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Cloud Computing in Libraries

Marshall Breeding Independent Consult, Author, Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides www.librarytechnology.org / twitter.com/ mbreeding. Cloud Computing in Libraries. Basic concepts and library applications. August 2, 2012. Library Services in the Cloud. Summary.

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Cloud Computing in Libraries

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  1. Marshall Breeding Independent Consult, Author, Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides www.librarytechnology.org/ twitter.com/mbreeding Cloud Computing in Libraries Basic concepts and library applications August 2, 2012 Library Services in the Cloud

  2. Summary • Explore the use of cloud computing in a library setting • Practical examples for general business automation • Strategic library products offered through cloud technologies

  3. Cloud Computing for Libraries Book Image Publication Info: • Volume 11 in The Tech Set • Published by Neal-Schuman / ALA TechSource • ISBN: 781555707859 • http://www.neal-schuman.com/ccl

  4. Cloud computing as marketing term • Cloud computing used very freely, tagged to almost any virtualized environment • Any arrangement where the library relies on some kind of remote hosting environment for major automation components • Includes almost any vendor-hosted product offering

  5. Cloud computing – characteristics • Web-based Interfaces • Externally hosted • Pricing: subscription or utility • Highly abstracted computing model • Provisioned on demand • Scaled according to variable needs • Elastic – consumption of resources can contract and expand according to demand

  6. Fundamental technology shift • Mainframe computing • Client/Server • Cloud Computing http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrick/61952845/ http://soacloudcomputing.blogspot.com/2008/10/cloud-computing.html http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-2001/jw-1019-jxta.html

  7. Gartner Hype Cycle 2009

  8. Gartner Hype Cycle 2010

  9. Gartner Hype Cycle 2011

  10. Local Computing • Traditional model • Locally owned and managed • Shifting from departmental to enterprise • Departmental servers co-located in central IT data centers • Increasingly virtualized

  11. Virtualization • The ability for multiple computing images to simultaneously exist on one physical server • Physical hardware partitioned into multiple instances using virtual machine management tools such as VMware • Applicable to local, remote, and cloud models

  12. Infrastructure-as-a-service • Provisioning of Equipment • Servers, storage • Virtual server provisioning • Examples: • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) • Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) • Rackspace Cloud www.rackspacecloud.com/) • EMC2 Atmos(www.atmosonline.com/)

  13. Amazon EC2 • Amazon Machine Instances (AMI) • Red Hat Enterprise Linux • Debian • Fedora • Ubuntu Linux • Open Solaris • Windows Server 2003/2008

  14. Software-as-a-Service • Complete software application, customized for customer use • Software delivered through cloud infrastructure, data stored on cloud • Eg: Salesforce.com—widely used business infrastructure • Multi-tenant: all organizations that use the service share the same instance (codebase, hardware resources, etc) • Often partitioned to separate some groups of subscribers

  15. Application service provider • Legacy business applications hosted by software vendor • Standalone application on discrete or virtualized hardware • Staff and public clients accessed via the Internet • Same user interfaces and functionality as if installed locally • Established as a deployment model in the 1990’s • Can be implemented through Infrastructure-as-a Service • Individual instances of legacy system hosted in EC2

  16. ASP vs SaaS From: THINKstrategies: CIO’s Guide to Software-as-a-Service

  17. Storage-as-a-Service • Provisioned, on-demand storage • Bundled to, or separate from other cloud services

  18. Common Library Examples Cloud computing in action

  19. Cloud computing trends for libraries • Increased migration away from local computing toward some form of remote / hosted / virtualized alternative • Cloud computing especially attractive to libraries with few technology support personnel • Adequate bandwidth will continue to be a limiting factor

  20. Operation of a library’s Web site • Fewer libraries choosing to operate their Web sites on local servers • Simple sites: Webhosting services • Intermediate sites: Hosted CMS • Drupal consulting firm + hosting service • Complex sites • Custom programming • EC2 or other Infrastructure as a service

  21. Mail and Calendaring • Many libraries just use individual accounts on Gmail or similar services • A more sophisticated approach uses mail services from Google, Microsoft, or others institutionally • Google Apps for Businesses • Microsoft Exchange Online • Same interface, but e-mail addresses carry the institutional domain name • Free or low-cost for small organizations • Professional levels for larger organizations • Supplemental services: • No advertising • Back-up and recovery services • Service Level agreement

  22. Document creation and collaboration • Google Docs / Google Drive • Microsoft Office 365 • Zoho.com • Concerns / Issues: • Documents as official institutional records • Backup and recovery process • Private or Subject to FOIA?

  23. Data in the cloud • Storage as a service • Informal / small-scale • Dropbox (2GB+) • Microsoft Skydrive (7GB+) • Mostly used as supplemental storage and for sharing • Institutional / Larger-scale • Local storage still dominant • When using cloud storage for institutional data • Multiple tiers of backup with SLA • DuraCloud, S3, many others

  24. Platform-as-a-Platform as a Service • Virtualized computing environment for deployment of software • Application engine, no specific server provisioning • Examples: • Google App Engine • SDKs for Java, Python • Heroku: ruby platform • Amazon Web Service • Library Specific platforms • WorldShare Platform

  25. Library automation through SaaS • Almost all library automation products offered through hosted options • SaaS or ASP?

  26. ILS Products offered as SaaS (mostly ASP) • SirsiDynix Symphony • SirsiDynix Horizon • Innovative Interfaces Millennium • Ex Libris Aleph • EOS International EOS.Web • Evergreen – Equinox Software • Koha – LibLime, ByWater, many others internationally • …many other examples …

  27. Multi-tenant SaaS • Serials Solutions • Summon • Intota (Announced for 2012-13) • 360 Search, 360 Link, KnowledgeWorks • Ex Libris • Alma • Primo Central • BiblioCommons • OCLC WorldShare Management Services

  28. SaaS provides opportunity for highly shared data models WorldCat: one globally shared copy that serves all libraries Primo Central: central index of articles maintained by Ex Libris shared by all libraries implementing Primo / Primo Central Global Knowledgebase of e-journal holdings shared among all customers of SFX Serials Solutions: KnowledgeWorks General opportunity to move away from library-by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows Data as a service

  29. Platform as a Service • OCLC WorldShare Platform • WorldShare Management Services • WorldShare License Manager • Library-created applications

  30. Repositories in the cloud • Dspace – institutional repository application • Fedora – generalized repository platform • DuraSpace – organization now over both Dspace and Fedora • DuraCloud – shared, hosted repository platform • Pilot since 2009, production in early 2011 • www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php

  31. Caveats and concerns with SaaS • Libraries must have adequate bandwidth to support access to remote applications without latency • Quality of service agreements that guarantee performance and reliability factors • Configurability and customizability limitations • Access to API’s • Ability to interoperate with 3rd party applications • Eg: Connect SaaS ILS with discovery product from another vendor

  32. Preserve your brand! • Be sure that your services delivered through your own URL • Most cloud services support domain aliases • Accomplished through DNS configuration • Implemented by your network administrator • Create CNAME entry to redirect cloud service to a subdomain associated with your library: • S3.mylibrary.org = s3.amazonaws.com.

  33. Cost implications • Total cost of ownership • Do all cost components result in increased or decreased expense • Personnel costs – need less technical administration • Hardware – server hardware eliminated • Software costs: subscription, license, maintenance/support • Indirect costs: energy costs associated with power and cooling of servers in data center • IaaS: balance elimination of hardware investments for ongoing usage fees • Especially attractive for development and prototyping

  34. Risks and concerns • Privacy of data • Policies, regulations, jurisdictions • Ownership of data • Avoid vendor lock-in • Integrity of Data • Backups and disaster recovery

  35. Security issues • Most providers implement stronger safeguards beyond the capacity of local institutions • Virtual instances equally susceptible to poor security practices as local computing

  36. Increased pressure • Library automation vendors promoting SaaS offerings • Some companies already exclusively SaaS • Software pricing increasingly favorable to SaaS

  37. Caveat • Technologies promoted by companies and organizations have a vested interest in their adoption • Critically assess viability of the technology and its appropriateness for your organization • Start with low-risk projects before making strategic commitments

  38. Questions and Discussion

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