Cloud Computing Research and Security Issues †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Cloud Computing Research and Security Issues. Answer: Introduction: This report focuses on the office automation provided for all the civil engineering employees in SoftArc Engineering. The cloud computing allows the SoftArc Engineering employees to access the office-based applications like email, word processing, and spreadsheets from remote location. These applications are hosted in the secured data center accessed by means of an internet connection. The cloud-based approaches for providing office automation include Hosted Applications and Software as a Service (SaaS). The Hosted Application approach gives provisions for online accounting, CRM, and industry related applications. The SaaS approach provides an employee with access to common office applications through web-based interface. Approach Benefits Issues Hosted Applications 1. Easy to use and access. 2. Reduces the physical clutter without the need of hard storage devices. 3. It provides room for development and boosts the business productivity. 4. It is reliable. 5. Saves money. 1. Loss of Control. 2. Limited functions. 3. Limited Bandwidth. SaaS 1. Maintenance cost of multi-tenant applications is less and it is cost-effective. 2. It is Reliable. 1. Security Issues. 2. Compliance. 3. The browser-based approach encounters some performance issues when compared to the applications running on local system. I recommend using self-hosted software for SoftArc Engineering firm. The self-hosted applications are downloaded, installed on the servers, and are provided the license. This is useful in large corporations like SoftArc that needs high security and confidentiality of the information (Yang Chen, 2010). The hosted applications are owned by the firm and the update of the software is performed when it is convenient. Moreover, it can be customized by the owners without affecting the employees. This report explains the issues caused by drifting the web infrastructure of SoftArc to an IaaS in public cloud. The major differences between these solutions are provided on various aspects: On premise: The complications will be increased if the number of employees or endpoints is increased and it requires additional licences. IAAS: Here, the user can purchase the flexible Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA). This leads to the flexible licensing options given based on node cost per month. On Premise: The growing complication of storage, servers, and the software leads to the user investments in highly expertise support team. IAAS: The IAAS providers offer support to the users, and hence the maintenance cost is lower than locally hosted solutions. On Premise: In localized network, access to the infrastructure is untimely affected. The remote sites based on that location may experience only limited access. IAAS: The IaaS solutions are positioned within custom data centres with various network levels, the redundancy exceeds the locally hosted servers. Challenges of migrating to Infrastructure As a Service (IaaS): The migration issues are depicted in the figure below: Here listed are the challenges encountered during migration: Giving Provisions for enough Bandwidth Dealing with mental pattern transition Planning for system downtime Dealing with prevailing dependency configurations General database transition issues Compatibility verification issues on virtual machine transfer Security Concerns Compatibility of Applications Managing and administering applications Planning for disaster recovery This report analyzes the cloud computing model for SoftArc enterprise. IaaS PaaS SaaS It enables users to get access to their own infrastructure like computers, storage, and resources It abstracts the infrastructure away from the user but provides a software development platform. This model provides user with access to the software in on-demand method. This can be either a single application or a software catalog that a user can choose from. Recommended model for SharePoint The utilization of SharePoint online as PaaS, IaaS, or SaaS varies according to the business needs. A SaaS cloud model is appropriate for accessing off the shelf SharePoint applications. On the other hand, the flexibility of the PaaS model is needed to develop the applications on the SharePoint platform for meeting the business requirements. The PaaS model is appropriate for the employment of flexible SharePoint application in SoftArc, since SharePoint is needed to be accessed mainly on remote locations. Problems encountered and the Solutions for incorporating SharePoint with PaaS model: There are many advantages of hosting the SharePoint in PaaS model e.g. Azure like speed, easy deployment, and cost. But it also poses some unique challenges and issues. The question is related to the safety of putting SQL content and SharePoint data in the cloud. The usage of SQL and Sharepoint in Azure are safe to store the secured content in the cloud as long as the system configuration is done properly by the organization. Reference: Yang, J Chen, Z. (2010). Cloud Computing Research and Security Issues. IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Software Engineering (CiSE), 4(3), 1-3. Sun Microsystems Unveils Open Cloud Platform. (2009, January 10). Retrieved from https://www.sun.com/aboutsun/pr/2009-03/sunflash.20090318.2.xml.