Cloud Computing: Theory and Practice

Author: Dan C. Marinescu
Pages: 416
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
ISBN: 0124046274

Introduction

Once a buzzword, cloud computing is now a part of nearly every modern IT infrastructure. Despite a variety of privacy, security and compliance concerns, companies large and small are taking advantage of cloud computing for a variety of reasons.

This book offers a detailed overview of the most important aspects of cloud computing and wants to help those that need to get a grip on their large amounts of data. Read on to discover if it’s the right book for you.

About the author

Dan C. Marinescu was a Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana from 1984 till 2001 when he joined the Computer Science Department at the University of Central Florida. His research interests cover parallel and distributed systems, cloud computing, scientific computing, and quantum computing. He has published more than 220 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings in these areas and authored three books.

Inside the book

When you think about cloud computing, the first thing that probably comes to mind is an online backup service like Dropbox or your company data on Amazon AWS. However, cloud usage is also established in fields like science and medicine, where teams need to store and share vast amounts of data. This title makes you aware of an assortment of applications that will help you assess the value of cloud computing for your specific needs.

The author discusses several delivery and deployment models so you get an understanding of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).

Have you ever wondered about the structure of the Amazon, Microsoft and Google cloud computing platforms? How about open source software platforms for that private cloud you’ve been considering? This book examines them all in detail, and complements the particulars with an abundance of illustrations.

I’m happy to report that an entire chapter is dedicated to cloud security and privacy and it offers a quality overview of the potential issues, followed by some clever exercises.

Although it’s not really necessary to have a lot of knowledge about cloud computing to enjoy this book, be aware that we’re talking about a complex title that comes with an abundance of mathematics. You may not need to absorb it all, but it’s good to know that the author produced an all-inclusive book.

Final thoughts

The author offers real-world examples and covers a lot of ground that will enable network architects to speed up the process of a cloud computing deployment. Even though there’s a mountain of info to go through, the book offers a wealth of links, papers and books you can use to augment your knowledge on the subject.

In a nutshell, Cloud Computing: Theory and Practice is an in-depth title that should be on the virtual or physical bookshelf of anyone serious about cloud computing.

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