A survey of mobile cloud computing architecture, applications, approaches & Current Solution Providers Pravesh kumar Sumit Soni Abstract:- Cloud computing is an attractive computing model since it allows for resources to be provisioned according to a demand basis. It has also made it possible to process a large amount of data, using clusters of commodity computers. Moreover, the diffusion of cloud computing is expected to generate substantial direct and indirect impacts on economic and employment growth and also to face the world with new possibilities which are specific to cloud computing. In this paper we have introduced the most renowned cloud solution providers at present, and explained their features and different aspects. Besides, we have given a telling overview of cloud computing concept, service models and deployment methods. Together with an explosive growth of the mobile applications and emerging of cloud computing concept, mobile cloud computing (MCC) has been introduced to be a potential technology for mobile services. MCC integrates the cloud computing into the mobile environment and overcomes obstacles related to the performance (e.g., battery life, storage, and bandwidth), environment (e.g., heterogeneity, scalability, and availability), and security (e.g., reliability and privacy) discussed in mobile computing. This paper gives a survey of MCC, which helps general readers have an overview of the MCC including the definition, architecture, and applications. The issues, existing solutions, and approaches are presented. In addition, the future research directions of MCC are discussed. INTRODUCTION:- We know that mobile devices are constrained by their processing power, battery life and storage. However, cloud computing provides an illusion of infinite computing resources. Mobile cloud computing is a new platform combining the mobile devices and cloud computing to create a new infrastructure, whereas cloud performs the heavy lifting of computing-intensive tasks and storing massive amounts of data. In this new architecture, data processing and data storage happen outside of mobile devices. a) Trends and demands: customers expect the convenience of using companies websites or application from anywhere and at anytime. Mobile devices can provide this convenience. Enterprise users require always-on access to business applications and collaborative services so that they can increase their productivity from anywhere, even when they are on the commute. b) Improved and increased broadband coverage: 3G and 4G along with WiFi, femtocells, fixed wireless and so on are providing better connectivity for mobile devices. 25
c) Enabling technologies: HTML5, CSS3, hypervisor for mobile devices, cloudlets and Web 4.0 will drive adoption of mobile cloud computing. d) Security : Along with these features security is needed at any cost. Cloud brokers sell their cloud storage to public however the cloud storage is needed to be very effective and robust. Mobile devices (e.g., smartphone and tablet PC) are increasingly becoming an essential part of human life as the most effective and convenient communication tools not bounded by time and place. Mobile users accumulate rich experience of various services from mobile applications (e.g., iphone apps and Google apps), which run on the devices and/or on remote servers via wireless networks. The rapid progress of mobile computing (MC) [1] becomes a powerful trend in the development of IT technology as well as commerce and industry fields. However, the mobile devices are facing many challenges in their resources (e.g., battery life, storage, and bandwidth) and communications (e.g., mobility and security) [2As a result, mobile applications can be rapidly provisioned and released with the minimal management efforts or service provider s interactions. With the explosion of mobile applications and the support of CC for a variety of services for mobile users, mobile cloud computing (MCC) is introduced as an integration of CC into the mobile environment. MCC brings new types of services and facilities mobile users to take full advantages of CC. Cloud computing is a pay-per-use consumption and delivery model that enables real-time delivery of configurable computing resources (for example, networks, servers, storage, applications, services) [2]. Typically, these are highly scalable resources delivered over the Internet to multiple companies, which pay only for what they use. Cloud delivery models can help organizations scale their investments as they grow their business. They can also open the door to new business approaches through standardized applications, infrastructure, testing environments and business processes that help improve service delivery and efficiency [1]. This concept that is broadly recognized by Australian businesses and government agencies. But not always well understood in details. To some degree, this is due to the rapid evolution of cloud computing service offering. Indeed, cloud computing is a catchall term that is often misused. The US National Institute of standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as: A model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released. In practice, cloud computing describes three over-aching and related service models, delivered over a network to replace product models. Each of these service lines displays the same core criteria. The concept itself has been around since the 1960s and has been boosted in recent years. Various factors have contributed to this such as the increased availability of broadband internet, improved technologies such as virtualization and new models to deliver web-based services. The concept itself has been around since the 1960s and has been boosted in recent years. Various factors have contributed to this such as the increased availability of broadband internet, improved technologies such as virtualization and new models to deliver web-based services. Cloud computing has the following main characteristics[4]: Multi-tenancy IT resources are shared between different users and customers Rented service delivery model customers pay for the service instead of buying software licenses and hardware 26
On-demand usage/flexibility cloud services can be used almost instantly and can easily be scaled up and down External data storage a customers data is usually stored externally at the location of the cloud computing vendor OVERVIEW OF MOBILE CLOUD COMPUTING:- The term mobile cloud computing was introduced not long after the concept of cloud computing launched in mid-2007 [1]. It has been attracting the attentions of entrepreneurs as a profitable business option that reduces the development and running cost of mobile applications, of mobile users as a new technology to achieve rich experience of a variety of mobile services at low cost, and of researchers as a promising solution for green IT [7]. The Mobile Cloud Computing Forum defines MCC [8] as Mobile Cloud Computing at its simplest, refers to an infrastructure where both the data storage and the data processing happen outside of the mobile device. Mobile cloud applications move the computing power and data storage away from mobile phones and into the cloud, bringing applications and mobile computing to not just smartphone users but a much broader range of mobile subscribers. Aepona [5] describes MCC as a new paradigm for mobile applications whereby the data processing and storage are moved from the mobile device to powerful and centralized computing platforms located in clouds. Figure 1.1: Architecture of Mobile Cloud Computing 27
Fig 1.2:- Cloudy Shrimpy: Cloud computing Cloud Computing Models:- SAAS: To use the provider s applications running on a cloud infrastructure and accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as web browser. PAAS: To deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer created application using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. IAAS: To provision processing, storage, networks and other fundamental computing resources where consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. CLOUD SERVICE MODELS AND DEPLOYMENT METHODS:- Defining what comprises Cloud Computing is hard because it is so many things. Many vendors do not help clarify it because labeling products as Cloud Computing makes them appear current and more relevant. Despite all the marketing hype, Cloud Computing can be readily broken down into one of three delivery models as defined by NIST and known as the SPI model. SPI stands for Software, Platform and Infrastructure. When all the hype is stripped away, these just represent hardware and software[9]. Cloud computing enables hardware and software to be delivered as services, where the term service is used to reflect the fact that they are provided on demand and are paid on a usage basis the more you use the more you pay. Draw an analogy with a restaurant. This provides a food and drinks service. If we would like to eat at a restaurant, we do not buy it, just use it as we require. The more we eat the more we pay. Cloud Computing provides computing facilities in the same way as restaurants provide food, when we need computing facilities, we use them from the cloud. The more we use the more we pay[8]. When 28
we stop using them we stop paying. Although the above analogy is a great simplification, the core idea holds. Since computing is many things, Cloud Computing has a lot of things to deliver as a service. These services are described as below: Software as a Service (SaaS): SaaS supports a software distribution with specific requirements. In this layer, the users can access an application and information remotely via the Internet and pay only for that they use. Salesforce is one of the pioneers in providing this service model. Microsoft s Live Mesh also allows sharing files and folders across multiple devices simultaneously. SaaS employs the provider s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through either a thin client interface, such as a web browser (e.g., webbased email), or a program interface[13]. The provider manages or controls the underlying cloud infrastructure with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings. Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS offers an advanced integrated environment for building, testing and deploying custom applications. Created or acquired applications supported by the provider are deployed onto the cloud infrastructure which the provider manages or controls. The consumer has control over the deployed applications and possible configuration settings for the application-hosting environment[13]. The examples of PaaS are Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Map Reduce/Simple Storage Service Consumer. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) : IaaS is built on top of the data center layer. IaaS enables the provision of storage, hardware, servers and networking components. The client typically pays on a per-use basis. Thus, clients can save cost as the payment is only based on how much resource they really use. The consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications[14]. The provider manages or controls the underlying cloud infrastructure while the consumer has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possible limited control of select networking components. Infrastructure can be expanded or shrunk dynamically as needed. The examples of IaaS are Amazon EC2 (Elastic Cloud Computing) and S3 (Simple Storage Service). The cloud model is composed of four deployment models: private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. Here is a definition for each deployment model. Further information is given in table 1. Public Cloud The cloud infrastructure is provisioned by the cloud provider for open use by the general public. It may be owned, managed, and operated by a business, academic, or government organization, or some combination of them. Private Cloud Infrastructure provisioned solely for a single organization, whether managed internally or by a thirdparty and hosted internally or externally. Community Cloud Shares infrastructure between several organizations from a specific community with common concerns (e.g., security, compliance, jurisdiction), whether managed internally or by a third-party and hosted internally or externally. Hybrid Cloud A composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together, offering the benefits of multiple deployment models. It can also be defined as multiple cloud systems that are connected in a way that allows programs and data to be moved easily from one deployment system to another. CLOUD SOLUTION PROVIDERS:- 29
Even though there have been some comparative researches about cloud computing that are carried by different academic or enterprise perspectives, we have scrutinized cloud solution providers in terms of various classifications such as infrastructure technology, PaaS provider, programming platform, security, and so on. In this part, different solution provider will be introduced and explained. 3.1 Xen Cloud Platforms (XCP) The Xen hypervisor is a solution for infrastructure virtualization that provides an abstraction layer between servers hardware and the operating system. A Xen hypervisor allows each physical server to run several virtual servers handling the operating system and its applications from the underlying physical server. The Xen solution is used by many cloud solutions such as Amazon EC2, Nimbus and Eucalyptus. Recently, Xen.org announced the Xen Cloud Platform (XCP) as a solution for cloud infrastructure virtualization. But, differently from existent open source cloud solutions, XCP does not provide the overall architecture for cloud services[26]. Their goal is to provide a tool to cope with automatic configuration and maintenance of cloud platforms. The XCP architecture is based on the XCP hosts that are responsible to host the virtual machines. these hosts are aggregated in a XCP resource pool and using a Shared Storage the virtual machines can be started and restarted on any XCP host[29]. The Master XCP host offers an administration interface and forwards command messages to others XCP hosts. 3.2 Amazon web service It takes advantage of elastic computer cloud (EC2) that allows uploading XEN virtual machine images to the infrastructure and gives client APIs to instantiate and manages them. Virtualization management is done on OS level. It uses IaaS service and Xen images service. In the scope of load balancing, service will allow users to balance incoming request and traffic across multiple EC2 instances[15]. It also makes use of Round-Robin load balancing. The Amazon load balancing is recognized as an elastic load balancing. This system also alerts failover automatically and re-sync back to the last known state as if nothing had failed. It utilizes Simple Storage Service (S3) and SimpleDB. SimpleDB provides a semi-structured data store with query capability. The service also benefits from X 509 certificate, SSL,Firewall, and acees control list to meet the security concerns. The programming framework of Amazon is Amazon Machine Image (AMI), and Amazon Mapreduce Framework[9]. Figure bellow shows how the services in Amazon web service fit together. 30
Figure 1.3: Relation of Amazon cloud services [12] Google App engine This engine uses a distributed architecture named as Google geo-distributed architecture. And virtualization is managed by a multitenant architecture. Is makes use of PaaS architecture. In the case of facing a fault, it automatically pushes the fault to a number of fault tolerant servers. It has tried to reach interoperability between platforms of different vendors and programming languages. Storage is handled by proprietary databases which use big tables and a kind of distributes storage. To provide security, Google App profits from RSA/128-bit and AES encryption. TLS based server authentication is another brilliant feature used by Google App[22]. The programming framework of Google map supports Python, Java as well as several Java related standards such as the Java Servlet API, JDO and JPA. Figure 1.4 : The OpenNebula architecture Applications of Mobile Cloud Computing Mobile applications gain increasing share in a global mobile market. [1]Various mobile applications have taken the advantages of MCC. In this section, some typical MCC applications are introduced. Mobile Commerce: Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is a business model for commerce using 31
mobile devices. The m-commerce applications generally fulfill some tasks that require mobility (e.g., mobile transactions and payments, mobile messaging, and mobile ticketing). The m- commerce applications can be classified into a few classes including finance, advertising and shopping. The m-commerce applications have to face various challenges (e.g., low network bandwidth, high complexity of mobile device configurations, and security). Therefore, m- commerce applications are integrated into cloud computing environment to address these issues. [18] Proposes a 3G E-commerce platform based on cloud computing. This paradigm combines the advantages of both 3G network and cloud computing to increase data processing speed and security level [19] based on PKI (public key infrastructure). The PKI mechanism uses an encryption-based access control and an over-encryption to ensure privacy of user s access to the outsourced data. In [20], a 4PL-AVE trading platform utilizes cloud computing technology to enhance the security for users and improve the customer satisfaction, customer intimacy, and cost competitiveness. Mobile Learning: Mobile learning (m-learning) is designed based on electronic learning (elearning) and mobility. However, traditional m-learning applications have limitations in terms of high cost of devices and network, low network transmission rate, and limited educational resources [21]. Cloud-based m-learning applications are introduced to solve these limitations. For example, utilizing a cloud with the large storage capacity and powerful processing ability, the applications provide learners with much richer services in terms of data (information) size, faster processing speed, and longer battery life. [22] Presents benefits of combining m-learning and cloud computing to enhance the communication quality between students and teachers. In this case, a smartphone software based on the open source JavaME UI framework and Jaber for clients is used. Through a web site built on Google Apps Engine, students communicate with their teachers at anytime. Also, the teachers can obtain the information about student s knowledge level of the course and can answer students questions in a timely manner. In addition, a contextual m-learning system based on IMERA platform [23] shows that a cloudbased m-learning system helps learners access learning resources remotely. Another example of MCC applications in learning is Cornucopia implemented for researches of undergraduate genetics students and Plantations Pathfinder designed to supply information and provide a collaboration space for visitors when they visit the gardens. The purpose of the deployment of these applications is to help the students enhance their understanding about the appropriate design of mobile cloud computing in supporting field experiences. In [24], an education tool is developed based on cloud computing to create a course about image/video processing. Through mobile phones, learners can understand and compare different algorithms used in mobile applications (e.g., de-blurring, de-noising, face detection, and image enhancement). of offloading all codes to the cloud for processing, MAUI partitions the application codes at a runtime based on the costs of network communication and CPU on the mobile device to maximize energy savings given network connectivity Security Requirements:- Security measures assumed in the cloud must be made available to the customers to gain their trust. There is always a possibility that the cloud infrastructure is secured with respect to some requirements and the customers are looking for a different set of security. The important aspect is to see that the cloud provider meets the security requirements of the application and this can be 32
achieved only through 100% transparency. Open Cloud Manifesto exerts stress on transparency in clouds, due the consumer s apprehensions to host their applications on a shared infrastructure, on which they do not have any control. Access control is a key concern, because insider attacks are a huge risk. A potential hacker is someone who has been entrusted with approved access to the cloud. Anyone considering using the cloud needs to look at who is managing their data and what types of controls are applied to these individuals. User identity will have identifiers or attributes that identity and define the user. The identity is tied to a domain, but is portable. There must be a strong authentications and ID Management for both the cloud provider and the client. In order for the clients to access the cloud computing services, it must be first authenticated, not only using a mere username and password but a digital ID s. Conclusion and Future Scope Mobile cloud computing is one of mobile technology trends since it compile the advantages of both mobile computing and cloud computing. Cloud computing brought many benefits in computing world. Along with these benefits, there are some security issues that needs to be address to give assurance that indeed it is safe and reliable internet service. In this paper we discussed the overview of cloud computing it s applications and security requirements of mobile cloud computing. It is essential to keep in mind that the designing of future framework solutions should be more cost effective and should provide security against unauthorized acess. Cloud has the power to open doors to more efficient, responsive and innovative ways of doing business. Companies worldwide are beginning to recognize cloud capabilities to generate new business models and promote sustainable competitive advantage. The cloud provides the infrastructure necessary to provide services directly to customers over the Internet. There is a clear need for the standardization of current cloud platforms at least in terms of interface, negotiation and access through Web services. Understandably, this is a considerable task as many clouds use different abstraction levels, some are generic whereas others focus on a specific application domain, etc. in this paper we explained about the concept of cloud computing. Then we introduced famous solution provider in the realm of cloud computing. We also cited different Cloud Service Models, and deployment methods. REFERENCES [1] M. Satyanarayanan, Mobile computing: the next decade, in Proceedings of the 1st ACM Workshop on Mobile Cloud Computing & Services: Social Networks and Beyond (MCS), June 2010. [2] M. Satyanarayanan, Fundamental challenges in mobile computing, in Proceedings of the 5th annual ACM symposium on Principles of distributed computing, pp. 1-7, May 1996. [3] M. Ali, Green Cloud on the Horizon, in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Cloud Computing (CloudCom), pp. 451-459, December 2009. [4] W. Zhenyu, Z. Chunhong, J. Yang, and W. Hao, Towards Cloud and Terminal Collaborative Mobile Social Network Service, in the 2nd IEEE International Conference on Social Computing pp. 623, September 2010. [5] White Paper, Mobile Cloud Computing Solution Brief, AEPONA, November 2010. [6] Hoang T. Dinh,Chonho Lee, Dusit Niyato, Ping Wang, A Survey of Mobile Cloud Computing:Architecture, Applications, and Approaches,Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing-Wlley,Vol 13,Issue 18,PP 1587-1611,2013 33
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