ADVANCE OF COMPUTING FROM THE GROUND TO THE CLOUDBasic concepts and library applications

Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technology and ResearchVanderbilt University LibraryFounder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/http://twitter.com/mbreedingComputers in Libraries 2012March 22, 2012

Summary

Cloud computing is one of the most important technology trends of the times. The phase of client/server computing is fading into obsolescence, replaced by entirely web-based systems, increasingly deployed through SaaS. Libraries and other technology-oriented organizations now have options through infrastructure-as-a-service offerings such as Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud and Simple Storage Service to ramp up computing capabilities quickly, enjoy free access for smaller projects, and take advantage of usage- based subscription models for larger-scale production projects. Breeding expands on these topics and provides a basic explanation of cloud computing that focuses on real advantages and disadvantages for libraries.

Continuum of Abstraction

Locally owned and installed servers Co-located servers Co-located virtual servers Web hosting Server hosting services Application Service Provider Software-as-a-service Infrastructure-as-a-service Platform-as-a-serviceThe Advance of Computing From the Ground to the CloudComputers in Libraries, December 2009http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=14384

What is Cloud computing?

Wikipedia:

“Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

Cloud computing as marketing term

Cloud computing used very freely, tagged to almost any virtualized environment

Any arrangement where the library relies on some kind of remote hosting environment for major automation components

Includes almost any vendor-hosted product offering

Cloud computing – characteristics

Web-based Interfaces Externally hosted Pricing: subscription or utility Highly abstracted computing model Provisioned on demand Scaled according to variable needs Elastic – consumption of resources can

contract and expand according to demand

Fundamental technology shift Mainframe computing Client/Server Cloud Computing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrick/61952845/

http://soacloudcomputing.blogspot.com/2008/10/cloud-computing.html

http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-2001/jw-1019-jxta.html

Gartner Hype Cycle 2009

Gartner Hype Cycle 2010

Gartner Hype Cycle 2011

Local Computing

Traditional model Locally owned and managed Shifting from departmental to enterprise Departmental servers co-located in

central IT data centers Increasingly virtualized

Virtualization

The ability for multiple computing images to simultaneously exist on one physical server

Physical hardware partitioned into multiple instances using virtual machine management tools such as VMware

Applicable to local, remote, and cloud models

Application service provider

Business applications hosted by software vendor

Standalone application on discrete or virtualized hardware

Staff and public clients accessed via the Internet

Same user interfaces and functionality as if installed locally

Established as a deployment model in the 1990’s

ASP vs SaaS

From: THINKstrategies: CIO’s Guide to Software-as-a-Service

Software-as-a-Service

Complete software application, customized for customer use

Software delivered through cloud infrastructure, data stored on cloud

Eg: Salesforce.com—widely used business infrastructure

Google Apps

Microsoft Office 365

Enterprise SaaS deployments Many universities outsourcing mail Retain institutional domain names

Google Apps Education Edition Gmail

Microsoft Live@Edu

Infrastructure-as-a-service

Provisioning of Equipment Servers, storage

Virtual server provisioning Examples:

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) Rackspace Cloud (

http://www.rackspacecloud.com/) EMC2 Atmos (http://www.atmosonline.com/)

Data as a service

SaaS provides opportunity for highly shared data models WorldCat: one globally shared copy that serves all

libraries Primo Central: central index of articles maintained by Ex

Libris shared by all libraries implementing Primo / Primo Central Global Knowledgebase of e-journal holdings shared among all

customers of SFX Serials Solutions: KnowledgeWorks

General opportunity to move away from library-by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows

Amazon EC2

Amazon Machine Instances (AMI) Red Hat Enterprise Linux Debian Fedora Ubuntu Linux Open Solaris Windows Server 2003/2008

Storage-as-a-Service

Provisioned, on-demand storage Bundled to, or separate from other cloud

services

Platform-as-a-Platform as a Service

Virtualized computing environment for deployment of software

Application engine, no specific server provisioning

Examples: Google App Engine

SDKs for Java, Python Heroku: ruby platform Amazon Web Service

Private vs Public cloud

Public – multi-tenant provisioning Logically isolated computing environment Theoretical security / competitive concerns

Private – cloud architecture, institutionally controlled Enforces physical segregation Leverages cost and scalability Institutions may require private clouds from

providers Institutions may operate their own cloud

infrastructure for internal clients

Library automation through SaaS Almost all library automation products

offered through hosted options Saas or ASP?

ILS Products offered as SaaS (mostly ASP_

SirsiDynix Symphony SirsiDynix Horizon Innovative Interfaces Millennium Ex Libris Aleph EOS International EOS.Web Evergreen – Equinox Software Koha – LibLime, ByWater, many others

internationally …many other examples …

Multi-tenant SaaS

Serials Solutions Summon Intota (Announced for 2012/-12) 360 Search, 360 Link, KnowledgeWorks

Ex Libris Alma Primo Central

BiblioCommons OCLC WorldShare Management Services

Platform as a Service

OCLC WorldShare Platform WorldShare Management Services WorldShare License Manager Library-created applications

Repositories in the cloud

Dspace – institutional repository application

Fedora – generalized repository platform DuraSpace – organization now over both

Dspace and Fedora DuraCloud – shared, hosted repository

platform Pilot since 2009, production in early 2011 http://www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php

Caveats and concerns with SaaS Libraries must have adequate bandwidth

to support access to remote applications without latency

Quality of service agreements that guarantee performance and reliability factors

Configurability and customizability limitations

Access to API’s Ability to interoperate with 3rd party

applications Eg: Connect SaaS ILS with discovery

product from another vendor

Cost implications

Total cost of ownership Do all cost components result in increased or

decreased expense Personnel costs – need less technical administration Hardware – server hardware eliminated Software costs: subscription, license,

maintenance/support Indirect costs: energy costs associated with power and

cooling of servers in data center IaaS: balance elimination of hardware investments

for ongoing usage fees Especially attractive for development and prototyping

Risks and concerns

Privacy of data Policies, regulations, jurisdictions

Ownership of data Avoid vendor lock-in

Integrity of Data Backups and disaster recovery

Security issues

Most providers implement stronger safeguards beyond the capacity of local institutions

Virtual instances equally susceptible to poor security practices as local computing

Cloud computing trends for libraries Increased migration away from local

computing toward some form of remote / hosted / virtualized alternative

Cloud computing especially attractive to libraries with few technology support personnel

Adequate bandwidth will continue to be a limiting factor

Increased pressure

Library automation vendors promoting SaaS offerings Some companies already exclusively SaaS

Software pricing increasingly favorable to SaaS

Caveat

technologies promoted by companies and organizations have a vested interest in their adoption

Critically assess viability of the technology and its appropriateness for your organization

Cloud Computing for Libraries

Volume 11 in The Tech Set

Neal-Schuman Expected April

2012 ISBN:

781555707859 http://www.neal-

schuman.com/ccl

Book Image Publication Info:

Questions and Discussion