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Computer Architecture Assignment
Introduction
Cloud computing technology refers to an Information Technology infrastructure, which is independent on the location; this is achieved using shared servers over the network that provides resources, required data and software and their associative services upon request. Cloud computing represents an integration of the concepts of virtualization, utility computing and an IT architecture that is purely service oriented. The end users of cloud computing have no control over the IT infrastructure within thecomputing grid that supports them. The basic underlying requirement for successful implementation of cloud computing is the internet, since it serves as a delivery model for the required services and data. An important concept of cloud computing is its scalability and variability (Gillam 23). Cloud computing maximizes on the concept of ease of access of the internet to provide reliable access to central virtualized resources to a number of users supported in the cloud. A typical cloud-computing model can be used to provide access to resources online through platforms such as web services or web based applications. However, the application and the data are stored in a remote server. Most of the cloud computing IT infrastructures comprises of data, applications and services, which are delivered through cloud computing centers that serve as access points for the users of the system. The allocation of resources and the services usually vary in accordance with the computing needs of the users.
Cloud computing can be viewed to be an integration of the various computing approaches such as utility computing, grid computing, client server computing and the service oriented computing model (Velte and Elsenpeter 58). A more simplified approach to cloud computing is the mail servers; an end user does not really need a mail application to access his or her mail, all one needs is an internet connection and tools such as web browsers and web based applications. In such a kind of computing architecture, the user does not need to have the software; rather he enjoys the benefits of using a leased application. The underlying principle is that the end user needs only to use the application rather than having it and the required hardware. The infrastructure of cloud computing can be classified into three fundamental categories: applications or software layer, the platforms service and the infrastructure layers; which are generally referred to as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. Every component of the cloud-computing model serves a different purpose (Gillam 45).
A practical example of a cloud computing architecture is the web mail applications. In this context, the user can use the mails services without having the mail service application installed on his computer. For instance, the user only requires an internet connection and an updated web browser to access the mail services. The web bail application is also regarded as a cloud computing architecture due to the fact that it supports cloud storage. Data on the mail is stored in the mail servers whereby the user can access them irrespective of the location. The cloud computing architecture under the web mail is predetermined by two significant characteristics of the cloud-computing platform, mainly the hiding of the underlying complexity of the application and online access to the data and mail application. In addition, access to the application and data is independent of the location of the user. Therefore, a web mail application service can be viewed as a simplified approach to cloud computing (Velte and Elsenpeter 89).
Works cited
Gillam, Lee. Cloud Computing: Principles, Systems and Applications. London: Springer, 2010.
Velte, Toby and Robert Elsenpeter. Cloud Computing: A Practical Approach. New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2009.
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