Cloud Computing

What is a community cloud?

A community cloud is one that is shared by multiple organizations for some common purpose. This could be to share data for a joint project.

What are off-site email applications?

An example of SaaS is off-site email such as Gmail for the Enterprise, in which customers pay for the entire solution and support by the month. SaaS is particularly well suited for small businesses. Instead of investing in additional in-house server capacity and software licenses, companies simply can adjust their SaaS subscription on a monthly basis, scaling consumption requirements up and down based on project demands and other variables

What are three models for implementing VDI?

Centralized: All desktop instances are stored in a single server, requiring significant processing power on the server. Hosted: Desktops are maintained by a service provider. This model eliminates capital cost and is instead subject to operation cost. Remote Virtual Desktops: An image is copied to the local machine, making a constant network connection unnecessary.

What are cloud file storage services?

Cloud file storage services, such as Box, Dropbox, and Drive, offer a way to save money on storage capacity and the management of said capacity though a storage as a service offering.

What are cloud based applications?

Cloud-based applications differ from web applications in that they are not always exclusively dependent on web browsers to work. They can be custom-built apps installed on Internet-connected devices, such as desktops and mobile phones, and can be used to access a wider range of services, such as on-demand computing cycle, storage, application development platforms, and even application streaming.

What are shared resources?

Devices in a cloud data center are virtual machines (VMs) that share the resources of the underlying host. Virtual machines represent virtual instances of an operating system that exist as files on the physical host. Technicians can appropriate these resources in whichever relative percentages they are comfortable.

What is on-demand resource utilization?

In a cloud environment, it is typically possible for customers to add additional compute resources at any time to their cloud solution without involving the cloud provider. This is called on-demand resource utilization and results in the customer paying for what is used, rather than paying for unused resources.

Whats the difference between an internal solution and an external solution?

In an internal solution, all the resources are located in an organization's data center and are owned by the organization. In an external solution, all the resources are located at the service provider's data center and are owned by the service provider.

What is IaaS?

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) involves the vendor providing the hardware platform or data center, and the company installs and manages its own operating systems and application systems. The vendor simply provides access to the data center and maintains that access.

What is the difference between measured service and metered service?

Measured service is a term used to describe the process of tracking resource utilization by the customer for the purpose of charging for those resources. Metered service is an agreed upon and committed level of service that does not change and is paid in advance.

What are Synchronization apps?

Most cloud storage services come with an application that can be used to keep the files in the cloud synchronized with the files as they exist in local storage. These apps can automate the synchronization process for you. Moreover, they typically provide versioning services as well, allowing you to recover from any accidental edits or deletions.

What is rapid elasticity?

One of the advantages of a cloud environment is the ability to add resources as needed on the fly and release those resources when they are no longer required. This makes for more efficient use of resources, allocating them where needed at any particular point in time. These include CPU and memory resources. This is called rapid elasticity because it occurs automatically according to the rules for resource sharing that have been deployed.

What is PaaS?

Platform as a service (PaaS) involves the vendor providing the hardware platform or data center and the software running on the platform. This includes the operating systems and infrastructure software. The company is still involved in managing the system.

What is resource pooling and what are resource shares and resource guarantees?

Resource pooling is a cloud concept whereby collections of resources (CPU and memory) are stored in containers called pools. These pools can be configured to be shared by certain virtual systems. The relative priority to the usages of the resources is controlled by the configuration of what are called resource shares. It is also possible to use another concept in combination with resource shares called resource guarantees. These settings are used to ensure that certain systems always have required resources. Finally, resource limits can be used to prevent a system from monopolizing the resources in the pool

What is a virtual desktop?

Virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs) host desktop operating systems within a virtual environment in a centralized server. Users access the desktops and run them from the server.

What is a virtual NIC?

Virtual network interface cards (VNICs) are software packages that act in the place of a physical network interface card (NIC) for a VM. Virtual NICs and virtual switches alone can form a virtual network for only virtual machines and the host physical machine, but if any communicating is required between the virtual network and the physical network, the virtual NIC must be configured to communicate with the physical NIC of the underlying host.

What is the difference between a public cloud solution and a private cloud solution?

When a company pays another company to host and manage this environment, it is called a public cloud solution. If the company hosts this environment itself, it is a private cloud solution.

What is SaaS?

When an enterprise contracts with a third party to provide cloud services, there is a range of options, differing mostly in the division of responsibilities between the vendor and the client. Software as a service (SaaS) involves the vendor providing the entire solution. This includes the operating system, the infrastructure software, and the application. The company may provide you with an email system, for example, whereby it hosts and manages everything for you.

What is a hybrid cloud solution?

When the solution is partly private and partly public, the solution is called a hybrid solution. It may be that the organization keeps some data in the public cloud but may keep more sensitive data in a private cloud, or the organization may have a private cloud that when overtaxed may utilize a public cloud for additional storage space or additional compute resources.