Cloud Computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Cloud Computing - Essay Example Cloud computing is arguably the most popular emergent computing paradigm of the last decade (Hayes, 2009) and a technology at the peak of the Gartner hype cycle (Schonfeld, 2008). Cloud Computing aims at reducing the costs associated with management of hardware and software resources by shifting the computing infrastructure from on-site to on-network through the use of a variety of technologies that offer everything as a service under what could be generalized as â€Å"XaaS† (Rimal et al., 2009). X here could refer to software, platform, hardware, infrastructure, database, business, framework, organization and so on. One of the major challenges for the proponents of cloud computing has been to clear the confusion over the definition of cloud computing. Geelan (2009) analysed definitions from 21 cloud computing experts and none of them provided a unified definition as they all seemed to focus on different aspects of the cloud. To remove confusion with regards to what the cloud is in this research, we shall use the definition proposed by Vaquero et al. (2009) in this paper. Vaquero et al. (2009) built upon the work of Geelan (2009) and additional definitions from other experts to arrive at the definition below: Clouds are a large pool of easily usable and accessible virtualized resources (such as hardware, development platforms and/or services). These resources can be dynamically re-configured to adjust to a variable load (scale), allowing also for an optimum resource utilization. This pool of resources is typically exploited by a pay-per-use model in which guarantees are offered by the Infrastructure Provider by means of customized Service Level Agreements (SLAs) (Vaquero et al., 2009, p.51). ... One of the major challenges for the proponents of cloud computing has been to clear the confusion over the definition of cloud computing. Geelan (2009) analysed definitions from 21 cloud computing experts and none of them provided a unified definition as they all seemed to focus on different aspects of the cloud. To remove confusion with regards to what the cloud is in this research, we shall use the definition proposed by Vaquero et al. (2009) in this paper. Vaquero et al. (2009) built upon the work of Geelan (2009) and additional definitions from other experts to arrive at the definition below: Clouds are a large pool of easily usable and accessible virtualized resources (such as hardware, development platforms and/or services). These resources can be dynamically re-configured to adjust to a variable load (scale), allowing also for an optimum resource utilization. This pool of resources is typically exploited by a pay-per-use model in which guarantees are offered by the Inf rastructure Provider by means of customized Service Level Agreements (SLAs) (Vaquero et al., 2009, p.51). 2.0. Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing To appreciate the advantages of cloud computing and to analyse its disadvantages we have to first comprehend the different modes of delivery of this new paradigm. Each of these forms of delivery offers different advantages and disadvantages to different businesses. Cloud computing allows delivery of computing resources as services in the form of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS) depending on the level of abstraction that the client desires. 2.1. Infrastructure as a service Under IaaS, instead of

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Essay

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - Essay Example Most people find this depressing and confusing. The calculation of the ability to get aid based on individuals’ financial circumstances may limit some students in getting financial aid and therefore it should be on merit and not on the size of assets owned by individuals and their families. The FAFSA form does not consider the financial challenges that most families live in and therefore most family members find it intimidating. Therefore most families and students fail to go for higher level of education like colleges, since it has over hundred questions and most of these questions are base on the financial wellbeing of parents and families. This becomes a limiting factor to students in need of financial aid. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid process faces challenges because it is ineffective in ensuring college completion by the students because of the complexities involved. Due to lack of finances enough to sponsor education sector, the organizations using the FAFSA process imposes policies that make parents to start paying immediately the students are enrolled in the loans programme. This makes poor families strain even more and hence find themselves in a bad financial situation. Proposal have been made for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form to be narrowed down to be user friendly but instead more questions were added to the already existing ones to help asses financial situations of students seeking loans and grants in or4der to finance their education. This is a challenging factor because, even if the questions are answered, it does not put into consideration of the high costs of living in various states in the nation. The fact that the accessibility of loans and grants are based on the credit worthiness according to the financial position of the families, most poor families find it