was the next to gradually introduce its technology, starting in 2006 with a b2b offering of SaaS services called “Google Apps”, and then a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model called “Google App Engine”. And finally, she announced her proposal Microsoft company, presenting it at the PDC 2008 conference under the title “Azure Services Platform”.
The very fact of high interest of the largest players in the IT market demonstrates a certain status of cloud computing as a trend in 2009-2010. In addition, with the release of Microsoft Azure Service Platform, many experts associate a new round of development of web technologies and the entry of the entire cloud computing industry to a new level.
1.3. Technological aspects of the functioning of the “cloud”
On this moment Most cloud infrastructures are deployed on data center servers using virtualization technologies, which actually allows any user application to use computing power without thinking about it at all. technological aspects. Then we can understand the “cloud” as a single access to computing on the part of the user.
The concept of cloud computing is often associated with such service-providing (Everything as a service) technologies such as “Software as a Service” (“Software as a Service” or “SaaS”), “Infrastructure as a Service” or “IaaS”) and “Platform as a Service” (“PaaS”). Let's take a closer look at each of these technologies.
SaaS is an application deployment model that involves providing the application to the end user as an on demand service. Such an application is accessed via the network, and most often via an Internet browser.
IaaS is a model for providing computer infrastructure as a service. Instead of purchasing servers, software, and special network equipment, the user can receive these resources in the form of outsourcing. In fact, as many experts note, this is just some evolution of hosting services.
PaaS is a network-based computing platform-as-a-service model that offers deployment and support of web applications and services without the need to purchase and manage layers of hardware and software.
Thus, these technologies, when used together, allow cloud computing users to take advantage of the computing power and data storage that, through certain virtualization technologies and a high level of abstraction, are provided to them as services.

2. Benefits of the cloud
As mentioned above, many IT experts believe that cloud computing will be on the top list of technology trends in the near future. In any case, for such a bold statement there must be certain reasons why cloud computing will soon be chosen by many Internet businesses. Thus, we will try to analyze the advantages of cloud technologies.
Firstly, this is a high level of virtualization. As mentioned above, the user, having deployed his application, does not think about such problems as hardware, its support, or specific software installed on the machine. He doesn't even think about which machines or even what machines his application is running on.
Ability to run multiple copies of the application on many virtual machines Oh represents the benefits of scalability: the number of application instances can almost instantly increase on demand, depending on the load.
And finally, the data centers are managed professional specialists, providing round-the-clock support for the functioning of virtual machines. And even if physical machine"crashes", thanks to the distribution of the application into many copies, it will still continue to work. This creates a certain high level of reliability and fault tolerance of the system.
However, it should be noted that in the eyes of service consumers, the main advantage of cloud computing is, perhaps, the absence of the need to purchase all the relevant equipment and software, and then maintain their operation. We will consider this aspect a little later in connection with the analysis of application in the field of Internet startups.
Thus, all these advantages determine the choice of cloud computing over other similar technologies. It is they who “push” the largest IT corporations to further development, which also see increased interest among system users. Most likely, in the near future we will see, if not a surge in scientific and practical activity in the field of cloud computing, then certainly a gradual increase in a certain interest.
3. Problems of cloud technologies
It would seem that the advantages of cloud computing are so obvious that all companies in the near future will massively switch to using this type of technology. However, there are some challenges faced by both cloud computing vendors and business users.
Firstly, as mentioned in the article “Counter Plan” by Dmitry Petrov, there is practically no specific culture of consumption of outsourcing services; business is somewhat wary of this type of service. “There may be several reasons for the distrustful attitude of small and medium-sized businesses towards data centers. Most likely, this is a fear of losing control over IT resources, concerns about guaranteeing the safety and protection of transferred information, and the idea of ​​a data center only as a site for placing equipment.”
Thus, vendors of cloud computing services should understand the importance of creating customer awareness of the service, as well as a sense of security of their own data.
Secondly, some experts, such as Hugh Macleod in the article "The Cloud's Best Kept Secret", argue that cloud computing is leading to the creation of a huge, never-before-seen monopoly. Is it possible? Of course, in the cloud computing market, to place any information in the cloud for which there are rules information security, companies are more likely to use vendors whose name is well-known and whom they trust. Thus, there is a certain danger that all calculations and data will be aggregated in the hands of one super-monopoly. However, at the moment there are already several companies on the market with approximately the same high level trust from customers (Microsoft, Google, Amazon), and there is no evidence that would indicate the possibility of one company dominating all the others. Therefore, in the near future, the emergence of a global supercompany that will coordinate and control all of the world's computing is very unlikely, although the mere possibility of such an event deters some customers.
Thirdly, the state on whose territory the data center is located can gain access to any information stored in it. For example, according to the laws of the USA, where the largest number of data centers are located, in this case the provider company does not even have the right to disclose the fact of the transfer confidential information to anyone other than their lawyers.
This problem is probably one of the most significant in the issue of transferring confidential information to the cloud. There may be several ways to solve it. First, you can encrypt all information placed on the cloud. Secondly, you can simply not put it there. However, in any case, for companies using cloud computing, this should be a definite item on the list of information security issues. In addition, the providers themselves must improve their technology by providing some encryption services.
Thus, certain problems exist, but almost all of them are concentrated in the area of ​​incorrect or inadequate understanding of the technology and the possibilities of its use. And only the problem of unlimited access of the state to information stored in a data center, in my opinion, is currently the most difficult to solve and the most limiting circle of users cloud computing technology.

4. Features of the functioning of an Internet startup

4.1. Features of a startup company
Oddly enough, in some circles, sometimes even professional ones, the term “startup” is perceived quite ambiguously. Therefore, for further consideration, this term should be defined. So, a startup is a newly created company, perhaps not even officially registered, that builds its business on the basis of innovation. Such a company is just entering the market and is at the stage of development and marketing research.
A startup company is often called a garage company, and here's why. Traditionally, startups were created under rather difficult circumstances, with extremely limited resources. Therefore, such companies are often limited to minimal investments: primitive offices in the form of garages, free if possible software, and so on.
There is a basic rule for the existence of a startup, which is the empirical result of the functioning of such companies: “Scale fast or fail fast.” A startup can either instantly “soar” or “fail” just as quickly. This rule is worth remembering both for novice startups and investors who understand not only the high risks of investments, but also the possible extremely high return. As we will find out a little later, it is also useful for choosing the technology model to use.

4.2. Startups in an economic crisis
In my opinion, in the modern economic environment, during the Global Economic and Financial Crisis, the role of startups is greater than ever. Firstly, they are strongly focused on the consumer, in contrast to the “sluggish” industry giants who are busy cutting costs and “squeezing” projects. In the new economic situation, it is startups that are able to find their niche with super profits.
Secondly, the rise in price of money has led to a fairly strong reduction in investments, which will now be directed to those who can use them as efficiently as possible. Therefore, I believe that soon after the crisis, the economy, including the Russian one, will experience a noticeable boom in startups, for example, in the Internet industry. Such companies will be interested in technologies that can demonstrate the maximum return on investment. This is why I predict a massive increase in the role of cloud technologies for Internet startups.

5. Internet startup in the cloud

5.1. Advantages of Internet startups in the cloud
As mentioned above, startups are interested in maximizing the impact of the technologies they use. That is why an Internet startup launched in the cloud acquires completely new competitive advantages. But which ones exactly?
Firstly, paying for the use of cloud technologies using the “pay as you go” system allows startup companies to significantly reduce fixed or capital costs.
Figure 1 shows the costs that startups incur in the case of using traditional technologies and in the case of “moving to the cloud.” In the first option, to launch a company, you need a certain amount of investment, which will be used to pay off fixed costs (Fixed Costs, FC on the chart): the purchase of servers and software, their support and maintenance. As the number of users increases, variables are proportionally added to fixed costs (Variable Costs, VC on the graph).
A completely different situation is observed when using cloud computing. When launching a startup, you do not need to invest in the purchase of hardware and software; in the future, as the number of users increases, you pay a little more according to your agreement for the provision of cloud computing services.

Rice. 1
(idea by Sam Johnston, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File :Cloud_computing_economics.svg)

In fact, this graph looks a little different. When purchasing your own server and installing the appropriate software on it, an increase in the number of users increases costs at a lower rate than when paying for the consumption of computing services (Fig. 2). However, we should not forget that there are certain scalability problems that do not allow us to adapt to new needs when the load increases rapidly (Fig. 3). Then, when a certain critical point of users is reached (the dotted line on the graph), scalability work will be required, which will take a certain time, during which the number of users will not increase, and may even decrease.

Rice. 2

Rice. 3
Thus, the advantage of cloud technologies in the form of the absence of capital costs is of particular importance for Internet startups that are in dire need of initial capital and investment. When using cloud computing services, startups usually start their business with a minimum level of investment, which usually easily covers the low barriers to entry.
Secondly, remember the startup rule, fail fast or scale fast. If a startup has not gained fame and has not reached a critical mass of users to begin self-sufficiency, when using cloud technologies, closing it does not present any problems: you simply stop paying for the subscription. In the case of traditional technologies, you would have to sell the servers and simply throw away the purchased software. If a startup finds its niche and begins to grow rapidly, you as a user will not encounter scalability problems, whereas usually you would need to carry out a large variety of work.
Thirdly, there is no need to worry about technological support and maintenance; all these problems are taken care of by the cloud provider company. And, as mentioned above, there are no problems with fault tolerance; a remote server in a data center that fails is very quickly replaced by another.
Thus, the advantages of using cloud technologies in the field of Internet startups are obvious. Therefore, in my opinion, it is this area that will in the near future make it possible to take startups to a new level, capture new markets and open previously unexplored niches.

6. Major providers providing cloud computing services
There are currently several cloud computing service providers. For our analysis, a brief and superficial consideration is sufficient; we will take only the largest and most representative b2b services that can be used by Internet startups in their activities.

azure.com
Azure Services Platform– a service in development for providing a remote cloud platform that allows you to store data and run web applications on a remote cloud. Above the platform there is the so-called “ operating system in the cloud" called Windows Azure, which manages the launch of applications on many virtual machines in a Microsoft data center. An official SDK for Visual studio has been developed, which presents fairly low barriers to entry for developers. ASP.NET technology, C# and VB.Net languages ​​are officially supported, SDK development for Java and Ruby is underway.

aws.amazon.com
Amazon Web Services– services for executing highly scalable applications and storing information on remote Amazon servers, providing all SaaS, IaaS and PaaS models.
appengine.google.com
Google Apps Engine is a Google service, currently in public beta testing, that provides a platform for creating and deploying applications on the infrastructure of Google data centers. An application in the cloud runs on multiple virtual servers. Currently, 5 million views per month are initially free, with an appropriate prorated charge for each increase thereafter. Officially supported languages: Python and Java. The system also uses a non-relational structure for storing databases with its own SQL-like query language, called GQL.

Salesforce.com is one of the largest providers, providing primarily SaaS and PaaS. By providing a monthly subscription, the company positions itself as a provider of new types of customer relationship management (Customer Relationship Management). Translated into 16 languages, the service already has more than 1.5 million subscribers, including Siemens, Dell, Starbucks Coffee and others. Applications on the platform can be created using a special Java-like Apex language, as well as the Visualforce language for working with HTML, AJAX and Flex.

Conclusion
Thus, this paper described the main aspects of cloud computing technology, their advantages in general and in the field of Internet startups. The main paths for the development of cloud technologies, some problems facing the provider and the user, as well as the future of Internet startups were predicted. And finally, the main cloud service vendors were described.
This work is aimed not only at a certain educational program in the field of cloud technologies, but also at analyzing their application in real business, which is highly useful for both startup businessmen and investors.
In addition, the author hopes to increase a certain interest in Russian academic and business circles, since ignoring new trends in the IT industry is quite dangerous.

List of used literature
1. Tim O"Reilly "Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing"