Categories
Basics

TClouds – The Trustworthy cloud computing future begins now

TCLOUDS puts its focus on privacy protection in cross-border infrastructures and on ensuring resilience against failures and attacks. TCLOUDS aims to build prototype internet-scale ICT infrastructure which allows virtualised computing, network and storage resources over the Internet to provide scalability and cost-efficiency.
In prototype development, it is a priority to address the challenges of cross-border privacy, end-user usability, and acceptance that are essential for widespread acceptance of such an infrastructure.

Facts

  • Start date: 2010-10-01
  • End date: 2013-09-30
  • Duration: 36 months
  • Project cost: € 10.536.129,00
  • Project funding: € 7.500.000,00

Mission of TClouds

  • To develop an advanced cloud infrastructure that can deliver computing and storage that achieves a new level of security, privacy, and resilience yet is cost-efficient, simple, and scalable.
  • To change the perceptions of cloud computing by demonstrating the prototype infrastructure in socially significant application areas: energy and healthcare.

Motivation

State-of-the-art cloud computing enables seamless access to services and global availability of information, but inherent risks severely limit the application of this technology.

In a cloud environment, pertinent data is accessed via information and communications technology (ICT) using remote hardware instead of being stored only on a local server or computer. The benefits of increased storage at reduced cost allow information to be made readily available.

However, the current cloud computing model comes with perceived risks concerning resilience and privacy. There are three fundamental trends in ICT whose risks mutually reinforce each other:

  • the push towards an Internet of Services – most services are provided on the web as a platform;
  • cost pressures drive a migration of ICT into so-called Infrastructure clouds;
  • growing importance of ICT as the critical “nervous system” for socially relevant “smart” infrastructures – such as healthcare, energy, environmental monitoring, or mobility.

Protecting data and services in the cloud is important to governments,organizations and enterprises across all industries, including healthcare, energy utilities, and banking. Thus, the perceived security and dependability risks of cloud computing are limiting its application.

The TClouds project targets cloud computing security and minimization of the widespread concerns about the security of personal data by putting its focus on privacy protection in cross-border infrastructures and on ensuring resilience against failures and attacks.

Objectives

Trustworthy Clouds (TClouds) aims to build a prototype Internetscale ICT infrastructure which allows virtualized computing, network, and storage resources over the Internet to provide scalability and cost-efficiency. The following objectives contribute to achieving the overall goal:

  • Identifying and addressing the legal and business implications and opportunities of a widespread use of infrastructure clouds, contributing to building a regulatory framework for enabling resilient and privacy-enhanced cross-border infrastructure clouds.
  • Defining an architecture and prototype for securing infrastructure clouds by providing security enhancements that can be deployed on top of commodity infrastructure clouds (as a cloudof-clouds) and assessing the resilience and privacy benefits of security extensions of existing clouds.
  • Providing resilient middleware for adaptive security on the cloud-of-clouds. The TClouds platform will provide tolerance and adaptability to mitigate security incidents and unstable operating conditions for a range of applications running on such clouds-of-clouds.

To demonstrate TClouds, scientists will prototype two scenarios involving critical IT- systems:

  • A smart energy grid with Portugal’s leading energy and solution providers Energias de Portugal and EFACEC: TClouds will show how such energy-preserving systems can be migrated to a cloud infrastructure while increasing their resilience, privacy protection and tolerance against both hackers and hardware failures.
  • A patient-centric home healthcare service with San Raffaele Hospital in Milano, Italy, will remotely monitor, diagnose and assist patients outside a hospital setting. TClouds will demonstrate how the quality of in-home healthcare can be improved cost-efficiently without reducing privacy.

Strategy

The work plan of TClouds encompasses four independently managed Activities and twelve tightly integrated Work Packages.

Activity A1:

Legal and Business Foundations for Cross-border Computing
A1 is responsible for legal and regulatory guidance, the privacy impact assessment for cross-border clouds, and viable business models for cloud providers.

Activity A2:

Trustworthy Internet-scale Computing Platform
A2 is responsible for the TClouds platform. This platform includes trustworthy individual clouds that are based either on extending commodity clouds or on strengthening cloud operation software.

Activity A3:

Benchmark Application & User-centric Evaluation
A3 is responsible for delivering the Smart Power Grid and Home Healthcare cloud scenarios as well as self-evaluation and self improvement through end-user and expert feedback.

Activity A4:

Programme Management and Dissemination
A4 is responsible for wide and effective dissemination as well as the proper programme management that ensures timely and high-quality delivery of all results while mitigating emerging conflicts.

Source and more information at http://www.tclouds-project.eu.

Categories
Basics

About Enterprise Clouds, Private Clouds and a Scapegoat (CloudExpo Europe 2010) – Part 1

The Time is Right for Enterprise Cloud Computing


At the CloudExpo Europe 2010 in Praque the main topic focused on Enterprise Cloud Computing and the statement “The Time is Right for Enterprise Cloud Computing”. And exactly this theme was my positive aspect of the conference. After finding the best definition in detail about “What is Cloud Computing” at the last month and years, during the CloudExpo Europe it was passed over to show the real benefits of Cloud Computing for the business and pointing out the best arguments and approaches.

Besides the technical pros of Cloud Computing comparing to a traditional data center, the financial amenities stood in the foreground as well.

Upfront costs and expenditure type
In a traditional data center an enterprise has to invest in upfront costs for hard- and software and need to assume the capital expenditure (capex) and costs for the operating expense (opex). A Cloud Computing provider however invests well-directed in his infrastructure and offer this as a service. Therefore an enterprise deliver the capital expenditure to the Cloud provider and just pay the operating expense if it’s needed.

Cash Flow and operational costs
As described above, an enterprise has to purchase it’s servers and software in advance. Using services offered by a Cloud provider, costs will only occur when the service is actually used. Regarding the operational costs, an enterprise constantly tries to downsize costs for development, deployment, maintenance etc. This outlay could be dispensed with the service delivery from a Cloud provider. In this case the Cloud provider is responsible for the life cycle of the hardware and software components

Financial risk
At first, investments in an own data center are always made in advance, whereby an enterprise had to assume a huge financial risk without the certainty to get a ROI. Getting services from a Cloud provider, the financial risk is reduced to a time frame of one month, by what the ROI could be measured contemporary as well.

In spite of the recurring discussion – Cloud Value is only about Cost – this myth was invalidated by the statement “Cloud Value is about Business Agility, Opportunities and Investment”. Because Cloud Computing stands for more benefits and possibilities as just convert your costs into variable ones. It allows a company to become more flexible and agile.

The statement “The Time is Right for Enterprise Cloud Computing” mentioned above was affirmed by an independent survey asking multiple CIOs around the world. Find some Q/A below:

Does Your Company uses Cloud Compuiting?

  • Yes: 51%
  • No: 49%

What level has your company adopted cloud Computing technology?

  • Combination of cloud and traditional: 60,58%
  • Experimenting: 24,93%
  • Solely cloud technology: 13,19%
  • don’t know: 1,3%

Was the Cloud Computing project that you undertook successful?

  • Yes: 96,18%
  • No: 3,82%

For those that didn’t use cloud computing:

  • It’s to soon to change from internal systems: 37%
  • Cloud Computing is seen a viable technology option: 42%
  • Intend to use Cloud Computing in the next 12 month: 21%

Move to the cloud – key issues:

  • Security
  • Integration
  • Reliability
  • Privacy
  • Costs
  • Vendor Lock-In
  • Scalability
  • Legal / Ethical

Cloud Computing usage scenarios:

  • Business Applications
  • Infrastructure as a Service
  • IT Management
  • Productivity applications
  • Collaboration Applications
  • Development/ Deployment

Do you expect Cloud Computing adoption will introduce new suppliers to your organization?

  • Yes: 61,9%
  • no: 14,5%
  • don’t know: 22,6%

Will Cloud Computing bring additional complexities in overall management of IT resources?

  • Yes: 26,9%
  • No: 54,9%
  • don’t know: 16,7%

Do you consider that Cloud Computing could result in a smaller ICT department?

  • Yes: 55,9%
  • No: 25,7%
  • dont know: 16,9%

In summary the survey shows, over 96% that undertook a cloud project deemed it successfull and 72% that don’t use cloud technology are positive for it’s adoption. Against that over 60% consider privacy, integration and reliability as key issues of Cloud Computing whereat nearly 85% of participants considered security as a key issue in moving to the cloud.

Tomorrow in the second part you will read why Cloud Computing is a scapegoat.