Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Cloud computing has been positioned as today's ideal IT platform. However, this has been said before of other IT architectures. How is cloud different?
This book looks at what cloud promises now, and how cloud is likely to evolve as the future unfolds. Readers will be better able to ensure that decisions made now will hold them in good stead for the future and will gain a better understanding of how cloud can deliver the best outcome for their organisations.
Clive Longbottom is founder and research director of industry analyst company, Quocirca. Clive began his analyst career with META Group before founding Quocirca to offer a new kind of industry analysis. He has seen the 'sharp end' of IT, and understands that technology has to be used to support an organisation's aim, not as an end into itself.
'This book clearly and succinctly covers all the key areas of Cloud that both technical and IT leaders need to know. It takes the reader through a logical and engaging journey of how Cloud services have developed over time and how these services can be exploited for best value and business advantage. Whether you're just beginning your journey to the Cloud or are looking for guidance on the next steps of your Cloud journey, this book will help you to determine the best approach and understand the implications of your decisions whether that's security, RoI, or simply how to get your data and services into the Cloud.'
Gareth Baxendale FBCS CITP
With the ability to upload files securely and access them from anywhere, cloud computing has been positioned as today's ideal IT platform. However this has been claimed before for many different IT architectural approaches, how is cloud different? Is what is being offered now an end point, or just the beginning of an evolution of how cloud is instantiated and used?
This book looks at how we have got where we are, what cloud is promising now, and how cloud is likely to evolve and change as the future unfolds. Readers will be better able to ensure that decisions made now will hold them in good stead for the future, and they will have a better understanding of how to use cloud to deliver the best outcome for their organisations.
'A recommended read for all and anyone involved in the cloud sector. From beginner to expert, there is much to gain from Clive’s contribution.'
Ian Moyse
‘If you are seeking a readable quick-start guide to the state of the marketplace in cloud providers and software tools to help you migrate and manage your applications then this book is useful.'
Andy Wilton
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Copyright Page | iv | ||
| CONTENTS | v | ||
| LIST OF FIGURES | ix | ||
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR | x | ||
| FOREWORD | xi | ||
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | xii | ||
| ABBREVIATIONS | xiii | ||
| GLOSSARY | xvii | ||
| PREFACE | xxiii | ||
| PART 1 LOOKING BACK Cloud computing in context | 1 | ||
| 1 BACKGROUND | 3 | ||
| LOOKING BACKWARD TO LOOK FORWARD | 3 | ||
| THE PRICE WAR | 4 | ||
| THE RISE OF THE PC | 5 | ||
| CHANGING TO A DISTRIBUTED MODEL | 6 | ||
| WEB COMPUTING TO THE FORE | 7 | ||
| THE RISE OF THE AGE OF CHAOS | 8 | ||
| VIRTUALISATION, SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE AND GRID COMPUTING | 8 | ||
| THE ROLE OF STANDARDS | 10 | ||
| SUMMARY | 11 | ||
| PART 2 THE CLOUD NOW Cloud at its simplest, as it should be implemented | 13 | ||
| 2 THE CLOUD | 15 | ||
| BACK TO THE FUTURE | 15 | ||
| SUMMARY | 21 | ||
| 3 WHY CLOUD? | 23 | ||
| RESOURCE UTILISATION | 23 | ||
| COST | 26 | ||
| MEETING FUTURE NEEDS | 28 | ||
| WORKLOAD PORTABILITY | 29 | ||
| HIGH AVAILABILITY | 31 | ||
| SUMMARY | 31 | ||
| 4 BASIC CLOUD PLATFORMS | 32 | ||
| POPULAR CLOUD PLATFORMS | 32 | ||
| THE ARCHITECTURE OF A CLOUD | 36 | ||
| OPEN COMPUTE PROJECT | 39 | ||
| SUMMARY | 40 | ||
| 5 ALTERNATIVE CLOUD PLATFORMS | 41 | ||
| PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CLOUD OFFERINGS | 41 | ||
| CONTAINER PLATFORMS | 45 | ||
| THE CURRENT CHAOS OF CLOUD | 47 | ||
| SUMMARY | 52 | ||
| 6 ALTERNATIVE CLOUD MODELS | 54 | ||
| CLOUD BROKER | 54 | ||
| CLOUD AGGREGATOR | 55 | ||
| SUMMARY | 56 | ||
| 7 \x07MAIN TYPES OF SaaS CLOUD SERVICES | 58 | ||
| SaaS CLOUD SERVICES | 58 | ||
| FILE SHARE AND SYNC | 59 | ||
| SHADOW IT | 61 | ||
| SUMMARY | 64 | ||
| 8 \x07WHERE SHOULD A CLOUD PLATFORM RESIDE? | 65 | ||
| PRIVATE CLOUDS | 65 | ||
| WHERE SHOULD PRIVATE CLOUDS BE BASED? | 65 | ||
| HYBRID CLOUDS | 66 | ||
| THE ORGANISATIONAL VALUE CHAIN | 68 | ||
| THE USE OF COLOCATION FACILITIES | 69 | ||
| DATA CENTRE AND CLOUD TIERING | 70 | ||
| SUMMARY | 73 | ||
| 9 PAYING FOR CLOUD SERVICES | 74 | ||
| THE BATTLE BETWEEN COST LEVELS AND THEIR PREDICTABILITY, AND BUSINESS FLEXIBILITY | 74 | ||
| BASIC COST MODELS | 75 | ||
| INCREASING COST MODEL COMPLEXITY | 76 | ||
| COST TIERING | 77 | ||
| SUMMARY | 80 | ||
| PART 3 THE VERY NEAR FUTURE Cloud at a more complex level, as you should be implementing it | 81 | ||
| 10 BUILDING THE RIGHT CLOUD | 83 | ||
| MIXING CLOUDS | 83 | ||
| PLANNING FOR WORKLOAD MIGRATIONS | 84 | ||
| IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS | 85 | ||
| SUMMARY | 88 | ||
| 11 ISSUES WITH CLOUD COMPUTING | 89 | ||
| SYSTEM AVAILABILITY | 89 | ||
| DATA SECURITY | 91 | ||
| PERFORMANCE | 92 | ||
| THE NEED FOR STANDARDS AND APIs | 94 | ||
| ‘NOISY NEIGHBOURS’ | 95 | ||
| THE BUSINESS ISSUES OF HIGHLY DYNAMIC CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS | 97 | ||
| SOFTWARE AND USAGE LICENSING ISSUES | 99 | ||
| THE MIRAGE OF SELF-SERVICE | 101 | ||
| THE CESSATION OF SERVICE BY A PROVIDER | 102 | ||
| MAINTAINING GOVERNANCE IN A HYBRID CLOUD | 105 | ||
| SUMMARY | 106 | ||
| 12 CLOUD AND THE ‘CDs’ | 107 | ||
| WHY USE CD? | 107 | ||
| DevOps FLOWS | 108 | ||
| SUMMARY | 109 | ||
| 13 \x07CREATING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR THE CLOUD | 111 | ||
| TOTAL VALUE PROPOSITION | 111 | ||
| SUMMARY | 118 | ||
| 14 \x07SCALE OUT, SCALE UP AND SCALE THROUGH | 119 | ||
| BUILDING THE RIGHT CLOUD PLATFORM | 119 | ||
| THE CLOUD AND ‘SOFTWARE DEFINED’ | 121 | ||
| THE POWER OF IDEMPOTENCY | 122 | ||
| CONVERGED AND HYPERCONVERGED SYSTEMS | 123 | ||
| SUMMARY | 125 | ||
| 15 CLOUD AND DATA | 127 | ||
| DATA SOVEREIGNTY | 127 | ||
| DATA FLOWS | 128 | ||
| DATABASE ISSUES | 129 | ||
| DISTANCE AND LATENCY | 130 | ||
| HIGH AVAILABILITY | 130 | ||
| SUMMARY | 131 | ||
| 16 CLOUD SECURITY | 133 | ||
| THE MYTH OF DATA SECURITY IN PRIVATE DATA CENTRES | 133 | ||
| ASSUME THAT SECURITY IS BREACHED | 135 | ||
| DATA CLASSIFICATION | 136 | ||
| THE BADLY PROTECTED WALLED GARDEN | 138 | ||
| THE IMPORTANCE OF MULTI-FACTOR SINGLE SIGN-ON | 140 | ||
| EDGE SECURITY | 142 | ||
| PHYSICAL SECURITY | 143 | ||
| SUMMARY | 144 | ||
| 17 \x07VIRTUALISATION, SHARABLE RESOURCES AND ELASTICITY | 145 | ||
| THE LURE OF VIRTUALISATION | 145 | ||
| THE MOVE TO CLOUD | 146 | ||
| SCALING FOR MASSIVE USE: G-CLOUD | 148 | ||
| SUMMARY | 149 | ||
| 18 THE CHANGE IN APPLICATIONS | 151 | ||
| THE DEATH OF THE MONOLITH | 151 | ||
| THE NEED FOR TECHNICAL CONTRACTS | 152 | ||
| SUMMARY | 155 | ||
| 19 \x07APPLICATIONS, VIRTUAL MACHINES AND CONTAINERS | 156 | ||
| THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VIRTUAL MACHINES AND CONTAINERS | 156 | ||
| THE FUTURE FOR CONTAINERS | 160 | ||
| SUMMARY | 161 | ||
| 20 FULL AUDIT IS REQUIRED | 162 | ||
| THE IMPORTANCE OF A FULL AUDIT | 162 | ||
| SUMMARY | 166 | ||
| 21 \x07MONITORING, MEASURING AND MANAGING THE CLOUD | 167 | ||
| MODERN LEVELS OF STANDARDISATION AND ABSTRACTION | 167 | ||
| CHOOSING AN OVER-ARCHING SYSTEM TO MANAGE CHAOS | 168 | ||
| AUTOMATE FOR EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY | 169 | ||
| SUMMARY | 169 | ||
| PART 4 THE FUTURE OF CLOUD Cloud as you should be planning for it in the further-out future | 171 | ||
| 22 THE ULTIMATE FUTURE | 173 | ||
| THE EVOLUTION OF THE CLOUD | 173 | ||
| SUMMARY | 174 | ||
| 23 IN CONCLUSION | 175 | ||
| INDEX | 176 | ||
| Back Cover | 182 |