Cloud computing and big data

High-performance computing is where there is either a cluster and grid of servers or virtual machines that are connected by a network for a distributed storage and workflow (Bhokare et al., 2016; Connolly & Begg, 2014; Minelli, Chamber, & Dhiraj, 2013). Parallel computing environments draw on the distributed storage and workflow on the cluster and grid of servers or virtual machines for processing big data (Bhokare et al., 2016; Minelli et al., 2013). NoSQL databases have benefits as they provide a data model for applications that require a little code, less debugging, run on clusters, handle large scale data, stored across distributed systems, use parallel processing, and evolve with time (Sadalage & Fowler, 2012).  Cloud technology is the integration of data storage across a distributed set of servers or virtual machines through either traditional relational database systems or NoSQL database systems while allowing for data preprocessing and processing through parallel processing (Bhokare et al., 2016; Connolly & Begg, 2014; Minelli et al., 2013; Sadalage & Folwer, 2012).

Clouds can come in different flavors depending on how much the organization and supplier want to manage: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (Connolly & Begg, 2014).  Thus, this makes the enterprise IT act as a broker across the various cloud options.  Also, analyzing exactly how and where data are stored to ensure it complies with various national and international data rules and regulations while preserving data privacy exist with the type of cloud use: public, community, private and hybrid clouds (Minelli et al. 2013; Conolloy & Begg, 2014).

Public cloud environments are where a supplier to a company provides a cluster or grid of servers through the internet like Spark AWS, EC2 (Connolly & Begg, 2014; Minelli et al. 2013).  Cloud computing can be thought of as a set of building blocks.  The company can grow or shrink a number of servers and services when needed dynamically, which allows the company to request the right amount of services for their data collection, storage, preprocessing, and processing needs (Bhokare et al., 2016; Minelli et al., 2013; Sadalage & Fowler, 2012).  This allows for the company to purchase the services it needs, without having to purchase the infrastructure to support the services it might think it will need. This allows for hyper-scaling computing in a distributed environment, also known as hyper-scale cloud computing, where the volume and demand of data explode exponentially yet still be accommodated in public, community, private, or hybrid cloud in a cost efficiently (Mainstay, 2016; Minelli et al., 2013).

Data storage and sharing are a key component of using enterprise public clouds (Sumana & Biswal, 2016).  However, it should be noted that the data is stored in the public cloud is stored on the same servers as probably the company’s competitors, so data security is an issue. Sumana and Biswal (2016) proposed that a key aggregate cryptosystem to be used, where the enterprise holds the master key for all its enterprise files, whereas going a deep layer users can have other data encrypted to send within the enterprise, without needing to know the enterprise file key. This proposed solution for data security in a public cloud allows for end-user registration, end-user revocation, file generation and deletion, and file access and traceability.

A community cloud environment is a cloud that is shared exclusively by a set of companies that share the similar characteristics, compliance, security, jurisdiction, etc. (Connolly & Begg, 2014). Thus, the infrastructure of all of these servers and grids meet industry standards and best practices, with the shared cost of the infrastructure is maintained by the community.

Private cloud environments have a similar infrastructure to a public cloud, but the infrastructure only holds the data one company exclusively, and its services are shared across the different business units of that one company (Connolly & Begg, 2014; Minelli et al., 2013). An organization may have all the components already to build a cloud through various on-premise computing resources and thus tend to build a cloud system using open source code on their internal infrastructure; this is called an on-premise private cloud (Bhokare et al., 2016). The benefit of the private cloud is full control of your data, and the cost of the servers are spread across all the business units, but the infrastructure costs (initial, upgrades, and maintenance costs) are in the company.

Hybrid clouds are two or more cloud structures that have either a private, community or public aspect to them (Connolly & Begg, 2014).  This allows for some data to be retained in the house if need be, and reducing the size of capital expenditure for the internal cloud infrastructure, while other data is stored externally where the cost of the infrastructure is not directly felt by the organization.

References

• Bhokare, P., Bhagwat, P., Bhise, P., Lalwani, V., & Mahajan, M. R. (2016). Private Cloud using GlusterFS and Docker.International Journal of Engineering Science, 5016.
• Connolly, T., Begg, C. (2014). Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management, (6^th). Pearson Learning Solutions. [Bookshelf Online].
• (2016). An economic study of the hyper-scale data center. Mainstay, LLC, Castle Rock, CO, the USA, Retrieved from http://cloudpages.ericsson.com/ transforming-the-economics-of-data-center
• Minelli, M., Chambers, M., &, Dhiraj, A. (2013). Big Data, Big Analytics: Emerging Business Intelligence and Analytic Trends for Today’s Businesses. John Wiley & Sons P&T. [Bookshelf Online].
• Sadalage, P. J., Fowler, M. (2012). NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence, [Bookshelf Online].
• Sumana, P., & Biswal, B. K. (2016). Secure Privacy Protected Data Sharing Between Groups in Public Cloud.International Journal of Engineering Science, 3285.