Transcript Cloud Computing: Trend Watch for Libraries

ADVANCE OF COMPUTING
FROM THE GROUND TO THE
CLOUD
Basic concepts and library applications
Marshall Breeding
Director for Innovative Technology and Research
Vanderbilt University Library
Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides
http://www.librarytechnology.org/
http://twitter.com/mbreeding
March 22, 2012
Computers in Libraries 2012
Summary
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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
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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-service
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The Advance of Computing From the Ground to the Cloud
Computers in Libraries, December 2009
http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=14384
What is Cloud computing?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Traditional model
Locally owned and managed
Shifting from departmental to enterprise
Departmental servers co-located in central IT data
centers
Increasingly virtualized
Virtualization
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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
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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
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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
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Many universities outsourcing mail
Retain institutional domain names
 Google
Apps Education Edition
 Gmail
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Microsoft Live@Edu
Infrastructure-as-a-service
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Provisioning of Equipment
Servers, storage
 Virtual
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server provisioning
Examples:
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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
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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
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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
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Amazon Machine Instances (AMI)
 Red
Hat Enterprise Linux
 Debian
 Fedora
 Ubuntu Linux
 Open Solaris
 Windows Server 2003/2008
Storage-as-a-Service
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Provisioned, on-demand storage
Bundled to, or separate from other cloud services
Platform-as-a-Platform as a Service
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Virtualized computing environment for deployment
of software
Application engine, no specific server provisioning
Examples:
 Google
 SDKs
App Engine
for Java, Python
 Heroku:
ruby platform
 Amazon Web Service
Private vs Public cloud
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Public – multi-tenant provisioning
 Logically
isolated computing environment
 Theoretical security / competitive concerns
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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
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Almost all library automation products offered
through hosted options
Saas or ASP?
ILS Products offered as SaaS (mostly
ASP_
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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
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Serials Solutions
 Summon
 Intota
(Announced for 2012/-12)
 360 Search, 360 Link, KnowledgeWorks
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Ex Libris
 Alma
 Primo
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Central
BiblioCommons
OCLC WorldShare Management Services
Platform as a Service
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OCLC WorldShare Platform
 WorldShare
Management Services
 WorldShare License Manager
 Library-created applications
Repositories in the cloud
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Dspace – institutional repository application
Fedora – generalized repository platform
DuraSpace – organization now over both Dspace
and Fedora
DuraCloud – shared, hosted repository platform
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Pilot since 2009, production in early 2011
http://www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php
Caveats and concerns with SaaS
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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
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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
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IaaS: balance elimination of hardware investments for
ongoing usage fees
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Especially attractive for development and prototyping
Risks and concerns
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Privacy of data
 Policies,
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Ownership of data
 Avoid
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regulations, jurisdictions
vendor lock-in
Integrity of Data
 Backups
and disaster recovery
Security issues
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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
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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
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Library automation vendors promoting SaaS
offerings
 Some
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companies already exclusively SaaS
Software pricing increasingly favorable to SaaS
Caveat
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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
Book Image
Publication Info:
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Volume 11 in The Tech
Set
Neal-Schuman
Expected April 2012
ISBN: 781555707859
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http://www.neal-schuman.com/ccl
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Questions and Discussion