Issues in Cloud Computing: Disadvantages and Practical Examples

Running head: CLOUD COMPUTING
One Column Cloud Computing Technology
Abstract- Cloud computing technology has been one of the latest innovations and it had gained popularity among a
wide range of organizations. Organizations utilize the cloud computing services for various purposes, besides various
advantages, cloud computing services provide various disadvantages as well, the disadvantages of cloud computing
services have been mentioned in the assignment, it also discusses regarding various practical examples where
organizations like Google and Amazon had faced issues with cloud computing services. The report further provides some
recommendations on how the issues can be resolved.
I. INTRODUCTION
Cloud computing technologies have been around since 2010 and they are rapidly evolving. As the
technologies evolve, there is issues of hacking and disruption. Hacking is the process of entering a cyber-area and
changing information or accessing sensitive materials though the internet. This also affects user experiences and
also user data. Computing with the cloud includes shopping, academics, and business transactions and more
processes are being added as the technology develops Shopping is the number activity that is digital and cloud
computing stores credit cards and also personal information as well Cloud computing has to be elastic and able to
adapt to new uses and changes and “Elasticity has originally been defined in physics as a material property capturing
the capability of returning to its original state after a deformation. In economic theory, informally, elasticity denotes
the sensitivity of a dependent variable to changes in one or more other variables “( NR Herbst, S Kounev, RH
Reussner 2013).
Elasticity is the ability to stretch as system as well as expand the tolerances of said system. Cloud
computing is determined with its ability to handle several processes and be scaled according to the desired
operation. What resources are being used, the parameters, as well as scalability and security. Leakage of data
would be a gold mine for hackers being elastic allows for a stable secure processing of information in the cloud and
this is critical as shopping and business functions are now being digitized more than ever before. As more
information is being processed, there is the challenge of security and maintaining elasticity. When elastics break,
that means the material cracks and the weaknesses are fulfilled. The cloud would not snap or break so to speak but,
the elastic limit would allow for hackers to gain access to finances, medical, business, and other sensitive

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information in which they can use for their own purposes. Security is a major issue but, also user experience and
availability when it comes to cloud elasticity.
II. DISCUSSION
Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly
provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.” (National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), USA).”
This is important as having national standards for cloud computing and elasticity as data is used in many
applications. So much is digitalized and information is now shared more universally with the clouds. Clouds are
pretty much storage areas for data and they do not have storage limits much like a disk or a hard drive. However,
clouds are easily accessible and hacking is an issue as noted. With this, clouds are also characterized based on
services. Dr. Basem Suleiman in a presentation shares the services and characteristics of clouds.
“On-demand self-service • Computing capabilities, such as server and network storage, are provisioned as
needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider Broad network access •
Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by
heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms Resource pooling • The provider’s computing resources are pooled to
serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically
assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand and Rapid elasticity • Capabilities can be elastically
provisioned and released, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with
demand • To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be
appropriated in any quantity at any time. Measured service Cloud systems automatically control and optimize
resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g.,
storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts)” (Basem 2018).
The above list of cloud computing applications are exhausting. This technology is only set to expand as
time goes on. Medical records, business data, and video games are just the most common processes. Elasticity in
teh cloud can crash and in the case of video games, it can be inconvenient but, losing medical or business data can
have economic and monetary consequences. Also, access to sensitive information can also be used by adversaries
and other state actors and cause a security crisis. Elasticity is the process of managing the workload along with

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security processes and procedures. Also it includes not losing data during the processes and also being expanded to
get a higher load of information. Scaling is the process that aids in the elasticity of the resources within a specific
cloud. Scaling is the use of resources and allocation of resources based on the need and this includes increase
resources for a tasks or reducing it. Elasticity and scaling in this sense seems very similar but elasticity is the ability
to handle large information networks and scaling is the control of the resources to put the information or run the
programs in the clouds. Measurements can be an issues and there is no perfect program to do the measurements of
clouds and their elasticity. Research also is being done to fine tune the methods of modeling and measurements of
cloud elasticity.
Measurements of elasticity in the cloud are still being researched as well and measuring such elasticity can
help tweak systems and also adjust them to improve use experience as well as security protocols. Wei Ai,1 Kenli
Li,1 Shenglin Lan,1 Fan Zhang,2 Jing Mei,1 Keqin Li,1,3 and Rajkumar Buyya4 are in the process of researching a
new measurement for the elasticity in the cloud. They not more specifically that elasticity is “Broadly defining,
elasticity is the capability of delivering preconfigured and just-in-need virtual machines adaptively in a cloud
platform upon the fluctuation of the computing resources required. Practically it is determined by the time needed
from an under provisioning or overprovisioning state to a balanced resource provisioning state. ”Wei Ai,1 Kenli Li,1
Shenglin Lan,1 Fan Zhang,2 Jing Mei,1 Keqin Li,1,3 and Rajkumar Buyya4 (2016). At any time, a cloud must able
able to handle a varied level of constant processing and also a standby process as well depending on location and
nature of the data. This also includes accessing data at demand and also be able to handle a higher workload with
data uploading as well. A main ingredient for cloud elasticity is the ability to measure it and this process is ongoing.
III. ISSUES IN CLOUD
Cloud elasticity can fluctuate at any given time with the increasing use as businesses and consumers log on
the cloud. Having a real time data tracking system is critical in tracking elasticity in a system. As noted, knowing
the elasticity can be a challenge due to the lag of data and not having a current data tracking mechanism that is real
time. The cloud must be able to adapt to any changes to the workload as it is shared with hospitals, video gamers,
schools, and etc. Elasticity is the process of adjusting and keeping up with the workloads as necessary. A crashing
cloud is not a good deal when it comes to critical information processes. A crash as noted earlier would cause
economic and security threats as the protective coding and programs would be exposed. Monitoring the