CLCuu LA1lC8MS

An Ln1L88lSLC8lLn1Lu CvL8vlLW


uAvlu CPALLL
AuCuS1 2008



SCnSC8Lu 8? MlC8CSCl1 CC8C8A1lCn








CC?8lCP1 2008 CPALLL ASSCClA1LS

CCN1LN1S
Def|n|ng 1erms What |s a C|oud |atform? 3
Cloud laLforms ln ConLexL 1hree klnds of Cloud Servlces 3
A Ceneral Model for AppllcaLlon laLforms 4
lrom Cnremlses laLforms Lo Cloud laLforms 7
Lxam|n|ng C|oud |atforms 7
Cloud loundaLlon 8
Opetotloq 5ystem 8
locol 5oppott 8
Cloud lnfrasLrucLure Servlces 9
5totoqe 9
loteqtotloo 10
lJeotlty 11
Cloud AppllcaLlon Servlces 11
5oo5 Appllcotloo 5etvlces 11
5eotcb 12
Mopploq 12
Otbet Appllcotloo 5etvlces 12
Conc|us|on 13
About the Author 13


3
DLIINING 1LkMS WnA1 IS A CLCUD LA1ICkM?
1he comlng shlfL Lo cloud compuLlng ls a ma[or change ln our lndusLry Cne of Lhe mosL lmporLanL parLs of
LhaL shlfL ls Lhe advenL of clooJ plotfotms As lLs name suggesLs Lhls klnd of plaLform leLs developers wrlLe
appllcaLlons LhaL run ln Lhe cloud or use servlces provlded from Lhe cloud or boLh ulfferenL names are
used for Lhls klnd of plaLform Loday lncludlng ooJemooJ plotfotm and plotfotm os o setvlce (loo5)
WhaLever lL's called Lhls new way of supporLlng appllcaLlons has greaL poLenLlal
1o see why Lhlnk abouL how appllcaLlon plaLforms are used Loday When a developmenL Leam creaLes an
onpremlses appllcaLlon (le one LhaL wlll run wlLhln an organlzaLlon) much of whaL LhaL appllcaLlon
needs already exlsLs An operaLlng sysLem provldes baslc supporL for execuLlng Lhe appllcaLlon lnLeracLlng
wlLh sLorage and more whlle oLher compuLers ln Lhe envlronmenL offer servlces such as remoLe sLorage
lf Lhe creaLors of every onpremlses appllcaLlon flrsL had Lo bulld all of Lhese baslcs we'd have many
fewer appllcaLlons Loday
Slmllarly lf every developmenL Leam LhaL wlshes Lo creaLe a cloud appllcaLlon musL flrsL bulld lLs own
cloud plaLform we won'L see many cloud appllcaLlons lorLunaLely vendors are rlslng Lo Lhls challenge
and a number of cloud plaLform Lechnologles are avallable Loday 1he goal of Lhls overvlew ls Lo
caLegorlze and brlefly descrlbe Lhose Lechnologles as Lhey're seen by someone who creaLes enLerprlse
appllcaLlons
CLCuu LA1lC8MS ln CCn1Lx1 1P8LL klnuS Cl CLCuu SL8vlCLS

I|gure 1 C|oud serv|ces can be grouped |nto three broad categor|es
1o geL a grlp on cloud plaLforms lL's useful Lo sLarL by looklng aL cloud servlces ln general As llgure 1
shows servlces ln Lhe cloud can be grouped lnLo Lhree broad caLegorles 1hose caLegorles are

4
SofLware as a servlce (SaaS) A SaaS appllcaLlon runs enLlrely ln Lhe cloud (LhaL ls on servers aL an
lnLerneLaccesslble servlce provlder) 1he onpremlses cllenL ls Lyplcally a browser or some oLher
slmple cllenL 1he mosL wellknown example of a SaaS appllcaLlon Loday ls probably
Salesforcecom buL many many oLhers are also avallable
ALLached servlces Lvery onpremlses appllcaLlon provldes useful funcLlons on lLs own An
appllcaLlon can someLlmes enhance Lhese by accesslng appllcaLlonspeclflc servlces provlded ln
Lhe cloud 8ecause Lhese servlces are usable only by Lhls parLlcular appllcaLlon Lhey can be
LhoughL of as aLLached Lo lL Cne popular consumer example of Lhls ls Apple's l1unes 1he
deskLop appllcaLlon ls useful for playlng muslc and more whlle an aLLached servlce allows buylng
new audlo and vldeo conLenL MlcrosofL's Lxchange PosLed Servlces provldes an enLerprlse
example addlng cloudbased spam fllLerlng archlvlng and oLher servlces Lo an onpremlses
Lxchange server
Cloud plaLforms A cloud plaLform provldes cloudbased servlces for creaLlng appllcaLlons 8aLher
Lhan bulldlng Lhelr own cusLom foundaLlon for example Lhe creaLors of a new SaaS appllcaLlon
could lnsLead bulld on a cloud plaLform As llgure 1 shows Lhe dlrecL users of a cloud plaLform
are developers noL end users
undersLandlng cloud plaLforms requlres some agreemenL on whaL Lhe word plaLform" means ln Lhls
conLexL Cne broad way Lo Lhlnk abouL lL ls Lo vlew a plaLform as any sofLware LhaL provldes developer
accesslble servlces for creaLlng appllcaLlons 1he nexL secLlon looks aL Lhls ldea ln a blL more deLall
A CLnL8AL MCuLL lC8 ALlCA1lCn LA1lC8MS
Cur experlence wlLh appllcaLlon plaLforms Loday comes mosLly from onpremlses plaLforms A useful way
Lo Lhlnk abouL cloud plaLforms ls Lo see how Lhe servlces an appllcaLlon developer relles on ln Lhe on
premlses envlronmenL LranslaLe Lo Lhe cloud 1o help do Lhls llgure 2 shows a general model LhaL can be
applled Lo boLh worlds

5

I|gure 2 A modern app||cat|on p|atform can be v|ewed as hav|ng three parts
WheLher lL's onpremlses or ln Lhe cloud an appllcaLlon plaLform can be LhoughL of as comprlslng Lhree
parLs
A foooJotloo nearly every appllcaLlon uses some plaLform sofLware on Lhe machlne lL runs on
1hls Lyplcally lncludes varlous supporL funcLlons such as sLandard llbrarles and sLorage and a
base operaLlng sysLem
A group of loftosttoctote setvlces ln a modern dlsLrlbuLed envlronmenL appllcaLlons frequenLly
use baslc servlces provlded on oLher compuLers lL's common Lo provlde remoLe sLorage for
example lnLegraLlon servlces an ldenLlLy servlce and more
A seL of oppllcotloo setvlces As more and more appllcaLlons become servlceorlenLed Lhe
funcLlons Lhey offer become accesslble Lo new appllcaLlons Lven Lhough Lhese appllcaLlons exlsL
prlmarlly Lo provlde servlces Lo end users Lhls also makes Lhem parL of Lhe appllcaLlon plaLform
(lL mlghL seem odd Lo Lhlnk of oLher appllcaLlons as parL of Lhe plaLform buL ln a servlceorlenLed
world Lhey cerLalnly are)
And whlle Lhey're noL shown ln llgure 2 developmenL Lools are anoLher lmporLanL parL of Lhls sLory
Modern Lools can help developers bulld appllcaLlons uslng all Lhree parLs of an appllcaLlon plaLform
1o make Lhls absLracL model more concreLe Lhlnk abouL how lL flLs wlLh Loday's mosL popular on
premlses plaLforms 1he onpremlses foundaLlon looks llke Lhls
CperaLlng sysLem 1he domlnanL cholces are Wlndows Llnux and oLher verslons of unlx

6
Local supporL ulfferenL Lechnologles are used dependlng on Lhe sLyle of appllcaLlon 1he nL1
lramework and !ava LL appllcaLlon servers provlde general supporL for Web appllcaLlons and
more for lnsLance whlle oLher Lechnologles LargeL speclflc klnds of appllcaLlons lor example
MlcrosofL's uynamlcs C8M producL lncludes a plaLform deslgned for creaLlng a parLlcular Lype of
buslness appllcaLlon Slmllarly dlfferenL klnds of sLorage are used for dlfferenL purposes 8aw
byLe sLorage ls provlded by Lhe flle sysLems ln Wlndows Llnux and oLher operaLlng sysLems
whlle more sLrucLured sLorage ls provlded by a range of daLabase Lechnologles lncludlng Lhe
Cracle u8MS MySCL MlcrosofL SCL Server and l8M u82
lor onpremlses lnfrasLrucLure servlces Lyplcal examples lnclude Lhe followlng
SLorage Llke sLorage ln Lhe foundaLlon lnfrasLrucLure sLorage comes ln varlous sLyles A remoLe
flle sysLem mlghL provlde slmple byLeorlenLed sLorage whlle a MlcrosofL ShareolnL documenL
llbrary provldes a more sLrucLured remoLe sLorage servlce AppllcaLlons can also access a
daLabase sysLem remoLely allowlng access Lo anoLher klnd of sLrucLured sLorage
lnLegraLlon ConnecLlng appllcaLlons wlLhln an organlzaLlon usually depends on a remoLe servlce
provlded by some lnLegraLlon producL A message queue ls a slmple example of Lhls whlle more
complex scenarlos use producLs such as l8M's WebSphere rocess Server MlcrosofL's 8lz1alk
Server and oLhers
ldenLlLy rovldlng ldenLlLy lnformaLlon ls a fundamenLal requlremenL for mosL dlsLrlbuLed
appllcaLlons Common onpremlses Lechnologles LhaL address Lhls lnclude MlcrosofL's AcLlve
ulrecLory and oLher LuA servers
Cnpremlses appllcaLlon servlces Lhe Lhlrd caLegory shown ln llgure 2 vary wldely across dlfferenL
organlzaLlons 1he reason for Lhls ls slmple ulfferenL organlzaLlons use dlfferenL appllcaLlons whlch ln
Lurn expose dlverse servlces Cne way Lo Lhlnk abouL Lhese appllcaLlons ln Lhe onpremlses plaLform ls Lo
dlvlde Lhem lnLo Lwo broad caLegorles
ackaged appllcaLlons 1hls lncludes buslness sofLware such as SA Cracle AppllcaLlons and
MlcrosofL uynamlcs along wlLh a myrlad of oLher offLheshelf producLs Whlle noL all packaged
appllcaLlons expose servlces Lo oLher appllcaLlons more and more of Lhem do
CusLom appllcaLlons Many organlzaLlons have a large lnvesLmenL ln cusLom sofLware As Lhese
appllcaLlons lncreaslngly expose Lhelr funcLlonallLy Lhrough servlces Lhey become parL of Lhe on
premlses appllcaLlon plaLform
When lL's descrlbed llke Lhls Lhe onpremlses appllcaLlon plaLform can seem qulLe complex 1he LruLh
Lhough ls LhaL Lhls plaLform has evolved over Llme ln Lhe early days of compuLlng Lhe appllcaLlon
plaLform conslsLed of noLhlng more Lhan an onpremlses foundaLlon (1hlnk of MvS and lMS on an l8M
malnframe for example) ln Lhe 1980s and 1990s as dlsLrlbuLed compuLlng spread onpremlses
lnfrasLrucLure servlces were added wlLh remoLe sLorage lnLegraLlon and ldenLlLy becomlng common
1oday wlLh Lhe advenL of servlceorlenLed appllcaLlons onpremlses appllcaLlon servlces have become
parL of Lhe plaLform 1he nexL sLep ln Lhls evoluLlon ls clear provldlng cloud verslons of all Lhree

7
l8CM Cn8LMlSLS LA1lC8MS 1C CLCuu LA1lC8MS
Along wlLh descrlblng onpremlses plaLforms Lhe general model [usL descrlbed can also be used Lo Lhlnk
abouL cloud plaLforms And slnce onpremlses and cloud plaLforms can be used LogeLher lL's lmporLanL Lo
undersLand how Lhe Lwo work ln concerL llgure 3 lllusLraLes Lhls new world

I|gure 3 Cnprem|ses p|atforms and c|oud p|atforms can be v|ewed |n s|m||ar ways and they can a|so
be used together
As Lhe flgure shows a cloud appllcaLlon can be bullL on a cloud foundaLlon [usL as an onpremlses
appllcaLlon ls bullL on an onpremlses foundaLlon 8oLh klnds of appllcaLlons can access lnfrasLrucLure and
appllcaLlon servlces provlded onpremlses and ln Lhe cloud !usL as onpremlses plaLforms supporL Loday's
appllcaLlons cloud plaLforms provlde servlces for Lhe appllcaLlons we're llkely Lo bulld Lomorrow
LkAMI NING CLCUD LA1ICkMS
undersLandlng cloud plaLforms means looklng aL each of Lhelr parLs Lhe cloud foundaLlon cloud
lnfrasLrucLure servlces and cloud appllcaLlon servlces 1hls secLlon walks Lhrough Lhese Lhree areas uslng
some of Loday's mosL vlslble cloud plaLform Lechnologles as examples
8efore we begln one lmporLanL noLe Whlle lL's useful Lo look aL onpremlses plaLforms and cloud
plaLforms Lhrough Lhe same lens Lhe Lwo aren'L ldenLlcal When plaLform funcLlons move lnLo Lhe cloud
Lhey someLlmes change ln slgnlflcanL ways lor example onpremlses plaLforms are deslgned Lo supporL
(aL mosL) enLerprlsescale appllcaLlons AppllcaLlons LhaL run ln Lhe cloud by conLrasL can poLenLlally
operaLe aL lnLerneL scale whlch requlres handllng many more slmulLaneous users Lhan any enLerprlse
appllcaLlon Whlle Lhe same klnds of plaLform funcLlons mlghL be needed ln boLh cases achlevlng Lhls hlgh

8
scalablllLy can force a cloud plaLform Lo provlde Lhem ln a qulLe dlfferenL way ln whaL follows expecL Lo
see some dlfferences from Lhe onpremlses world
CLCuu lCunuA1lCn
Llke Lhelr onpremlses couslns cloud foundaLlons provlde Lhe baslc local funcLlons an appllcaLlon needs
1hese can lnclude an underlylng operaLlng sysLem and local supporL ?eL how cloud plaLforms provlde
Lhese funcLlons dlffers from whaL we're used Lo as Lhls secLlon shows
CperaLl ng SysLem
lrom a plaLform polnL of vlew an operaLlng sysLem provldes a seL of baslc lnLerfaces for appllcaLlons Lo
use 8y far Lhe mosL wellknown example of an operaLlng sysLem ln Lhe cloud Loday ls Amazon's LlasLlc
CompuLe Cloud (LC2) LC2 provldes cusLomerspeclflc Llnux lnsLances runnlng ln vlrLual machlnes (vMs)
lrom a Lechnlcal perspecLlve lL mlghL be more accuraLe Lo Lhlnk of LC2 as a plaLform for vMs raLher Lhan
operaLlng sysLems SLlll a developer sees an operaLlng sysLem lnLerface and so vlewlng lL ln Lhls llghL
makes more sense here
Lach developmenL Leam ls free Lo use whaLever local supporL lL llkes ln Lhls vMAmazon doesn'L care
1he creaLors of one appllcaLlon mlghL choose a !ava LL app server and MySCL for example whlle anoLher
group mlghL go wlLh 8uby on 8alls LC2 cusLomers are even free Lo creaLe many Llnux lnsLances Lhen
dlsLrlbuLe large workloads across Lhem ln parallel such as for sclenLlflc appllcaLlons Whlle Lhe servlce LC2
provldes ls qulLe baslc lL's also very general and so lL can be used ln many dlfferenL ways
Local SupporL
ln an onpremlses plaLform (and ln LC2) a developer can mlx and maLch parLs of Lhe foundaLlon as she
sees flL Chooslng Lo use Lhe nL1 lramework on Wlndows doesn'L mandaLe uslng a parLlcular daLabase
for example Slmllarly an onpremlses appllcaLlon uslng Lhe nL1 lramework ls free Lo access Lhe
underlylng Wlndows operaLlng sysLem as ls an appllcaLlon bullL on a !ava LL server
1he local supporL funcLlons ln Loday's leadlng cloud foundaLlons don'L work Lhls way lnsLead a cloud
local supporL Lechnology Lyplcally lncludes lLs own sLorage and lL hldes whaLever Lhe underlylng
operaLlng sysLem mlghL be A developer chooslng Lo bulld on a parLlcular local supporL opLlon musL accepL
Lhe llmlLaLlons lL lmposes
1here are good reasons for Lhese llmlLaLlons of course Cne of Lhe Lhlngs LhaL makes cloud compuLlng so
aLLracLlve ls lLs poLenLlal for scalablllLy buL Lo make an appllcaLlon bullL on a cloud foundaLlon handle
lnLerneLslze loads requlres llmlLlng lL ln some ways 8y maklng Lhe local supporL funcLlons more
speclallzed a cloud plaLform provlder has more freedom Lo opLlmlze Lhe appllcaLlon envlronmenL
Accordlngly each seL of local supporL funcLlons ln cloud foundaLlons Loday focuses on supporLlng a
parLlcular klnd of appllcaLlon
lor example Coogle's AppLnglne provldes local supporL for runnlng yLhon Web appllcaLlons Along wlLh
a sLandard yLhon runLlme AppLnglne also lncludes a hlerarchlcal daLa sLore wlLh lLs own query language
AnoLher example of a cloud plaLform provldlng local supporL ls lorcecom offered by Salesforcecom
8aLher Lhan LargeLlng general Web appllcaLlons however lorcecom ls almed aL creaLlng daLaorlenLed

9
buslness appllcaLlons 1oward Lhls end lL provldes lLs own focused supporL for daLa sLorage And raLher
Lhan adopL an exlsLlng programmlng language Lhls plaLform's creaLors lnvenLed Lhelr own a language
called Apex
MlcrosofL also provldes local supporL for appllcaLlons ln Lhe cloud as parL of lLs C8M Llve offerlng 8ased
on Lhe uynamlcs C8M plaLform menLloned earller Lhls Lechnology LargeLs daLaorlenLed buslness
appllcaLlons much llke lorcecom And llke boLh lorcecom and AppLnglne lL lncludes boLh runLlme
appllcaLlon supporL and a daLa sLore MlcrosofL has also Lalked abouL lLs plans Lo go furLher ln Lhls area
wlLh a plaLform LhaL wlll supporL sLandard nL1 developmenL languages and Lools 1he lnLenL MlcrosofL
says ls Lo allow porLablllLy of boLh appllcaLlons and developer skllls beLween Lhe company's onpremlses
foundaLlon and lLs cloud foundaLlon
CLCuu lnl8AS18uC1u8L SL8vlCLS
WheLher Lhey run onpremlses or ln Lhe cloud some appllcaLlons don'L need anyLhlng beyond a
foundaLlon SLlll many can beneflL from dlsLrlbuLed sLorage common ldenLlLy and oLher lnfrasLrucLure
servlces We're accusLomed Lo havlng Lhese servlces provlded onpremlses Loday buL analogous servlces
are also provlded ln Lhe cloud
As llgure 3 showed cloud lnfrasLrucLure servlces can be accessed by appllcaLlons runnlng on elLher an on
premlses foundaLlon or a cloud foundaLlon lnlLlally Lhe mosL common users of cloud lnfrasLrucLure
servlces wlll be onpremlses because Lhere aren'L yeL many appllcaLlons bullL on a cloud foundaLlon Cver
Llme expecL Lhls Lo change as more and more cloudbased appllcaLlons also use cloud lnfrasLrucLure
servlces
SLorage
AppllcaLlons commonly use some klnd of local sLorage whlch ls why sLorage ls parL of boLh onpremlses
and cloud foundaLlons 8emoLe sLorage ls also useful however as Lhe popularlLy of Lhls servlce ln Lhe on
premlses world shows Accordlngly lL's reasonable Lo expecL LhaL provldlng a sLorage servlce ln Lhe cloud
wlll be aLLracLlve for many appllcaLlons
As wlLh onpremlses plaLforms remoLe sLorage ln Lhe cloud comes ln dlfferenL sLyles lor example
Amazon's Slmple SLorage Servlce (S3) provldes baslc unsLrucLured remoLe sLorage 1he model lL exposes
Lo developers ls sLralghLforward objects whlch are [usL bunches of byLes are sLored ln bockets
AppllcaLlons can creaLe read and deleLe ob[ecLs and buckeLs Cb[ecLs can'L be updaLed howeverLhey
can only be enLlrely replaced 1hls ls anoLher example of how plaLform servlces musL change Lo supporL
lnLerneLscale usage someLhlng LhaL Amazon ls clearly focused on 1hls slmple buL llmlLed sLorage servlce
ls much easler Lo make scalable Lhan a more fully feaLured offerlng would be 1he Lradeoff ls clear
AppllcaLlon developers geL cheap sLorage ln Lhe cloud buL Lhey mlghL need Lo do more work ln Lhelr
appllcaLlons Lo use lL effecLlvely
AnoLher approach Lo cloud sLorage ls Lo supporL more sLrucLured daLa ln MlcrosofL's SCL Server uaLa
Servlces (SSuS) for example a cootoloet lncludes one or more eotltles each of whlch holds some number
of ptopettles as shown ln llgure 4 An appllcaLlon can lssue querles agalnsL a conLalner's daLa wlLh
operaLors such as ! Anu C8 and nC1

10

I|gure 4 In SL Server Data Serv|ces a conta|ner ho|ds ent|t|es w|th propert|es
lL's lmporLanL Lo noLe LhaL Lhls lsn'L a relaLlonal daLabase and Lhe query language lsn'L SCL Cnce agaln
we're seelng an lllusLraLlon of how appllcaLlon plaLform Lechnologles change when Lhey're moved lnLo Lhe
cloud 1hls slmpler approach ls easler Lo use Lhan a relaLlonal daLabaseLhere's no need Lo deflne a
schema up fronLand lL's also easler Lo make scalable
Amazon's Slmpleu8 provldes one more example of Lhe value of sLrucLured sLorage ln Lhe cloud 1he way
Slmpleu8 organlzes lnformaLlon ls slmllar Lo SSuSlL's a hlerarchy of Jomolos ltems and voloesand lL
also provldes a nonSCL query language Llke SSuS no upfronL schema deflnlLlon ls requlred and so Lhe
approach provldes a mlx of flexlblllLy and scalablllLy
lnLegraLl on
ls Lhere any appllcaLlon lefL LhaL doesn'L Lalk Lo aL leasL one of lLs fellows? ConnecLlng appllcaLlons has
become a sLaple of compuLlng and vendors have provlded a pleLhora of onpremlses lnfrasLrucLure
servlces Lo do lL 1hese range from relaLlvely slmple Lechnologles llke message queues Lo qulLe complex
lnLegraLlon servers
As lnLegraLlon servlces move lnLo Lhe cloud a range of Lechnologles ls also appearlng lor example
Amazon's Slmple Cueue Servlce (SCS) provldes [usL whaL lLs name suggesLs a sLralghLforward way for
appllcaLlons Lo exchange messages vla queues ln Lhe cloud ?eL SCS once agaln lllusLraLes whaL happens
when a famlllar onpremlses servlce ls recasL as a cloud servlce 8ecause SCS repllcaLes messages across
mulLlple queues an appllcaLlon readlng from a queue lsn'L guaranLeed Lo see all messages from all
queues on a parLlcular read requesL SCS also doesn'L promlse lnorder exacLlyonce dellvery 1hese
slmpllflcaLlons leL Amazon make SCS more scalable buL Lhey also mean LhaL developers musL use SCS
dlfferenLly from an onpremlses message queulng Lechnology
8lz1alk Servlces provldes anoLher example of cloudbased lnLegraLlon 8aLher Lhan uslng message
queulng 8lz1alk Servlces lmplemenLs a relay servlce ln Lhe cloud LhaL leLs appllcaLlons communlcaLe
Lhrough flrewalls Cloudbased lnLegraLlon such as connecLlng appllcaLlons ln dlfferenL organlzaLlons
Lyplcally requlres Lraverslng flrewalls and so solvlng Lhls problem ls lmporLanL 8lz1alk Servlces also
provldes slmple workflow supporL along wlLh a way for an appllcaLlon Lo reglsLer Lhe servlces lL exposes
Lhen leL Lhose servlces be lnvoked by any oLher appllcaLlon LhaL has permlsslon Lo do so

11
Colng forward expecL Lo see more lnLegraLlon servlces offered ln Lhe cloud Clven Lhe lmporLance of
lnLegraLlon as an onpremlses servlce lL shouldn'L be surprlslng Lo see lLs funcLlons become parL of Lhe
cloud lnfrasLrucLure
ldenLl Ly
WheLher an appllcaLlon runs onpremlses or ln Lhe cloud lL Lyplcally needs Lo know someLhlng abouL lLs
users 1oward Lhls end Lhe appllcaLlon commonly demands LhaL each user provldes a dlglLal ldenLlLy a seL
of byLes LhaL descrlbes LhaL user 8ased on whaL Lhese byLes conLaln and how Lhey're verlfled Lhe
appllcaLlon can deLermlne Lhlngs such as who Lhls user ls and whaL Lhey're allowed Lo do
Many onpremlses appllcaLlons Loday rely on an onpremlses lnfrasLrucLure servlce such as AcLlve
ulrecLory Lo provlde Lhls ldenLlLy lnformaLlon When a user accesses a cloud appllcaLlon however or an
onpremlses appllcaLlon accesses a cloud servlce an onpremlses ldenLlLy usually won'L work And whaL
abouL an appllcaLlon bullL on a cloud foundaLlon? Where does lL geL lLs ldenLlLy lnformaLlon?
An ldenLlLy servlce ln Lhe cloud can address Lhese lssues 8ecause lL provldes a dlglLal ldenLlLy LhaL can be
used by people by onpremlses appllcaLlons and by cloud appllcaLlons a cloud ldenLlLy servlce can be
applled ln many dlfferenL scenarlos ln facL one lndlcaLlon of Lhe lmporLance of Lhls klnd of ldenLlLy
servlce ls Lhe number of cloud ldenLlLy servlces avallable Loday Accesslng Amazon cloud servlces such as
LC2 or S3 requlres presenLlng an Amazondeflned ldenLlLy for lnsLance whlle uslng Coogle AppLnglne
requlres a Coogle accounL MlcrosofL provldes Wlndows Llve lu whlch can be used for MlcrosofL
appllcaLlons and oLhers whlle 8lz1alk Servlces also offers lLs own ldenLlLy servlce whlch can be federaLed
wlLh oLhers uevelopers don'L have compleLe freedomcloud plaLforms are frequenLly Lled Lo a parLlcular
ldenLlLy provlderbuL Lhe need for ldenLlLy as a cloud servlce ls clear
CLCuu ALlCA1lCn SL8vlCLS
WhaL's Lhe dlfference beLween an appllcaLlon servlce and an lnfrasLrucLure servlce? 1o answer Lhls
quesLlon Lhlnk flrsL abouL Lhe obvlous dlsLlncLlon beLween appllcaLlons and lnfrasLrucLure AppllcaLlons
are deslgned Lo be used by people whlle lnfrasLrucLure ls deslgned Lo be used by appllcaLlons lL's also falr
Lo say LhaL lnfrasLrucLure usually provldes a general relaLlvely lowlevel servlce whlle appllcaLlons
provlde more speclflc hlgherlevel servlces An lnfrasLrucLure servlce solves a broad problem faced by
many dlfferenL klnds of appllcaLlons whlle an appllcaLlon servlce solves a more LargeLed problem And
[usL as lL's posslble Lo ldenLlfy dlfferenL klnds of lnfrasLrucLure servlces lL's also posslble Lo dlsLlngulsh
dlfferenL caLegorles of appllcaLlon servlces as Lhls secLlon lllusLraLes
SaaS Appl l caLl on Servl ces
users ln mosL enLerprlses Loday rely on boLh purchased and homegrown appllcaLlons As Lhese
appllcaLlons expose Lhelr servlces Lo remoLe sofLware Lhey become parL of Lhe onpremlses plaLform
Slmllarly SaaS appllcaLlons Loday frequenLly expose servlces LhaL can be accessed by onpremlses
appllcaLlons or by oLher cloud appllcaLlons Salesforcecom's C8M appllcaLlon for example makes
avallable a varleLy of servlces LhaL can be used Lo lnLegraLe lLs funcLlons wlLh onpremlses appllcaLlons As
organlzaLlons begln Lo creaLe Lhelr own SaaS appllcaLlons runnlng on a cloud foundaLlon Lhose
appllcaLlons wlll also expose servlces !usL as packaged and cusLom onpremlses appllcaLlons Loday are

1
parL of Lhe onpremlses plaLform Lhe servlces exposed by packaged and cusLom SaaS appllcaLlons are
becomlng parL of Lhe cloud plaLform
Search
Servlces exposed by SaaS appllcaLlons are useful buL Lhey're noL Lhe whole sLory CLher klnds of cloud
appllcaLlon servlces are also lmporLanL 1hlnk for example of search englnes such as Coogle and Llve
Search Along wlLh Lhelr obvlous value Lo people why can'L Lhey also offer cloud appllcaLlon servlces?
1he answer of course ls LhaL Lhey can MlcrosofL's Llve Search for example exposes servlces LhaL allow
onpremlses and cloud appllcaLlons Lo submlL searches and geL resulLs back Suppose a company LhaL
provlded a daLabase of legal lnformaLlon wanLed Lo leL cusLomers search boLh lLs own daLa and Lhe Web
ln a slngle requesL 1hey could accompllsh Lhls by creaLlng an onpremlses appllcaLlon LhaL boLh searched
Lhelr proprleLary daLa and vla Lhe Llve Search appllcaLlon servlce Lhe enLlre Web lL's falr Lo say LhaL noL
many appllcaLlons are llkely Lo need Lhls klnd of servlce buL LhaL's one reason why lL's mosL accuraLe Lo
Lhlnk of search as an appllcaLlon servlce raLher Lhan an lnfrasLrucLure servlce
Mappl ng
Many Web appllcaLlons Loday dlsplay maps PoLel Web slLes ploL Lhelr locaLlons reLallers provlde sLore
locaLors and more 1he people who creaLe Lhese appllcaLlons probably don'L have Lhe Llme lnLeresL or
budgeL Lo creaLe Lhelr own mapplng daLabase ?eL enough appllcaLlons need Lhls funcLlon Lo [usLlfy
creaLlng a cloud appllcaLlon servlce LhaL provldes lL
1hls ls exacLly whaL's done by mapplng servlces such as Coogle Maps and MlcrosofL's vlrLual LarLh 8oLh
provlde cloudbased servlces LhaL appllcaLlon developers can use Lo embed maps ln Web pages and more
And as wlLh search Lhese mapplng servlces are ad[uncLs Lo exlsLlng Web slLes LhaL LargeL users dlrecLly
le Lhey're cloud appllcaLlon servlces
CLher Appl l caLl on Servl ces
Many oLher appllcaLlon servlces are avallable Loday ln facL almosL any Web slLe can expose lLs
funcLlonallLy as a cloud servlce for developers Lo use hoLosharlng slLes such as Coogle's lcasa and
MlcrosofL's Wlndows Llve hoLo Callery do Lhls for example as do onllne conLacLs appllcaLlons such as
Coogle ConLacLs and MlcrosofL's Wlndows Llve ConLacLs Cne blg moLlvaLlon for exposlng servlces ls Lo
make lL easler Lo creaLe mashups LhaL explolL Lhe funcLlons of dlverse Web appllcaLlons
vendors someLlmes group cloud appllcaLlon servlces LogeLher under a common umbrella 1he servlces for
accesslng lnformaLlon ln Coogle ConLacLs lcasa and more are all parL of Lhe Coogle uaLa Als for
lnsLance Slmllarly MlcrosofL groups several of lLs servlces LogeLher under Lhe Llve laLform brand
lncludlng Llve Search vlrLual LarLh Wlndows Llve ConLacLs Wlndows Llve lu an AlerLs servlce a
speclallzed sLorage servlce called AppllcaLlon8ased SLorage and several more
1he llne beLween cloud lnfrasLrucLure servlces and cloud appllcaLlon servlces can someLlmes be fuzzy
Ceneral cloud sLorage servlces such as S3 and SSuS are clearly lnfrasLrucLure for example as are cloud
ldenLlLy servlces A mapplng servlce such as Coogle LarLh ls [usL as clearly appllcaLloncenLrlconly
cerLaln klnds of apps need lLas ls a servlce llke Llve Search 8uL an AlerLs servlce mlghL be consldered

13
lnfrasLrucLure slnce lL's more generally useful and Wlndows Llve lu ls deflnlLely lnfrasLrucLure even
Lhough MlcrosofL vlews boLh servlces as parL of lLs Llve laLform
Cloud plaLforms are a relaLlvely new area and so lL shouldn'L be surprlslng LhaL deflnlng a flrm Laxonomy
ls challenglng Powever you choose Lo vlew Lhem lL's clear LhaL cloud appllcaLlon servlces have an
lmporLanL role Lo play knowlng whaL's avallable ln Lhe cloud should be a core compeLency Loday for
everyone who deslgns and bullds sofLware
CCNCLUSICN
A new klnd of appllcaLlon plaLform doesn'L come along very ofLen 8uL when a successful plaLform
lnnovaLlon does appear lL has an enormous lmpacL 1hlnk of Lhe way personal compuLers and servers
shook up Lhe world of malnframes and mlnlcompuLers for example or how Lhe rlse of plaLforms for n
Ller appllcaLlons changed Lhe way people wrlLe sofLware Whlle Lhe old world doesn'L go away a new
approach can qulckly become Lhe cenLer of aLLenLlon for new appllcaLlons
Cloud plaLforms don'L yeL offer Lhe full specLrum of an onpremlses envlronmenL lor example buslness
lnLelllgence as parL of Lhe plaLform lsn'L common nor ls supporL for buslness process managemenL
Lechnologles such as fullfeaLured workflow and rules englnes 1hls ls all buL cerLaln Lo change however
as Lhls Lechnology wave conLlnues Lo roll forward
Cloud plaLforms aren'L yeL aL Lhe cenLer of mosL people's aLLenLlon 1he odds are good Lhough LhaL Lhls
won'L be Lrue flve years from now 1he aLLracLlons of cloudbased compuLlng lncludlng scalablllLy and
lower cosLs are very real lf you work ln appllcaLlon developmenL wheLher for a sofLware vendor or an
end user expecL Lhe cloud Lo play an lncreaslng role ln your fuLure 1he nexL generaLlon of appllcaLlon
plaLforms ls here
A8CU1 1nL AU1nCk
uavld Chappell ls rlnclpal of Chappell AssoclaLes (wwwdavldchappellcom) ln San lranclsco Callfornla
1hrough hls speaklng wrlLlng and consulLlng he helps sofLware professlonals around Lhe world
undersLand use and make beLLer declslons abouL new Lechnology