Cloud Computing in Libraries
description
Transcript of Cloud Computing in Libraries
CLOUD COMPUTING IN LIBRARIESBasic concepts and library applications
Library Services in the Cloud9 Nov, 2012
Marshall BreedingIndependent Consult, Author, Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideswww.librarytechnology.org/twitter.com/mbreeding
Summary Cloud computing in Libraries: trends
related to the adoption of cloud computing technologies for library management and discovery products.
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.
Cloud Computing for Libraries
Volume 11 in The Tech Set
Published by Neal-Schuman / ALA TechSource
ISBN: 781555707859
http://www.neal-schuman.com/ccl
Book Image Publication Info:
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
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
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
Local Computing Traditional model Locally owned and managed Shifting from departmental to enterprise Departmental servers
co-located in central IT data centers
Increasingly virtualized
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
Gartner Hype Cycle 2009
Gartner Hype Cycle 2010
Gartner Hype Cycle 2011
Cloud computing layers
Mobile Computing
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 www.rackspacecloud.com/
) EMC2 Atmos (www.atmosonline.com/)
Web-scale computing
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/googles-data-centers-inside-look.html
Amazon EC2 Amazon Machine Instances (AMI)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Debian Fedora Ubuntu Linux Open Solaris Windows Server 2003/2008
Amazon Web Services Console
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 Multi-tenant: all organizations that use the
service share the same instance (codebase, hardware resources, etc) Often partitioned to separate some groups of
subscribers
Types of SaaS
http://www.samanage.com/blog/2011/08/not-all-saas-offerings-are-created-equal/
Application service provider Legacy 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 Can be implemented through Infrastructure-as-a
Service Individual instances of legacy system hosted in EC2
ASP vs SaaS
From: THINKstrategies: CIO’s Guide to Software-as-a-Service
Multi-tenant
Salesforce: classic multi-tenant Salesforce.com: multi-tenant cloud
infrastructure used by organizations across many industries
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10400538-264.html
Multi-Tenant vs Multi-Instance
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/google-apps-vs-office-365-your-choice/1357
Private vs Public
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cloud_computing_types.svg
Storage-as-a-Service Provisioned, on-demand storage Bundled to, or separate from other cloud
services Examples:
Enterprise: Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
Consumer: Dropbox
Data as a service General opportunity to move away from library-
by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows
Shared knowledge bases E-resource holdings Bibliographic services Linked data applications
Key Issues Data ownership Creative commons license Data portability across competing providers
Cloud computing in action
Common Library Examples
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
Operation of a library’s Web site Fewer libraries choosing to operate their
Web sites on local servers Simple sites: Web hosting services Intermediate sites: Hosted CMS
Drupal consulting firm + hosting service Complex sites
Custom programming EC2 or other Infrastructure as a service
Mail and Calendaring Many libraries just use individual accounts on Gmail or similar
services A more sophisticated approach uses mail services from
Google, Microsoft, or others institutionally Google Apps for Businesses Microsoft Exchange Online
Same interface, but e-mail addresses carry the institutional domain name Free or low-cost for small organizations Professional levels for larger organizations
Supplemental services: No advertising Back-up and recovery services Service Level agreement
Document creation and collaboration
Google Docs / Google Drive Microsoft Office 365 Zoho.com
Concerns / Issues: Documents as official institutional records Backup and recovery process Private or Subject to FOIA?
Data in the cloud Storage as a service Informal / small-scale
Dropbox (2GB+) Microsoft Skydrive (7GB+) Mostly used as supplemental storage and for
sharing Institutional / Larger-scale
Local storage still dominant When using cloud storage for institutional data
Multiple tiers of backup with SLA DuraCloud, S3, many others
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
Library Specific platforms
Library automation through SaaS Almost all library automation products
offered through hosted options SaaS or ASP?
Data as a service SaaS provides opportunity for highly
shared data models General opportunity to move away from
library-by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows
Web-scale Index-based DiscoverySearch:
Digital Collections
Web Site ContentInstitution
al Repositori
es
…E-Journals
Reference Sources
Search Results
Pre-built harvesting and indexing
Consolidated Index
ILS Data
Aggregated Content packages
(2009- present)
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 www.duraspace.org/duracloud.php
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 3rd party
applications Eg: Connect SaaS ILS with discovery
product from another vendor
Maintain institutional branding Using cloud computing does not mean
giving up your identity Be sure that your services delivered through
your own URL Most cloud services support domain aliases Accomplished through DNS configuration
Implemented by your network administrator Create CNAME entry to redirect cloud service to
a subdomain associated with your library: S3.mylibrary.org = s3.amazonaws.com.
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
Personnel Distribution
Server Administration
Application maintenance
Staff client software updates
Operational tasks
Application configuration or profiling
Operational tasks
Local Computing Cloud Computing
Budget Allocations
Server Purchase Server
Maintenance Application
software license Data Center
overhead Energy costs Facility costs
Annual Subscription Measured
Service? Fixed fees
Factors Hosting Software Licenses Optional modules
Local Computing Cloud Computing
Benefits of Cloud Computing
Elimination of capital expenses for equipment
Lower annual costs
Redeployment of technical staff to more meaningful activities
Higher revenues relative to software-only arrangements
Provision of infrastructure at scale with lower unit costs
Longer-term relationships with customers
Libraries Providers / Vendors
Risks and concerns Privacy of data
Policies, regulations, jurisdictions Ownership of data
Avoid vendor lock-in Integrity of Data
Backups and disaster recovery Opportunities for increased redundancy
Required infrastructure Adequate bandwidth
Web-based applications do not necessarily require the highest-performance connectivity
Able to function well in remote and rural areas? Business applications consume less bandwidth than
audio or video streaming services Reliable Internet and local network infrastructure Critical paths:
Users --> provider Library locations --> provider Not: users --> library
Security issues Most providers implement stronger
safeguards beyond the capacity of local institutions
Virtual instances equally susceptible to poor security practices as local computing
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
Relevant trends No technical limitations on scalability of
infrastructure General move toward ever larger
implementations of automation infrastructure
National infrastructure (beginning with smaller countries)
US: Statewide and regional projects
Resource sharing opportunities Larger instances of automation systems
or participation in multi-tenant services provide inherent resource sharing capabilities
Ever larger repositories of metadata Simpler mechanisms for patron requests
of items not in local collections
Increased pressure Library automation vendors promoting
SaaS offerings Some companies already exclusively SaaS
Software pricing increasingly favorable to SaaS
Caveat Critically assess viability of the
technology and its appropriateness for your organization
Start with low-risk projects before making strategic commitments
Questions and Discussion