The Cloud Computing Over Cluster Grid Computing

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Vineet Jain

Abstract— Cloud Computing has become another buzzword after Web 2.0. However, there are dozens of different definitions for Cloud Computing and there seems to be no consensus on what a Cloud is. On the other hand, Cloud Computing is not a completely new concept; it has intricate connection to the relatively new but thirteen-year established Grid Computing paradigm, and other relevant technologies such as utility computing, cluster computing, and distributed systems in general. Cloud computing is rapidly growing as an alternative to conventional computing. However, it is based on models like cluster computing, distributed computing, utility computing and grid computing in general. This paper presents an end-to-end comparison between Cluster Computing, Grid Computing and Cloud Computing, along with the challenges they face. This could help in better understanding these models and to know how they differ from its related concepts, all in one go. It also discusses the ongoing projects and different applications that use these computing models as a platform for execution. An insight into some of the tools which can be used in the three computing models to design and develop applications is given. This could help in bringing out the innovative ideas in the field and can be explored to the needs in the computing world.

Keywords—Cloud Computing, Grid Computing, Cluster Computing, Web 2.0

Introduction

Computing is being transformed to a model consisting of services that are delivered in a manner similar to traditional utilities such as water, electricity, gas, and telephony. In such a model, users access services based on their requirements without regard to where the services are hosted or how they are delivered. Several computing paradigms have promised to deliver this utility computing vision and these include cluster computing, Grid computing, and more recently Cloud computing. The latter term denotes the infrastructure as a "Cloud" from which businesses and users are able to access applications from anywhere in the world on demand. Thus, the computing world is rapidly transforming towards developing software for millions to consume as a service, rather than to run on their individual computers.

Cloud: is simply an aggregate of computing power. You can think of the entire "cloud" as single server, for your purposes. It's conceptually much like an old school mainframe where you could submit your jobs to and have it return the result, except that nowadays the concept is applied more widely.

Grid: a grid is simply many computers which together might solve a given problem/crunch data. The fundamental difference between a grid and a cluster is that in a grid each node is relatively independent of others; problems are solved in a divide and conquer fashion.

Cluster: conceptually it is essentially smashing up many machines to make a really big & powerful one. This is a much more difficult architecture than cloud or grid to get right because you have to orchestrate all nodes to work together, and provide consistency of things such as cache, memory, and not to mention clocks. Of course clouds have much the same problem, but unlike clusters clouds are not conceptually one big machine, so the entire architecture doesn't have to treat it as such. You can for instance not allocate the full capacity of your data center to a single request, whereas that is kind of the point of a cluster: to be able to throw 100% of the oomph at a single problem.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a paradigm shift where computing is moving away from personal computers or an individual application server to a "cloud" of computers. Users of the cloud only need to be concerned with the computing service being asked for, as the underlying details of how it is achieved are hidden. This method of distributed computing is done through pooling all computer resources together and being managed by software rather than a human.

The services being requested of a cloud are not limited to using web applications, but also for IT management tasks such as requesting of systems, a software stack or a specific web appliance.

Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities.

The diagram below depicts the Cloud Computing stack – it shows three distinct categories within Cloud Computing: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service.

A very simplified way of differentiating these flavors of Cloud Computing is as follows:

SaaS applications are designed for end-users, delivered over the web

PaaS is the set of tools and services designed to make coding and deploying those applications quick and efficient

IaaS is the hardware and software that powers it all – servers, storage, networks, operating systems

Grid Computing

Grid computing can be defined as the use of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. It can be considered as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads involving a large number of files, yet more loosely coupled, heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed as compared to cluster computing. In its simplest form, grid computing may be represented as a "super virtual computer" composed of many networked loosely coupled computers acting together to perform humongous tasks.

Grid computing combines computers from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal, to solve a single task, and may then disappear just as quickly.

One of the main strategies of grid computing is to use middleware to divide and apportion pieces of a program among several computers, sometimes up to many thousands. Grid computing involves computation in a distributed fashion, which may also involve the aggregation of large-scale cluster computing-based systems.

The size of a grid may vary from small—confined to a network of computer workstations within a corporation, for example—to large, public collaborations across many companies and networks. "The notion of a confined grid may also be known as an intra-nodes cooperation whilst the notion of a larger, wider grid may thus refer to an inter-nodes cooperation".

Grids are a form of distributed computing whereby a "super virtual computer" is composed of many networked loosely coupled computers acting together to perform very large tasks. This technology has been applied to computationally intensive scientific, mathematical, and academic problems through volunteer computing, and it is used in commercial enterprises for such diverse applications as drug discovery, economic forecasting, seismic analysis, and back office data processing in support for e-commerce and Web services.

Cluster Computing

Clustering is the use of multiple computers, typically PCs or NIX workstations, multiple storage devices, and redundant interconnections, to form what appears to users as a single highly available system. Cluster computing can be used for load balancing as well as for high availability.

Cluster computing can also be used as a relatively low-cost form of parallel processing for scientific and other applications that lend themselves to parallel operations. An early and well-known example was the Beowulf project in which a number of off-the-shelf PCs were used to form a cluster for scientific applications.

The components of a cluster are usually connected to each other through fast local area networks, each node (computer used as a server) running its own instance of an operating system. Computer clusters emerged as a result of convergence of a number of computing trends including the availability of low cost microprocessors, high speed networks, and software for high performance distributed computing.

Clusters are usually deployed to improve performance and availability over that of a single computer, while typically being much more cost-effective than single computers of comparable speed or availability.

Computer clusters may be configured for different purposes ranging from general purpose business needs such as web-service support, to computation-intensive scientific calculations. In either case, the cluster may use a high-availability approach. Note that the attributes described below are not exclusive and a "compute cluster" may also use a high-availability approach, etc.

"Computer clusters" are used for computation-intensive purposes, rather than handling IO-oriented operations such as web service or databases. For instance, a computer cluster might support computational simulations of vehicle crashes or weather. Very tightly coupled computer clusters are designed for work that may approach "supercomputing".

Computer clusters have historically run on separate physical computers with the same operating system. With the advent of virtualization, the cluster nodes may run on separate physical computers with different operating systems which are painted above with a virtual layer to look similar. The cluster may also be virtualized on various configurations as maintenance takes place.

Advantages Of Cloud Computing

If used properly and to the extent necessary, working with data in the cloud can vastly benefit all types of businesses. Mentioned below are some of the advantages of this technology:

 Cost Efficient: Cloud computing is probably the most cost efficient method to use, maintain and upgrade. Traditional desktop software costs companies a lot in terms of finance. Adding up the licensing fees for multiple users can prove to be very expensive for the establishment concerned. The cloud, on the other hand, is available at much cheaper rates and hence, can significantly lower the company’s IT expenses. Besides, there are many one-time-payment, pay-as-you-go and other scalable options available, which makes it very reasonable for the company in question.

ï‚· Almost Unlimited Storage: Storing information in the cloud gives you almost unlimited storage capacity. Hence, you no more need to worry about running out of storage space or increasing your current storage space availability.

 Backup and Recovery: Since all your data is stored in the cloud, backing it up and restoring the same is relatively much easier than storing the same on a physical device. Furthermore, most cloud service providers are usually competent enough to handle recovery of information. Hence, this makes the entire process of backup and recovery much simpler than other traditional methods of data storage.

ï‚· Automatic Software Integration: In the cloud, software integration is usually something that occurs automatically. This means that you do not need to take additional efforts to customize and integrate your applications as per your preferences. This aspect usually takes care of itself. Not only that, cloud computing allows you to customize your options with great ease. Hence, you can handpick just those services and software applications that you think will best suit your particular enterprise.

 Easy Access to Information: Once you register yourself in the cloud, you can access the information from anywhere, where there is an Internet connection. This convenient feature lets you move beyond time zone and geographic location issues.

ï‚· Quick Deployment: Lastly and most importantly, cloud computing gives you the advantage of quick deployment. Once you opt for this method of functioning, your entire system can be fully functional in a matter of a few minutes. Of course, the amount of time taken here will depend on the exact kind of technology that you need for your business.

Disadvantages Of Cloud Computing

In spite of its many benefits, as mentioned above, cloud computing also has its disadvantages. Businesses, especially smaller ones, need to be aware of these cons before going in for this technology.

 Technical Issues: Though it is true that information and data on the cloud can be accessed anytime and from anywhere at all, there are times when this system can have some serious dysfunction. You should be aware of the fact that this technology is always prone to outages and other technical issues. Even the best cloud service providers run into this kind of trouble, in spite of keeping up high standards of maintenance. Besides, you will need a very good Internet connection to be logged onto the server at all times. You will invariably be stuck in case of network and connectivity problems.

 Security in the Cloud: The other major issue while in the cloud is that of security issues. Before adopting this technology, you should know that you will be surrendering all your company’s sensitive information to a third-party cloud service provider. This could potentially put your company to great risk. Hence, you need to make absolutely sure that you choose the most reliable service provider, who will keep your information totally secure.

 Prone to Attack: Storing information in the cloud could make your company vulnerable to external hack attacks and threats. As you are well aware, nothing on the Internet is completely secure and hence, there is always the lurking possibility of stealth of sensitive data.

Conclusion

Compared to other distributed systems such as grids or clusters, cloud computing solutions give enterprises significantly more flexibility. The differences between cloud computing systems on the one hand and grid and cluster computing systems on the other are attributable to the system dynamics. Resources in grid and cluster environments are generally pre-reserved, while cloud computing systems are demand driven, i.e. operation of these systems is geared to consumers’ actual needs. Another difference concerns the "rapid elasticity" criterion, which forms an integral part of cloud computing systems but is not normally supported by cluster or grid systems. Service usage only tends to be accurately measured in grid and cloud computing systems, whereas the majority of cluster environments simply provision rudimentary metering functions. All three systems are distributed and share similar characteristics. The similarities relate to resource pooling and broad network access – two criteria that are fulfilled by all systems. Network access to cluster and grid computing systems usually takes place within a corporate network, while the services of a cloud computing system can also be accessed through public network, i.e. the Internet.

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