Cloud Computing: Data Security and Disaster Recovery Report Analysis

This report provides an analysis of cloud computing, specifically focusing on the migration of Webb's MS SQL Server 2012 R2 database to an IaaS instance. The report discusses cloud computing models, including hybrid clouds, and examines security measures such as VPNs and SSL encryption to protect data during migration. It delves into the risks associated with cloud migration, including data breaches and security vulnerabilities, and explores strategies for mitigating these risks. The report also addresses the challenges and considerations of cloud-based data backup and disaster recovery plans, highlighting the importance of secure data storage and efficient data retrieval. Furthermore, it suggests protective measures for IaaS infrastructure, such as multi-factor authentication and limited administrative access, and recommends applying these protections to the cloud network, backup, and restore infrastructure using data in motion encryption and firewalls. The report references key concepts and relevant literature in cloud computing, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic.

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Cloud Computing
Student’s Name
Institution
Cloud Computing
Question 1

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Cloud computing is a computing software and infrastructure model which is used in
enabling ubiquitous access to resources such as servers, applications, storage and networks
which have been configured and can be allocated and managed with minimal effort through
the use of the internet (Hamdaqa, 2012). A hybrid cloud is a term used in cloud computing to
refer to a cloud computing environment that utilizes a combination of private cloud, on
premises infrastructure and third party cloud services which work together to bring about
the whole cloud computing solution to a company. Cloud computing is in some aspects
referred to as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) because it provides computing resources over
the internet which are virtually available. Webb’s is a company which is trying to use cloud
computing to optimize its operations and save on some of its operational costs. They want to
migrate their MS SQL Server 2012 R2 database to an IaaS instance.
The types of security they can deploy to protect data through migration to a public
cloud are data in motion encryption such as using a virtual private network (VPN) or a
secured socket layer (SSL). An SSL is a security technology which is standardized and used in
establishing a link which is encrypted between a web browser and a server. The benefits of
that would result from this deployment is that the data of the company will be safely secured
and will not be easily accessible to outside individuals. The data will also be easily accessible
from anywhere which allows a lot of portability to the employees of the company. The issues
that would arise would be that their data will be at risk to a new breed of people such as
hackers who can try and attain this data for personal, professional or financial gain.
Question 2
The risks associated with migrating the mission critical database to the cloud are that

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the database can be compromised because all the data from the database will be migrated
to the cloud and during this migration data can be tapped by an unwanted party which can
lead to there being a serious security problem in the company. The IaaS structure can pose
various risks such as being too slow to effectively serve the company as data is being
migrated. It can also have low or unsubstantial security measures which may put the
company data at risk of being breached or accessed by unwanted parties. Communication
between Webb’s and their IaaS happens over the internet which means that the link can be
breached through an instance such as a man in the middle attack (Kostantos K. et al., 2013).
Question 3
The risks and issues associated with backing up data to the cloud are that data can by
accessed by unauthorized users. Data also takes a lot of time to be uploaded to the cloud
which can cause a lot of lagging in the operations in which the company undertakes. There
are also risks to restoring or retrieving data back from the cloud because this process needs
to be a fast task and may take a lot of time due to the huge volumes of data which are
needed for use by the company. Storing data in the cloud is critical because this data is
sensitive and needs to be secured. It is therefore a key requirement for storing of data to the
cloud to be very secure and organized. When the cloud is built and organized well it ensures
that we the company can access data efficiently reducing any issues of data redundancy or
coherency which are usually present in a poorly designed database (Qusay, 2011).
Webb’s use of the cloud backup affects their DR plans in that they will now have to
change their strategy. Data recovery involves saving data or backing it up somewhere such as
a cloud then later retrieving this data in case maybe the system is compromised. Webb’s DR

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plans were internal but now they use the cloud which means their data is passed over the
internet and can be accessible by unauthorized users if it is not protected. Webb’s needs to
ensure that in backing up and retrieving their data they utilize data in motion encryption
techniques to secure their data. They did not need to consider such measures before
because data recovery was handled using in-house infrastructure but now they will need to
use the Iaas infrastructure.
Question 4
Webb’s can protect their Iaas infrastructure by using multi-factor authentication when
accessing this infrastructure. This will ensure that authentication to access the infrastructure
is more secure so that it is hard for any unauthorized users to access the infrastructure.
Administrative access can be limited to only a few users to ensure vulnerability is limited
because there are only a few users who have administrative access (Von Laszewski et al.,
2012). These protection measures can be replicated to their Ms SQL Server 2012 R2 cloud
instance. Their cloud network, backup and restore infrastructure can be protected by using
data in motion encryption and firewalls to ensure they are secure from threats and any data
they are passing over the internet is secured and encrypted.
References
Hamdaqa M. (2012). Cloud Computing Uncovered: A Research Landscape. Elsevier Press. pp.

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41 - 85.
Kostantos K. et al. (2013). OPEN-source IaaS fit for purpose: a comparison between
OpenNebula and OpenStack. International Journal of Electronic Business Management.
Qusay H. (2011). Demystifying Cloud Computing. The Journal of Defense Software
Engineering, CrossTalk.
Von Laszewski G. et al. (2012). Comparison of multiple cloud frameworks. IEEE 5th
International Conference on Cloud Computing.