Cloud computing does not imply any single technology. In short, a combination of multiple methodologies defines its architecture. The management of various aspects associated with this computing facility thus becomes very important case for successful outcome during its real-life implementations. Be it business delivery, or technical foundation of system development, the ‘service’ takes center stage in cloud computing. Consequently, cloud service management has become another important issue to be discussed in a new context.
Most management activities in cloud are automated and SLA-driven. The service level agreement (SLA) thus plays an important role in the success of cloud computing. This chapter represents the lifecycle of SLA, apart from discussing the lifecycle of cloud service. Cloud management standards, tools and responsibilities of providers and consumers have also been discussed.
This chapter also focuses on various programming models which are implemented on cloud. For this purpose a case study is represented with Aneka cloud platform which has a special feature of supporting multiple programming models. In this context, the chapter tries to revisit the cloud computing architecture once more and represents its design characteristics and few non-functional features as well from different angles.
CLOUD ARCHITECTURE: REVISITED
In very broad sense, the cloud computing system can be viewed as composition of two elements:
▪ Client application at the front end
▪ The cloud as the back end.
This is a very simple description as the backend comprises of several layers and abstractions. In most cases, the ‘client application’ at the frontend is a web browser through which cloud service interfaces (i.e. the portals) are accessed. Consumers can access the backend ‘cloud’ from any simple electronic device capable of running web browsers. Only prerequisite is the availability of network or Internet service. Quality of cloud service accessibility often depends on the speed of the network. But with advancements in the field of internet technology, speed is the least worrying factor nowadays.
At the backend, the ‘cloud’ resides at some remote location generally being managed by some service providers. Reputed providers develop cloud service infrastructure at their own data centers. A provider can have multiple data centers at different geographic locations. As shown in Figure 19.1, this backend part can be seen as composition of two broad components: a cloud building platform and the cloud services.
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.