Cloud Computing- Future and it’s Challenges.
Senthilkumar Nanddagopal
MSc Computing, Griffith College.
Dublin. Ireland.
Introduction:
I am going to discuss the cloud computing future and the challenges it is facing now. I have taken two research papers primarily for discussion. First one is Cloud computing Research and Development trend, which was about the principle, style, utility, advantage and finally the challenges and the solution for it. Second one is Cloud computing Security Issues and Challenges, this paper discusses the physical security, issue of switching between the providers, encryption, authorisation issues and impact of dynamic and fluid nature of virtual machine when it comes to auditability of data.
My View:
I certainly agree that cloud computing is the future of computing. Everything is moving towards the virtual sharing and virtual storage. Yes, the future is not without challenges the challenges brings the improvement in the cloud computing.
Reason for advocating the Cloud computing for Future:
The cloud computing started as a promising technology and developed into a fastest growing segment in IT industry [1]. Where everything related to the Information Technology is available in the virtual domain. The user needs to just login to the required website/domain and use the services for a minimal cost without any high quality equipment[2]. The companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon have started investing a lot on addressing the security issues. The issues they are trying to address are the physical security, issue of switching between the providers, encryption, authorisation issues and impact of dynamic and fluid nature of virtual machine when it comes to auditability of data[1]. The issues related to securities can be addressed by adopting one of the following
- Trusted Cloud Computing based on TCP[3]
- Role Based Access Control Model in cloud computing environment[3]
- Trusted Platform Support Service (TSS)[3]
The other issue is problem of actually allocating the memory of servers in a data centre based on online requests for storage. This is addressed by adopting one of the two algorithms to find the nearest data centre. They are (1) Algorithm HLR and (2) Algorithm CCHLR[4]. The security risks actually vary with each cloud and are dependent on a wide range of factors including the sensitivity of information assets, cloud architectures and security controls involved in a particular cloud environment [5]. The risk management framework gives a better understanding of critical areas of focus in cloud computing environment, to identifying a threat and identifying vulnerability[5]. The framework has seven processes, including:
processes-selecting relevant critical areas, strategy and planning, risk analysis, risk assessment, risk mitigation, assessing and monitoring program, and risk management review[5].
Even with the existing challenges and issues the future of Cloud Computing is very bright.
Reference:
[1] Cloud computing Security Issues and Challenges, Zhidong Shen, Li Li, Fei Yan, Xiaoping Wu, 2010 International Conference on Intelligent Computation Technology and Automation,2010.
[2] Cloud Computing Research and Development Trend, Shuai Zhang, Shufen Zhang, Xuebin Chen, Xiuzhen Huo, 2010 Second International Conference on Future Networks,2010.
[3] Cloud computing Based on Trusted Computing Platform, Krešimir Popović, Željko Hocenski, Institute of Automation and Process Computing,2010.
[4] Efficient Data Centers, Cloud computing in the future of DS, Doina Bein, Shashi Phoha, Wolfgang Bein, 2010 Seventh International Conference on Information Technology,2010
[5] Information Security Risk Management Framework for the Cloud
Computing Environments, Xuan Zhang, Nattapong Wuwong, Hao Li, Xuejie Zhang, 2010 10th IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (CIT 2010),2010.
Senthil's Blog 