cloud computing

1. ABSTRACT
If you are even a basic computer user, it is
likelythat you have already used some
form of cloudcomputing service. Any
entirely online serviceyou use, be it e-mail,
fi le storage or sharing, or even
media streaming, uses cloud computing
technology.If you have used any service
that doesn’t requireyou to download and
install specifi c software orstore any data
locally, you have used the cloud.
Cloud computing allows you to keep your
PCand all of your mobile devices in sync
all the time.You can access all of your
personal data at anygiven moment, you
can organize and collect datafrom any
online source, and you can even share
photos, videos, music, contacts, e-mail,
documents,etc. with your friends, family,
and coworkers in aninstant. In essence,
personal cloud computing givesyou easy
and quick access to all your data, making
itinstantly accessible and mobile.
Social networks, fi le sharing servers and
Webaccessiblesoftware take advantage of
resourcesprovided by cloud computing to
give you a lightweightstructure for your
personal computingneeds. Cloud services
give you options to protectyour data with
accessibility and privacy settingsfor your
accounts, enabling you to store your life
on a remote server without having to
worry aboutstorage space constraints or
software installations.
YOUR PERSONAL CLOUD
Storage space and processing power are
the biggesthurdles that mobile devices like
smartphones andtablets face today. Cloud
computing has come to theforefront as it
overcomes these hurdles, enablingyou to
access and edit your fi les and fi les
uploaded by other users without the need
for excessive hardwareand support.
Browser-based email and cloudservices
such as Grooveshark, Facebook, Google
Docs and Youtube have smartphone and
tabletextensions, designed specifically to
run on thelower hardware specifications of
such devices.Operating systems of today
like Android, Iosand Windows 7 are also
made compatible withmobile devices and
equipped with applications thatlet you
sync and access data across devices via
theircloud servers. Apart from storage,
developers havealso used cloud computing
capabilities to developSoftware as a
Service (SaaS), Platform as a
Service(PaaS) and Webtop services to
make your computingexperience
completely mobile.
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SAAS)
Web accessible software enables users to
use programsor applications without
having to downloador install them on their
machines. You can accessdata hosted by
companies on their cloud serversfor almost
any task, like word processing,
designingor even media editing. This

2. enables users tocarry out their work
without having to purchasesoftware that
can be installed and run only on asingle
machine. You no longer need to worry
aboutexpiration dates, downloading
updates or installingsoftware on multiple
machines. SaaS reduces theuser’s expenses
by allowing you to ‘rent’ a serviceand use
only specifi c features rather than
buyingcomplete packages of programs,
some of which youmight not use. For
instance, to use Microsoft Word,
a user must purchase the Microsoft
Officeauite,which gives you Word bundled
with Excel, Powerpoint,etc. These
packages can be fairly expensive.Instead,
you can use a SaaS product that allows
youto sign up for free or a monthly fee and
lets youperform your word processing
tasks without any
installations on your machine’s local drive.
UTILITY COMPUTING
Utility computing is a form of cloud
computing thatis more robust at an
enterprise level. Large companiescan ‘rent
out’ their hardware support via thecloud to
clients based on their requirements,
maximizingthe utility of the host server
and reducingthe costs to the client.
Companies like Amazon.com, Microsoft
and Sun offer storage and virtualservers to
clients for their computing needs usingthe
cloud. This drastically reduces the
investmentrequired for small scale
businesses as they no longerneed to
purchase hardware. Instead, they payonly
for what they need and utilize the
computingstrength of the host via the
cloud.
PLATFORM AS A SERVICE (PAAS)
PaaS is a form of SaaS that provides
developmentenvironments as a service.
Rather than designingsoftware for the
customers to use, companiesprovide
clients with the infrastructure required to
design and run software specifi c to their
needs. Clientscan then use this
infrastructure and developsoftware
applications for their use that run on
thehost’s cloud servers. This form of cloud
computinggives the clients the freedom to
develop softwareto suit their requirements
without having to worryabout the
hardware. PaaS provides clients
withfacilities for designing and developing
applications,hosting their applications as
well as hardware forscalability and
storage.
ONLINE STORAGE
Online storage allows users to upload fi les
andinformation to cloud servers so that the
data canbe accessed from multiple
machines remotely, aslong as they have
access to the Internet. Onlinestorage has
grown rapidly in recent times dueto the
increased speeds in data transfer
andimproved security for protecting this
data.

3. The service is very useful for
usersrestrictedby lack of storage space or
users that wish toaccess their data from
multiple machines oron-the-go. Using
cloud storage services canalso be
beneficial as a backup for locally
saveddata in the event that your local drive
is ompromisedby viral infection, online
threats orphysical damage. There are
several services tochoose from, ranging in
size of storage spaceand you can also use
paid services for greaterstorage space and
better security. Some storageservices also
enable you to sync data across devices
so that fi les added to one device are
automaticallyuploaded to the cloud, and in
some cases, evendownloaded to other
synced machines.
THE CLOUD ARCHITECTURE
The cloud computing system can be
divided intotwo distinct sections. At the
front end, there is theuser, who can access
the cloud server and includestheir machine
and any application required to
access the cloud. The back end is the
hardwarethat makes up the cloud, which
includes computers,servers and data
storage systems that can beaccessed by the
users. Cloud systems use middleware,
which is software that communicates with
various users connected to a single cloud
server. Itmonitors the system, managing
traffi c and clientdemands to ensure that
everything runs smoothlyand efficiently.
THE CLOUD ADVANTAGE
The advantages of cloud computing are
fairly obvious.Users have access to their
applications anddata from anywhere at any
time and they canaccess their information
from multiple machines;their data and
software is no longer confined toa single
machine. Cloud computing also
bringsdown hardware costs, as users no
longer need topurchase the fastest
computers with high end configurations.
The cloud system handles the load foryou.
Essentially, all you need is a basic
computer,input devices and an Internet
connection to accessthe cloud services.
Cloud storage enables users tocreate
backups of their data so if their
machinescrash, they no longer need to
worry about dataloss. Cloud servers can
sometimes be a safer optionfor protecting
your data from viral infection ordamage
due to the vast amount of online threatsand
viruses circulating on the Internet.
THE CLOUD CONCERNS
The biggest concerns about cloud
computing aresecurity and privacy. Users
might not be comfortablehanding over
their data to a third party. Thisis an even
greater concern when it comes to
companiesthat wish to keep their sensitive
informationon cloud servers. While most
service vendorswould ensure that their
servers are kept free fromviral infection
and malware, it is still a
concernconsidering the fact that a number

4. of users
around the world are accessing the server.
Privacyis another issue with cloud servers.
Ensuring thata client’s data is not ccessed
by any unauthorizedusers is of
greatimportance for any cloud service.To
make their servers more secure, cloud
servicevendors have developed password
protectedaccounts, security servers
through which all databeing transferred
must pass and data encryption.techniques.
After all, the success of a cloud service
depends on its reputation, and any sign of
a securitybreach would result in a loss of
clients andbusiness.
THEECOLOGICAL IMPACTGREEN
CLOUD: FACT OR FICTION?
Cloud computing is growing at a rapid
pace,as it’s increasingly being adopted by
largebusinesses, mid-sized businesses, as
well asSOHOs. Moving to the cloud
proves to be a viableoption for fi rms as it
dramatically cuts downhardware and
software expenditure. Accordingto a report
by consulting fi rmZinnov, the marketfor
cloud computing in India is expected to
grownearly ten times to $1,084 million by
2015 fromthe current $110 million. While
all seems hunky
dory, there are growing concerns that the
cloudcomputing trend is actually
hazardous to theenvironment, as it will
lead to an increase in carbonemissions.
WHAT MAKES CLOUD
COMPUTING ‘GREEN’?
There are many factors that are said to
makecould computing green both at the
enterprise aswell as the consumer level.
GREEN CLOUD:
CLOUD AND ENTERPRISE
Consider the traditional scenario, where
everyfi rm invests in setting up a server
room, stafffor maintaining it, etc. Servers
consume hugeamounts of energy not only
for operation, butalso for cooling. These
servers generate avastamount of heat
during operation, which must bedissipated
to keep the components within theirsafe
operating temperatures. Overheated parts
will reduce their life span, and can also
causeproblems such as system crashes. So
it becomesimperative to maintain a
constant temperature tocool these servers.
This is usually done with thehelp of air
conditioning, which consumes evenmore
energy. Even if the servers are not in use
orare under utilized, the temperature needs
to bemaintained, resulting in huge amounts
of energyloss and added cost.
The fi rms can minimize their cost as well
asenergy consumption by opting for cloud
comput-ing. Cloud offers scalability; you
pay only for whatyou use and you can buy
more space as requiredor you can even
temporarily scale down usagewhen you
experience a slump in business. Thus,

5. there is no unnecessary loss of energy.
While it’strue that these huge data centers
that operate ona large scale require
massive amounts of electricity,the
manufacturers of data centers are actively
taking initiatives to minimize the impact
on theenvironment.As a result of the
growing green consciousness,the leading
players in the industry aretaking efforts to
reduce their carbon footprint.For instance,
they are looking at places with
temperaturesthat are ideal for naturally
cooling datacenters. Dublin is fast
emerging as a hub for datacenters owing to
its geographic location and
idealtemperatures. Cloud computing giants
like Amazon,Microsoft, IBM and others
have their datacenters here.
These data centers have been designed in
such a way that they can make maximum
use offresh air to cool servers rather than
completelydepending on other power
consuming options.Secondly, the data
center manufacturers alsomake use of
innovative technology and alternate
sources of energy to power these data
centers. Forinstance, recently Google
invested $168 millionin a solar energy
power plant in California.
Whenconstructed, it will be the largest
solar thermalproject in the world.
CLOUD AND CONSUMERS
With rising concerns over global warming,
we allwant to do our bit to reduce our
carbon footprint.One way to do this is by
adopting cloud computing.Cloud
computing on portable devices
likesmartphones, tablets or ultra low-
powered laptopscould prove eco-friendly.
According to carbonfootprint.com, a PC
runningfor an hour generates 40-80 grams
of carbondioxide, while it consumes about
60-90% of normalworkload power even
when idle. When workingon a PC or a
laptop, we may engage in otheractivities
like talking on the phone, or completing
other tasks, which means the computer
remainsidle for long hours, hence wasting
energy. It’salso surprising to know that
even power-savingmodes like ‘Sleep’ or
‘Standby’ can consume asmuch as 120
Watts of power. In comparison to
atraditional PC or a laptop, portable
computing devices consume less energy
because they do notneed continuous power
supply. They just need tobe charged once a
day at most. Today, most peopledon’t
really need a high end PC as their usage
islimited to Web browsing, email, social
networking,banking, watching videos,
listening to music etc.
All this can be easily achieved on
asmartphone oron any of the portable
devices that can be used forcloud
computing.
IS GREEN COMPUTING A MYTH?
With next to zero data available about the
datacenter practices and technologies used
by themajor players in the cloud industry,
there is alot of speculation. There is no
data available toascertain the amount of
energy consumed and thecarbon missions
caused by these data centers.This is one of
the major reasons why data centershave
come under fi re from various
environmentalagencies.Google is one of
the fi rst companies to releasedetails of
their data center. You can find detailslike
the technology used, locations,
practices,sustainability measures, etc. on
their site undercorporate information.
Recently, Facebook, whichis facing
opposition from environmental
organizationGreenpeace for the use of coal
and nuclearenergy to power its massive
data centers, released
details of its data center practices. The
same canbe found on the Facebook page

6. ‘Building EfficientData Centers with the
Open Compute Project’.Other players in
the industry need to follow theirlead and
make this vital information public.
Cloud computing in itself is a practical
solutionfor the IT requirements of the
future and somethingthat will only grow in
the coming years. Thiswould mean setting
up many more data centersand other
facilities. The companies within this
industry need to understand their
responsibilitiesand their role towards
safeguarding the environment.The need of
the hour is to have an open dialogueand
devise better technology to power data
centers.
One example of efficient power
managementis that of the Academica data
center in Helsinki,Finland. They use the
water warmed while coolingthe servers to
provide heat for homes in the city,which
often experiences -20 degrees C
temperaturesduring winter. What’s more,
after the heathas been extracted, the water
is again used to coolthe servers.
Cloud Apps for YourMobile Device:
Today’s mobile devices have been
transformedby cloud services into highly
versatilemobile computers. Developers
havemade applications for mobile
operating systemsthat exploit cloud servers
and services to allowusers to compute on
the go. The biggest obstacle
for mobile devices is significantly lesser
storagespace as compared to notebooks
and desktops,which is a limiting factor if
users wish to performthe same functions
on their smartphone ortablet as they do on
full blown computers. Cloudcomputing
overcomes this obstacle by providing
users with apps for storing, accessing and
exchanging data through cloud servers,
withoutburdening the local storage
hardware. These appsallow users to store fi
les on cloud servers into acommon account
from multiple machines, allowing
access to the fi les from any device. You
canalso use features like fi le syncing,
backups and fi lesharing with these
applications.
DROPBOX
Dropbox is arguably the most favored fi le
sharingand storage application for mobile
devices. Thereis an application for every
mobile operating system,which gives you
access to the Dropbox cloudserver,
allowing you to upload and access fi les in
your Dropbox account from different
machines.TheDropbox application also
provides you with alink to each fi le in
your account so that you canshare a
specificfile with friends or co-workers.
There are also features which enable you
to uploadphotos and videos directly from
your mobiledevice gallery without even
running the applicationor visiting the
website. There are options tosync data
across devices and create backups on
the cloud server as well. You can
download andinstall the mobile application
on your device forfree and with a free
account, you get 2 GB of storagespace. A
monthly fee of $9.99 gives you 50 GBof
space, and at $19.99 per month, you get
100 GB.

7. Your Drop box homepage displays all your recent
activity, including new files, deleted files and edits
done from any of your machines.
WEBSHARING
WebSharing is a fi le transfer application
designedspecifically for Android devices.
The app allowsyou to transfer data
between Android devicesand computers
wirelessly via a cloud server. Web-Sharing
uses the WebDAV protocol (Web-
basedDistributed Authoring and
Versioning) with whichusers can create
new fi les, edit existing files andtransfer
data between devices remotely. Another
great feature of WebSharing is that it
displaysyour cloud folder as a locally
installed hard driveon all synced devices
and machines. The free versionof the
WebSharing app for Android does not
allow you to transfer music, videos or
photos andthe multiple fi le upload feature
is unavailable. Thefull version of the app
is available for $2.99 on theAndroid
Market.
ZUMODRIVE
ZumoDrive is another cloud storage and
file sharingapplication for a range of
mobile operatingsystems like iOS,
Android ans Windows Phone7, that creates
a virtual drive on your machinethat is
linked to your cloud account. The
folderappears as a local hard drive on all
synced devicesand your files are streamed
to your device fromthe cloud server when
you run them throughZumoDrive. A
unique feature of ZumoDrive is thatit
caches recently accessed fi les to your
local driveso that some of your recently
used fi les can be runeven when you do not
have access to the Internet.The free
account gives you 1 GB of storage and
a$2.99-per-month account gives you 10
GB of storagespace. For even more space,
you can sign upfor $79.99 per year and get
500 GB of space.
The ZumoDrive app on the iPad gives you easy
options to share, upload and download files to and
from your ZumoDrive account.
GE.TT
Ge.tt is a fi le sharing service with a twist.
Whileother services give long term storage
space, Ge.ttprovides you with temporary
storage space forsharing fi les rather than
storing them. The serviceis quick and easy;
you do not need to installany applications
or sign up for an account. Simplygo to the
Web address and upload your fi les.
Youcan upload up to 2 GB of fi les and as
soon as theupload begins, you are provided
with a URL forsharing. The fi les remain
on the Ge.tt cloud serverfor a limited
period of 30 days, after which they

8. are discarded. The service is perfect for
userswho wish to share fi les with friends
or co-workerswithout having to worry
about removing or deletingfiles and the
only requirement is Internet.
Ge.tt lets you start sharing files even before they
have been completely uploaded, via a link or
through social networking sites.
PICKING THE RIGHTCLOUD
SERVICE:
There are various online storage services
that offer different features. While some
allow you to simply upload and download
data, others allow you to view your fi les
onlineand share them with others, and
some serviceseven let you open and edit
your fi les in the cloudfrom anywhere in
the world. Here are 05 of the topcloud
storage services.
1
AMAZON S3
Amazon Simple Storage Service or the
Amazon S3is best suited for
Webdevelopers and not for userswho are
simply looking for a place to upload and
store their fi les. The service offers up to 5
terabytesof space for development and
maintenanceof websites. The server
creates a unique key foreach developer,
which is region specific. Currently,
2 AMAZON CLOUD DRIVE
If you are not a developer and don’t want a
paidservice; if you just want a virtual drive
to storeyour videos, music, photos or
documents, you canuse the Amazon Cloud
Drive service. Your fi les canbe neatly
classified in pre-existing folder
structuresand the service offers 5 GB of
free space.However, you cannot upload fi
les that are over 2 GBin size. You can buy
more space if required. It is anexcellent
way to free up space on your system orif
you want to share legitimately purchased
mediafi les across machines. However, the
built in musicplayer and video player that
lets users streammedia online without
downloading it to the localdrive is
available only to US citizens for now.
ESNIPS
eSnips works similarly to 4shared, wherein
you canstore a variety of fi le formats,
including e-books,documents, archived fi
les, images, audio and videoformats. You
can also playback media fi les insteadof
downloading them to your computer.
However,it offers only 5 GB of storage
space. You can connectto the website with

9. social media sites likeFacebook and
Twitter, but there is no Android support
as of now.
5
SAFESYNC
Originally known as Humyo, the website
is nowknown as SafeSync after it was
taken over by Japanesesecurity company
Trend Micro. While usersof the free
services of Humyo can continue withthe
original 10 GB of server space (5 GB for
pictures,videos, and music, and 5 GB for
other fi les).SafeSync offers a free one-
month trial, but afterthat it’s a paidservice.
20 GB of storage space costs€29.95 (Rs
1,860), 50 GB space is priced at
€69.95(Rs. 4,410) and 100 GB of space
will cost you €110(Rs 6,930). The service
promises strong securityand offers mobile
device support.
WINDOWS LIVE SKYDRIVE
Windows Live SkyDrive, which was
launchedas Windows Live Folders, offers
the maximumamount of free storage space.
You can mark fi les asprivate on the
SkyDrive, which can be downloadedonly
with a Windows Live ID. The SkyDrive
offers25 GB of free personal storage, with
a maximumof 50 MB per fi le. You can
use tools like WindowsLive Mesh to drag
and drop fi les onto the SkyDrivefrom
your system directly. You can upload files
toyour SkyDrive from mobile devices too.
Moreover,you can also download all your
fi les as a single zip archive for
convenience.
You can access all the Windows Live services
including the MSN Messenger and Hotmail using a
single user ID.
CONCLUSION
The future of computing points towardsa
more cost-effective, user-oriented
andflexible concept, which is that of
cloudcomputing. Business houses are
rapidly adapting cloud infrastructure as it
offers them unparalleled flexibility,
scalability, accessibility, and security and
it also proves to be more cost-effective
thenhaving to manage in-house
servers.According to a worldwide survey
by Gartner, cloud computing services

10. consumed from external service providers
(ESPs) are estimated to comprise 10.2
percent of the spending on externalIT
services. Bob Igou, research director at
Gartner, says, “The cloud market is
evolving rapidly, with 39 percent of survey
respondents worldwide indicating that they
allocated IT budget to cloud computing as
a key initiative for their organization.
There is a shift in spending from
traditional IT assets such as the data center
assets and a move toward assets that are
accessed in the cloud. These trends are
good news for IT services providersthat
have professional services geared towards
implementing cloud environments and
those that deliver cloud services.
By this we can say cloud offers many new
ways for fast and efficient computing.
REFERENCES
www.cloudhypermarket.com
www.chipmagazinecom