Cloud computing is a phenomenon which is becoming increasingly popular paralleled with an increase in our requirements for high-speed processing and continuously increasing disk space. Not just for personal rather this technology is also increasingly being employed in businesses where different companies are outsourcing all of their technological services. Not only is their data being stored on third-party servers rather cloud computing companies are also providing them with different software’s and applications to be used to run their everyday operations. We as individuals also use cloud computing in various everyday operations, and this technology comes to us in the form of applications like the drop box, one drive, and the icloud.
Defining the cloud is not a simple task. The best we can do is to explain how the concept is practically employed to suit our personal and on a few occasions also our business needs. In the most common cloud networks, the basic data centers comprise of a stack of multiple servers. The total number of these servers could fall anywhere between 10,000 and one million. Every one of these servers mostly has 8 or more processing units, the shared memory of not less than 64 GB and hard disk drives mostly increasing a terabyte in storage. These data center are also mostly facilitated by a network which works for the transmission of messages between any two servers. The Data centers work to optimize the traffic between the internet users and the existing servers. The data center in a cloud network stores its data on a number of rotating disks which is quite different from supercomputers where the data is stored on the disks that are physically attached to the computer itself.
The cloud’s fame has continually been on the rise, and the peak of the technology has yet to be seen. This is mostly because of the wide variety of benefits that the technology offers to its users. Amongst these benefits is one of scalability. Where a business uses IT services that are in the house, they make use of a number of servers to store their data on, but the trouble with that facility is that many of these servers are not running at full efficiency for a significant amount of time. This means that much of the server capacity remains idle while a business keeps paying for its up gradation as well as maintenance. The story with the cloud, however, is significantly different. An organization can upgrade and downgrade without heavy costs on the cloud. So if the company is progressing through a time when the services required are more, they can upgrade for a reasonable cost. Freeing up this space is also simple and easy. All that is to be done is to downgrade to a package that would suit the company’s requirements at any given instance.
The second benefit that the cloud offers is that of cost reduction. For a venture that is hardly a start-up where the capital is less than ample to fund the operations, it may be easy to start from a basic plan and then continue to upgrade the cost of which may come out of the profit that the company may earn through its operations. There are also a number of tax benefits in a business where rather than charging depreciation on equipment over a prolonged period, the entire expense that relates to the outsourcing of IT services could be treated as allowable tax expense. Another way in which the cloud services could save business costs is through the availability of software. The Software as a service (SaaS) and Platform as a service (PaaS) provide the cloud users with access to the software and the infrastructure in the entire cost of the service which is very much reasonable when compared to the cost required to set up an infrastructure in-house.
The cloud enjoys another significant benefit in its requirement of staffing. So while the setting up of a cloud network may necessitate high-level skills in computer software, its running and maintenance are fairly simple and foolproof. Even the maintenance services for the software as well as the infrastructure are all available to the company at the agreed upon service charges. This means that a company that uses the cloud services can save significant staff that it may otherwise require for the hiring of IT personnel for the maintenance of the in-house systems and infrastructures.
All of the benefits of the cloud computing systems aside, there are also more than a few costs that relate to the usage of this technology. The first and foremost challenge which in many cases also proves as the factor on which many companies or businesses base their decisions on is that of data security. Most of the very frequently asked questions that many companies want answers to include; what if any cloud server employee plugs in a USB drive and steals all of my data? How can I know if my company data is stored on servers present locally or across international boundaries? How will the company take responsibility if my information becomes unavailable one fine day? All of these questions provide proof that the utmost concern that an enterprise holds concerning the storage of their data offsite is that of security. The cloud technology is leading to a shift in the way in which our information is being secured. Under this new system, there are two parties that are both sharing in the responsibility to keep the information secure that these two parties involve the cloud service provider and the cloud service user. We can all agree with the fact that change is not always bad. Every technology has its own benefits and drawbacks. We can make the choice that suits us the best but in that case, a little bit of trust also needs to be involved.
Security when it comes to the use of cloud computing is a risk that is not limited to businesses and enterprises rather these risks also apply to the consumer. The cloud servers of the present day are making use of the related technologies to capture as well as process the information of its consumers for commercial as well as many other purposes. The problem with cloud computing is that with the use of this particular technology, there is no regard to geographical limits or borders rather the information stored with the cloud becomes globally available. These factors concern the consumer in such a way that the national boundaries cannot constrain or regulate this information, and the controlling of this information becomes a challenge for many governments. The problem is that even the law applies only to the protection of data which fits the description of sensitive data as per any country’s legal definition. The perspective of the European Union considers data as sensitive if it fits any of the following categories namely the data that reveals an individual’s racial origin, political opinions or religious beliefs, information regarding the person’s sexual life and criminal records. There is, however, ample data out there which may not fit any of the aforementioned categories and yet be considered sensitive. Like for instance, we all have Global Positioning Systems on our phones these days and even though this data does not fit the European description of sensitive data, it would make sense to keep this data very confidential for the safety of the individuals to whom it relates.
Amongst many of the applications of cloud computing is the concept of mobile computing. The mobile computing is a concept where not only data storage but also data processing takes place outside of the device. By making this change, the IT technicians are
looking to make a few improvements to the present day mobile device. The first of these improvements touches a dimension that many of us seem concerned about which is the mobile’s battery life. In this technique, mobile computing is used to transfer a number of complex calculations and operations to a location outside of the mobile device and, therefore, relieving the device of much need for processing information which consequently conserves battery life. Another benefit that this technique seeks to implement is to improve the data storage capacity and also enhance the device’s processing ability. By compelling the device to perform these operations externally, the system makes sure that these processes are not limited by the mobile phone’s processor speed and the storage capacity that it can provide. The phenomena also increase reliability because since the information is stored on a number of different computers outside of the device, there is a greater possibility that the data that is once lost could be recovered.
Mobile computing is just one of the applications of cloud computing, and this alone provides us with benefits that are beyond compare. This means that the applications of the technology are in fact endless. All we require is the development of this technology, and that can only happen once we start trusting that it could work for us. This requires a little bit of effort on both sides. The companies that provide cloud services have to work a little harder to ensure that the data that is entrusted to them is not exploited in any way while the customers need to have a little bit of blind faith and trust that their data will remain secure.
List of References
Carstensen, J. G. (2012). Cloud Computing: Assessing the risks. Cambridgeshire: IT Governance Publishing.
Hoang T. Dinh, C. L. (2013). A survey of mobile cloud computing: architecture, applications, and approaches. Wireless communication and Mobile computing, 1587-1611.
Joubert, P. D. (2013). Cloud computing and Big data: Advances in Parallel computing. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Nick Antonopoulos, L. G. (2010). Cloud Computing; principles, systems, and Applications. Springer.
Raja, N. J. (Summer 2013). What Do They Really Know About Me in the Cloud? A Comparative Law Perspective on Protecting Privacy and Security of Sensitive Consumer Data. American Business Law Journal, 413-482.
