Question

Conduct online research of your own to find more information on cloud
computing. Focus on the following:
a. Identify the various properties of cloud computing, and the
corresponding enabling technologies.

Answer 1

Cloud computing is a transformative technology that provides various services over the internet. It allows users to access and store data and applications on remote servers instead of local servers or personal computers. Here’s an overview of the properties of cloud computing and the enabling technologies associated with each:

### Properties of Cloud Computing

1. **On-Demand Self-Service:**
- Users can provision computing resources automatically as needed without requiring human interaction with service providers.
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **APIs (Application Programming Interfaces):** Allow for automation and integration with cloud services.
- **Virtualization Technologies:** Enable resource allocation without manual intervention.

2. **Broad Network Access:**
- Services are available over the network and can be accessed through standard mechanisms (e.g., web browsers, mobile apps).
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **Web Technologies (HTTP/HTTPS):** Enable connectivity to cloud resources from any device.
- **Content Delivery Networks (CDNs):** Facilitate faster access to cloud services.

3. **Resource Pooling:**
- Providers use a multi-tenant model to serve multiple customers, dynamically assigning and releasing resources based on demand.
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **Virtualization:** Enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical hardware instance.
- **Containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes):** Allows application deployment in isolated environments.

4. **Rapid Elasticity:**
- Resources can be elastically provisioned and released to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand.
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **Auto-scaling:** Automatically adjusts computing resources according to load.
- **Load Balancing:** Distributes workloads across multiple computing resources to optimize resource use.

5. **Measured Service:**
- Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction.
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **Monitoring and Analytics Tools:** Track usage stats, costs, and performance.
- **Billing Systems:** Manage users' billing based on metrics such as storage use, compute time, and bandwidth.

6. **Multi-Tenancy:**
- A single instance of software serves multiple customers, ensuring secure isolation of data and workloads while optimizing resource usage.
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **Hypervisors:** Manage multiple instances of virtual machines on the same hardware.
- **Database Partitioning:** Segregates data for different customers in a shared database.

7. **Security and Compliance:**
- Ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data while complying with regulatory requirements.
- **Enabling Technologies:**
- **Encryption:** Both at-rest and in-transit to secure sensitive data.
- **Identity and Access Management (IAM):** Controls user access to resources and data.

### Additional Enabling Technologies

- **Distributed Computing:** Powers cloud computing applications by allowing computation to be spread across multiple nodes for efficiency.
- **Network Virtualization:** Facilitates the division of the physical network into multiple virtual networks, enhancing flexibility and scaling.
- **Storage Virtualization:** Allows abstraction of storage resources, making it easier to manage storage across various locations and settings.

### Conclusion

Cloud computing is characterized by its properties such as on-demand self-service, resource pooling, and rapid elasticity, which rely on various enabling technologies that enhance these capabilities. As organizations continue to migrate to the cloud, understanding these properties and technologies is crucial to leverage the full potential of cloud computing solutions.