Cloud computing services today vary widely in how they are packaged and labeled. But lift the lid, and all cloud services tend to have the same basic cloud computing infrastructure. It's this common infrastructure that enables these services to deliver the characteristic benefits of cloud computing.
Cloud Computing Infrastructure Fundamentals
Clouds can be public or private and offer any number of IT capabilities "as a Service". Given this variety, just what does cloud mean in terms of infrastructure?
While cloud services may differ in implementation detail, they share these common cloud computing infrastructure elements:
Pervasive virtualization. Without virtualization—and the consequent ability to use pooled IT resources flexibly and efficiently—it's hard to imagine cloud computing. Cloud computing infrastructure typically utilizes storage and network virtualization as well as server virtualization.
Pervasive automation. To meet unpredictable user demands and meet them instantaneously, cloud services make use of software that automates the provisioning and scaling of compute, storage, and networking resources
Cloud Computing Infrastructure Extends Beyond the Data Center
A critical but often overlooked dimension of cloud architecture is the public Internet. In most cases, end users interface with cloud services through the Internet and consequently cloud service performance is susceptible to the inherent variability of the Internet. This is true even for private enterprise cloud services, if users are geographically dispersed or access the service through mobile devices.
Cloud Computing Infrastructure Fundamentals
Clouds can be public or private and offer any number of IT capabilities "as a Service". Given this variety, just what does cloud mean in terms of infrastructure?
While cloud services may differ in implementation detail, they share these common cloud computing infrastructure elements:
Pervasive virtualization. Without virtualization—and the consequent ability to use pooled IT resources flexibly and efficiently—it's hard to imagine cloud computing. Cloud computing infrastructure typically utilizes storage and network virtualization as well as server virtualization.
Pervasive automation. To meet unpredictable user demands and meet them instantaneously, cloud services make use of software that automates the provisioning and scaling of compute, storage, and networking resources
Cloud Computing Infrastructure Extends Beyond the Data Center
A critical but often overlooked dimension of cloud architecture is the public Internet. In most cases, end users interface with cloud services through the Internet and consequently cloud service performance is susceptible to the inherent variability of the Internet. This is true even for private enterprise cloud services, if users are geographically dispersed or access the service through mobile devices.