Week Four

Week Four

This week I decided to continue with the topic of our assignment, job creation due to cloud computing. During my research I located an article on White Paper that states that IT departments are currently spending 75% of their annual budgets on maintaining legacy systems. A lot of these systems are being replaced by the cloud, allowing the budget to be spent elsewhere, including on new staff. An estimated 14 million jobs will be created by cloud technologies through 2015. A million of these jobs will be in banking, communications, and manufacturing.

The topic that I found most interesting is where these jobs will be created worldwide. Of the estimated 14 million jobs, only 1.17 million will be in North America. 2.87 million jobs will be created in Asia, and the largest amount, 6.75 million will be created in China and India.

Source:
http://www.slideshare.net/MSFrance/cloud-computings-roles-in-job-creation

Week Three

Week Three

This week I really enjoyed the comparisons of traditional applications to their cloud equivalents. Microsoft Office lists Office 365 as their cloud equivalent (textbook pg. 48) but I also think that Google Drive would be an equivalent as well. Google Drive is a web-based office suite (formally known as Google Docs) that allows users to create and edit documents, just like Microsoft Office. Google Drive, however, also allows you to store the created documents on the cloud. Google Drive provides 15 GB of space for free to users. They also offer options for users that need more space starting at $1.99 per month.

I think Google Drive is a really helpful tool, especially students like myself that are constantly on the go. Google Drive updates anytime you have access to the internet, so it is easy to keep files synched between all of your devices. Google Drive works on tablets and smart phones as well as computers. Because Google Drive can be viewed as an "unsafe" method to transfer files, it is blocked at my workplace as they offer internal secured FTP.  I do, however, use Google Drive at home to store pictures and documents.

Sources:
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375012

Week Two

This week I was having trouble differentiating the different types of "as a Service" options, so I decided to do some research. I found some great websites that break down the different types of  cloud models into easy to understand sections. I combined what I read from these sources with the book.

Here is an overview of what I learned:

SaaS:
- Software as a Service provides complete applications to a cloud’s end user.
- SaaS options are prebuilt and cannot be changed beyond personalization.

PaaS:
- Platform as a Service expands an organization's capability to customize application development in the cloud.
- PaaS comprises the environment for developing and provisioning cloud applications.

IaaS:
- Infrastructure as a Service is a provision model in which an organization outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components.
- IaaS allows a client almost complete control over applications, languages, and fundamental services (databases, storage, and networking).

 XaaS:
- Everything as a Service combines or blends traditional storage with cloud resources.
- Other examples of XaaS include storage as a service (SaaS), communications as a service (CaaS), network as a service (NaaS) and monitoring as a service (MaaS).


Sources:
http://www.cloud-competence-center.com/understanding/cloud-computing-service-models/
http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaS
http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/XaaS-anything-as-a-service

Week One

Week One

My name is Cassandra Anton. I am a former Bellevue graduate of Human and Social Services, but have worked in Information Technology for several years. I decided it was time to advance my career in computers, and so I am coming back to Bellevue to finish my Information Technology degree. This is my first IT class with Bellevue, and first experience with Blackboard, so I am excited and nervous all at the same time!

Opening up my Cloud Essentials book felt very overwhelming, simply because there is so much more to know about the cloud then I imagined. Something I found very interesting in this first week is how cloud infrastructures incorporate flexible resource assignment. I felt it very helpful when the book compared the service consumption of the cloud to how a power company charges customers based on their individual usage. Paying only for what you need would be a very helpful option for smaller businesses, or as a failover option.

Another idea discussed this week that I found interesting was sustainability. Many organizations are trying to make their companies more eco-friendly. Because cloud providers can determine how many resources are needed at any given time, this helps reduce the power and cooling that are required to operate computers when less resources are needed. There is also the option of moving data center activity based on weather to save resources.

Turns out there is a lot to learn about the cloud infrastructure. I am interested to see where this class takes me!