Basic office technologies

Basic Office Technologies

Beginners level

Unit 4: CLOUD technologies

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

Cloud computing is a technology that affects businesses and all Internet users. It allows companies to work more efficiently and optimizes costs and processes.

1) presentation aims to provide knowledge regarding this technology and the most important definitions that are an integral part of this Claud Computing idea.

2) the presentation covers the basics of Claud computing and prepares the learner to be able to better explore the subject of cloud computing in the future.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

LOut1: understand what a public, private and hybrid cloud is

LOut2: describe the difference between the types of services: SaaS, IaaS and PaaS

LOut3: demonstrate knowledge in cloud computing and the essence of this technology

LOut4: orient between the most popular cloud providers

KEYWORDS

Cloud computing;
Public cloud;
Private cloud;
Hybrid cloud;
SaaS;
PaaS;
IaaS;
Services;
Microsoft Azure;
Amazon Web Services;
Google Cloud.

1.1 What is cloud computing

Cloud computing is one of the key technologies of the future.

Cloud computing is the use of IT capabilities (data collection, use of software, services, etc.) without the need to have these tools on computers or without the need to have servers to collect data, but by purchasing services from an external entity. So basically you use certain IT tools without buying them physically, but because someone has made them available to you (vendor provides servers, apps, storage place) and you pay him for that.

Benefits of cloud computing

Cost The use of cloud computing is not cost-free, but it can reduce the expenses that company would have to incur if it decided to use their own servers (cost of purchases, installation, air conditioning, space rental, IT support and many more). It is cheaper and more effective than in the “old-fashioned” approach.

Security In the case of cloud computing, you will benefit from professionals (usually large corporations) who provide the highest level of security with the latest technology. You can also use different types of clouds to increase safety.

Simplicity and time saving It is easy to use and does not require advanced IT skills from entrepreneurs. This allows them to focus strictly on running their business without having to pay attention to maintaining servers etc. The time savings are due to the fact that you don’t have to manage every element by yourself but you outsource some operation to your vendor.

Versatility you can operate on it by using any equipment connected to the Internet. So you don’t need to have physical offices to run business. Also, the cloud computing service can be tailored to a specific enterprise. It allows entrepreneurs to pay and use only the tools they need.

Comfort This point is a kind of cumulation of previous ones.

1.1.1. What is cloud computing

When deciding to buy cloud computing, you must be aware of its diversity. When it comes to the type of cloud computing, there are basically three most known:

* Public cloud;

* Private cloud;

* Hybrid cloud.

Each of them has different characteristics and it’s dedicated to certain customers.

Public cloud – the user relies on external cloud providers to offer data storage or processing power. All service-related work is on the side of the service provider. Among the most significant problems in the case of a public cloud is the limited lack of individualization of tools. The company pays for this “how much” it uses a cloud. So the entrepreneur does not have to worry about initial cost (like buying servers, paying It administrators and so on). Thanks to the economies of scale, this is a very cost-effective method of conducting IT operations. This type of cloud is shared between all it users.

Private cloud – only specific users can use it. As a rule, it is simply owned by one company/organisation and used by its employees. Such a solution allows for greater control of cloud usage and data security. Companies need their own IT infrastructure for this. Here too, the cloud environment can be adapted to the needs of the organization, but this can be time-consuming.

Hybrid cloud – a combination of public and private clouds. It consists in the fact that an organization can use the computing power of a public cloud and at the same time use private ones for greater data security.

Examples of the less common computing types:

Multi Cloud – an environment that is based on several clouds. This is because an organization uses several cloud providers. They can be related, but they don’t have to. They can be all public, all private or they can be combination of both public and private clouds.

Community cloud – the cloud is shared between several specific organisations (or employees). Such a cloud may only make sense for companies that share a same mission or have same security requirements.

1.1.2. Models of cloud computing

The higher the model in the pyramid’s scheme is, the less IT skills you need to have

SaaS is a field in which end users work.

PaaS is a field in which developers work.

IaaS is the field in which the IT administrators work.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a service)

It is the widest type. In this case the client is provided with the IT infrastructure and he receives:

* storage

* compute (the vendor provides virtualized CPUs, GPUs, HPCs)

* network resources.

This means that as a customer, instead of buying servers and hardware, you „rent” them from an external provider in a virtual form. The customer uses his programs and applications, which are located on the vendor servers by using their processing power.

As far as payment models are concerned, there are several, but among them the most popular will be the pay-as-you-go model. The user pays for the time of use (hours, weeks, etc.) and/or the place used (for the size of files).

Some of IaaS providers:

Amazon AWS;

DigitalOcean;

Microsoft Azure;

Rackspace Open Cloud;

Google Compute Engine;

HP Enterprise Converged Infrastructure;

IBM SmartCloud Enterprise.

Excel Ribbon contains multiple tabs, each with several groups of commands. You will use these tabs to perform the most common tasks in Excel.

Minimizing or Maximizing the Ribbon – Hold down the CTRL key and press the F1 key.

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

The key word here is : “Platform”. This model is especially aimed at programmers for software development, testing, etc., because the vendor provides tools on which they can work. The vendor take responsibilities for security, software providing and creating backups, and etc..

The vendor provides here the so-called development environment, which can reduce the working time of developers. The tools offered to companies usually include also a business analytics services or monitoring.

PaaS is also ideal for working on a single product by people from different places/time zones, as the environment is accessible via the internet.

PaaS providers:

Oracle Cloud Platform;

Google App Engine;

Microsoft Azure;

Salesforce aPaaS;

Red Hat OpenShift PaaS;

Mendix aPaaS;

SAP Cloud Platform.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS is the highest level on the pyramid when it comes to cloud models, which means that it requires a basic level of IT skills from the user. It is very common and you probably used it many times without even realizing it. You use Google sheets? You used SaaS. In this case, as a customer, you are provided with everything from the vendor and you don’t have to worry about IT operations. This means that you don’t have to manage the software (you don’t have to install or update it), it’s in the cloud that you can access with your browser or make backups etc. All this work will be done for you by your provider.

As a rule, payments work here in a subscription model (you pay for the service on a monthly basis), some can be free of charge (free in limited functionality).

SaaS providers:

Salesforce;

Microsoft (for example Office 365);

Adobe Creative Cloud;

Box;

Google G Suite;

Slack;

Cisco

Besides these three best-known types, there are a few others, less frequently listed. It is important to remember that you can combine these models with each other.

1.2. The Future of cloud computing

Short History of Cloud Computing

1996 – The term “cloud computing” was used for the first time in an internal document of Compaq company, which presents possible technologies, including cloud storage. A year later this term was used by Ramanth Chellappa (a professor at the University of Texas) and he is often cited as an author of the definition of this technology.

1999 – SalesForce launches Salesforce.com

This is considered to be one of the major steps in developing this technology. SalesForce launches Salesforce.com and become a leader in delivering SaaS service solutions.

2002 – Amazon Web Services is created

The current leader in the market for cloud services was created in 2002 with the idea of providing services in a form where customers pay only for what they use. At the beginning, the service was fully free of charge.

2007 – A Dropbox is created

In 2007, Dropbox is being created and provides a storage service (the hosting service was called SpiderOak and allowed for online backups or cloud-based data sharing) for companies and individuals.

Over the next few years, other large platforms such as Google App Engine (2008), Microsoft Azure (2010), free Openstack platform (2010) and finally IBM SmartCloud (2011) were created.

Cloud computing is still a relatively new technology, but already the numbers show how important this technology will be for development.

The cloud computing technology is called the technology of the future. Among the factors that are mentioned as those that can have an biggest impact on the development of this technology are often:

* Internet of Things (IoT)

* Edge computing

* 5G

* Artificial Intelligence (AI)

* Machine Learning (ML)

IoT and Cloud computing can work together to produce significant benefits. Cloud computing in this purpose will be a place to collect huge databases that can later be analysed by IoT. Thanks to the high performance of cloud computing, it will be possible to get the results of, for example, analytical processes much faster.

Great potential for cloud computing development is also depend on 5G technology. It is extremely important because it provides incomparably more connections per km2 than its predecessor (LTE). The communication possibilities that are thus emerging are in line with Smart City idea.

A report prepared by RightScale shows that 81% of companies that employ more than 1000 employees have multi-platform strategy. This figure is projected to rise to 90 percentage points in 2024.

But undoubtedly this technology is developing at an incredible pace. Among the current trends the development of it can be mentioned, for example, containerization, which involves dividing the application into parts (each piece of code is responsible for some specific function of the application, for example), which affects the quality and speed of work of the developers.

Among the possibilities that cloud computing will offer in the future, there is often mention ability for playing in the cloud. This would be a beneficial solution for many players who need to constantly update their hardware, which is a very expensive process, to be able to play new game titles. Although the first systems are already up and running, they are still far from perfect.

Another high-profile topic related to the future of the cloud is moving businesses to it. Businesses are increasingly using these solutions (especially those offered by hybrid clouds) and are moving their infrastructure to the cloud.

Cloud computing affects Industry 4.0 on many levels. Although this technology is still developing and is only beginning to change the way companies work, its positive effect is already being emphasized more and more often. Usually, when discussing its recommendations, it is emphasized how important this technology is for the development.

Challenges of using cloud computing

The biggest challenges facing companies willing to use / already using cloud computing are:

ensuring data security,
standardization,
and fast Internet access.

Security – There is a report on cloud security called Cloud Security Report, which perfectly presents the concerns that cyber security professionals have about this technology. It shows that the biggest threat in cloud computing is misconfiguration of cloud platforms, and inappropriate control of access to data.

People who are developing this technology are dealing with all the challenges cloud computing faces.

1.3. The Most Popular Cloud Providers

There are a lot of cloud computing providers, but in this part we will focused on three:

* Microsoft Azure;

* Amazon Web Services;

* Google Cloud.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure provides various resources and services. To use them you must have access to the Internet and you need to create an account on the platform. The registration on the platform is free of charge but there is a pay-per use model that allows you to purchase certain services. There are more than 200 products offered on the platform. The services and products provided by this platform include both free of charge and paid ones. Among them you can find:

* Compute (Virtual Machines, App Service, Cloud Services, API Apps, …);

* Storage (Storage Accounts, Azure Backup, Disk Storage, Data Box, …);

* Databases (Azure API for FHIR, Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, …);

* Networking (Content Delivery Network, Azure ExpressRoute, Virtual Network, …);

* Mobile (App Service, Web Apps, API Apps, Azure Maps, …);

* Developer Tools (Visual Studio, App Configuration, Azure Lab Services …);

* And many more.

Microsoft Azure also emphasizes the fact that its services are used by as many as ninety percent of Fortune 500 companies, which is certainly a measure of quality and trusts.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

The platform was launched in 2006. Currently is the biggest provider of cloud services in the world. One of the reason of its popularity can be the fact that AWS have the biggest network of data centres in the world and a huge number of a offered services. Products offered by AWS are:

* Analytics (Amazon Athena; Amazon CloudSearch, AWS Data Exchange, AWS QuickSight, …);

* Compute (Amazon EC2, AWS Batch, AWS Serverless Application Repository, …);

* Storage (Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), …);

* Mobile (AWS Amplify, Amazon API Gateway, Amazon Pinpoint, …);

* Developer Tools (Amazon Corretto, AWS CodeBuild, AWS X-Ray, …);

* Database (Amazon Aurora, Amazon Neptune , AWS Database Migration Service, …);

* And many more.

Currently AWS offers over 175 services and is definitely one of the leaders in terms of the number of solutions offered.

The biggest cons of the AWS is payment model, which is not entirely transparent. Also, AWS is not the easiest platform to use and the number of the services offered can be overwhelming.

Google Cloud Platform

It was created in 2008. One of Google’s achievements was developing the Kubernetes standard (now AWS and Azure also offering it). Compared to previous platforms, Google offers far less features and products, but its focused on high compute (Big Data, machine learning). Products:

Storage (Cloud Storage, Filestore, Persisten Disk, …) ;

Compute (Compute/App Engine, Bare Metal, Cloud GPUs, Preemptible VMs, …);

Databases (Cloud Bigtable, Cloud SQL, Memorystore, …);

Networking (Cloud Armor, Cloud CDN, Cloud DNS, Virtual Private Cloud, …);

Developer Tools (Cloud SDK, Tools for Eclipse, Cloud Build, Cloud Code, …);

And many more.

Other cloud computing platform

* Salesforce https://www.salesforce.com/eu/?ir=1

* IBM https://www.ibm.com/cloud

* SAP Website: https://www.sap.com/products/cloud-platform.html

* Oracle Website: https://www.oracle.com/crmondemand/

* Alibaba Cloud Website: https://us.alibabacloud.com/

SYNOPSIS

Cloud computing is a technology which development support growth of many other technologies, but it is also dependent on the development of other.

Therefore, it is important to educate and present cloud computing to a wider audience, business owners and entrepreneurs. Cloud computing is already changing our world and allowing us to optimize processes or reduce financial outlays. The opportunities that this technology brings can allow businesses to achieve many concrete benefits, which is particularly important for their management.

REFERENCES

Proservis. DEBESŲ KOMPIUTERIJA. Available at: https://www.proservis.eu/debesu-kompiuterija/

Rajnish Kumar Sharma. The Cloud Computing Guide You Always Wanted. Net Solutions. Available at: https ://www.netsolutions.com/insights/what-is-cloud-computing

https ://andcom.erasmus.site/cloud-computing-as-the-future-for-managing-and-storing-data/

Additional resources

What is cloud computing?	https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/what-is-cloud-computing/
What Is Cloud Computing?	https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-cloud-computing
The Ultimate Guide To Cloud Computing Technology	https://www.netsolutions.com/insights/what-is-cloud-computing/
Cloud computing – from private, public and hybrid cloud to cloud services and cloud evolutions	https://www.i-scoop.eu/cloud-computing/