Core Technologies

3.2 Core Technologies 

There are three core technologies of cloud computing including virtualization, multi tenancy and web services.

Virtualization is a central technology for cloud computing. A virtual machine imitates an actual machine. It is an application, a server, an operating system, and a storage device or network resource that is installed on software and imitates dedicated hardware. Multiple virtual machines can exist within a single host at one time [3]. This process divides a physical computing apparatus into one or more virtual machines which can be readily managed and used to perform computing tasks. Virtualization hides the physical characteristics of the platform from the users [5]. The platforms act independently but can be configured on demand and maintained easily.

Multi Tenancy is a key common feature of both public and private clouds. Any application that needs its own exclusive and secure virtual computing environment is defined as a tenant. Multi tenancy is defined as multiple users sharing the same applications, the same hardware and data storage mechanism while running on the same operating system. These multiple users, however, do not see or share each other’s data. In multi tenancy maintenance and software development costs are shared [16].

Web Services, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) defines the cloud as a “software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network” [5]. W3C helps standardize the interfaces between applications.