Cloud Computing

As per NIST’s draft definition:

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.”

Cloud Computing is different for different people. For a non-technical user, it is about storing your data on an external source, which is accessible from anywhere, but from a technical perspective, it can be viewed from service models:

Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS): Use of applications running on a cloud infrastructure.

Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS): Deploy consumer-created applications on a cloud infrastructure.

Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications.

What are the essential characteristics of Cloud Computing?

·         On-demand self-service

·         Broad network success

·         Resource pooling

·         Rapid Elasticity

·         Measured Service

What are the deployment models?

·         Private cloud

·         Community cloud

·         Public Cloud

·         Hybrid Cloud

Cloud Computing has evolved from several different technologies and business approaches over a period of time. Some of them are Utility Computing, Grid Computing, Autonomic Computing, Platform Virtualization, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and such.

Cloud Service Examples:

Salesforce.com

Amazon Web services

EC2 commercial services offered by Amazon to small companies

Microsoft Azure

VMware

Google

Open-source Cloud Platforms:

Eucalyptus: http://open.eucalyptus.com/

Nimbus: http://www.nimbusproject.org/

Enomaly: http://www.enomaly.com/

Abiquo: http://abiquo.com/

Xen: http://www.xen.org/

For more information:

http://csrc.nist.gov

Cloud Security: A comprehensive guide to Secure Cloud Computing, Ronald Krutz, Russell Vines, Wiley.

Snap Circuits: Electronics kits for kids

I spent a lot of time this summer to find some kind of electronic kits for my eight year old. Finally, I found Snap Circuits made by Elenco Electronics. I bought Snap Circuits Jr. 100 Experiments (Model: SC100, $23 on amazon). This model has only 30 parts, but it is possible to build over 100 projects. What I like the most about this kit is that there is nothing to solder, all the components/wires have snap buttons at the end. It is very easy to connect components together for kids. All parts are mounted on plastic modules. Absolutely, no tools are required. The kit also comes with a manual.

Once all the experiments are completed, there are upgrade kits available. I upgraded SC100 to SC 300 using upgrade kit UC30; this makes it possible to complete another 100 experiments.  You can upgrade it to SC750, which allows up to 750 experiments.  Elenco also manufactures stand-alone kits for musical recorder, FM radio, motion detector, flying saucer, water clock etc. The kits have been priced very reasonably.

Links:

Snap Circuits: http://www.snapcircuits.net/
For complete list of products: http://www.elenco.com/

 

Comparison: SAN vs NAS

According to Executive Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt, every two days we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003. It is approximately 5 Exabytes (1 Exabyte = 1024 Petabytes, 1 Petabyte = 1024 Terabytes). Every human being, who has any digital device, is essentially a content creator. Data center managers are facing this arduous task of providing low-cost, high-performance information management solution.

Storage area network (SAN) carries data between servers and storage devices through fibre channel switches. It enables storage consolidation and allows storage to be shared across multiple servers, which are spread geographically. Network attached storage (NAS) is an IP-based single storage device attached to a local area network. Let us compare these two technologies side-by-side:

SAN	NAS
Server class devices that are equipped with SCSI Fibre Channel adapters connect to a SAN.	Almost any machine that connects to a LAN.
Protocols: Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP), which is implementation of serial SCSI-3 over FC.	NAS solutions use TCP/IP and NFS/CIFS/HTTP based networks
A SAN addresses the data by logical block numbers, and transfers the data in (raw) disk blocks.	A NAS identifies the data by file name and byte offset, transfers file data or metadata, and handles security, user authentication, file locking.
File Sharing is operating system dependent, and may not exist for all operating systems that are being used.	A NAS allows greater sharing of information, especially among different operating systems.
The SAN servers manage the file system.	File system is managed by the NAS head unit.
Backups and mirrors require a block by block copy operation. A mirrored system has to be either identical, or greater in capacity (compared to the source).	Backups and mirrors are generated on files, not blocks (this may save bandwidth and time).
SAN uses single-mode or multi-mode fiber cabling depending on the environment.	NAS uses existing IP networks like Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, ATM, and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).
Connectivity options: point-to-point, FC-AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated loop), FC-SW (Fibre Channel Switched Fabric).	Gateway NAS, Integrated NAS.
Benefits: Availability, reliability, scalability, performance, manageability, return on information management.	Supports comprehensive access to information, improved efficiency, improved flexibility, centralized storage, simplified management, scalability, high availability, security.

For more information:

• How much data is that:  http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/how_big.htm

• SAN and NAS Solutions - Introduction, Topology, and Terminology: http://www.fortuitous.com/docs/primers/SAN_NAS_Intro.pdf

• Information Storage and Management: Storage, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information. EMC Education Services, Wiley, ISBN: 978-0-470-29421-5

• Technical Committee responsible for fibre channel interfaces: http://www.t11.org/index.html

OpenOffice.org: An Alternative to Microsoft Office

OpenOffice.org is the open source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and many more.  It supports the ISO/IEC standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office formats among others.  It is available under Microsoft Windows and Linux platform. The first version was released on April 30^th, 2002; the current release is OpenOffice.org 3.  For the current version, minimum system requirements are:

Microsoft Windows

• Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7
• 256 Mbytes RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
• At least 650 Mbytes available disk space for a default install (including a JRE) via download.
  After installation and deletion of temporary installation files, OpenOffice.org will use approximately 440 Mbytes disk space.
• 1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colors

GNU/Linux ("Linux")

• Linux kernel version 2.4 or higher, glibc2 version 2.3.2 or higher
• 256 Mbytes RAM (512 MB recommended)
• 400 Mbytes available disk space
• X-Server with 1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colors

OpenOffice.org comprises a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features commonly included in modern office suites. Many of the components are similar to those available in Microsoft Office.  See below:

• Writer: a word processor you can use for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book.
• Calc: A powerful spreadsheet with all the tools you need to calculate, analyse, and present your data in numerical reports or sizzling graphics.
• Impress: The fastest, most powerful way to create effective multimedia presentations.
• Base: Lets you manipulate databases seamlessly. Create and modify tables, forms, queries, and reports, all from within OpenOffice.org
• Draw: lets you produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations.
• Math: Lets you create mathematical equations with a graphic user interface or by directly typing your formulas into the equation editor.

So, if you don’t want to spend money on a commercial office productivity tool, OpenOffice.org is the way to go.

Links: http://www.OpenOffice.org