Cloud Computing has an alluring concept about service, and that is, it has the ability to deliver infinite resources: consumers can get any kind and any volume of resources instantly as per their demands. The somewhat incorrect idea of infinite resources in cloud computing has primarily been accomplished by creating flexible resource pools. Resource virtualization technique and auto-scaling mechanism enable an uninterrupted supply of resources during the execution of system or application.
However, if not understood properly the concept of infinite computing resources may cause serious concerns about the success of a cloud service. At the physical (data center) level, it is never possible for a cloud service provider to arrange an unlimited volume of computing resources. Service providers actually create the impression of unlimited resources before their consumers by strategic arrangement and utilization of resources. This chapter will discuss these strategies.
Earlier, the safest traditional approach in capacity planning was to buy resources for an estimated maximum capacity, which resulted in resource wastage and an unprecedented increase in budget. However with the assurance of an unlimited and dynamic supply of resources, enterprises can now plan business with minimum required resources. This reduces resource wastage as well as computing costs.
Apparently, it is the responsibility of the IaaS providers to deliver all resources as per the demand of the consumers. However without the sincere participation of the upper layer service providers (PaaS and SaaS providers) IaaS providers alone cannot make this idea successful. Even end users of cloud services (application consumers) have major roles to play. The chapter focuses on these aspects also.
WHAT IS CAPACITY PLANNING
Capacity Planning in computing is basically developing a strategy which guarantees that at any moment, the available or arranged resources will be sufficient to support the actual demand for resources and that too at the minimal possible cost. The goal of capacity planning is to identify the right amount of resource requirement to meet the service demands at present and also in the future.
Resource requirement of an application generally differs with time. A cost effective agile system can only be developed by understanding these shifting resource needs, and with proper capacity planning in place. Appropriate capacity planning made for a system offers enormous benefits.
Review the options below to login to check your access.
Log in with your Cambridge Aspire website account to check access.
If you believe you should have access to this content, please contact your institutional librarian or consult our FAQ page for further information about accessing our content.