Cloud Databases Cloud Computing Cloud Technology Research Paper Report

CLOUD DATABASES

Muhammad Abdullah 

Department of Software Engineering

Bahria University Karachi

Abstract: The purpose of this research paper is to define the Cloud database, History of cloud computing, Architecture, Potential Concerns about Cloud Databases,  Data model Used in Cloud databases,  Deployment model of Cloud Databases, Vendors Providing Cloud Databases and in last Conclusion

Introduction:

In this document we will discuss what the SQL Server Administrator’s responsibilities, why we need to system and who can benefit from it. Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database, it is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network (including the Internet).

1.      Cloud Databases refers to the whole set of activities performed by a database administrator to ensure that a database is always available as needed. Other closely related tasks and roles are database security, database monitoring and troubleshooting, and planning for future growth.

2.      History of Cloud Databases & Cloud Computing is a person responsible for the installation, configuration, upgrade, administration, monitoring and maintenance of databases in an organization.

2.1 Year  1960 John McCarthy opined in the 1960s that "computation may someday be organized as a public utility.

2.2 Year  1969 The idea of an "intergalactic computer network" was introduced in the sixties by J.C.R. Licklider, who was responsible for enabling the development of ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) in 1969.

2.3 Year  1999 since the internet only started to offer significant bandwidth in the nineties, cloud computing for the masses has been something of a late developer. One of the first milestones for cloud computing was the arrival of Salesforce.com in 1999, which pioneered the concept of delivering enterprise applications via a simple website. The services firm paved the way for both specialist and mainstream software firms to deliver applications over the internet.

2.4 Year  2002 The next development was Amazon Web Services in 2002, which provided a suite of cloud-based services including storage, computation and even human intelligence through theAmazon Mechanical Turk.

2.5 Year  2006 Then in 2006, Amazon launched its Elastic Compute cloud (EC2) as a commercial web service that allows small companies and individuals to rent computers on which to run their own computer applications.

2.6 Year  2008 In early 2008, Eucalyptus became the first open-source, AWS API-compatible platform for deploying private clouds. In early 2008, OpenNebula, enhanced in the RESERVOIR European Commission-funded project, became the first open-source software for deploying private and hybrid clouds, and for the federation of clouds.

2.7 Year  2009 Another big milestone came in 2009, as Web 2.0 hit its stride, and Google and others started to offer browser-based enterprise applications, though services such as Google Apps.

2.9 Killer Apps "The most important contribution to cloud computing has been the emergence of "killer apps" from leading technology giants such as Microsoft and Google. When these companies deliver services in a way that is reliable and easy to consume, the knock-on effect to the industry as a whole is a wider general acceptance of online services," said Dan Germain, chief technology officer at IT service provider Cobweb Solutions.

2.10 Year  2011 On March 1, 2011, IBM announced the IBM SmartCloud framework to support Smarter Planet.

3.       Architecture It is difficult to pin down a canonical definition of cloud storage architecture, but object storage is reasonably analogous. Cloud storage services like OpenStack, cloud storage products like EMC Atmos and Hitachi Cloud Services, and distributed storage research projects like OceanStore are all examples of object storage and infer the following guidelines.

Cloud storage is:

Ø  Made up of many distributed resources, but still acts as one

Ø  Highly fault tolerant through redundancy and distribution of data

Ø  Highly durable through the creation of versioned copies

Ø  Typically eventually consistent with regard to data replicas.

The systems architecture of the software systems involved in the delivery of cloud computing, typically involves multiple cloud components communicating with each other over a loose coupling mechanism such as a messaging queue. Elastic provision implies intelligence in the use of tight or loose coupling as applied to mechanisms such as these and others.

4.      Deployment Model

There are two primary methods to run a database on the cloud:

•      Virtual machine

•      Database as a service 

4.1 Virtual Machine: Cloud platforms allow users to purchase virtual machine instances for a limited time. It is possible to run a database on these virtual machines. For example, Oracle provides a ready-made machine image with an installation of Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition on Amazon EC2.

4.2 Database as Service: Some cloud platforms offer options for using a database as a service. For example, Amazon Web Services provides three database services as part of its cloud offering, SimpleDB, Amazon Relational Database Service, and DynamoDB.

4.3 A third option is managed database hosting on the cloud, where database is not offered as a service, but cloud provider hosts database and manages it on application owner's behalf. For example, cloud provider Rackspace offers managed hosting for MySQL databases.

5.      Data Model

It is also important to differentiate between cloud databases which are relational as opposed to non-relational or NoSQL:

•      SQL database, such as NuoDB, Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL .

•      NoSQL databases, such as Apache Cassandra, CouchDB and MongoDB, are another type of database.

6.      Vandors

VIRTUAL MACHINE

•      SQL

•      No SQL

DATABASE AS A SERVICE

•      SQL

•      NO SQL

6.1 SQL as A Virtual Machine:

•      Oracle Database

•      IBM DB2

•      Ingres (database)

•      PostgreSQL

•      MySQL

•      NuoDB

•      GaianDB

6.2 SQL as A Service:

•      Amazon Relational Database Service (MySQL)

•      Microsoft SQL Azure (MS SQL)

•      Heroku PostgreSQL as a Service (shared and dedicated database options)

•      Clustrix Database as a Service

•      Xeround Cloud Database - MySQL front-end

•      EnterpriseDB Postgres Plus Cloud Database

•      GaianDB

•      ClearDB ACID-compliant MySQL

6.3 NO SQL as A Virtual Machine:

•      CouchDB on Amazon

•      Hadoop on Amazon

•      Apache Cassandra on Amazon

•      Neo4J on Amazon EC2   or Microsoft Azure

•      MongoDB on Amazon EC2 or Microsoft Azure

6.4 NO SQL as A Service:

•      Amazon DynamoDB

•      Amazon SimpleDB

•      Cloudant Data Layer (CouchDB)

•      Database.com by SalesForce

•      Google App Engine Datastore

•      MongoDB Database as a Service (several options)

•      Cloudbase.io Cloud Database 

7.      Potential Concerns

Following are some potential concerns related to Cloud Databases:

•      Attack Surface Area.

•      Supplier Stability.

•      Accessibility.

•      Costs.

•      Other Concerns.

7.1 Attack Surface Area: Outsourcing data storage increases the attack surface area.

•      When data is distributed it is stored at more locations increasing the risk of unauthorised physical access to the data. For example, in cloud based architecture, data is replicated and moved frequently so the risk of unauthorised data recovery increases dramatically. (e.g. disposal of old equipment, reuse of drives, reallocation of storage space) The manner that data is replicated depends on the service level a customer chooses and on the service provided. Different cloud vendors offer different service levels. Risk of unauthorized access to data can be mitigated through the use of encryption.

•      It increases the number of networks over which the data travels. Instead of just a local area network (LAN) or storage area network (SAN), data stored on a cloud requires a WAN (wide area network) to connect them both.

•      By sharing storage and networks with many other users/customers it is possible for other customers to access your data. Sometimes because of human error, faulty equipment, a bug and sometimes because of criminal intent. This risk applies to all types of storage and not only cloud storage. The risk of having data read during transmission can be mitigated through encryption technology. Encryption in transit protects data as it is being transmitted to and from the cloud service.

7.1  Supplier Stability:

Companies are not permanent and the services and products they provide can change. Outsourcing data storage to another company needs careful investigation and nothing is ever certain. Contracts set in stone can be worthless when a company ceases to exist or its circumstances change.

Companies can:

•      Go bankrupt.

•      Expand and change their focus.

•      Be purchased by other larger companies.

•      Be purchased by a company headquartered in or move to a country that negates compliance with export restrictions and thus necessitates a move.

•      Suffer an irrecoverable disaster.

7.3 Accessibility:

•      Performance for outsourced storage is likely to be lower than local storage depending on how much a customer is willing to spend for WAN bandwidth.

•      Reliability and availability depends on wide area network availability and on the level of precautions taken by the service provider.

7.4 Costs:

Cloud storage may be cost-efficient for many corporations and small businesses for everyday use, but for the average user of the computer and internet, the costs of cloud storage may outweigh its benefits. As a result users have other alternatives of storage such as:

•      Local wired hard drive

•      Local wireless hard drive

•      External USB hard drive

There are a variety of free cloud storage options on the market. Many vendors want customers to sign up for their services. So, in return for a new account, many offer free cloud storage.

7.5 Other Concerns:

•      Security of stored data and data in transit may be a concern when storing sensitive data at a cloud storage provider.

•      Users with specific records-keeping requirements, such as public agencies that must retain electronic records according to statute, may encounter complications with using cloud computing and storage. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defense designated the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to maintain a list of records management products that meet all of the records retention, personally identifiable information (PII), and security (Information Assurance; IA) requirements.

•      Cloud storage is a rich resource for both hackers and national security agencies.

•      Piracy and copyright infringement may be enabled by sites that permit filesharing. For example, the CodexCloud ebook storage site has faced litigation from the owners of the intellectual property uploaded and shared there, as have the GrooveShark and YouTube sites it has been compared to.