Cloud Computing Use Cases. August, 2011

Transcription

1 Cloud Computing Use Cases August, 2011

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Purpose of this Project Process and Participants Cloud Computing Basics Definition Deployment Models Service Models Assumptions and Principles Interoperability Portability Security and Privacy Standards Notes on the Use Cases Definitions of Actors Use Cases P01 Move three-tier application from on-premises to cloud P02 Move three-tier cloud application to another cloud P03 Move part of on-premises application to cloud to create hybrid application P04 Hybrid application with shared user ID and access services P05 Move hybrid application to another cloud with common infrastructures P06 Hybrid cloud application that uses platform services P07 Port cloud application that uses platform services to another cloud P08 Create cloud application with components that run on multiple clouds P09 Cloud application workload requires use of multiple clouds (cloudburst) P10 Users can shop around for cloud services A. Appendix of Technical Notes... A-24 A.1 On the Transparency of Standards Implementations... A-24 A.2 On Portability in the Cloud... A-24 A.3 On Data Portability in the Cloud... A-25 A.4 On Switching Costs... A-26 A5. Common, Recurring Technologies and Requirements among the Use Cases... A-27 Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases i

3 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose of this Project This white paper describes ten of the most common cloud computing use cases from a practical, objective point of view based on customer experience. The purpose is to provide a practical context to help architects, product designers, and policy makers to understand evolving needs as customers move to cloud computing, and to identify the technical capabilities and degree of standardization required across cloud environments to meet those needs. By meeting those needs, we mean not only to meet agreed SLAs, but also to provide the interoperability, portability, and security which the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has identified as the important cloud computing requirements. These three requirements are one of the lenses through which we view the use cases, and one of the main threads in our discussion of them. 1.2 Process and Participants Microsoft participates in a number of cloud use-case definition, analysis, and discussion efforts, including the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) cloud working group; NIST cloud roundtables; the ISO JTC-1, subcommittee 38 on cloud computing; and the German Public Sector engagement with Fraunhofer FOKUS. For a deeper and broader grounding in customer experience, Microsoft developed these use cases and reviewed the white paper with the assistance of the Interoperability Executive Customer (IEC) Council as a research study in cloud computing. We are publishing the study to the standards community at large and NIST in particular to promote further discussion. Microsoft established the IEC Council in June 2006 as a means of regularly interacting with customers to solve their technology interoperability challenges. The council includes CIO-level executives from over 40 governments and corporations representing a cross-section of industries. Microsoft executives meet twice a year with the Council to discuss interoperability issues, and throughout the year technical and business working groups spanning the member organizations drill down on interoperability details. The Council focuses on seven work streams : Office Productivity and Collaboration Tools; Identity Management; Business Process Modeling and Services Oriented Architecture; Systems Management; Developer Tools and Runtime; Public Interoperability Policy; and Cloud Computing. This paper was developed as part of the Cloud Computing work stream with input and feedback from many IEC Council members. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 1-1

4 1.3 Cloud Computing Basics Definition NIST defines cloud computing as a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. 1 Computing, at its core, is processing data. The key change in cloud computing is that the location of where data is processed moves, at least partially, from on-premises datacenters to the cloud. The cloud centralizes data processing while providing on-demand delivery of data and services to anywhere, similar to the way electricity is produced and distributed, and with a similar increase in efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Centralizing computing in the cloud, however, does mean that data processing is removed from the direct control and visibility of users. That gives rise to concerns around the issues of interoperability, portability, and security. To help frame these issues, this document provides diagrams, descriptions and discussions of ten common use cases. NIST also defines three cloud computing service models and four deployment models Deployment Models The deployment models private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud are generally orthogonal to interoperability, portability, and security requirements and standards. These requirements and the standards that help us meet them apply equally across all cloud variations; whether an organization is moving an application from one public cloud to another, or from a private cloud to a hybrid cloud, the operations and requirements are essentially the same. In fact, it s important to ensure that moving from one cloud variation to another is essentially the same in order to preserve portability and all its benefits Service Models The service models that NIST defines are important details in these use cases. They are: Software as a Service (SaaS). The consumer uses the provider s applications over a network. Plaform as a Service (PaaS). The consumer deploys customer-created cloud applications onto the cloud platform. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The consumer rents processing, storage, network capacity, and other fundamental computing resources provided in the cloud. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but supplies and controls the choice of operating systems, application runtime, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls). This document focuses on use cases for IaaS and PaaS cloud services. 1 Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 1-2

5 1.4 Assumptions and Principles Microsoft and the IEC Council are in accord with the important cloud computing requirements that NIST has identified, and these requirements have served as basic assumptions and guiding principles in the development of these use cases. These requirements are: Interoperability Clouds should work together. Cloud platforms should enable developer choice in tools, languages, and runtimes, and should accommodate the naturally occurring range of applications while accounting for interoperability with the use of well documented protocol specifications, file formats, and other forms of data exchange Portability Workloads and data need to be able to move around. Cloud platforms should make it easy and efficient to securely move customer applications on and off, and data in and out, of their infrastructure. There should be a secure migration path to cloud computing that preserves existing investments in technologies which are appropriate to the cloud, and that enables the coexistence and interoperability of on-premises software and cloud services. In particular, members of the IEC Council have consistently emphasized data portability as a key requirement to prevent vendor lock-in and to preserve the agility and flexibility of computing in the cloud Security and Privacy Customer workloads are protected to the extent possible. One of Microsoft s core principles is that customers own their data. This means they must have choice over how cloud service providers use and disclose their personal information. Of course, the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data must be ensured. In addition, customers must be able to truly exercise choice over how their information is used, and in the cloud they can do so in a meaningful way only if clearly informed about how their information is used Standards Whenever possible, the industry should use existing cloud specifications and standards that are known to work for critical use cases; that can be easily used by cloud service providers and consumers; and that are extensible, to provide a basis for innovation. Leveraging existing and commonly used standards where possible and developing new standards only when needed is the most efficient way to accelerate the development of a cloud computing environment that will meet the needs of the broadest possible range of cloud consumers and providers. This approach is critical to meeting the three requirements already discussed, i.e., interoperability, portability, and security. For more detail on standards and the need for transparency in cloud providers implementations of standards, see A.1, On Transparency of Standards Implementations. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 1-3

6 1.5 Notes on the Use Cases The use cases described in this paper are platform-centric for the lifecycle of a cloud application; in other words, in each case we consider the requirements for building, porting, and maintaining cloud applications on top of an IaaS or PaaS cloud platform. Future research will be needed in order to identify and develop SaaS-centric cloud computing use cases. Each use case except the last one includes a diagram to illustrate the action; technical detail in the right-hand table; and a discussion of some important aspects and implications of the use case in the left-hand column. In the technical tables, you ll see capital letters in parentheses (A), (B), (C). These letters represent recurring, common elements and correspond with lettered descriptions of the elements that you ll find in the final section of this paper, Common, Recurring Technologies and Requirements among the Use Cases. In general, the use cases are arranged by complexity, beginning with simpler, more basic deployments and from there increasing in cumulative complexity. This walk before you run order reflects a typical migration pattern for cloud consumers, who naturally start simple and work up to more challenging use cases as they gain experience and confidence. Because each use case is built on the preceding use cases, we do not provide redundant information for each one but rather refer back, in the Technology elements in common with other use cases section of each technical table, to pre-requisites that have already been discussed. 1.6 Definitions of Actors This document refers to the following actors or players: Cloud service providers: Public cloud vendors offering cloud services (e.g., Amazon, Google, Microsoft); hosters offering hosted applications running in cloud environments in any deployment model; teams supporting cloud platforms for internal or private use; or SaaS cloud vendors offering finished, hosted software running in their cloud-based data centers. Cloud application developers: Independent software developers developing or porting applications for cloud platforms and environments (includes IaaS/PaaS/SaaS clouds). Cloud operators/management: People in charge of operating, managing, and maintaining cloud applications. Cloud users/consumers: Also referred to as end users. Cloud identity providers: Cloud services offering federated identity and access control services. Cloud procurement officers: People in charge of cloud services procurement. Cloud broker services: Cloud services offering placement and consumer/provider brokering/matching for services offered by other cloud service providers. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 1-4

7 2. Use Cases P01 Move three-tier application from on-premises to cloud Diagram Description An organization moves a three-tier application from an on-premises datacenter to a cloud infrastructure provider that will run the application off-premises. A three-tier application consists of the frontend web server, back-end database, and middle-tier business logic that services data requests between the user and the database. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion This use case is listed first because it represents the most common type of webbased application deployed both in enterprises and mid-sized companies. Thus, the three-tier app is often an entry-level point for larger organizations to learn how to migrate gradually from the traditional client/server, web-based model to cloud computing. On the other hand, new small and mediumsized businesses (SMBs) may build and run their entire company on a cloud platform Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Requires cloud appliance packaging file format support: a. Package multiple VMs, one per application tier, in one or more appliance files. (A) b. Each VM image contains the respective initialization data, application user account data for ID/access, database if applicable. 2. May require upload/import of bulk user data to the cloud over the network or by sending a disk with agreed-to data packaging. (C) 3. May require access to separate identity/authentication/ authorization system if using federation. a. To protect the privacy of cloud users, cloud identity providers should not be able to track and trace user identity and access patterns. The user should not have to provide more information than the minimum necessary to be granted access. (L, M) 4. Requires cloud-based VM management/control for lifetime management of each application tier running as one or more VMs. (B) 5. Virtual LAN/networking support for managing application s IP address space. (J) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) IaaS for machine execution; platform services for data, identity and access are considered available for source and target clouds but not addressed in this case. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case A hypervisor-based IaaS cloud with support for VMs and appliance file format. VM management tool is needed to monitor the VMs in each cloud. File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution A virtual cloud appliance file format is needed, as well as a VM management protocol with basic CRUD support for VMs. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-5

8 rather than building their own datacenters at huge cost. Many new Web 3.0 businesses (such as social gaming companies) would not exist without the cloud. For a discussion of some of the technical issues involved in portability in the cloud, see A.2, On Portability in the Cloud. Components and services needed for execution Hypervisor, cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server Input parameters needed for initialization Web-based, three-tier enterprise application needs to be executing onpremises Related and pre-requisite use cases None Existing specifications that are known to work Hypervisor standards for appliance image file format New specifications required 1. VM portability: Create portable appliances from existing on-premises apps and move them to the cloud 2. Bulk import/export of customer data 3. VM management protocol Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-6

9 P02 Move three-tier cloud application to another cloud Diagram Description An organization moves a three-tier application from one cloud infrastructure provider to another. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion This use case is the same as P01 except the application is being moved from one cloud service provider to another, rather than an on-premises datacenter to the cloud. As in P01, the ability to move and then run the app in the cloud as a runtime copy of the original, together with the bulk data, requires APIs, specifications, templates, or standards that enable portability of VMs in and out of the cloud; importing and exporting of data; and VM lifecycle management (or, more precisely in this case, cloud service lifecycle management). The Open Cloud Standards Incubator of the DMTF defines the lifecycle of a cloud service to include the following stages: Description of cloud service in a template Deployment of cloud service into a cloud Offering of the service to consumers Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Requires VM portability: Create portable appliances from existing VMs in source cloud, then move to 2nd cloud. (A) 2. Connections to inside-firewall systems (e.g., VPNs) or outside systems (e.g., identity federation servers) need to be easily reconfigurable/ reusable. 3. Requires bulk import/export of customer data as in use case P02. (C) 4. Requires VM management. (B) 5. Customer may require erase delete of the application on the old cloud. 6. Regardless of the choice of programming language, runtime and tools used to develop the original on-premises application, the cloud service should be available on-premises as a private cloud or offered by a third party as a hosted cloud if the customer chooses not to deploy to the public cloud. (K) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) IaaS for machine execution; platform services for data, identity and access are considered available for source and target clouds but not addressed in this case. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case Two separate hypervisor-based IaaS clouds with support for VMs and appliance file format. VM management tool is needed to monitor the VMs in each cloud. File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution A virtual cloud appliance file format is needed, as well as a VM management protocol with basic CRUD support for VMs. Components and services needed for execution Hypervisor, cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Input parameters needed for initialization Three-tier IaaS cloud application needs to be executing in the original cloud. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-7

10 Consumer entrance into contracts for the offering Provider operation and management of instances of the service Removal of the service offering 1 Related and pre-requisite use cases P01 Existing specifications that are known to work Hypervisor standards for appliance image file format New specifications required 1. VM portability: Create portable appliances from existing VMs in the source cloud, and move them to the 2nd one. (A) 2. Bulk import/export of customer data 3. VM management protocol 4. May require erase delete of the application in the old cloud These stages of the cloud service lifecycle are areas where standardization is evolving. Hence, cloud provider transparency on each of these areas is key to maintaining the portability that s (obviously) required to switch from one cloud to another. For a discussion of the technical specifics of moving data in and out of the cloud, see A.3, On Data Portability in the Cloud. For a discussion of inputs and variables that factor into the costs of switching cloud providers or platforms, see A.4, On Switching Costs. 1 Distributed Management Task Force, Interoperable Clouds, a white paper from the Open Cloud Standards Incubator, November Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-8

11 P03 Move part of on-premises application to cloud to create hybrid application Diagram Description An organization moves one or more parts or tiers of an on-premises application to the cloud, in order to separate data storage from processing, for example. This creates a cloud that is a hybrid of both public (off-premises) and private (on-premises) clouds. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion A hybrid cloud combines the security and customization of traditional IT infrastructure, comprised of dedicated server hardware, with the flex, scale, and cost-effectiveness of public or private cloud infrastructure. Says Gartner: Data growth is the biggest data center hardware infrastructure challenge for large enterprises. 1 Because renting cloud storage costs far less than building datacenters, a common hybrid application that s emerged is cloud data storage combined with on-premises processing. Live application data may be stored in the cloud Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Requires VM management, appliance packaging, bulk import/export, as in the above scenarios. (A, B, C) 2. Also requires runtime web interfaces for the on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. (D) 3. Will likely require cloud storage for caching intermediate results (simple cloud storage APIs/semantics). (D) 4. Regardless of choice of programming language, runtime and tools used to develop the original on-premises application, the cloud service should be offered by a third party as a hosted cloud if the customer chooses not to deploy to the provider s public cloud. (K) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) IaaS for machine execution; platform services for data, identity and access are considered available for target clouds. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case Hypervisor-based IaaS cloud with support for VMs and appliance file format. VM management tool needed. Interoperable web-based communication and messaging layers on-premises and in the cloud. File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution A virtual cloud appliance file format is needed, as well as a VM management protocol with basic CRUD support for VMs. Web-based protocols for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/ sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. 1 Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-9

12 for cloudburst scenarios, or on-premises data may be replicated to a public storage cloud for archiving and backup, or to implement storage tiering that uses lower-cost tiers for publicly-accessible data. The additional complexity involved in hybrid vs. pure-play clouds requires that management across hybrid resources be simplified and optimized. System configuration, performance management, and capacity management must span the hybrid cloud or service; otherwise, on-premises components may fail to communicate properly with cloud components, or the data access latency may become a problem. Many cloud service providers offer rules-based solutions to simplify hybrid management; this is a start toward standardized management Components and services needed for execution Hypervisor, cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Web-based middleware (app server) may be desirable but is not essential. Input parameters needed for initialization Web-based, three-tier enterprise application needs to be executing onpremises, with proper componentization. Related and pre-requisite use cases P01 Existing specifications that are known to work Hypervisor standards for appliance image file format; runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/ sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. New specifications required 1. VM portability: Create portable appliances from existing on-premises applications and move them to the cloud 2. Bulk import/export of customer data 3. VM management protocol methodologies that allow customers to deploy and manage their services across a range of evolving hybrid environments. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-10

13 P04 Hybrid application with shared user ID and access services Diagram Description This use case is the same as P03 with the added condition that user ID and access are shared between on-premises and cloud components. This requires a common user ID and access control methodology between components based on either on-premises directory access or identity federation. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators, cloud identity providers. Discussion Each application or information source has its own access control mechanisms. Federated identity and single sign-on use an authentication service to vouch that a user with a particular role should be allowed access to a given resource, even if the system controlling that resource has no knowledge of that user. Federated identity enables information about users in one security domain to be provided to other organizations Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Hybrid cloud application, deployed partially on-premises and partially on one or more hosted/public cloud(s), uses federated identity and access mechanisms shared among cloud(s) as well as on-premises. a. Support for federated identity and access management is standardsbased and standards-neutral. (Examples: WS-Trust, SAML, OpenID) b. Utilizes federated identity and access management: certificate-based authorization such as a directory-based cert-authority or Security Token Service (STS)-based authorization. c. Users can use both enterprise IDs as well as cloud IDs such as those issued by Yahoo, Google or Microsoft LiveID. d. To protect users privacy, cloud identity providers should not be able to track and trace the user s identity and access patterns. Users should not have to provide more information than the minimum necessary to be granted access. (L, M) 5. This use case applies equally to pure, non-hybrid cloud applications Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) IaaS for machine execution; platform services for data, identity and access (directory-based or federated) are needed between on-premises and cloud components. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case Hypervisor-based IaaS cloud with support for VMs and appliance file format. VM management tool needed. Interoperable web-based communication and messaging layers on-premises and in the cloud. Federated or on-premises identity/access platform services required. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-11

14 in a federation. This allows for cross-domain single sign-on (SSO) and eliminates the need for content and service providers to maintain user names and passwords. Cloud identity providers (sometimes shortened to IdPs ) use a standard browser SSO methodology to authenticate cloud users prior to their authorization to access any cloud services. Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is the foundation for emerging federated identity-based authentication and authorization architectures. SAML is an XMLbased open standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between security domains i.e., between an identity provider and a service provider. SAML exists in different versions, however, which are supported by different cloud providers. This can create problems of integration complexity in hybrid situations. By using multiprotocol federation gateways, cloud identity providers can hide this complexity from cloud consumers. In addition to authentication and authorization, organizations must also File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution A virtual cloud appliance file format is needed, as well as a VM management protocol with basic CRUD support for VMs. Web-based protocols for on-premises and cloud components to interact/ exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation (also needed to offer identity and access services). Components and services needed for execution Hypervisor, cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Web-based middleware (app server) may be desirable but is not essential. Input parameters needed for initialization Three-tier IaaS cloud application needs to be executing in the original cloud, with proper componentization. User ID data may be needed to initialize cloud-based identity service. Related and pre-requisite use cases P01, P03 Existing specifications that are known to work Hypervisor standards for appliance image file format; runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/ sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/ invocation. Directory access protocol such as LDAP, or SAML or OpenID. Security Token Service standards. New specifications required 1. VM portability: Create portable appliances from existing on-premises apps and move them to the cloud 2. Bulk import/export of customer data 3. VM management protocol 4. Protocols for federated identity and access service manage the lifecycle of identities themselves, using their Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems and communicating any changes to the cloud identity provider. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-12

15 P05 Move hybrid application to another cloud with common infrastructures Diagram Description An organization moves the cloud portions of a hybrid application from cloud A to cloud B, both of which support common infrastructures and VM packages. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion The complexity ratchets up another level with this use case. Now, in addition to managing applications on-premises, in the cloud, and across hybrid environments, organizations will also face the challenge of managing relationships and operations across multiple clouds. While such a scenario offers maximum flexibility, it also creates a cloud environment with different management, security, networking, and pricing models, as well as multiple sets of APIs, templates, and supported standards. An application encapsulated in a VM can move freely (in theory) between systems either dynamically or via offline file transfer. Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Requires VM management, appliance packaging, bulk import/export, as in the above scenarios. (A, B, C) 2. Also requires runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. (D) 3. Will likely require cloud storage for caching intermediate results (simple cloud storage APIs/semantics). (D) 4. Regardless of the choice of programming language, runtime, and tools used to develop the application, the cloud service should be offered by a third party as a hosted cloud if the customer chooses not to deploy to the provider s public cloud. (K) 5. Platform neutral data access formats, e.g. OData. (E) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) IaaS for machine execution; platform services for data, identity and access are considered available in the target cloud. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case Hypervisor-based IaaS cloud with support for VMs and appliance file format. VM management tool needed. Interoperable web-based communication and messaging layers on-premises and in the cloud. File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution A virtual cloud appliance file format is needed, as well as a VM management protocol with basic CRUD support for VMs. Web-based protocols for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/ sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/ invocation. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-13

16 But elements such as networking and security may not be identical among all the environments. This can cause interoperability problems and failure conditions; e.g., variations in bandwidth and latency may affect performance. It also shines a spotlight on right to be forgotten issues around data deletion from previous clouds. Cloud companies are working on ways to solve these challenges. Many now offer integrated stacks for IaaS cloud service providers that integrate virtualization, networking, computing, storage, security, and management in a single infrastructure platform. Another method is to use interfaces with common semantics for data, identity, and access control. Components and services needed for execution Hypervisor, cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Web-based middleware (app server) may be desirable but is not essential. Input parameters needed for initialization Three-tier, IaaS hybrid cloud application needs to be executing in the original cloud, with proper componentization. Related and pre-requisite use cases P01, P03 Existing specifications that are known to work Hypervisor standards for appliance image file format; runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/ sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/ invocation. New specifications required 1. VM portability: Create portable appliances from existing on-premises apps and move them to the cloud 2. Bulk import/export of customer data 3. VM management protocol Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-14

17 P06 Hybrid cloud application that uses platform services Diagram Description This use case is similar to P03 except the cloud application developer in this case chooses to implement cloud components of a hybrid application using platform services available from the cloud platform provider, such as structured or unstructured cloud storage or identity and access control services. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion What s additive to the P03 use case here is the use of some platform services (in a hybrid app), or possibly the full PaaS offering (in a pure PaaS app), in addition to IaaS which has been the main cloud layer for the first five use cases we ve considered. PaaS providers offer a computing platform and/or solution stack as a service on which to develop applications/services. Organizations no longer have to invest millions in software 1 e.g., as offered by Simple Cloud Storage APIs for PHP 2 e.g., the descriptive capabilities offered by the NIST SCAPs program. Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. User accounts, databases, data stores and bulk data would have to be transferred from equivalent on-premises capabilities. (I) 2. Requires porting code for use of new cloud services. Cost of porting onpremises application is lowered when application logic is written to semantic interfaces that stay valid when the application logic is ported to a new cloud. (H) a. ID/Access: Runtime web interfaces to deal with federated user identity/access and security (F) would cut porting costs. b. Data: Common semantics for data structures and interfaces/apis 1. (H) 3. If cloud A or B is IaaS-style, appliance packaging would benefit from identifying the various platforms, runtimes and languages required in widely understood semantics and taxonomies Developer choice for tools, languages, and runtimes/ frameworks will offer flexibility, promote competition in richness of capabilities, and reduce porting costs. (G) 5. Regardless of choice of programming language, runtime, and tools used to develop the application, the cloud service should be available onpremises as a private cloud or offered by a third party as a hosted cloud if the customer chooses not to deploy the cloud components to the public cloud. (K) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) PaaS services e.g., structured/unstructured cloud storage and identity/access interfaces/apis are available from cloud vendor. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case PaaS cloud application management tool needed. Interoperable webbased communication and messaging layers on-premises and in the cloud. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-15

18 platforms to build apps. Just as traditional operating systems such as Windows and Linux have done in the past for software developers, PaaS provides a foundation on which to build web-based applications and the operational capability of cloud platform hosting. Key PaaS capabilities include: Services to develop, test, deploy, host, and maintain applications in the same integrated development environment Web-based user interface creation tools Multi-tenant architecture Integration with web services and databases Utility-grade instrumentation that can give developers clearer visibility into the operations of their services and File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution Web-based protocols for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation (e.g., RESTful protocols). Components and services needed for execution Cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Web-based middleware (app server) may be desirable but is not essential. Input parameters needed for initialization Web-based, three-tier enterprise application needs to be executing onpremises, with proper componentization. Some components should benefit from available cloud platform services when rewritten for the target cloud. Related and pre-requisite use cases P01, P03 Existing specifications that are known to work Runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. New specifications required 1. Bulk import/export of customer data. 2. Semantic cloud application management protocol applications, and greater insight into the behavior of their users, while offering scale-up and scale-out capability elastically, through large-scale deployment of public clouds. Given the PaaS value proposition, upon successful completion of the use case, the hybrid app should run as well as or better than the original on-premises app. The ported components in the cloud should perform better than their on-premises version, and should be more featureful and scalable. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-16

19 P07 Port cloud application that uses platform services to another cloud Diagram Description Porting an application that uses services provided by the cloud platform to another cloud platform implies the same requirements as for P06. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion As in all instances of porting to or from a cloud, a key to a successful outcome is standards-based interoperability. In this case, interoperability across both IaaS and PaaS layers enables organizations to integrate apps rapidly with any platform and with any infrastructure across their environment, onpremises or in the cloud. And that is essential for realizing the full agility, flexibility, and cost-savings benefits of the cloud. Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Developer choice for tools, languages, runtimes, storage, database and other infrastructure services should be supported at both IaaS (VM) level as well as PaaS (platform level) to ensure richness of cloud platform offerings and promote innovation. (G) 2. Use of semantic APIs and protocols would allow for the application logic/algorithm to be similar, allowing similar underlying pseudo code. This will help cut porting costs. 3. The application s use of storage (structured or unstructured) could often be costly to port. However: a. For non-structured storage (blobs, queues, tables, etc.) using simple, semantically similar cloud storage APIs would cut porting costs since algorithm/pseudo code would be similar. b. For structured storage, costs of porting code based on SQL data access interfaces are often similar regardless of runtime or language used. 4. Regardless of choices made in 1, the new cloud service should be available on-premises as a private cloud or offered by third-party as hosted cloud if customer opts not to deploy to public cloud. (K) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) PaaS services e.g., structured/unstructured cloud storage and identity/access interfaces/apis are available from cloud vendor. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case PaaS cloud application management tool needed. Interoperable Webbased communication and messaging layers on-premises and in the cloud. Support for language, runtime and tools necessary to build cloud components. Technical interoperability is also essential (although not sufficient by itself) to avoid lock-in to a cloud provider or IT system. It not only helps to enable portability, it also makes it easier by reducing switching costs when interoperable interfaces are used (often with semantically similar REST-based interfaces). Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-17

20 There are cost savings in that one interoperable service can be substituted for another to take advantage of lower prices. Another way interoperability cuts switching costs is by ensuring orderly transitions between systems, reducing risk as well as cost. There are pure-play PaaS providers, and there are providers of other cloud services that are extending into the space, such as Amazon moving up the stack from its IaaS services. Some PaaS providers completely abstract the platform services from the nitty-gritty app details, allowing developers to push apps just as they push on-premises apps into a Git repository (a distributed revision control system), and the platform handles all the rest. These platforms, however, are often focused on one language and impose restrictions on developers. Other providers support multiple languages and application runtime environments and middleware, and may enable developers to assert control over aspects of their application and to tune a range of parameters. File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution Web-based protocols for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation (e.g., RESTful protocols). Use of semantic interfaces and APIs for these primitives would make porting the cloud components to the burst-into cloud less costly. Components and services needed for execution Cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Web-based middleware (app server) may be desirable but is not essential. Input parameters needed for initialization Hybrid cloud application needs to be executing in the source cloud, with proper componentization. Related and pre-requisite use cases P03, P06 Existing specifications that are known to work Runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. New specifications required 1. Bulk import/export of customer data 2. Semantic cloud application management protocol 3. Non-structured storage (blobs, queues, tables, etc.) use of simple, semantically similar cloud storage APIs would cut porting costs since underlying algorithm/pseudo code would be similar. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-18

21 P08 Create cloud application with components that run on multiple clouds Diagram Description An organization chooses to develop a cloud application with components that run on multiple clouds simultaneously. Actors involved in this use case include: cloud service providers, software developers, system administrators/operators. Discussion An example of this use case is a compute cloud node that uses services of a storage cloud service provider at run time to store/access data, and, say, a third-party cloud service provider to obtain weather, market, and news streams or vertical, application-specific data. (By the way, what we just described in that sentence is, essentially, a mashup.) A mashup is a web page or application that combines data or functionality from two or more external sources to create a new service. It can be as simple as two columns of data side by side, or as extensive as VanGuide, Vancouver, Canada s web-based and mobile social mapping portal created using the Open Government Data Initiative (OGDI) framework. OGDI enables developers to take Technical Details and Analysis Technology elements in common with other use cases 1. Requires VM management, appliance packaging, bulk import/export, as in the above scenarios. (A, B, C) 2. Runtime web interfaces to deal with federated user identity/access and security are required to establish a common trust model across the distributed application. (F) 3. May require message interoperability to synch cross-cloud applications. 4. Data Interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation, simple cloud storage APIs/semantics, etc. (D) 5. May require structured data services if compute nodes in one cloud need to access such services from another cloud (e.g., a database in a storage cloud.) 6. Use semantic interfaces to develop the application and require Cloud A and B to support them. Cost of porting application from one language/runtime is lowered when application logic is written to semantic interfaces. (H) 7. User accounts, databases, data stores and bulk data would have to be ported. Existing on-premises portability principles can be applied. (I) 8. Developer choice for tools, languages, frameworks will reduce porting costs. (G) 9. Regardless of the choices made in 5, the cloud services should be available on-premises as a private cloud or offered by a third party as a hosted cloud if the customer chooses not to deploy some or all of the components to the public cloud. (K) Software layers the use case is in (IaaS/VM layer, PaaS layer, etc.) PaaS services need to be available from multiple cloud vendors; examples are structured or unstructured cloud storage and identity and access service interfaces/apis. IaaS environments may also be used depending on the choice of architecture and presence of legacy SOA code. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-19

22 data sets and create service and information mashups. VanGuide maps Vancouver s libraries, schools, bus stops, landmarks, etc., in an interactive app to which citizens can add their own comments, tweets, and links. Creating new value fast by combining things that already exist is the power of mashups. Today, this is where much of the action is in service innovation. When we discuss the cloud we tend to use definitions such as NIST s (you ll find it in the introduction). But the cloud is part of something bigger: a digital environment where the web, virtualization, mobility (in 2010, there were 5.3 billion mobile phone subscriptions), and liberated data are converging into powerful new mashups of their own. On one hand, the cloud complexities we ve discussed are challenging. On the other, the many cloud varieties and options are opportunities for exciting mashups of functionality and content. Platform, tools and environment needed for execution of use case PaaS cloud application management tool needed. Interoperable Webbased communication and messaging layers on-premises (in case the application includes on-premises components) and in the cloud. Support for language, runtime, and tools necessary to build cloud components. File formats, wire protocols, in-memory objects, and other artifacts needed for execution Web-based protocols for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation (e.g., RESTful protocols). Use of semantic interfaces and APIs for these primitives would make the interoperability of the cloud components running across multiple clouds easier and less costly. Components and services needed for execution Cloud fabric controller, database, identity/access control service, web server. Web-based middleware (app server) may be desirable but is not essential. Input parameters needed for initialization Distributed application architecture and blue print. Component design for on-premises (if any) and cloud based components. Interoperability technologies used between various components executing on-premises and in multiple clouds. Related and pre-requisite use cases P06, P07 Existing specifications that are known to work Runtime web interfaces for on-premises and cloud components to interact/exchange/sync data with interoperability primitives such as file/object sync/invocation. New specifications required 1. Bulk import/export of customer data. 2. Semantic cloud application management protocol 3. Non-structured storage (blobs, queues, tables, etc.) use of simple and semantically similar cloud storage APIs would help reduce the cost of the port since the underlying algorithm/pseudo code would be similar. 4. Protocols for federated identity and access service. Microsoft IECC white paper: Cloud Computing Use Cases 2-20