1. ADVANCE OF COMPUTING FROM THE GROUND TO THE CLOUD Basic concepts and library applications Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technology and Research Vanderbilt University Library Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides http://www.librarytechnology.org/ http://twitter.com/mbreeding Computers in Libraries 2012 March 22, 2012

2. Summary  Cloud computing is one of the most important technology trends of the times. The phase of client/server computing is fading into obsolescence, replaced by entirely web-based systems, increasingly deployed through SaaS. Libraries and other technology-oriented organizations now have options through infrastructure-as-a-service offerings such as Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud and Simple Storage Service to ramp up computing capabilities quickly, enjoy free access for smaller projects, and take advantage of usage- based subscription models for larger-scale production projects. Breeding expands on these topics and provides a basic explanation of cloud computing that focuses on real advantages and disadvantages for libraries.

3. Continuum of Abstraction  Locally owned and installed servers  Co-located servers  Co-located virtual servers  Web hosting  Server hosting services  Application Service Provider  Software-as-a-service  Infrastructure-as-a-service  Platform-as-a-service The Advance of Computing From the Ground to the Cloud Computers in Libraries, December 2009 http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=14384

4. What is Cloud computing?  Wikipedia: “Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

5. Cloud computing as marketing term  Cloud computing used very freely, tagged to almost any virtualized environment  Any arrangement where the library relies on some kind of remote hosting environment for major automation components  Includes almost any vendor-hosted product offering

6. Cloud computing – characteristics  Web-based Interfaces  Externally hosted  Pricing: subscription or utility  Highly abstracted computing model  Provisioned on demand  Scaled according to variable needs  Elastic – consumption of resources can contract and expand according to demand

7. Fundamental technology shift  Mainframe computing  Client/Server  Cloud Computing http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrick/61952845/ http://soacloudcomputing.blogspot.com/2008/10/cloud-computing.html http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-2001/jw-1019-jxta.html

8. Gartner Hype Cycle 2009

9. Gartner Hype Cycle 2010

10. Gartner Hype Cycle 2011

11. Local Computing  Traditional model  Locally owned and managed  Shifting from departmental to enterprise  Departmental servers co-located in central IT data centers  Increasingly virtualized

12. Virtualization  The ability for multiple computing images to simultaneously exist on one physical server  Physical hardware partitioned into multiple instances using virtual machine management tools such as VMware  Applicable to local, remote, and cloud models

13. Application service provider  Business applications hosted by software vendor  Standalone application on discrete or virtualized hardware  Staff and public clients accessed via the Internet  Same user interfaces and functionality as if installed locally  Established as a deployment model in the 1990’s

14. ASP vs SaaS From: THINKstrategies: CIO’s Guide to Software-as-a-Service

15. Software-as-a-Service  Complete software application, customized for customer use  Software delivered through cloud infrastructure, data stored on cloud  Eg: Salesforce.com—widely used business infrastructure

16. Google Apps

17. Microsoft Office 365

18. Enterprise SaaS deployments  Many universities outsourcing mail  Retain institutional domain names  Google Apps Education Edition Gmail  Microsoft Live@Edu

19. Infrastructure-as-a-service  Provisioning of Equipment  Servers, storage  Virtual server provisioning  Examples:  Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)  Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)  Rackspace Cloud (http://www.rackspacecloud.com/)http://www.rackspacecloud.com/  EMC 2 Atmos (http://www.atmosonline.com/)

20. Data as a service  SaaS provides opportunity for highly shared data models  WorldCat: one globally shared copy that serves all libraries  Primo Central: central index of articles maintained by Ex Libris shared by all libraries implementing Primo / Primo Central  Global Knowledgebase of e-journal holdings shared among all customers of SFX  Serials Solutions: KnowledgeWorks  General opportunity to move away from library-by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows

21. Amazon EC2  Amazon Machine Instances (AMI)  Red Hat Enterprise Linux  Debian  Fedora  Ubuntu Linux  Open Solaris  Windows Server 2003/2008

22. Storage-as-a-Service  Provisioned, on-demand storage  Bundled to, or separate from other cloud services

23. Platform-as-a-Platform as a Service  Virtualized computing environment for deployment of software  Application engine, no specific server provisioning  Examples:  Google App Engine SDKs for Java, Python  Heroku: ruby platform  Amazon Web Service

24. Private vs Public cloud  Public – multi-tenant provisioning  Logically isolated computing environment  Theoretical security / competitive concerns  Private – cloud architecture, institutionally controlled  Enforces physical segregation  Leverages cost and scalability  Institutions may require private clouds from providers  Institutions may operate their own cloud infrastructure for internal clients

25. Library automation through SaaS  Almost all library automation products offered through hosted options  Saas or ASP?

26. ILS Products offered as SaaS (mostly ASP_  SirsiDynix Symphony  SirsiDynix Horizon  Innovative Interfaces Millennium  Ex Libris Aleph  EOS International EOS.Web  Evergreen – Equinox Software  Koha – LibLime, ByWater, many others internationally  …many other examples …

27. Multi-tenant SaaS  Serials Solutions  Summon  Intota (Announced for 2012/-12)  360 Search, 360 Link, KnowledgeWorks  Ex Libris  Alma  Primo Central  BiblioCommons  OCLC WorldShare Management Services

28. Platform as a Service  OCLC WorldShare Platform  WorldShare Management Services  WorldShare License Manager  Library-created applications

29. Repositories in the cloud  Dspace – institutional repository application  Fedora – generalized repository platform  DuraSpace – organization now over both Dspace and Fedora  DuraCloud – shared, hosted repository platform  Pilot since 2009, production in early 2011  http://www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php http://www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php

30. Caveats and concerns with SaaS  Libraries must have adequate bandwidth to support access to remote applications without latency  Quality of service agreements that guarantee performance and reliability factors  Configurability and customizability limitations  Access to API’s  Ability to interoperate with 3 rd party applications  Eg: Connect SaaS ILS with discovery product from another vendor

31. Cost implications  Total cost of ownership  Do all cost components result in increased or decreased expense  Personnel costs – need less technical administration  Hardware – server hardware eliminated  Software costs: subscription, license, maintenance/support  Indirect costs: energy costs associated with power and cooling of servers in data center  IaaS: balance elimination of hardware investments for ongoing usage fees  Especially attractive for development and prototyping

32. Risks and concerns  Privacy of data  Policies, regulations, jurisdictions  Ownership of data  Avoid vendor lock-in  Integrity of Data  Backups and disaster recovery

33. Security issues  Most providers implement stronger safeguards beyond the capacity of local institutions  Virtual instances equally susceptible to poor security practices as local computing

34. Cloud computing trends for libraries  Increased migration away from local computing toward some form of remote / hosted / virtualized alternative  Cloud computing especially attractive to libraries with few technology support personnel  Adequate bandwidth will continue to be a limiting factor

35. Increased pressure  Library automation vendors promoting SaaS offerings  Some companies already exclusively SaaS  Software pricing increasingly favorable to SaaS

36. Caveat  technologies promoted by companies and organizations have a vested interest in their adoption  Critically assess viability of the technology and its appropriateness for your organization

37. Cloud Computing for Libraries  Volume 11 in The Tech Set  Neal-Schuman  Expected April 2012  ISBN: 781555707859  http://www.neal-schuman.com/ccl Book ImagePublication Info:

38. Questions and Discussion