CLOUD COMPUTING NOTES (MIDSEM)

Unit-1
Q1) What is Cloud Computing? Explain its characteristics.

A1) Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services over the internet
(“the cloud”). These services include:

 Servers
 Storage
 Databases
 Networking
 Software
 Analytics
 AI
 Security

Instead of owning and maintaining physical data centers or servers, organizations

can rent access to these services from a cloud provider like:

 Amazon Web Services (AWS)

 Microsoft Azure
 Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Characteristics of Cloud Computing

Let’s look at the essential characteristics defined by NIST (National Institute of

Standards and Technology):

3. On-Demand Self-Service

You can provision computing resources automatically, without requiring human

interaction with each service provider.

Example: Launching a virtual machine on AWS EC2 anytime you need.

2. Broad Network Access

Resources are available over the network and can be accessed through standard
devices like laptops, smartphones, tablets.

Supports access anywhere, anytime.

3. Resource Pooling

Cloud providers use multi-tenancy to serve multiple customers with a shared

pool of resources dynamically assigned and reassigned based on demand.

You don’t know the exact location of resources (data centers), but you trust
it’s managed.

4. Rapid Elasticity

You can scale out/in automatically—resources can be increased or decreased

depending on the need.

Ex: Auto-scaling in AWS or Kubernetes clusters.

5. Measured Service

Resource usage is monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency

and enabling pay-as-you-go billing.

Like paying electricity bill: you pay only for what you use.

Cloud computing is all about:

 Efficiency
 Cost reduction
 Scalability
 Accessibility

It’s the backbone of modern tech: from streaming Netflix to training AI models,
it’s all running in the cloud!
Q2) How many types of Cloud Models are there ? Explain each in detail.

A3) There are four main types of cloud deployment models, each serving
different business and technical needs. These models determine how cloud
services are made available to users.

1. Public Cloud

The Public Cloud is a cloud environment owned and operated by third-party

providers, who deliver computing resources like servers and storage over the
internet. The infrastructure is shared among multiple users (multi-tenant),
offering high scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness since you only pay for
what you use. Public clouds are ideal for startups, web applications, and
temporary workloads, where agility and rapid provisioning are more important
than strict security or regulatory compliance.

Eg: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Services platform

2. Private Cloud

A Private Cloud is dedicated to a single organization, offering a cloud

environment with exclusive access, either hosted on-premises or in a data center
managed by a third party. It delivers all the benefits of cloud computing—
scalability, self-service, and flexibility—but with greater control, privacy, and
customization. Private cloud is ideal for financial institutions, government
agencies, and enterprises dealing with sensitive data or requiring regulatory
compliance

Eg: GDPR, HIPAA

3. Hybrid Cloud

The Hybrid Cloud combines both public and private cloud environments,
allowing data and applications to be shared between them. This model supports
workload portability, orchestration, and interoperability, offering the flexibility
to run critical workloads in a private environment while offloading less sensitive
tasks to the public cloud. Hybrid cloud enables cost optimization, business
continuity, and data sovereignty, and is suitable for organizations looking to
modernize legacy systems while still meeting compliance requirements.

Eg: Google Anthos, AWS Outposts

4. Community Cloud

The Community Cloud is a collaborative cloud infrastructure shared by several

organizations with common concerns—like mission, security, policy, or
compliance requirements. It can be managed internally or by a third-party
provider and may be hosted on-premises or off-site. Examples include
government agencies, universities, or healthcare providers working together on
joint projects or research. Community clouds offer the cost benefits of a shared
environment while maintaining a level of customization and control for the
member organizations.

Eg: Salesforce Community Cloud, Apollo Cloud, ZScaler

Q3) How grid computing is di erent from Cloud Computing ?

A3)

Feature Grid Computing Cloud Computing

Distributed computing model that Delivery of computing services
Definition links multiple computers to (compute, storage, etc.) over
solve a large task. the internet.
Resources are decentralized, Resources are centralized
Resource
often across different and managed by cloud
Ownership
administrative domains. providers (e.g., AWS, Azure).
Resources are shared
Resource Resources are rented from
voluntarily across
Sharing providers based on demand.
organizations.
Limited scalability; adding Highly scalable; automatic
Scalability
nodes manually. . provisioning and scaling.
 Typically used for scientific or Used for general IT workloads,
Use
technical tasks (e.g., SETI@home, web hosting, SaaS, storage,
Case
CERN). etc.
Requires specific software or
Access Accessed via web browsers
middleware
Model or APIs.
(like Globus Toolkit).
Payment Mostly free or project-based Pay-as-you-go or
Model contributions. subscription models.
High — cloud ensures
Fault Low — if a node fails, the job
redundancy, backups, and
Tolerance may fail or need re-execution.
failover.
Rarely used; mostly physical Heavily uses virtualization and
Virtualization
nodes. containers.
Maintenance & Done by each participating Fully managed by cloud
Control organization. providers.

Q4) Explain the di erent types of Cloud services.

A4) Detailed Explanation of Cloud Service Requirements

Let’s break it down category by category

1. Scalability

Cloud services must be scalable both horizontally and vertically. That means
the system should be able to add more instances or resources automatically as
demand grows (like during peak traffic).

 Example: Auto-scaling groups in AWS

 Why It’s Needed: To ensure performance and availability without
overprovisioning
 Applies To: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS

2. Availability and Reliability

High availability ensures that services are accessible 24x7 with minimal
downtime, while reliability ensures the service performs consistently over time.
  Example: AWS offers 99.99% uptime SLAs
 Why It’s Needed: Businesses depend on cloud services for critical
operations
 Applies To: Especially crucial for SaaS and PaaS models

3. Security

Security is one of the top priorities. Cloud services must protect data at rest and
in transit, ensure proper access control, encryption, identity management, and
compliance with regulations.

 Example: Identity and Access Management (IAM), Multi-Factor

Authentication (MFA)
 Why It’s Needed: To protect against data breaches and ensure trust
 Applies To: All cloud layers — IaaS, PaaS, SaaS

4. Performance

Cloud services must provide high responsiveness and low latency, especially for
apps requiring real-time interactions.

 Example: Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) like Cloudflare or AWS

CloudFront
 Why It’s Needed: Poor performance leads to user frustration and drop-offs
 Applies To: SaaS and PaaS primarily, but also relevant in IaaS

5. Interoperability

Cloud services must support integration with other services or systems using
standard APIs and protocols (e.g., REST, SOAP, JSON, XML).

 Example: Integrating a SaaS CRM with a cloud-based database

 Why It’s Needed: To avoid vendor lock-in and support hybrid environments
 Applies To: Mostly SaaS and PaaS

6. Elasticity :Elasticity refers to the automatic adjustment of resources

depending on the workload. Unlike simple scalability, elasticity ensures real-time
adaptability to resource usage patterns.
  Example: Serverless platforms like AWS Lambda scale automatically
 Why It’s Needed: Efficient resource usage = cost savings
 Applies To: IaaS, PaaS, and FaaS

7. Manageability

Cloud services should offer centralized monitoring, logging, and orchestration

tools so that administrators can manage infrastructure and apps easily.

 Example: Azure Monitor, AWS CloudWatch

 Why It’s Needed: For operational visibility, troubleshooting, and
optimization
 Applies To: IaaS and PaaS mostly

8. Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

Cloud providers must define clear SLAs specifying uptime, performance

guarantees, and penalties for not meeting them.

 Example: "99.9% uptime or service credits offered"

 Why It’s Needed: Builds trust between provider and customer
 Applies To: All service models

9. Cost Efficiency

The cloud should support pay-as-you-go or subscription-based billing, with

clear pricing models and usage tracking tools.

 Example: AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Pricing Calculator

 Why It’s Needed: Helps users control cloud spend and forecast budgets
 Applies To: Especially IaaS and PaaS

10. Compliance & Legal Requirements

Cloud services must follow data protection laws and industry-specific

standards like GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, etc.

 Why It’s Needed: To avoid legal penalties and ensure ethical data handling
 Applies To: All layers, especially SaaS and PaaS that handle user data
 Unit-2
Q1) Explain in detail about delivery model by service oriented architecture in
cloud computing.

What is Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in Cloud Computing?

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a design approach where applications

are built using loosely coupled, reusable, and interoperable services. These
services communicate with each other over a network using standard protocols,
typically through APIs (e.g., REST, SOAP).

In cloud computing, SOA helps deliver services on demand, increasing flexibility,

reusability, and scalability. It forms the backbone of cloud service delivery —
whether it's IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS.

Delivery Models in SOA-Based Cloud Computing

Here are the three major cloud delivery models from an SOA perspective:

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS delivers virtualized computing infrastructure as a service over the internet.

SOA principles are applied here by offering modular services such as compute,
network, and storage components which clients can dynamically provision and
deprovision.

 Example: When you launch an EC2 instance on AWS, you're consuming a

virtualized computing service built using SOA.
 Role of SOA: Helps expose infrastructure components (like VM, network
interface) as services that are discoverable and reusable.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS provides a cloud-based platform including OS, middleware, development

frameworks, and runtime environments — everything a developer needs to build
and deploy applications without worrying about infrastructure.

 Example: Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure App Services

  Role of SOA: It modularizes development tools (e.g., database connectors,
authentication services, deployment services), making them accessible via
APIs and allowing developers to stitch together services easily.

3. Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS delivers fully functional software applications over the internet. These
apps are hosted and managed by the provider and are accessed via web
browsers.

 Example: Gmail, Dropbox, Salesforce

 Role of SOA: SaaS apps are built from reusable services, where front-end
apps call various backend services like auth, analytics, notifications — all
deployed and orchestrated via SOA principles.

Why SOA Matters in Cloud Delivery

 Modularity: Enables building complex systems from small,

independent services
 Interoperability: Services can talk across platforms and languages
 Reusability: Services can be reused across different apps and teams
 Loose Coupling: Makes systems flexible and easier to scale or
maintain
 Additional Cloud services (optional):
Model Description Examples
FaaS (Function as a Event-driven, serverless AWS Lambda, Azure
Service) computing model Functions
BaaS (Backend as a Ready-made backend features Firebase, Parse
Service) like auth, DB, APIs
DBaaS (Database as Managed cloud databases Amazon RDS,
a Service) MongoDB Atlas

Q2) What do you mean by Elastic Computing? Explain different features of the
Amazon Elastic Computing Model (AECM).

A2) Elastic Computing: Definition and Explanation

Elastic Computing refers to the ability of a cloud computing environment to

dynamically allocate and deallocate computing resources such as CPU,
memory, storage, and networking based on current workload demands. This
model enables systems to automatically scale up or scale down resources in real
time to maintain performance and cost-efficiency.

In traditional computing environments, resources are provisioned based on peak

load estimates, which often leads to underutilization or performance bottlenecks.
Elastic computing solves this by providing an infrastructure that is highly
adaptive, on-demand, and cost-effective, making it ideal for modern, scalable
applications deployed in the cloud.

Key benefits include:

 Improved performance during high traffic periods

 Reduced costs by avoiding over-provisioning
 Automatic scaling with minimal human intervention

Elastic computing is a core feature of many cloud service providers, including

Amazon Web Services (AWS), where it is exemplified through their Amazon
Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and related services.

Features of Amazon Elastic Computing Model (AECM)

Amazon Elastic Computing Model (AECM) is AWS’s implementation of elastic

computing. It is built on the principles of scalability, flexibility, automation, and
high availability. The following are its key features:

1. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)

Amazon EC2 is the foundation of AECM. It provides resizable virtual servers

(instances) that allow users to launch, configure, and manage computing
capacity in the cloud.

 Instances are scalable vertically (change instance size) or horizontally

(add more instances).
 Multiple instance types are available to support various workloads
(general-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, etc.).

2. Auto Scaling

AWS Auto Scaling automatically adjusts the number of EC2 instances in response
to traffic patterns or performance metrics.
  Ensures optimal performance under heavy load.
 Reduces costs during periods of low demand by terminating unnecessary
instances.
 Policies can be set to trigger scaling based on CPU utilization, network
traffic, or custom metrics.

3. Elastic Load Balancing (ELB)

Elastic Load Balancing distributes incoming application traffic across multiple

targets, such as EC2 instances, in one or more Availability Zones.

 Increases fault tolerance by rerouting traffic to healthy instances.

 Ensures that no single instance is overwhelmed by traffic.
 Supports application-level and network-level load balancing.

4. Elastic IP Addresses

Elastic IPs are static IP addresses designed for dynamic cloud computing.

 Can be remapped between instances to ensure application availability.

 Useful in failover scenarios where a standby instance can be assigned the
same IP address as a failed one.

5. Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS)

Amazon EBS provides persistent block storage volumes for use with EC2
instances.

 Data persists independently of the EC2 instance's lifecycle.

 Supports features such as snapshots, encryption, and volume resizing.
 Offers high-performance SSD options for I/O-intensive applications.

6. Elastic Container Services

Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS offer elastic container orchestration, enabling
developers to deploy and scale containerized applications efficiently.

 Automatically adjusts resources to meet application demands.

 Supports integration with auto scaling and load balancing.
7. Pay-as-you-go Pricing Model

AECM supports an on-demand pricing model where users are billed only for the
compute resources they actually consume.

 Promotes cost-efficiency and flexibility.

 Allows users to optimize usage based on real-time demand.

8. High Availability and Fault Tolerance

AWS ensures high availability through multi-region and multi-zone deployments.

Elastic computing resources can be configured for redundancy and failover to
minimize service interruptions.

Q3) Explain in detail information life-cycle management (ILM) with proper

example of the deployment of storage infrastructure.

A3) Definition of ILM

Information Life-Cycle Management (ILM) refers to a comprehensive approach

to managing data throughout its life cycle — from its creation and initial storage
to the time it becomes obsolete and is deleted.

ILM ensures that data is stored on the most appropriate, cost-e ective, and
secure storage medium depending on its current value, usage frequency, and
compliance requirements.

Phases of the Information Life Cycle

The ILM process typically consists of the following five stages:

1. Data Creation or Capture

 Data is generated from various sources such as business applications,

sensors, user inputs, or third-party integrations.
 This data may be structured (databases), semi-structured (XML, JSON), or
unstructured (videos, documents).
2. Data Storage

 Newly created data is stored on high-performance primary storage

systems, such as SSD-based storage or SAN (Storage Area Networks).
 This storage tier supports quick access and frequent use.

3. Data Usage or Access

 During this phase, data is actively accessed, processed, or analyzed by

applications or users.
 ILM ensures that data availability, security, and performance are
maintained at optimal levels.

4. Data Archiving

 As data becomes less frequently used, it is moved to secondary or

archival storage systems, such as cloud object storage (e.g., Amazon S3
Glacier) or tape libraries.
 Archived data remains accessible but is stored more economically.

5. Data Disposal or Deletion

 Once the data has no further business, legal, or compliance value, it is

securely deleted or destroyed.
 ILM ensures that data is retired in compliance with legal and regulatory
policies (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).

ILM Objectives

 Cost optimization through storage tiering

 Data protection through access controls and encryption
 Regulatory compliance with data retention and deletion laws
 Performance improvement by keeping active data on fast storage

Example: ILM Deployment in Storage Infrastructure

Let’s take the example of a healthcare organization that manages patient
records:

🔹 Scenario:

 A hospital captures electronic health records (EHR), diagnostic images (X-

rays), lab results, and patient visit logs.

🔸 ILM Implementation:
ILM Implementation in Storage Infrastructure
Phase
Creation Data is captured via hospital systems and stored on high-speed
SSDs.
Storage Active patient records are stored in a SAN for fast retrieval.
Usage Doctors and sta access records frequently for treatment
decisions.
Archiving Records older than 5 years are moved to cloud object storage
(AWS S3 Glacier).
Disposal Records beyond legal retention period (e.g., 10 years) are securely
deleted using data erasure tools.

Benefits of ILM

 Reduces storage costs by using appropriate media

 Improves data availability and performance
 Ensures data security and compliance
 Supports better decision-making by retaining useful data

Q4) Write a short note on

i) Google App Engine
ii) Microsoft Azure
iii) IT perspective

A4) i) Google App Engine

Google App Engine (GAE) is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offered
by Google Cloud that allows developers to build and deploy applications without
worrying about the underlying infrastructure. GAE abstracts the hardware and
server management, providing developers with automatic scaling, load
balancing, and high availability. It supports multiple programming languages,
including Python, Java, Go, and PHP, making it flexible for various use cases.
Developers can focus on writing code while GAE handles scaling based on traffic
demands, ensuring applications can handle varying loads efficiently. Additionally,
GAE offers integrated tools like Google Cloud Datastore and Cloud Firestore,
enabling easy database management. Its pay-per-use pricing model helps reduce
costs for businesses, as they only pay for the resources they consume.

ii) Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive cloud computing platform that provides a

wide range of cloud services, including compute, storage, networking, and
analytics. Azure supports both PaaS and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
models, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. It allows developers to
build, deploy, and manage applications using tools such as Azure DevOps and
Visual Studio. With over 60 data centers worldwide, Azure offers high availability
and redundancy. Azure also supports hybrid cloud solutions, enabling
organizations to integrate on-premises infrastructure with the cloud. Key services
include Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Blob Storage, and Azure Kubernetes
Service, among others. Azure’s enterprise-grade security and compliance
certifications make it a popular choice for industries with strict regulatory
requirements.

iii) IT Perspective

From an IT perspective, cloud platforms like Google App Engine and Microsoft
Azure represent a paradigm shift in how businesses approach infrastructure
management. These platforms reduce the need for on-premises hardware and
allow for scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions. They enable quicker
deployment, easier collaboration, and enhanced security, all while providing
businesses with access to cutting-edge technologies. Cloud computing also
facilitates disaster recovery, as data can be replicated across multiple locations,
ensuring continuity in case of failures. From an IT operations standpoint, cloud
services simplify resource management, reduce operational overhead, and allow
for rapid adaptation to changing business needs.