Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing

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Cloud Computing

Executive Summary

Cloud computing provides a number of services that ease the life of different organizations as they receive these services at a more advanced environment at a cheap price. This report will offer a comparison and analysis on different mechanics of cloud management. Cloud-based IT resources require being monitoring, setting up, maintaining, and configuring. The mechanism of cloud-based IT resources for management and hands-on administrator include remote administration system, SLS management system, and remote administration system. The DSI focuses on hosting its new Online Spatial Delivery System (OSDS). Google is the selected provider since it has a high level of reliability and efficiency. It provides a high level of data and system security to the system, control the system SLA to ensure load balancing and thus, minimizing the provider’s initiated downtime. Google guarantee maximum uptime and compensation of downtime. It provides various IT resources management tools which highly provide various services that will highly beneficial to the organization. DSI can acquire data backup provision from the same provider which means that it can easily enhance redundancy, and hence ease the process of data recovery. Nevertheless, the company can experience unnecessary downtime in case there is a major technical error which would affect its entire system. Thus, the company should consider another provider for backup or consider hosting their backup server internally. Nevertheless, this could be quite expensive to the organization since the organization will have to employ various firmware to ensure maximum data protection, enough space for their data. It will also incur various costs for the system maintenance.

Remote Management System

The mechanism of remote administration system offers user-interfaces and tools for resource administrators of the external cloud to administer and configure cloud-based IT resources. The remote administration in this case will create access portal to management and administration features that include the SLA management, and resource management. The APIs and tools offered by a remote administration system are normally employed by the cloud provider; in this case Google to customize and develop online portals which offer DSI cloud users with different administrative controls. The two basic forms of portal developed with the remote administration system include self-service portal that is basically a shopping portal which permits cloud consumers to update and search cloud service list. The second one is administration and usage portal which is a general purpose portal whose main role is to offer control against all cloud resources management associated activities from a central point. Since this is not a CRM system, the self-service portal will not be required. The system will be configured to allow self-service process in accessing various data based on individual interested. Thus the second form of portal will be highly utilized in this case. It will be basically used to offers a centralized interface and for the cloud resources usage reports generation. Remote administration system is very essential tool for DSI since it will assist in data organization (Erl et al., n.d.).

Resource Management System

The mechanism of resource management system assists in IT resources coordination in response to actions of management performed by both cloud providers and cloud users. Central to this system is the virtual interface manager (VIM) which organizes the server hardware to develop instances of virtual server. The activities that are characteristically implemented and automated via the resource management system are managing templates of virtual IT resource, releasing and allocating virtual IT resources that include termination, starting, resuming, and pausing. Others include IT resources coordination in association to the involvement of different mechanisms that include failover system, load balancer, and resource replication. It also enforces security and usage policies via the lifecycle of instances of cloud services, and monitor IT resources operational coordination. Resource management system is very essential to DSI since it will allow balance in IT resources utilization as different users try to access the organization data. In this case, the users will not have to make any input but to view the output; however, the organization users will constantly update this data. Thus, resource management system will assist in ensuring balance of resources and effective data management, protecting data integrity, confidentiality and availability to all. Resource management system will consider both users; organization workers who will update the data and the customers who focuses on viewing the displayed information (Morad & Dalbhanjan, 2013).

SLA Management System

The mechanism of SLA management system represents a number of commercially accessible cloud management products which offer features relating to the runtime notification, administration, reporting, collection, and storage of SLA data. Deployment of SLA management system normally comprises of a repository employed to retrieve and store gathered SLA data focused on reporting parameters and pre-defined metrics. The SLA management system will focus on protecting the DSI data. The organization targets a large population and thus, the SLA system should ensure provision of broad system network to ease customer’s access to the system (Erl et al., n.d.).

Application Resilience, Backup and Disaster Recovery

Application Resilience

For effective operation of the cloud system, the system must ensure a high level of adaptability and ability to withstand different system challenges. One way to ensure resilience in this application is by ensuring redundancy in the system architecture. Redundancy involves having data replication at two or more different data centers. This ensures that any failure in one center does not impact the operation of the system. Hosting the DSI in one cloud puts the organization as a risk of data loss in case of any system failure, be it network system, or the cloud system failure. To ensure that the organization does not experience any of such challenges, the architectural design of the system must ensure system redundancy (Kounev et al., n.d.). This can be done by ensuring a replicated system either a replica physical system as the cloud system where data are updated on the real-time, or a replica cloud stored in a different provider. For instance DSI data can be accessed through a government private cloud and another provider private cloud based on the preference. This redundancy will eliminate chances of complete system failure. Another way to ensure the application resilience is by ensuring a more secure architecture where the data is highly protected from various causes of system compromise. The organization should consider a provider with trusted platform and trusted infrastructure services. The system must also be efficient, highly available, and with a high level of data integrity to ensure only the right information get to the public and the government (Verissimo, 2012).

Application Backup and Disaster Recovery

Data loss is a common problem in different computing system. It can be attributed to hardware error, network error, human error, or even natural calamities. This prevents full time access of the data as most data users would prefer. The best way to ensure reliable backup is by employing cloud backup solutions. This involves backing up data to a cloud-based or remote server. It enables individuals or enterprises to store their computer files and data on the internet by use of storage service provider instead of storing this data in a physical disk locally. The organization should consider identifying a viable cloud backup provider who will allow users to access the services of the provider remotely by use of secure application of client login to back up files from the organization to a virtual storage server by use of encrypted link. For effective process of backing up data, the organization should consider employing automatic real time data backup to the cloud backup. Another alternative is having a backup server at the organization center which will be receiving data at real-time. This can assist in eliminating cases of data loss in the organization, though it may require more organization investment on hardware, utility, personnel, space, and reliable computer network system. The most cost effective technique should be considered in this case (Erl et al., n.d.).

Disaster recovery involves restoring organization’s computing ability within the shortest time possible after any form of system failure. The best strategy to employ ensures effective data recovery is the use of the real-time restoration of the organization backup. The backed up data is restored in a cloud computing set up any time the system experiences some kind of failure. Redundancy in the cloud makes data restoration easier and timely, thus reducing the downtime. In this case, the organization may consider using enterprise grade cloud backup which provide solution for disaster recovery. Alternatively, the company real-time backup system should be created in the company as a redundancy system such that, the company can be able to use it during downtime. In this case, the organization should consider running two systems concurrently, one hosted in the company and the other one in the selected cloud provider. Alternatively, the company can consider hosting their system into two cloud provider where one will act as a backup in case one of them fails (Verissimo, 2012).

ERL’s SLA Guidelines

The selected provider in this case is Google. Google is selected due to various since it is highly reliable based on the system availability. Google serves an extensive range of customers and it is also used for many purposes, and thus, it is highly reliable. The provider is highly concern on the system availability to the customers. Downtime is measured as ten or more consecutive minutes of system inaccessibility. Google guarantee not less than 98.0% of the total uptime for month for a situation where the total percentage of errors on users or customers side is10%, a minimum of 95% for 25% errors and less that 95% for 50% errors for Google datastore services located from a single region. However, this is different for datastore situated in different regions or multiple-region. In this case guarantee is considerably low as compared to the situation where datastore is not fragmented. Nevertheless, the provider employs all possible means to minimize downtimes initiated by errors that which are not initiated by the users. Thus, it maximizes on system security measures that would prevent unnecessary downtime. The company offers financial compensation for downtimes initiated due to company’s mistakes. This demonstrates the company’s commitment into offering effective and reliable services to its customers. Google SLA ensures load balancing by enhancing external connectivity. Loss of this external connectivity results to Google system failure creating a downtime not initiated by the user. Any downtime initiated by failing of VPN service is handled by VPN SLA. The provider offer data encryption to all though, this is done without users involvement, in case the customers wish to enhance the encryption, the customer requires to develop own encryption key. Nevertheless, this provision is limited to the regions. Lucky, this provision is available in the United States and thus, it will be available to the organization.

Google cloud system is developed by use advanced technology which supports global solution. It permits protection, access, and storage of the data at ease. The Google cloud storage does not give a limit and thus, it will highly be viable for the DSI which focuses on generating volumes and volumes of data. It also provides unlimited scalability, high reliability, as well as innovative functionality which include sophisticated tools for data-analysis, and standard-founded security features. It offers data back up and archive data back-up which is highly available and reliable. It also stores application data and provide swift access for these applications which include images. This can be very useful to the company which focuses on providing detailed map work (Google.Com, 2012).

References

Erl, T., Mahnood, Z., & Puttini, R. (n.d.). Chapter 09: cloud management mechanics. In. Cloud computing concept, technology & architecture. ArcituraEducation Inc.

Google.Com. (2012). Google cloud storage – a simple way to store, protect, and share data. Retrieved from < https://cloud.google.com/files/CloudStorage.pdf>

Jhawar, R., & Piuri, V. (2013).Fault tolerance and resilience in cloud computing environments. In J. Vacca, Computer and Information Handbook, 2nd ed. Mogarn Kaufmann.

Kounev, S. et al. (n.d.). Providing dependability and resilience in the cloud: challenges and opportunities. Retrieved from < https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Providing-Dependability-and-Resilience-in-the-Kounev-Reinecke/9722878b01949faae8ed98f2139f60ab0812ec66/pdf>

Morad, S., & Dalbhanjan, P. (2013). Operational checklists for AWS. Amazon Web Services. Retrieved from < https://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Operational_Checklists.pdf>

Verissimo, P. E. (2012). Architectural resilience in cloud computing. TClouds. Retrieved from < https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Day2_1345_Track2_Session_Paulo-Verissimo_-_TCLOUDS-securecloud-may12.pdf>