REACHING FOR THE CLOUD
T
he keys to sound decision-making and effec- tive action are good information—perhaps with a few specialized tools and services thrown in to help make sense of it all—and reliable communi-
cations. Tis is true no matter where you are or what you are doing—on the battlefield or in the office, conducting major combat operations, responding to a humanitarian crisis, train- ing or planning.
Today, communications, the collection, delivery and sharing of information, and the applications that help us use and under- stand the information have a common denominator: Tey are network-dependent, and the demand for them is high and con- stantly increasing. At the same time, the scope and diversity of Army mission requirements are growing, budgets and staff levels are declining, and cybersecurity threats and attacks are becoming more sophisticated and more frequent.
Tis environment challenges the Army’s ability to maintain readiness and warfighting superiority. Innovative approaches that preserve resources and the Army’s technological edge, while fulfilling readiness requirements, are the solution. Cloud computing provides just such a transformational opportunity.
Delivering the enablers that warfighters and decision-makers need through traditional information technology (IT) infra- structure is inherently less secure and has become far too expensive to sustain. Cloud computing, however, offers an ave- nue to significantly improve the Army’s overall cybersecurity posture, lower IT hardware and software costs and provide the flexibility to develop and deliver more quickly the capability enhancements the force needs.
WHAT CLOUD COMPUTING IS NOT Cloud computing is not merely a data center that has been optimized for performance and efficiency. Even the most optimized data center still requires significant management to operate, secure, sustain and provision computing resources (e.g., processing, memory, storage). In a standard data cen- ter, computing resources are dedicated to specific system and application owners (one computer is assigned to run only one application) based on predicted peak levels of demand, which often exceed actual need. Tis is known as over-provision- ing, and these resources are rendered unavailable to other systems—whether or not they actually are being consumed— and the system owner pays to sustain them even when they’re not being used.
WHAT CLOUD COMPUTING IS In contrast, cloud computing encompasses all of the efficient features of an optimized data center while adding five essential characteristics:
1. On-demand self-service, where system and applica- tion owners can provision, and de-provision, available computing resources without data center management intervention.
2. Broad network access to support multiple types of devices.
3. Shared pooling of configurable computing resources, which can be released for other uses when demand is low.
4. Rapid elasticity, which enables automatic scaling of resources up or down of resources based on actual demand.
5. Measured services through a metering capability, which ensures that system and application owners pay only for the resources they consume.
CLOUD SERVICE MODELS In general, cloud computing provides capabilities through three service models, which can be deployed on- or off-prem- ises in a private, community, public or hybrid environment, depending on the level of security required:
Software as a Service (SaaS): Te cloud service provider (CSP) operates, secures and sustains all of the computing infrastructure, including servers, operating systems (plat- forms) and applications (software). SaaS is a complete service offering that requires very little intervention beyond the CSP, with the exception of some minor user-level customization, which may be offered as part of the service.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): Te CSP operates, secures and sustains the computing infrastructure, including servers and operating systems. PaaS is a mid-level service offering that requires the application owner to self-provision and sustain all services and associated data, including cybersecurity updates and incident response.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Te CSP operates, secures and sustains only the hardware. IaaS is the minimum- level offering. It requires system and application owners to self-provision and secure the entire operating environment, including the operating system, application services and asso- ciated data, and to provide the required cybersecurity updates and incident response.
58
Army AL&T Magazine
April-June 2016
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