What applies to cloud services? Well-known examples of cloud technologies. What is "cloud technology"

This section shows how cloud computing can be used to teach programming fundamentals. Provided detailed example working with a Web service that allows you to create and debug learning programs in any programming language using the cloud service of the site http://ideone.com.

Modern programming practice involves the active use of specialized integrated development tools (IDE – Integrated Development Environment). Their use is associated with the following two difficulties:

  • Configuring and installing the IDE requires high qualifications system administrator.
  • Modern IDEs are quite demanding on the resources of the computer on which they are used.

Let us explain each point in detail. To ensure full-featured operation of the IDE, it is required that the qualifications of the system administrator installing, configuring and supporting the IDE are sufficiently high. This leads to the need for educational institutions to hire highly qualified employees for the position of system administrator, whose salaries can be a significant item of expenditure in the budget of an educational institution.

Moreover, educational institution costs may increase due to the fact that modern IDEs require high-performance computing machines. For example, one of the most common IDEs, Microsoft Visual Studio 2012, requires a 1.6 GHz or higher processor, 1 GB of RAM (or 1.5 GB for virtual machine), 10 GB of free disk space. Most educational tasks do not require computers with such high performance, so purchasing them may be an unaffordable luxury.

Both of these problems can be solved by the use of cloud technologies when teaching programming. Currently, there are a large number of so-called online IDEs that do not require installation on the user’s computer and which only require an Internet browser to run. System requirements browsers to computer hardware have traditionally been modest. For example, popular Web browser Mozilla Firefox 17 requires a processor of 1300 MHz, 512 MB of RAM and 200 MB of free disk space for installation, which is significantly less than the previously given figures for the Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 IDE.

Let's consider below how you can use an online IDE in educational institutions to teach the basics of programming using the example of http://ideone.com. This service allows you to create program texts online in different programming languages ​​and launch these programs for execution with the ability to analyze the results obtained. The main operating elements of Ideone are shown in Fig. 2.1.


Rice. 2.1.

In field " A"you must enter the text of the program, and in the field" IN"you need to select the one you are using programming language, then you need to press the button " Send". It is stated that Ideone supports the following 55 popular programming languages: Ada, Assembler, AWK, Bash, bc, Brainf**k, C, C#, C++, C++ 0x, C99 strict, CLIPS, Clojure, COBOL, Common Lisp (clisp), D (dmd), Erlang, F#, Factor, Falcon, Forth, Fortran, Go, Groovy, Haskell, Icon, Intercal, Java, JavaScript, Lua, Nemerle, Nice, Nimrod, Node.js, Objective- C, Ocaml, Oz, PARI/GP, Pascal, Perl, PHP, Pike, Prolog, Python, R, Ruby, Scala, Scheme (guile), Smalltalk, SQL, Tcl, Text, Unlambda, VB.NET, Whitespace. Obviously , that this list is sufficient for teaching the basics of programming in almost any educational institution in the world.Moreover, when using the ideone.com service, the teacher has the opportunity to use several programming languages ​​while teaching without the need to support the operation of several IDEs.

Let us show with an example how group work can be organized when teaching the basics of programming. Figure 2.2 illustrates how to run a simple C program. As you can see, the program text uses syntax highlighting, similar to what users are used to using in regular offline IDEs. However, if desired, the backlight can be turned off using the " A". Using the control " IN"You can specify a list of input data for the program, which allows you to implement more complex program logic than in the example given.

The control element is very important" WITH", which allows you to personalize work with the program. This feature is extremely valuable when organizing educational process. If the teacher asks all students to register with Ideone (or use their account Facebook), then it becomes possible to make the process of working with the program collective, and the process of collaborating with the program will take place using modern technologies Web 2.0. We will tell you more about this using Fig. 2.3.

This control allows you to select from list on the right side of the screen is one of the widgets of popular social networking sites.

Unfortunately, the online IDE Ideone does not allow you to implement all the functions of traditional offline IDEs. For example, it is not possible to use the functions of working with the network, accessing files, and some others. It is also impossible to run the program, lead time which will take more than 15 seconds or the RAM requirements will exceed 256 MB, or the program size will exceed 64 KB. All these limitations are quite serious if you plan to use Ideone to develop a professional software. However, for educational purposes these restrictions are more than acceptable. In addition, for more demanding teachers, there are paid and free services, similar to Ideone, which at the same time implement to a greater extent the functionality of traditional offline analysis of execution results in console mode, compilation for different platforms And OS can be done online. Ideally, the end of the programmer’s work will be downloading ready-made binary files with a running program. This approach allows you to save disk space used offline, and also allows you to compile a project much faster than at the user’s workplace, if this workplace is equipped with outdated hardware. The result of this is possible financial savings for the educational institution.

However, in addition to the economic effect, you can also get significant advantages when organizing educational process. Students get the opportunity to collaborate on software projects from the comfort of their own home. This allows you to implement complex course projects and laboratory works with significant savings on the implementation of organizational measures on the part of the teacher.

Cloud (dispersed) computing(English) cloud computing, the term is also used Cloud (dispersed) data processing) - data processing technology in which computer resources and capacities are provided to the user as an Internet service.

The user has access to his own data, but cannot manage and does not have to care about the infrastructure, operating system and the actual software with which he works. The term "Cloud" is used as a metaphor based on the diagram of the Internet computer network, or as an image of a complex infrastructure behind which all the technical details are hidden. According to an IEEE document published in 2008, “Cloud computing is a paradigm in which information is permanently stored on servers on the Internet and temporarily cached on the client side, e.g. personal computers, game consoles, laptops, smartphones, etc.”

Cloud data processing as a concept includes the concepts:

  • "Everything as a service"
  • "Infrastructure as a service"
  • "Platform as a service"
  • "Software as a service"
  • "Data as a service"
  • « Workplace as a service"
  • other technological trends, which have in common the belief that the Internet is able to meet the data processing needs of users.

For example, Google Apps provides online business applications that are accessed using an Internet browser while the software and data are stored on Google servers. operating room Google system Chrome OS is designed to work with the cloud.

Although the term “cloud computing” is well-established, in Russian it has a different meaning than the original. “Cloud” has another meaning besides cloud, namely scattered; the actual meaning of “absent-minded” is implied in English terminology.

For cloud computing, the main assumption is that the resource demand from the client(s) is uneven. To smooth out this unevenness to provide service, another layer is placed between real hardware and middleware - server virtualization. Servers running applications are virtualized and load balancing is carried out both by software and by means of distributing virtual servers over real ones.

Criticism

The concept of cloud computing has been criticized by the free software community and in particular by Richard Stallman:

You should not use web applications for your computing processes, for example, because you lose control over them. And it's no better than using any proprietary program. Do your calculations on your computer, using programs that respect your freedom. If you use any proprietary program or someone else's web server, you become defenseless. You become a toy in the hands of the one who developed this software.

- "Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallman", interview with The Guardian newspaper (English)

What are cloud services really?

Cloud computing evokes a whole range of emotions. "In the networking space, this phrase is emblematic of today's times," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, and many of his colleagues agree. But the problem is that everyone interprets the term “cloud data processing” in their own way.

Often the word "cloud" refers to the entire Internet: that is, everything that is outside the computer's firewall automatically ends up in the "cloud" - including traditional outsourcing. Others see cloud services as an updated version of utility computing: essentially virtual servers accessible over the Internet.

If you are looking for a way to expand the IT capabilities of your enterprise and do not yet plan to invest in creating a new infrastructure, attracting new personnel and retraining employees, or licensing new software, then sooner or later you will come to the idea of ​​cloud services. These types of services are available in real time via the Internet and significantly expand existing IT capabilities.

Today, cloud services are still in their infancy: a “motley” team of large and small providers is ready to provide you with many equally “motley” services based on cloud technology: from full-featured applications to data storage and spam filtering services. If you require several types of such services, then most likely you will have to connect each of them separately - perhaps even from different providers. Of course, as this area develops, larger providers - aggregators and integrators of cloud services - are beginning to appear, but so far there are very few of them. In the meantime, let's look at what types of cloud services exist today.

SaaS (Software As a Service)

This type of cloud service uses a multi-tenant architecture: it provides access to separate application to thousands of clients. The abbreviation SaaS stands for Software-as-a-Service - software as a service, as opposed to SaaP - Software-as-a-Product - when you buy a software product “in a box”. This type of service is convenient for the consumer in that it does not require upfront investment in a server or software licensing.

SaaS services are based on subscription principle: the software runs on the provider’s side and is leased to subscribers, with payment depending on the number of users, transaction volume, etc. It is also convenient that applications can be customized to meet specific user needs. One of the most successful players in the SaaS market today is Salesforce.com.

Utility IT services (utility computing)

The very idea of ​​utility IT services is far from new, but today this form of cloud services is experiencing a rebirth, thanks to such “monsters” as Amazon.com, Sun, IBM and many other companies offering access to storage and virtual servers according to customers' requirement. Previously, such services were used mainly for auxiliary purposes, but today they can even replace part of an enterprise data center.

Other providers offer solutions that help IT companies create virtual data centers from public servers: for example, using memory, I/O devices, storage and computing resources as a virtual pool accessible over the network.

Cloud web services

Close to SaaS are web service providers that offer APIs that developers can use over the Internet - without having to download a full-featured application.

These types of services are offered by a wide range of providers: from companies providing individual business services (including traditional processing services credit cards), to full-scale APIs provided by, for example, Google.

Platform as a service

Another SaaS option. This form of cloud services provides a development environment as a service. You build your own applications running on the provider's infrastructure. Your users work with applications via the Internet - from the provider's servers.

These services are limited by the design and capabilities of the vendor, so here you will not get complete freedom to fly with your imagination, but you can fully count on predictability and pre-integration. An example is Google App Engine.

Managed services

One of the oldest forms of cloud services. The company providing these services is called MSP (managed service provider). This includes the full range of services - from software delivery to remote monitoring and full support IT infrastructure.

Virus scanning services fall into this category. Email, application monitoring services, various Managed security services, anti-spam services and management services desktop computers(desktop management services).

Commercial service platforms

A hybrid of SaaS and MSP. This type cloud computer services most often used by commercial companies: with their help, users can order a sightseeing tour or, for example, secretarial services from one common platform, and the service will provide them necessary information according to search parameters and prices entered by the user.

Internet integration

Today, the integration of cloud services is in the initial phase of its development. OpSource recently introduced the OpSource Services Bus topology, using integration technology from a small startup called Boomi. SaaS provider Workday acquired CapeClear, an ESB (enterprise service bus) provider aimed at B2B integration. Since 2005, Grand Central has strived to become a one-stop "bus in the cloud" provider and bring together smaller SaaS providers to deliver integrated solutions to end users.

But in general, interconnections between different cloud services are still quite rare today. Therefore, some prefer, instead of the phrase “cloud computing” - “cloud services”, to use the term “sky computing” - “heavenly service”, i.e. a system consisting of many isolated “cloud” services, to each of which IT clients must connect separately.

On the other hand, as virtualization and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) gradually make their way into the enterprise, the idea of ​​connected services is beginning to gain more attention. According to some forecasts, in the future, every enterprise should become a “cloud” node. But this task is unlikely to be solved in the near future - rather, this represents a long-term trend with a distant horizon.

Let's start with the definition of cloud computing. This phenomenon is new, so there are not many authoritative sources where this concept is defined. American specialists Peter Mell and Tim Grans from the Laboratory took the most comprehensive and fundamental approach to this issue. Information technologies National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In my work The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (Definition of cloud computing: NIST version) they write the following (author's translation from English).

Cloud computing is a model for providing convenient, on-demand network access to a shared set of configurable computing resources (for example, networks, servers, data storage, applications and/or services), which the user can quickly use for his tasks and release when reduced to minimum number of interactions with the service provider or own management efforts. This model is aimed at increasing the availability of computing resources and combines five main characteristics, three service models and four deployment models.

Characteristics of cloud computing:

  1. Self-service on demand
    The consumer, when he needs it, can independently use computing capabilities, such as server time or network storage, in automatic mode, without interactions with service provider personnel.
  2. Widely accessible via the Internet
    Opportunities are available via the network; access to them is carried out on the basis standard mechanisms, which enables the use of heterogeneous thin and thick client platforms (for example, mobile phones, laptops, PDAs).
  3. Pooling resources
    The provider pools its computing resources for service large number consumers using the principle of multiple leases (Multi-tenancy). Various physical and virtual resources are dynamically allocated and reallocated according to user needs. There is a sense of location independence where the customer does not know or control where exactly the computing resources they use are located, but may be able to determine their location at a more abstract level (for example, country, region or data center). Examples of resources could be data storage, computing power, RAM, throughput, virtual machines.
  4. Ability to adapt quickly
    Computing capabilities can be quickly and flexibly reserved (often automatically) for rapid scaling to meet customer needs, and also quickly released. From a consumer's perspective, the available options often appear unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.
  5. Measurable service
    Cloud systems automatically control and optimize the use of resources through the measurement of certain abstract parameters. Options vary depending on the type of service. For example, these could be: data storage size, processing power, throughput, and/or number of active user records. The use of resources is monitored and controlled; reports are generated. Thus, both the supplier and the consumer receive transparent information about the volume of services provided (consumed).

Service models:

  1. Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) – cloud software as a service, hereinafter referred to as “Software as a Service”;
  2. Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) – cloud platform as a service;
  3. Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – cloud infrastructure as a service.

We will reveal only the first service model as relevant to the topic of this work. Software as a service (SaaS) is providing the consumer with the opportunity to use the supplier’s applications running on the cloud infrastructure. Applications are accessed from various client devices through a thin client interface, such as a web browser. The consumer does not control or manage the cloud infrastructure on which the application runs, including the network, servers, operating systems, data storage, or even application settings. A possible exception is individual application user settings.

Deployment Models:

  1. Private Cloud
  2. Community cloud
  3. Public cloud
  4. Hybrid cloud

We will reveal only the third deployment model as relevant to the topic of this work. Public cloud (PublicCloud)– in this model, the cloud infrastructure is available to everyone or a wide industry group and is owned by the cloud service provider.

Above we defined cloud computing and described its main characteristics. We also provided a classification of cloud computing by service model and deployment model, that is, we talked about what types of cloud computing exist. So what are “cloud services for small companies”?

The concept contains the words “cloud” and “services,” which means we are talking about services provided from the cloud, that is, using cloud infrastructure.

Since these services are intended “for small companies”, then:

  1. These services should help you run your business;
  2. These services should be affordable for small companies;
  3. They must be widely available;
  4. They should not require specific knowledge from the consumer (for example, in the field of information technology).

Based on the above, we give the following definition. Cloud services for small companies– these are business automation applications distributed using the SaaS (software as a service) model through the Public Cloud and available to a wide range of customers at an affordable price.

And again, hello, dear readers! :) Let's talk about cloud technologies .

You mean, today another article will be entirely devoted to a very entertaining and promising technology (so to speak, the “gold mine” of the IT industry), hiding under the pseudonym - cloud technologies or in common parlance - “cloud”.

We will talk about the very concept of cloud computing, we will give a variety of examples of its implementation (at the level of solutions for ordinary users), namely, we will talk about the theory, then we will smoothly move on to practice and a little... wander in the clouds :-)

Thus, the purpose of our note, as always good (it cannot be otherwise) is to systematize the basic information related to this topic and sort everything out.

So, Earthlings, get ready, now we will talk about cloud technologies, which, every day, are becoming closer and closer to us.

Let's fly..

Cloud technologies. About everything, a little bit

In recent years, this topic has become one of the most popular in IT-sphere, many articles have been written about it, an even larger number of conferences have been held, and how many solutions already exist on the market (and are used to their full extent in everyday life, sometimes even unconsciously) is impossible to count.

However, as always, there is one thing "But"namely, the majority of users still don’t even know what kind of “know-how” cloud technologies are and why they gave up in the first place. Well, we will correct the current situation and we will begin, as it should be, from theory.

Cloud computing ( cloud computing) is a distributed data processing technology in which computer resources and power are provided to the user as an Internet service. If you explain it in accessible language, then this is your, in a sense, work platform on the Internet, or rather on a remote server.

Let's look at an example to make sure that almost each of us, one way or another, has already encountered this decision.

Do you have e-mail ( e-mail)? Of course have. So, if you work with mail on some service site (for example), which allows you to use this mail, then this is nothing more than a cloud service, which is part of such a thing as cloud technologies. Or, for example, image processing.

If you reduce the size, flip your photo to Photoshop or other special program, then you have nothing to do with cloud technology - everything happens and is processed locally on your computer. But if, having downloaded an image, for example, through , you process it on the other side, in the browser, then this is that very “cloud”.

More details about cloud technologies

Actually, the whole difference lies solely in the method of storing and processing data. If all operations take place on your computer (using its power), then this is not a “cloud”, but if the process takes place on a server on the network, then this is precisely the trendy thing that is commonly called “cloud technology”.

In other words, cloud technologies are various hardware, software, methodologies and tools that are provided to the user as Internet services to implement their goals, objectives, projects.

As practice shows, the terms “cloud technologies”/“cloud service”, with their generally accepted graphical representation, in the form of “clouds”, only confuses users; in fact, their structure can be easily understood if you imagine it in the form of the following pyramid.

The base of the pyramid is “infrastructure” - a set of physical devices (servers, etc.), above it is built a “platform” - a set of services and the top - software available upon user request.

Also, you should know that cloud computing is a kind of basis vector obtained as a result of the synthesis of a number of technologies and approaches (so clever! :-)). To make it clear what I mean, here is the following diagram:

I think that now it has become a little clearer, since the scheme is quite simple. However, generally speaking, cloud technologies are a kind of mess that performs calculations with servers and other things without directly involving the resources of your computer.

It may happen that we will all return to computers that are close in power to, so to speak, the first ones and, in fact, will be just a screen with a microprocessor, and all calculations and power will be located and performed remotely, i.e. in servers living there somewhere, namely, in the cloud mentioned repeatedly.

Services provided by cloud systems

Everything that concerns cloud computing(Further SS), usually called the word aaS. This is simply deciphered - " as a Service", that is, "as a service", or "as a service".

Currently, cloud technologies and, in fact, their concept, involve providing the following types of services to their users:

  • Storage-as-a-Service("storage as a service")
    This is perhaps the simplest of SS- services, which is disk space on demand. Each of us has at some point encountered a situation where an ominous warning appears on the monitor: " The logical drive is full, to free up space, remove unnecessary programs or data". Service Storage-as-a-Service makes it possible to save data in external storage, in the cloud. For you, it will look like an extra logical drive or folder. The service is basic for the rest, since it is included in almost all of them. An example would be other similar services.
  • Database-as-a-Service("database as a service")
    This is probably more for administrators, because this thing provides the opportunity to work with databases, as if DBMS was installed on a local resource. Moreover, in this case it is much easier to “share” projects between different performers, not to mention how much money can be saved on and required for proper use DBMS in a large or even medium-sized organization.
  • Information-as-a-Service("information as a service")
    Makes it possible to remotely use any type of information that can change every minute or even every second.
  • Process-as-a-Service("process control as a service")
    Represents a remote resource that can link together multiple resources (such as services or data contained within a single cloud or other available clouds) to create a single business process.
  • Application-as-a-Service("application as a service")
    It may also be called Software-as-a-Service(“Software as a service”). Positioned as “software on demand”, which is deployed on remote servers and each user can access it via the Internet, and all issues of updating and licensing for this software are regulated by the provider of this service. Payment, in this case, is made for the actual use of the latter. An example is Google Docs, Google Calendar and so on. online programs.
  • Platform-as-a-Service("platform as a service")
    The user is provided with a computer platform with an installed operating system and some software.
  • Integration-as-a-Service("integration as a service")
    This is the ability to receive a complete integration package from the cloud, including software interfaces between applications and management of their algorithms. This includes well-known services and features of enterprise application centralization, optimization and integration packages ( EAI), but provided as a "cloud" service.
  • Security-as-a-Service("security as a service")
    This type of service allows users to quickly deploy products that enable safe use web technologies, email correspondence, local network, which allows users of this service to save on deploying and maintaining their own.
  • Management/Governance-as-a-Service("administration and management as a service")
    Makes it possible to manage and set operating parameters for one or many cloud services. These are mainly parameters such as topology, resource usage, virtualization.
  • Infrastructure-as-a-Service("infrastructure as a service")
    The user is provided with a computer infrastructure, usually virtual platforms (computers) connected to a network, which he independently configures for his own purposes.
  • Testing-as-a-Service("testing as a service")
    Makes it possible to test local or cloud systems using test software from the cloud (no on-premises equipment or software is required).

For clarity, let’s summarize all these services of the “cloud” architecture, into one diagram behind which cloud technologies lie (sorry, it’s in English):

Which shows the classification of services by type of service.

Now let’s look at what cloud technologies there are, so to speak, according to the form of ownership. Here, there are three categories:

  • Public
  • Private
  • Hybrid.

Briefly about each:

  • Public cloud is an IT infrastructure used simultaneously by many companies and services. Users do not have the ability to manage and maintain this “cloud”, and all responsibility for these issues rests with the owner of the resource. Any company and individual user can become a subscriber to the services offered.
    Examples include online services: Amazon EC2, Google Apps/Docs, Microsoft Office Web.
  • Private cloud is a secure IT infrastructure controlled and operated in the interests of a single organization. An organization can manage the private cloud in-house or outsource the task. The infrastructure can be located either on the premises of the customer or at an external operator (or partly at the customer and partly at the operator).
  • Hybrid cloud is an IT infrastructure that uses the best qualities of the public and private cloud to solve the problem. This type is often used when an organization has seasonal periods of activity, in other words, as soon as the internal IT infrastructure cannot cope with current tasks, part of the capacity is transferred to the public cloud (for example, large volumes of statistical information), as well as to provide access to users to enterprise resources through the public cloud.

Confused? It’s okay, we’ll look at the examples soon and everything will fall into place;)

Cloud computing capabilities

Now let's look at the possibilities of cloud computing:

  • Access to personal information from any computer connected to the Internet
  • You can work with information from different devices(PCs, tablets, phones, etc.)
  • It doesn’t matter which operating system you prefer to work in - web services work in the browser of any OS
  • Both you and those around you can view and edit the same information simultaneously from different devices
  • Many paid programs became free (or cheaper) web applications
  • If something happens to your device (PC, tablet, phone), you will not lose important information, since it is no longer stored in device memory
  • Fresh and updated information is always at hand
  • You always use the most latest version programs and at the same time you do not need to monitor the release of updates
  • You can combine your information with other users
  • You can easily share information with loved ones or with people from anywhere in the world.

There are quite a lot of opportunities, however, there are also disadvantages (where would we be without them), which should also be mentioned.

“Fly in the ointment” - disadvantages:

  • The need for constant connection.
    To gain access to cloud services, you need a constant connection to the Internet
  • Software and its “customization”.
    There are restrictions on software that can be deployed on the clouds and provided to the user. The user has limitations in the software used and sometimes does not have the opportunity to customize it for his own purposes
  • Confidentiality.
    The confidentiality of data stored in public clouds currently causes a lot of controversy, but in most cases, experts agree that it is not recommended to store the most valuable documents for a company on a public cloud, since there is currently no technology which would guarantee 100% data privacy
  • Safety.
    The "cloud" itself is enough reliable system, however, upon penetration, the attacker gains access to a huge data storage. Another disadvantage is the use of systems that use standard OS kernels as a hypervisor (for example Windows), which allows the use of viruses and system vulnerabilities
  • High cost of equipment.
    To build your own cloud, you need to allocate significant material resources, which is not beneficial for newly created and small companies
  • Further monetization of the resource.
    It is possible that companies will in the future decide to charge users for the services they provide.

As you can see, there are two sides to the coin. However, this does not harm the development of technology, and may even spur it.

Cloud technologies - the view from the user's side. Solutions overview

We have come to perhaps the most interesting (and so beloved by many readers) part of the article - examples and, so to speak, practice. Here we will look at what solutions, services, programs already exist on the market and what you should pay attention to. Let's start with the services:

  • iCloud
    Cloud service iCloud from company Apple(replaced MobileMe), fully automatic and free (albeit with minor functional limitations). It saves your all kinds of content (mail, calendar, contacts, documents, music, videos and images, etc.) on servers, and then delivers it to all devices ( iPhone, iPad, iPod touch,MacAndPC) by using wireless technology Push.
  • Google Play
    A fresh cloud service called Google Play from the “good corporation”, which is designed for users to place movies, music, applications and books on servers specially designed for storing digital information. Access to the service is provided directly from the browser, regardless of the OS, and therefore can be carried out both from a PC and from mobile devices based on Android. Each user has the opportunity to place and store up to 20 - ten thousand music recordings on free of charge, and also directly download to the server purchased in stores ( Android Market ,Google Music and Google eBookstore) digital goods – movies, e-books, programs, music tracks, both purchased and rented.
  • OnLive
    I think that everyone is familiar with the service, fortunately I have already written about it. Provides the opportunity to play modern games even on the simplest and weakest computer. Technically, it looks like this: the game itself is located on a remote server, and the graphics are processed there and are sent to the user’s computer in a “ready” form. Simply put, those calculations that are performed during a normal game on a computer, etc., are already performed on the server, and your computer is used only as a monitor that receives the final picture. If you don’t understand, all this means is that all problems with computer performance and quantity are automatically removed. free space on your hard drive, because you don’t even need installation. In addition, there is no need to pay quite a lot of money right away for a product (game, etc.) that you do not necessarily like. Moreover, it’s no secret that you don’t want to play through most games again, so it turns out that the cost of several hours (or even several days) of pleasure is unreasonably high. A much more convenient option would be one in which you pay only for the time you play. Or - you would pay some small fixed amount monthly, which would allow you to play any of the available games without restrictions. This is exactly what it offers OnLive.
  • Xbox Live
    Another well-known gaming service, which also provides rich Internet functionality and is related to cloud technologies. The essence of the service is that owners of consoles Xbox 360 And PDA on the base Windows Phone 7 , can play with each other computer games and communicate, as well as buy add-ons and various multimedia content, in the online store. It turns out that the service creates a kind of virtual universe for gamers, the components of which are located not on end-user consoles, but in the cloud.

Thus, the last two services offer games as a service. Now let’s imagine that we are not talking about games, but about software. That is, you pay not for the product as such (for the box with the disc), but for the specific functions/opportunities that it provides you. Interesting? Here it is for me :)

Small note

And since we, as users, are most interested in software (and not all sorts of platforms as a service), now we will look at the “software landscape” ( SaaS) clouds. In other words, let's give the most popular software solutions that, within the framework of the concept of cloud technologies, actually now exist on the market.

Actually, according to SaaS-concept, as mentioned above, you do not pay a lump sum when buying a product, but, as it were, rent it. Moreover, you use exactly those functions that you need (and, accordingly, pay for them). For example, once a year you need a certain program and you are not going to use it more often. So why buy a product that will sit idle?

And why waste space on it (in an apartment, if it’s a box with a disk, or on a hard drive, if it’s a file)? That's right, no why, because there is Alternative option- free online service (providing complete functionality this program).

Working with documents in cloud technologies

It was along this path that two headliners of the IT industry (and also competitors) took - Google And Microsoft. Both companies have released sets of services that allow you to work with documents.

From the outside Google - it's theirs Google Docs(now Google Drive ):

Free online office, including a word processor, spreadsheet processor and “stuff” for creating presentations, as well as an Internet service cloud storage files with file sharing functions.

This is web-based software, that is, a program that runs within a web browser without installation on the user’s computer, that is, an alternative version of all sorts of Word, Excel etc. without the need to purchase and all that. Documents and tables created by the user are saved on a special server Google or can be exported to a file.

This is one of the key advantages of the program, since access to the entered data can be carried out from any computer connected to the Internet (access is protected by a password).

From the outside Microsoft - it's theirs Microsoft Office Web Apps:

Applications Microsoft Office Web Apps, allow you to take advantage of the opportunities Microsoft Office, through a web browser and work with documents (and not only view them, but also edit them) directly on the website on which they are stored.

Thus, documents look exactly the same in the browser as in programs Office, i.e. complete, so to speak, unification.

It is also worth noting that both services are closely interconnected with mail ( Gmail in the first case and Hotmail in the second) and file storages, you want to use Google Docs, just create a free Google account and you will receive a set of programs for working with texts, spreadsheets, etc., right in your browser. For many, Google Docs completely replaced, as mentioned above, paid MS Ooffice.

To sum it up briefly (for these two services), we can say that the user is transferred from his usual offline environment to online.
Let's move on.

Cloud technologies and data storage

Cloud file storage is no less popular. The most famous repository is considered...

  • Dropbox.
    You may have several computers, but with this cloud storage you can make a shared folder with files for all your PCs and even smartphones. The most interesting thing is that you don’t have to do any special actions here, because the operating system itself will perceive the shared folder, like all other folders on the hard drive, and Dropbox will simply take care of synchronization. The service allows you to store up to 2 GB of data. Its main emphasis is on synchronization and information exchange. Dropbox keeps a history of downloads so that after deleting files from the server it is possible to restore data, plus it keeps a history of file changes, which is available for the period of the last 30 days.
  • Windows Live SkyDrive.
    Service SkyDrive allows you to save up to 7 GB (and files can be exchanged up to 100 MB) of information organized using standard folders. Images have a preview mode, as well as the ability to show them in the form of slides. In addition to the fact that the service is integrated with Microsoft Office, it also supports the new operating system (more precisely, the client SkyDrive built into applications Metro and allows you to upload documents and photos to the cloud in one click, and open files from remote storage).
  • And of course Google Drive. There will be a separate article about it.

By the way, not only all kinds of offices and file storage use cloud technologies. For example, in the fight against digital “evil spirits” they also relied on cloud computing. And here is the result - free antivirus Panda Cloud Antivirus.

It is based on innovative technology"collective intelligence" (which automatically identifies new threats in a minimum period of time) and allows you to minimize the impact of protection on the computer's system resources, using the computing power of cloud technologies for most operations: analysis, blocking and attempts to remove malware.

Antivirus servers use information received from millions of users of antivirus products Panda worldwide to automatically detect and classify new types of malware emerging every day.

In a nutshell, it’s something like this, although there are still a lot of services that could be talked about, but then you’ll have to write a volume of War and Peace :)
So let's get to the results slowly.

Cloud technologies. Cloudy or clear?

Simply put, the cloud is an opportunity to always have guaranteed and secure access to all your personal information, as well as avoiding the need to keep a lot of unnecessary things in your pocket (all sorts of flash drives, disks, wires and all that other stuff) or buy a new computer/components /programs/games, etc. There is no doubt that at the moment, cloud technologies are one of the most popular and interesting topics in IT-sphere and more and more interesting solutions appearing in the world are connected precisely with them.

Certainly, to the average user It is still difficult to fully evaluate (and reveal) their full potential, but the fact that it exists is visible to the naked eye.

Thus, without any doubt, the future of cloud technologies seems very bright, because such giants ( Microsoft, Apple And Google) they just certainly don’t do anything and it’s absolutely clear that if they’ve already entered this uncharted territory, they clearly don’t intend to leave it, because two years ago the concept "cloud" seemed just a beautiful idea and a bold experiment, but today the benefits of cloud technologies can be felt even by those people who are not involved in program development, web technologies and other highly specialized things (the above-mentioned Xbox Live, Windows Live, OnLive, Google Docs- vivid examples of this).

Afterword

Something like that. I hope that the information was interesting, useful and exciting for you. Stay with the project - you are always welcome here;)

As usual, if you have questions, additions, and other differences, then comments are at your service.

PS: Thanks to team member 25 KADR for the existence of this article

The definition of cloud computing is at first glance very confusing: it is a model for providing ubiquitous and convenient network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (for example, servers, applications, networks, storage systems and services) that can be quickly provisioned and released with minimal management effort and the need to interact with the provider.

In order to better imagine what cloud computing is, we can give a simple example: previously, to access email, a user resorted to certain software (messengers and programs) installed on his PC, but now he simply goes to the website of the company whose services emails he likes, directly through the browser, without the use of intermediaries.

But this example is more suitable for private clouds. We are interested in these technologies in business. Modern implementation started in 2006. Then Amazon introduced its web services infrastructure, which not only provides hosting, but also provides remote computing power to the client.

Three models of "clouds"

Recall that there are three cloud computing service models:

Software as a service (SaaS, Software as a Servise). The consumer is provided with software—provider applications running on the cloud infrastructure.

Platform as a service (PaaS, Platform as a Service). The consumer is provided with the means to deploy consumer-created or purchased applications on the cloud infrastructure, developed using the provider's supported tools and programming languages.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS, Infrastructure as a Service). The consumer is provided with data processing, storage, networking, and other underlying computing resources on which the consumer can deploy and run arbitrary software, including operating systems and applications.

Benefits of cloud services

Last year, the total volume of the global market in the field of cloud technologies was about $40 billion. Some experts predict that by 2020 this figure will reach $240 billion. Russia ranks 34th in the introduction of cloud computing into business with an indicator of $250 million.

There are several advantages associated with the use of cloud technologies.

Availability. Anyone with a computer, tablet, or any mobile device connected to the Internet. The following advantage follows from this.

Mobility. The user is not permanently tied to one workplace. Managers can receive reports from anywhere in the world, and managers can monitor production.

Economical. One of the important advantages is reduced cost. The user does not need to buy expensive computers and software with large computing power, and he is also freed from the need to hire a specialist to maintain local IT technologies.

Rent. The user receives the necessary package of services only at the moment when he needs it, and pays, in fact, only for the number of purchased functions.

Flexibility. All necessary resources are provided automatically by the provider.

High technology. Large computing power that is placed at the user's disposal, which can be used for storing, analyzing and processing data.

Reliability. Some experts argue that the reliability provided by modern cloud computing is much higher than the reliability of local resources, arguing that few businesses can afford to purchase and maintain a full-fledged data center.

Google Apps for Business highlights these same benefits, but adds that the company protects the environment by using its cloud computing, explaining that Apps services run on data centers. Google data, characterized by ultra-low power consumption, so the carbon intensity and energy costs of their use will be significantly lower when using local servers.

How much does all this cost?

The cost of Google Apps for business, according to the company, is $5 per user per month, with free 5 GB of cloud disk space (if desired, you can purchase another 20 GB to 16 TB at prices ranging from $4 to $1,430 per month, respectively).

The user can also purchase Google Apps with Safe for $10 per month, which includes the standard package of services plus archiving of important business data, data collection for forensic purposes, search and export of any corporate data. Providing domains is available at an additional cost. It is worth noting that a user is considered to have one email account.

Microsoft is also fighting for its share of cloud computing. They are based on Office 365. It focuses on a comprehensive CRM solution, arguing that Microsoft Dinamics CRM includes marketing, sales, and customer service management units. That is, with the help of this function it is possible to solve a range of relationship management problems, from attracting customers to cross-selling.

“Smart” analysis, role-based interface and high mobility also stand out.

There are several options for purchasing Office 365: Office Professional Plus 2010 tariff - 555 rubles. per month per user. Subsequent tariffs cost 250, 300, 525 and 750 rubles. per month for each user, respectively. By the way, you can try Office 365 for free.

Despite all the positive reviews, there is also some criticism of cloud technologies.

The main criticism is that when using virtual software, information automatically falls into the hands of the developer of this software. So says Richard Stallman, founder of the free software movement.

The problem of data integration with both internal corporate and cloud services of other providers is highlighted.

Experts point to the problem of uncontrolled data: information left by the user will be stored for years without his knowledge or he will not be able to change any part of it. For example, on services Google user is not able to delete services and even individual groups of data that it has not used.

Despite this, most experts are of the opinion that the advantages of this technology outweigh its disadvantages.