Cloud computing enables on-demand and ubiquitous access to a shared pool of configurable, outsourced computing resources, such as:
These services can be rapidly provisioned and released with little effort from the organization or cloud service provider.
The organization has the capability of controlling the elasticity of the system so that the system does not grow out of control, causing a great...
There are three main cloud computing service models that we will be covering in this chapter. These three models provide the basis for the services provided by cloud computing service providers.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model where a provider delivers virtualized IT infrastructure resources over the internet:
The organization manages:
The cloud computing service manages the underlying cloud infrastructure, which includes:
The cloud computing deployment model will vary depending on your organization's unique business and mission requirements. The various deployment models bring their unique advantages, disadvantages, and information security challenges.
In this model, the cloud computing infrastructure is utilized by the public in a multitenant environment over the internet:
The service provider makes resources available, such as:
The cloud computing provider may be owned, managed, and operated by a business, academic, or government organization, or a combination of the three.
In this model, the cloud computing infrastructure is provisioned for exclusive use by a single organization, as illustrated in the following image:
The cloud computing provider may be:
The mechanism that you use to manage your cloud infrastructure must be well thought out and planned in order for your cloud implementation to be successful.
A managed service provider (MSP) ensures that an organization's IT assets are operated and maintained. Some examples of these assets are:
In the case of a cloud service, an MSP will ensure that services like these are maintained if they exist in a cloud environment, as well as provide services to manage the cloud infrastructure itself. If an organization lacks the experience or personnel to manage a cloud service, an MSP can be contracted to manage the cloud environment for the organization.
While the prevalent marketing hype that surrounds cloud technologies can make it sound easy to move to the cloud, the reality is that moving to the cloud can be very difficult from a business, technical and security perspective. It is easy to become complacent as you move to the cloud, but you must resist this temptation.
The security of your organization's data is a key concern for your organization and the information security program. This does not change as you move your organization's data into the cloud. Moving your organization's IT infrastructure to the cloud will present you with many decisions around how to best secure your organization's information, such as those detailed in the following sections.
In this chapter, you learned about cloud architecture and the considerations that go into planning out an effective and secure cloud implementation for your organization. Additionally, we discussed:
In the next chapter, we will be discussing information and data security best practices, and we will provide you with an understanding of many of the best practices needed to support effective IT hygiene in your organization's enterprise network
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