Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Cloud computing may become the next generation data centre. However, more
market oriented resource management could be of interest. CC offers client-
awareness, automation and ease of moving services and data within the cloud. It is
also a utility that is service-oriented where networking, data storage, computing
cycles are end-products. Maintenance/administration falls under the responsibility
of the vendor. The usage of CC is metered (charged only for consummation).
CC offer massive scalability (cost only limiting factor) with flexible allocation of
resources which can be useful for managing spikes even for large parallel tasks.
Regarding on-demand resources (extensibility), in real time, resources can be
added sometimes automatically. Computer hardware can be shared. Virtualization
offers abstraction storage devices and physical servers. Different operating
systems run on the same hardware.
For directions of improvements. Cloud application programming interface is
important. Unified interfaces can make it easier to switch between cloud vendors.
Graphical user interfaces should be another way forward.
What are the differences between cloud and grid/high performance computing?
Well, HPC (high performance computing) or cluster computing uses a set of
homogeneous machines. These can be connected locally by dedicated low-latency
high-speed network (Myrinet or Infiniband). Locally owned clusters can have
processors connected by high speed interconnects [465-478]. They can yield
better throughput than either grid or cloud models. One the other hand, there is the
disadvantage of fixed with at most limited extensibility.
Grid computing comprises a heterogeneous network of loosely coupled computers
acting in concert to perform large tasks. There is no requirement for homogeneity
of computing devices in grid computing which can be spread over a
geographically diverse area connected
via
different networks. Each node on the
grid can be administered differently with a common software to communicate the
results of each other to a central location. There are similarities between cloud and
grid computing. The principal difference is the hardware virtualization in cloud
computing. This difference may help furnish security by isolation. CC is also an
inherent business model with improved usability.
