Cloud computing (cyber law notes chapter -8)

 


What is Cloud Computing?

 Cloud Computing can be defined as delivering computing power CPU Ram network speeds is strong or software as a service over a network usually on the Internet rather than physically having the computing resource at the customer location.

Example: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud,

Let's learn Cloud computing with an example -

Whenever you travel on a bus or train, you take a ticket for your destination and hold back to your seat till you reach your destination. Likewise, other passengers also take ticket and travel in the same bus with you and it hardly bothers you where they go. When your stop comes you get off the bus thanking the driver. Cloud computing is just like that bus, carrying data and information for different users and allows to use its service with minimal cost.

Cloud Computing Services

The three major Cloud Computing Offerings are

  1. ·        Software as a Service (SaaS)
  2. ·        Platform as a Service (PaaS)
  3. ·        Infrastructure as a Service (laaS)

Different business use some or all of these components according to their requirement.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS or software as a service is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network (internet)) SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that supports Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) or Web Services. Through the internet, this service is available to users anywhere in the world.

Traditional, software applications needed to be purchased upfront &then installed it onto your computer. SaaS users on the other hand, instead of purchasing the software subscribe to it, usually on monthly basis via the internet.

Anyone who needs access to a particular piece of software can be subscribe as a user, whether it is one or two people or every thousand of employees in a corporation. SaaS is compatible with all internet-enabled devices.

Many important tasks like accounting, sales, invoicing and planning all can be performed using SaaS.

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Platform as a service is referred as PaaS, it provides a platform and environment allow developers to build applications and services. This service is hosted in the cloud and accessed by the users via the internet.

To understand in simple terms, let's compare this with painting a picture, where I are provided with paint colors, different paint brushes and paper by you school teacher and you just have to draw a beautiful picture using those tools.

PaaS services are constantly updated & new features are added. Software developers, web developers and businesses can benefit from PaaS. It provides a platform to support application development. It includes software support and management services, storage, networking, deploying, testing, collaborating, hosting and maintaining applications.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

laaS (Infrastructure As A Service) is one of the fundamental service model of cloud computing alongside PaaS( Platform as a Service). It provides access to computing resources in a virtualized environment "the cloud on internet. It provides computing infrastructure like virtual server space, network connections, bandwidth, load balancers and IP addresses. The pool of hardware resource is extracted from multiple servers and networks usually distributed across numerous data centers. This provides redundancy and reliability to laaS.

DIGITAL SIGNATURE:

A digital signature is a mathematical technique used to validate the authenticity and integrity of a message, software or digital document. As the digital equivalent h of a handwritten signature or stamped seal, a digital signature offers far more interent security, and it is intended to solve the problem of tampering and impersonation in digital communications.

Digital signatures can provide the added assurances of evidence of origin, identity and status of an electronic document, transaction or message and can acknowledge informed consent by the signer.

In many countries, including the United States, digital signatures are considered legally binding in the same way as traditional document signatures.

How digital signatures work

Digital signatures are based on public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography. Using a public key algorithm, such as RSA, one can generate two keys that are mathematically linked: one private and one public.

Digital signatures work through public-key cryptography's two mutually- authenticating cryptographic keys. The individual who is creating the digital Signature uses their own private key to encrypt signature-related data, the only way to decrypt that data is with the signer's public key. This is how digital signatures are authenticated.

Digital signature technology requires all the parties to trust that the individual creating the signature has been able to keep their own private key secret. If Someone else has access to the signer's private key, that party could create fraudulent digital signatures in the name of the private key holder.

VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VOIP):

Voice over Internet Protocol (VolP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet telephony, broadband telephony, and broadband phone service specifically refer to the provisioning communications services (voice, fax, SMS, voice-messaging) over the public Internet, rather than via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), also known as plain old telephone service (POTS).

VoIP advantages & disadvantages

When considering a move to a VoIP telephone system, it is always worse to look at both sides of the case for the move. Whilst VOIP makes a lot of sense for a business telephone system, it can also have advantages for small enterprises and even domestic applications.

However, there is never one ideal solution and the disadvantages must be considered along with the advantages.

VolP advantages:

One network system: For businesses, one of the main advantages is the cost-saving from only needing to install one network system for computers/data. The business telephone system runs over the computer network, thereby only requiring one system to be installed and maintained.

Can run on existing computers: Although many people and companies will want to maintain the use of a traditional telephone handset, it is also possible to completely move on from this approach and just use the computers that most people in-office use. A phone application can be run on the computer and this can be used with a headset or earphones with an attached microphone. Again this can provide cost savings in terms of hardware and maintenance.

Mobility: With a VolP telephone system it is far easier for people's numbers to follow them. As everything is run using software it is easy for the phones to 'move.' If the phone is run on a computer, simply logging in to one's account can allow the system to route calls correctly. This is ideal for offices where hot-desking is used, or where people move around the country or even further.

Improved efficiency: Using a packet-switched network as in the case of VolP increases the usage for the available capacity when compared to analog circuit-switched lines. This improvement in efficiency reduces overpaying costs and enables the telecommunications provider to offer a far more cost-effective service.

Cost: Cost. can be a strong driver for many users. Providers can often give running costs that are well below those of traditional analog systems, although this is sometimes as a result of the older systems having older pricing structures. However once installed there can be significant overall cost reductions, but check the offers and deals available and check both hardware and connection/call costs.

VolP disadvantages:

Lack of understanding of VolP telephony: Many users and indeed many suppliers do not have a full understanding of VolP telephone systems. This can mean that they are not always installed where they can provide the best service, or when they are installed, they may not be deployed in the most effective way.

Emergency calls: In some areas and with some providers, emergency, 911, calls can be an issue. With traditional telephone systems, and with mobiles 911 (or whatever the emergency number is for the region) calls connect directly to the emergency services. This is not always the case with some VolP providers. It is a point worth checking before proceeding if this could be an issue.

Voice quality on poor connections: When using a VolP telephone system over a poor broadband connection, be it via a smartphone, using a poor broadband line, or whatever, voice quality can be impaired. If data packets are lost as a result of them being timed out as a result of the poor connection, this will impact voice quality. This can be particularly apparent when using Wi-Fi or cellular connections where the network is congested as a result of high usage or the signal is poor and the data rate is very low.

Different facilities: Although VoIP has been available for some time and is able to offer a lot more capability than analog phones, there may still be some facilities that are different or not available. Normally any issues can be overcome, but there may be some issues with any migration.

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