Cloud Computing and Beyond

This book examines the following questions: Why cloud computing? What is cloud computing? How does cloud computing work? What are its challenges and opportunities and how can these be addressed? What are the career opportunities in cloud computing? This book unravels the mystery behind the cloud. The primary objective is to provide an introduction to the current practices of cloud computing. It takes a cross-disciplinary approach, covering topics in business, computer science, and information systems. Mainly focusing on cloud computing models, techniques, and architectures, this book provides knowledge and hands-on experience in designing and implementing cloud-based software systems. Topics included are advanced web technologies (AJAX and Mashup), distributed computing models and technologies (Hadoop and MapReduce), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), virtualization, parallelization, and security/privacy. This book also explores the current challenges facing cloud computing.