Cloud Computing Technology and Trends

Cheah Yew Chung

Chia Chin Wei

Chong Hong Lok

Faculty of Computing

Faculty of Computing

Faculty of Computing

AbstractCloud computing, one of the emerging topic

in the field of information technology, is the development
of parallel computing, distributed computing and grid
computing. The concept of cloud computing is based on
the timesharing of costly resources and advantages of the
economies of scale. Cloud computing applies conventional
supercomputing, or high-performance computing power, to
perform computations in consumer-oriented applications.
This paper presents the cloud computing technology and
trends.
Index TermsCloud Computing

cations. Cloud computing employs multiple servers

networked with specialized connections to distribute
tasks pertaining to data processing amongst them.
Cloud computing brings us a new platform to realize data sharing which is done previously on web
services such as social networking sites, file sharing
portals by moving them to another dimension to
be accessed anytime, anywhere. In this way, the
world has shrunk even further, personal or corporate
information has become much easier to achieve.

I. I NTRODUCTION

II. H ISTORY

Cloud computing is a new kind of computing

model. It has been envisioned as the next generation computing model for its major advantages
in on demand self-service, ubiquitous network access, location independent resource pooling and
transference of risk. Cloud computing refers to the
usage of IT resources delivered as a service over a
network. Cloud is derived from the cloud shaped
symbol used to denote a network in typical system
diagrams.
Cloud computing is a mechanism that enables
management of computing and IT infrastructure to
be consolidated in one or more data center to reduce
the overall cost of operating computing facilities.
This computing technology provides organizational
abilities to access software, hardware and other infrastructural resources from a virtual space through
the Internet which is the key communication channel. This concept based on the time-sharing of costly
resources and advantages of the economies of scale.
Cloud computing applies conventional supercomputing, or high-performance computing power, to
perform computations in consumer oriented applications. It is a result of exploring ways and means
to ensure availability of computing power to users
through sharing of resources and algorithms to optimize the usage of infrastructure, platform and appli-

The concept of Cloud computing originated in

early 90s and has progressed significantly over time
as under:

1960 - John McCarthy opined, Computation may someday be organized as a public

utility.

1990 - Usage of Cloud terminology to

indicate large networks

1999 - On Demand service started by

salesforce.com

2001 - IBM creates a roadmap for SaaS

concept

2005 - Amazon offers excess capacity on

utility computing and storage basis

2007 - Google, IBM and several universities initiate research projects on cloud
computing.

2008 - Cloud computing will shape the

relationship among consumers of IT services, those who use IT services and those
who sell them Gartner
III. BACKGROUND
Although cloud computing has only matured
in recent years, the underlying concept of multiple users sharing computer resources is not new.
The earliest computing operations allowed multiple

users to bring work projects, usually in the form

of data encoded onto punch cards, magnetic tapes,
or floppy disks to a central stand-alone computer
for processing. These stand-alone computers could
only perform one job or task at a time, and, as a
result, they were kept frequently in use processing
one users task after the next.
In 1969, the Department of Defenses Advance
Research Projects Agency sought to expand the
distances over which computers could reliably communicate. At the time the project was undertaken,
the cost of a computer was very high and processing
speed was much slower than todays computing
systems. Often times a computers could be tied up
for hours, days, or even weeks on a single project.
The ARPAnet project sought to create a platform
that would allow distributed users to share their
valuable computing resources and collaborate on
documents. Using the ARPAnet, a user could access
a computer located elsewhere on the network and
function as a local user at the remote site. The
ARPAnet mainly linked government agencies and
universities, but it was out of the ARPAnet that
what we now know as the Internet was originally
developed.
With the development of the operating system,
stand-alone computers could perform multiple functions simultaneously for the first time. This opened
the door for the first instances of multiple users
using a system at the same time. Early instances of
multiple clients sharing a single, sometimes more
powerful, computing device were known as local
area networks. In these settings, a single central
server or computing device supported several standalone personal computers or dumb terminals (keyboards and computer screens) housed in the same
physical location. The terminals would connect to
the central server, which would do the terminals
actual processing.
Cloud Computing is an evolution from these
previous efforts at shared computing. As prices for
processing power and storage have fallen and highspeed internet connections have become ubiquitous,
cloud computing has become an increasingly attractive option for many individuals and businesses.
As of September 2008, 69 percent of Americans
were using webmail services, storing data online, or
otherwise using software programs, such as word

processing applications, whose functionality is located on the web.

IV. C LOUD C OMPUTING T ECHONOLOGY
LOKLOK
V. C LOUD C OMPUTING T RENDS
Marching into the year of 2015, there are many
notable achievements in cloud computing. These
achievements directly shape the trend of cloud computing. The subsequent subtopics will discuss about
the latest significant trends of cloud computing.
A. Trend overview
According to Cloud Computing: A 2015 HorizonWatch Trend Report, cloud computing trends can be
categorized into three aspects:
1) Drivers. Clouds offer cost saving and an attractive pay-as-you-go-model. With cloud, the
speed of new services and new capabilities
delivery helps companies to innovate rapidly.
There are no sole cloud model which is able to
satisfy all organizations requirements. Hybrid
cloud models are introduced to allow organizations to store part of their data into the
public cloud, while keeping other IT-resources
on-site or in a private cloud.
2) Challenges. Security risks in cloud computing
continue to be a major concern of the customers. Users do not favor their data being
stored by a third party, where other users
potentially have access to their data.
3) Implications. More large enterprises will opt
for hybrid clouds in near future. Clouds are
shaped by the demand for anytime, on-thego accessibility. Continuous development on
various cloud delivery models (IaaS, PaaS
and SaaS) is expected as customers seek to
build and deploy cloud applications. Good
candidates for clouds include, startups, companies going through reorganizations, companies with complex supply chain operations
etc. Mobile cloud services growth is expected
to gain large momentum in 2015.

B. Trends to watch
A total of 13 significant trends to watch were
highlighted in the HorizonWatch Trend Report:
1) Innovation becomes key driver: Cloud is being
used by large enterprises to create competitive advantages and to innovate. According to
IDC, The primary driver for cloud adoption
will shift from economics to innovation as
leading-edge companies invest in cloud services as the foundation for new competitive
offerings.
2) Hybrids: Hybrids are expected to continue
growing in 2015 as data security and governance issues get addressed. Increasingly, enterprises plan to use a portfolio of clouds, with
82 percent reporting a multi-cloud strategy as
compared to 74 percent in 2014. RightScale
2015 survey reveals that out of 930 IT professionals ranged from technical executives
to managers and practitioners and represented
organizations of varying sizes across many
industries, 55 percent of enterprises are planning for hybrid clouds, 13 percent expect to
use multiple public clouds, and 14 percent are
planning for multiple private clouds

cycles that DevOps helps to drive. The 2015

State of Cloud Survey results shows continued
growth in DevOps adoption, up to 66 percent
from 6 percent in 2014.

Fig. 2. DevOps Adoption Up in 2015

As DevOps has grown, the set of available

tools has also expanded. DevOps teams are often leveraging automated configuration management tools such as Chef, Puppet, Salt, and
Ansible. In the last year, Docker, a containerbased approach, has also stormed onto the
scene as another way to deploy code assets
on infrastructure. All of these tools are often
used in conjunction with cloud management
solutions that provision infrastructure across
clouds.
With a significant head start, Chef (28 percent) and Puppet (24 percent) remain the most
used DevOps tools overall. However, Docker,
in just its first year on the market, is already
being used by 13 percent of organizations.
Even more impressively, more than a third
(35 percent) of respondents report plans to use
Docker.

Fig. 1. Enterprise Cloud Strategy

3) Containers: The idea of accelerating app delivery has been achieved with the introduction
of Docker container technology. An increase
in competition in the containerization space
is expected within 2015. Since the advent
of AWS in 2006, cloud and DevOps have
become inextricably intertwined. For many
organizations, the use of cloud infrastructure
is a critical pillar to support the continuous
integration and delivery cycles and release

Fig. 3. Respondents using DevOps Tools

4) Cloud Security: Demand for Cloud Security

Services will surge as enterprises demands for
tighter security with encryption, automation
and orchestration of security across all platforms and access points.
5) Managed Cloud Services: Service providers
are expected to boom as companies increasingly look for a third party to manage the
different cloud environments with a consistent
management framework.
6) Cloud APIs: Open APIs for access to hybrid
enterprise/telco cloud-based applications will
accelerate as a means to develop and deploy
cloud applications. The REST standard is
widely used.
7) Mobile SaaS: A whole new generation of
cloud apps designed for mobile work force
is expected to make its debut.
8) Industry Clouds: These community-driven
and industry focused initiatives become more
popular as a way to collaborate, share knowledge, and provide a place for commerce.
9) Public Cloud Price War Subside: Public cloud
providers begin to differentiate on features
and services, rather than just price.
10) Private Cloudy Forecast: Private clouds are
not dead, but increasingly large enterprises
are looking to hybrid and public clouds. The
2015 State of the Cloud Survey reveals only
small changes in private cloud adoption from
2014. VMware remains in the lead overall,
with 33 percent of respondents using vSphere
as a private cloud and 13 percent using vCloud
Director. OpenStack also has 13 percent adoption, but continues to generate high levels of
interest with 30 percent of respondents evaluating or planning to use. The most significant
change was the entry of Microsoft Azure Pack
to the market, with 7 percent of respondents
already using it.
11) AWS Innovation Continues: AWS is expected
to continue innovate its services rapidly in
order to attract enterprise clients. AWS continues to lead overall in public cloud adoption,
with 57 percent of respondents currently running applications in AWS, up from 54 percent
in 2014. This continues to be more than 4x the
adoption rate of the closest competitor. Azure

IaaS has moved into the clear #2 position,

doubling from 6 percent in 2014 to 12 percent
in the 2015 survey.
Note: The numbers below represent the percentage
of respondents adopting a cloud provider, but do not
represent market share since they do not take into
account the number of workloads in each cloud.

Fig. 4. Public Cloud Usage

Within the enterprise segment, the gap between AWS and Azure is smaller, with 19
percent using Azure IaaS and 50 percent using
AWS.
12) Cloud Skills: Skill gaps remain. Education
institutions continue to try to meet the demand
for cloud computing skills by improving their
computer science curriculums.
13) Cloud Delivery: Cloud has become the dominant way to launch and distribute new software and services.
VI. C ONCLUSION
Cloud computing is an on-demand service where
shared resources like memory, storage, network, operating system and applications are provided to the
customers as per their requirements, like the electricity grid. It is a culmination of research on large
scale computing with access to unlimited resources.
Cloud computing is an evolving paradigm. The
definition characterizes important features of cloud
computing and serves to conduct a comparison of
cloud services and deployment strategies, providing

a platform for discussion regarding optimal usage

of cloud infrastructure.
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