Essay on Cloud Computing

This essay discusses the advantages and risks associated with cloud computing in business organizations. It analyzes the security issues and recommends certain limitations to be implemented. The advantages of cloud computing over other information system options are also discussed.

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR IT
Essay on Cloud Computing
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Introduction
Cloud computing is one of the latest advancements in the field of information technology
and has massively influenced the existing computerized operations performed for various
purposes. In the regular computing systems, the data is processed using the processor and stored
in the physical hard drives. As a result, the costs of the hardwares and computer peripherals
become extremely high and furthermore, they require significant physical space. However, with
cloud computing, neither the physical space nor the peripherals are required; almost infinite
amount of data can be stored in the online virtual interface.
In this essay, the security issues associated with cloud computing and its feasibility of use
in business organizations have been analyzed.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a software based technology that provides virtual interface for
storage of data and information. Unlike physical storage devices, they do not have any storage
limitations (Beloglazov, Abawajy and Buyya 2012). The entire storage interface is completely
hosted online and can be accessed using an internet connection only regardless of hardware
configuration. Some common examples of cloud computing servers are Google cloud, iCloud
and others. The advantages of cloud computing over other information system options are as
follows.
Less Physical Space – In regular information systems, the data is stored in the physical
storage devices like hard disc, CDs, DVDs, pen drives and others. They require physical storage
space especially in the central servers of large scale organizations where huge amount of

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information is stored within a single hard drive. On the other hand, in cloud computing, there is
no physical storage space required and the stored data and information are hosted entirely in the
virtual online interface.
No Storage Limit – In regular storage drives, the storage space is limited. In the current
most upgraded storage drive, the maximum storage space can be 8 terabytes. In the smaller
storage drives, the storage space generally ranges from 2 GB to 64 GB in pen drives to 2 TB in
portable hard discs (Zissis and Lekkas 2012). On the other hand, cloud drives have no such space
limitation and literally infinite amount of data can be stored in the online interface.
Cost – The physical storage drives have high costs and the cost increases with the
increasing storage space provided. However, this is not a problem in the cloud computing as
there is only subscription fee for receiving the storage service from the cloud service provider.
Efficiency – Again in this respect, data management process is much more efficient in
the cloud computing than regular storage systems (Manvi and Shyam 2014). This is because, in
the regular storage systems, the data is to be entered and managed manually whereas in cloud
computing, the entire data management and storage process is automated and much more
accurate and efficient than the manually handled processes.
In spite of all these advantages, there are several risks and issues associated with cloud
computing. These risks are listed as follows.
Legal Issues – Some organizations and entities use cloud computing as a method for
hiding illegal pieces of information. Since, the entire data is stored and encrypted in the online
interface; there are no physical evidences of the existence of such data (Erl, Puttini and

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Mahmood 2013). This technique is mainly utilized in the black marketing techniques used by
some organizations during some crisis in market.
Cyber Security – Another disadvantage of hosting all the data in the online interface is
that the entire server becomes vulnerable to cyber attacks like injection of malwares and virus,
hacking attempts, breach of confidentiality attacks and others (Moreno-Vozmediano, Montero
and Llorente 2012). The online presence of the data makes it very much accessible to external
uses in spite of the presence of encryptions and other protections and hence, the cloud servers
become easy targets of the unethical hackers. The main effect of these security issues cause loss
of privacy as the personal information of clients and confidential information of the organization
are stolen by the unethical hacking entities.
In spite of these risks, cloud computing is deemed by researchers as the future of data
management as internet is now extensively used all over the world by the business organizations
as well as common people. Hence, it is recommended that the organizations should continue to
develop and use the existing cloud computing set up along with the implementation of certain
limitations. Some of the recommended limitations to be implemented are as follows.
Enforce Use of Firewalls – The organizations should enforce their developers to
implement strong firewalls that help to protect the online server from external attacks (Younis
and Kifayat 2013). These firewalls also alert the users in case of an attempted attack so that the
users can take suitable steps to stop the attack entirely.
Internet Usage Policy – The organization should restrict the use of internet by the
employees including blocking access to external sites that may harm the system. Some websites
are potentially dangerous as they may inject virus and malwares into the system once a user

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clicks on the website. Hence, restriction of internet usage is required and it can only be done by
restriction of usable websites from the company’s internet connection.
Legal Usage – In addition to the mentioned points, the company should ensure the cloud
is accessed and used by following all the legal guidelines and policies. If the company continues
to use the cloud computing for unethical and illegal purposes, once they will get caught and they
may not be given access to any cloud server in the future (Qiu et al. 2012). Hence, the
organizations should continue to use the cloud system for business purposes only and following
all legal and ethical usage guidelines.
Conclusion
From the essay, it can be concluded that organizations should definitely continue using
cloud computing given that suitable actions are taken to prevent any legal or privacy issues that
might arise due to its use. In order to do that, the organizations should prepare cloud usage
policies and guidelines before implementing and using cloud computing in its mainstream
business. Cloud computing is the future and hence, its use in the business organizations cannot
be ignored or else, other rival organizations will move far ahead in the market.

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References
Beloglazov, A., Abawajy, J., and Buyya, R. 2012. Energy-aware resource allocation heuristics
for efficient management of data centers for cloud computing. Future generation computer
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Bruneo, D. 2014. A stochastic model to investigate data center performance and QoS in IaaS
cloud computing systems. Parallel and Distributed Systems, IEEE Transactions on, 25(3), 560-
569.
Erl, T., Puttini, R., and Mahmood, Z. 2013. Cloud computing: concepts, technology, and
architecture. Pearson Education.
Malawski, M., Juve, G., Deelman, E., and Nabrzyski, J. 2012. Cost-and deadline-constrained
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International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and
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Manvi, S. S., and Shyam, G. K. 2014. Resource management for Infrastructure as a Service
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440.
Moreno-Vozmediano, R., Montero, R. S., and Llorente, I. M. 2012. IaaS cloud architecture:
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Nathani, A., Chaudhary, S., and Somani, G. 2012. Policy based resource allocation in IaaS
cloud. Future Generation Computer Systems, 28(1), 94-103.

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Qiu, M., Li, J., Ming, Z., Quan, G., Qin, X., and Gu, Z. 2012. Online optimization for scheduling
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666-677.
Younis, M. Y. A., and Kifayat, K. 2013. Secure cloud computing for critical infrastructure: A
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