Cloud Computing 101

1. Cloud Computing 101 Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technology and Research Vanderbilt University Library Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides http://www.librarytechnology.org/ http://twitter.com/mbreeding Basic concepts and library applications Oct 18, 2011 Internet Librarian 2011

2. Summary • So exactly what does it mean to move data and services to the “cloud”? This cybertour discusses the concept; the advantages of cloud computing, where your documents and data live on the internet; how you can utilize web services in the cloud; and what libraries are currently doing in the cloud.

3. Continuum of Abstraction • Locally owned and installed servers • Co-located servers • Co-located virtual servers • Web hosting • Server hosting services • Application Service Provider • Software-as-a-service • Infrastructure-as-a-service • Platform-as-a-service The Advance of Computing From the Ground to the Cloud Computers in Libraries, December 2009 http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=14384

4. What is Cloud computing? • Wikipedia: “Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Gartner Hype Cycle 2009

9. Gartner Hype Cycle 2010

10. Gartner Hype Cycle 2011

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

12. 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

13. Application service provider • 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

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

15. 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

16. Google Apps

17. Microsoft Office 365

18. Enterprise SaaS deployments • Many universities outsourcing mail • Retain institutional domain names • Google Apps Education Edition • Gmail • Microsoft Live@Edu

19. 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 (http://www.rackspacecloud.com/) • EMC2 Atmos (http://www.atmosonline.com/)

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

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

22. 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

23. Private vs Public cloud • Public – multi-tenant provisioning • Logically isolated computing environment • Theoretical security / competitive concerns • Private – cloud architecture, institutionally controlled • Enforces physical segregation • Leverages cost and scalability • Institutions may require private clouds from providers • Institutions may operate their own cloud infrastructure for internal clients

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

25. 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 …

26. Multi-tenant SaaS • Serials Solutions • Summon • Web-scale management solution • 360 Search, 360 Link, KnowledgeWorks • ExLibris • Alma • Primo Central • BiblioCommons • OCLC Web-scale Management Services

27. 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 • http://www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php

28. 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

29. 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

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

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

32. 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

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

34. 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

35. Questions and Discussion