Cloud Infrastructure Mechanisms

Cloud Infrastructure
Mechanisms
Sartaj Fatima
Lecturer,
Place photo here
“Reference: Cloud Computing Concepts, Technology & Architecture.
Thomas Erl, Zaigham Mahmood and Richardo Puttini.”
1
Mohammed Sajjad Ali
PMP, CCNP, E-commerce

Contents :
7.1 Logical Network Perimeter
7.2 Virtual Server
7.3 Cloud Storage Device
7.4 Cloud Usage Monitor
7.5 Resource Replication
7.6 Ready-Made Environment
Cloud Infrastructure Mechanisms
“Cloud infrastructure mechanisms are foundational building blocks of cloud environments
that establish primary artifacts to form the basis of fundamental cloud technology
architecture.”
2

The following cloud infrastructure mechanisms are described in
this chapter:
• Logical Network Perimeter
• Virtual Server
• Cloud Storage Device
• Cloud Usage Monitor
• Resource Replication
• Ready-Made Environment
Not all of these mechanisms are necessarily broad-reaching, nor does each establish
an individual architectural layer. Instead, they should be viewed as core components
that are common to cloud platforms.
3

7.1. Logical Network Perimeter
Defined as the isolation of a network environment from the rest of a
communications network, thelogical network perimeter establishes a virtual network
boundary that can encompass and isolate a group of related cloud-based IT
resources that may be physically distributed.
(Figure 7.1).
Figure 7.1. The dashed line notation used to indicate the boundary of a logical network
perimeter.
This mechanism can be implemented to:
• Isolate IT resources in a cloud from non-authorized users
• Isolate IT resources in a cloud from non-users
• Isolate IT resources in a cloud from cloud consumers
• Control the bandwidth that is available to isolated IT resources
Logical network perimeters are typically established via network devices that supply
and control the connectivity of a data center and are commonly deployed as
virtualized IT environments that include:
• Virtual Firewall – An IT resource that actively filters network traffic to and from the
isolated network while controlling its interactions with the Internet.
4

• Virtual Network – Usually acquired through VLANs, this IT
resource isolates the network environment within the data
center infrastructure.
Figure 7.2 introduces the notation used to denote these two IT
resources. Figure 7.3 depicts a scenario in which one logical
network perimeter contains a cloud consumer’s on-premise
environment, while another contains a cloud provider’s cloud-based
environment. These perimeters are connected through a
VPN that protects communications, since the VPN is typically
implemented by point-to-point encryption of the data packets
sent between the communicating endpoints.
Figure 7.2. The symbols used to represent a virtual firewall (top) and a virtual network (bottom).
5

Figure 7.3. Two logical network perimeters surround the cloud consumer and cloud provider environments.
6

Figure 7.4. A logical network layout is established through
a set of logical network perimeters using various firewalls
and virtual networks.
7

A virtual server is a form of virtualization software that
emulates a physical server.
Virtual servers are used by cloud providers to share the
same physical server with multiple cloud consumers by
providing cloud consumers with individual virtual server
instances.
Figure 7.5 shows three virtual servers being hosted by two
physical servers. The number of instances a given physical
server can share is limited by its capacity.
The virtual server represents the most foundational building
block of cloud environments. Each virtual server can host
numerous IT resources, cloud-based solutions, and various
other cloud computing mechanisms.
Cloud consumers that install or lease virtual servers can
customize their environments independently from other
cloud consumers that may be using virtual servers hosted
by the same underlying physical server.
Figure 7.6 depicts a virtual server that hosts a cloud service
being accessed by Cloud Service Consumer B, while Cloud
Service Consumer A accesses the virtual server directly to
perform an administration task.
7.2. Virtual Server
Figure 7.5. The first physical server hosts two virtual servers,
while the second physical server hosts one virtual server. 8

Figure 7.7. Virtual servers are created via the physical servers’ hypervisors and a central VIM
9

Figure 7.6. A virtual server hosts an active cloud service and is further accessed by a cloud consumer for
administrative purposes.
10

Figure 7.8. The cloud consumer uses the self-service
portal to select a template virtual server
for creation
(1). A copy of the corresponding VM image is
created in a cloud consumer-controlled cloud
storage device
(2). The cloud consumer initiates the virtual
server using the usage and administration
portal.
(3), which interacts with the VIM to create the
virtual server instance via the underlying
hardware.
(4). The cloud consumer is able to use and
customize the virtual server via other features on
the usage and administration portal .
(5). (Note that the self-service portal and usage
and administration portal are explained in
chapter – 9.
.
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7.3. Cloud Storage Device
The cloud storage device mechanism represents storage devices that are designed
specifically for cloud-based provisioning. Instances of these devices can be virtualized, similar
to how physical servers can spawn virtual server images.
Cloud storage devices are commonly able to provide fixed-increment capacity allocation in
support of the pay-per-use mechanism. Cloud storage devices can be exposed for remote
access via cloud storage services.
A primary concern related to cloud storage is the security, integrity, and confidentiality of
data, which becomes more prone to being compromised when entrusted to external cloud
providers and other third parties.
Cloud Storage Levels
Cloud storage device mechanisms provide common logical units of data storage, such as:
• Files – Collections of data are grouped into files that are located in folders.
• Blocks – The lowest level of storage and the closest to the hardware, a block is the smallest
unit of data that is still individually accessible.
• Datasets – Sets of data are organized into a table-based, delimited, or record format.
• Objects – Data and its associated metadata are organized as Web-based resources.
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Each of these data storage levels is commonly associated with a certain type of technical
interface which corresponds to a particular type of cloud storage device and cloud storage
service used to expose its API (Figure 7.9).
Figure 7.9. Different cloud service consumers utilize
different technologies to interface with virtualized
cloud storage devices. (Adapted from the CDMI
Cloud Storage Reference Model.)
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Network Storage Interfaces
Legacy network storage most commonly falls under the category of network storage
interfaces.
It includes storage devices in compliance with industry standard protocols, such as SCSI for
storage blocks and the server message block (SMB), common Internet file system (CIFS), and
network file system (NFS) for file and network storage.
File storage entails storing individual data in separate files that can be different sizes and
formats and organized into folders and subfolders. Original files are often replaced by the new
files that are created when data has been modified.
Storage processing levels and thresholds for file allocation are usually determined by the file
system itself. Block storage requires data to be in a fixed format (known as a data block),
which is the smallest unit that can be stored and accessed and the storage format closest to
hardware
Object Storage Interfaces
Various types of data can be referenced and stored as Web resources. This is referred to as
object storage, which is based on technologies that can support a range of data and media
types.
The Storage Networking Industry Association’s Cloud Data Management Interface (SNIA’s
CDMI) supports the use of object storage interfaces.
14

Database Storage Interfaces
Cloud storage device mechanisms based on database storage interfaces typically support a
query language in addition to basic storage operations.
Storage management is carried out using a standard API or an administrative user-interface.
This classification of storage interface is divided into two main categories according to storage
structure, as follows :
I. Relational Data Storage
Relational databases (or relational storage devices) rely on tables to organize similar data into
rows and columns. Tables can have relationships with each other to give the data increased
structure, to protect data integrity, and to avoid data redundancy (which is referred to as
data normalization).
II. Non-Relational Data Storage
Non-relational storage (also commonly referred to as NoSQL storage) moves away from the
traditional relational database model in that it establishes a “looser” structure for stored data
with less emphasis on defining relationships and realizing data normalization.
15

Figure 7.10. The cloud consumer
interacts with the usage and
administration portal to create a cloud
storage device and define access
control policies
(1). The usage and administration
portal interact with the cloud storage
software to create the cloud storage
device instance and apply the
required access policy to its data
objects
(2). Each data object is assigned to a
cloud storage device and all of the
data objects are stored in the same
virtual storage volume. The cloud
consumer uses the proprietary cloud
storage device UI to interact directly
with the data objects
(3). (Note that the usage and
administration portal is explained
in Chapter 9.)
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Figure 7.11. The cloud consumer uses the
usage and administration portal to
create and assign a cloud storage
device to an existing virtual server.
(1). The usage and administration portal
interacts with the VIM software.
(2a), which creates and configures the
appropriate LUN
(2b). Each cloud storage device uses a
separate LUN controlled by the
virtualization platform. The cloud
consumer remotely logs into the virtual
server directly .
(3a) to access the cloud storage device
3b).
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7.4. Cloud Usage Monitor
The cloud usage monitor mechanism is a lightweight and autonomous software
program responsible for collecting and processing IT resource usage data.
Cloud usage monitors can exist in different formats. The upcoming sections describe
three common agent-based implementation formats.
Each can be designed to forward collect usage data to a log database for post-processing
and reporting purposes.
Monitoring Agent
A monitoring agent is an intermediary, event-driven program that exists as a service
agent and resides along existing communication paths to transparently monitor and
analyze data flows (Figure 7.12).
This type of cloud usage monitor is commonly used to measure network traffic and
message metrics.
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Figure 7.12. A cloud service consumer sends a request message to a cloud service
(1). The monitoring agent intercepts the message to collect relevant usage data
(2) before allowing it to continue to the cloud service (3a). The monitoring agent stores the collected
usage data in a log database
(3b). The cloud service replies with a response message
(4) that is sent back to the cloud service consumer without being intercepted by the monitoring
agent (5).
19

Resource Agent
A resource agent is a processing module that collects usage data by having event-driven
interactions with specialized resource software (Figure 7.13). This module is used
to monitor usage metrics based on pre-defined, observable events at the resource
software level, such as initiating, suspending, resuming, and vertical scaling.
Figure 7.13. The resource agent is actively monitoring a virtual server and detects an increase in
usage (1). The resource agent receives a notification from the underlying resource management
program that the virtual server is being scaled up and stores the collected usage data in a log
database, as per its monitoring metrics (2).
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Polling Agent
A polling agent is a processing module that collects cloud service usage data by
polling IT resources. This type of cloud service monitor is commonly used to periodically
monitor IT resource status, such as uptime and downtime (Figure 7.14).
Figure 7.14. A polling agent monitors the status of a cloud service hosted by a virtual server by
sending periodic polling request messages and receiving polling response messages that report
usage status “A” after a number of polling cycles, until it receives a usage status of “B” (1), upon
which the polling agent records the new usage status in the log database (2).
21

7.5. Resource Replication
Defined as the creation of multiple instances of the same IT resource, replication is
typically performed when an IT resource’s availability and performance need to be
enhanced.
Virtualization technology is used to implement the resource replication mechanism to
replicate cloud-based IT resources (Figure 7.16).
Figure 7.16. The hypervisor replicates several instances of a virtual server,
using a stored virtual server image. 22

Figure 7.17. A high-availability virtual server is running in
Data Center A. VIM instances in Data Centers A and B
are executing a coordination function that allows
detection of failure conditions.
Stored VM images are replicated between data centers
as a result of the high-availability architecture
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7.6. Ready-Made Environment
The ready-made environment mechanism (Figure 7.20) is a defining component of the
PaaS cloud delivery model that represents a pre-defined, cloud-based platform
comprised of a set of already installed IT resources, ready to be used and customized
by a cloud consumer.
These environments are utilized by cloud consumers to remotely develop and deploy
their own services and applications within a cloud. Typical ready-made environments
include pre-installed IT resources, such as databases, middleware, development tools,
and governance tools.
Figure 7.20. A cloud consumer accesses a
ready-made environment hosted on a
virtual server.
A ready-made environment is generally equipped with a complete software
development kit (SDK) that provides cloud consumers with programmatic access to the
development technologies that comprise their preferred programming stacks. 24

Figure 7.21. The developer uses the provided SDK to develop the Part Number Catalog Web application
(1). The application software is deployed on a Web platform that was established by two ready-made
environments called the front-end instance
(2a) and the back-end instance
(2b). The application is made available for usage and one end-user accesses its front-end instance
(3). The software running in the front-end instance invokes a long-running task at the back-end instance that
corresponds to the processing required by the end-user
(4). The application software deployed at both the front-end and back-end instances is backed by a cloud
storage device that provides persistent storage of the application data (5).
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Hope this is been informative and I would like to thank you for viewing.

Cloud Infrastructure Mechanisms

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