CLOUD-BASED DATABASES (STUDY OBJECTIVE 9)
Cloud-based database services are a fast-growing area of IT. Many of the largest computer-related companies are providers of cloud-based database services. These companies include Amazon (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud), Google (Google Cloud Storage), Microsoft (Windows Azure), and IBM (IBM Smart-Cloud). A company can buy data storage from any of these providers or many other cloud vendors. Such an arrangement is Database as a Service (DaaS). The cloud provider generally provides not only the data storage space but the software tools to manage and control the database. The customer company must have some IT structure to access and use the data stored in a cloud. However, the amount of IT structure maintained would be less than if the database were stored onsite rather than at a cloud provider.
THE REAL WORLD
The best-selling jet airplane of the Boeing Corporation is the 737. In 2011, Boeing rolled out a new function called “737 Explained,” a cloud-based database and application using Microsoft Azure cloud storage. This cloud database stores 20,000 high-resolution photos of the Boeing 737, which are accessible by the Boeing salespeople who may be traveling to any location in the world to seek customers. 737 Explained can show 360-degree tours of the airplane, as well as individual parts and features. The director of marketing at Boeing said, “737 Explained is one of the best marketing tools I've seen because it allows us to show prospective customers the new features and improvements without bringing them to an airport.”3
Chapter 2 included a section describing general concepts of cloud-based computing and its advantages. Those same advantages apply to cloud-based databases, or DaaS, but they are slightly reworded below to focus on cloud databases:
- Scalability. As a company grows, it can easily purchase new capacity from the cloud provider; it need not buy servers or new data storage, as the cloud provider already has the capacity. This scalability is also a tremendous advantage for spikes in business activity. If a company has a large increase in business volume during certain seasons, it can easily scale up the capacity purchased from the cloud provider. When the seasonal volume declines, it then can scale down the services it buys.
- Expanded access. Once stored in the cloud, the data can be accessed by multiple devices from many different locations. This gives the company much more flexibility for those who use or analyze data. It also makes it easier for users to start up new computing capabilities.
- Reduced infrastructure. The company has less need for servers and data storage, since most of these resources are provided by the cloud provider. It also means that data security and backups are provided by the cloud provider.
- Cost savings. Because of the advantages described here, there are usually significant cost savings recognized from cloud computing. Cloud computing is usually a pay-for-service model, where the company pays the cloud provider only for the level of services it actually uses. The scalability of the cloud means that the company no longer needs to maintain an IT system large enough for the peak demand periods. Cloud computing also allows a company to reduce its investment in IT hardware and IT support personnel. This eliminates the financial risk because the user company avoids making a significant up-front financial investment in technology-related resources that may have uncertain returns.
A company that stores all or part of its database in the cloud gains all of these advantages, but also must recognize certain risks. As discussed in Chapter 4, a user of cloud-based services is dependent upon the security, availability, processing integrity, and confidentiality controls of the provider. A company using DaaS from a vendor must investigate and monitor the IT controls that the cloud provider uses to protect the data.
A small to medium-size enterprise (SME) can more easily use cloud databases as its only database. Large companies, such as Fortune 1000 corporations, would probably store some databases onsite and other parts in a DaaS environment. The example of Boeing illustrates how a large company can use cloud databases for specific purposes. Boeing's large accounting database would probably be maintained internally rather than in the cloud.