SoLiXG:Cloud infrastructure
Cloud infrastructure
Cloud infrastructure combines subscription as an economic model with a particular infrastructure set-up and an agile technological approach. The term "Cloud" is a "a kind of encompassing atmospheric metaphor"[1] which by now has become a commonplace way to refer to centrally managed digital or computational infrastructure which offers compute-as-a-service. Cloud infrastructure is currently the dominant model for delivering compute across a continuously growing number of industries, from financial markets and health institutions to game industries, mining, governments, agriculture and logistics. The economic model of Cloud infrastructure relies on "pay-for-what-you-consume" or subscriptions. For organisations this model is profitable in the short run because it allows them to shift Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) to Operational Expenditure (OPEX), meaning they own less physical assets such as property, buildings, technology, or equipment, and therefore can increase their cash flow. In the long term, the subscribtion model creates increased dependencies, costs that fluctuate and depletion of expertise. For delivering services such as file storage and on-line applications, Cloud infrastructure deploys specialised software on multiple interconnected servers that carry out the necessary computation. This approach allows for continuous, centrally managed updates which in turn necessitate their clients to remain always connected.[2] Cloud infrastructure consolidates a software paradigm that promises to optimize for flexibility and scalability. This so-called agile approach to software production ultimately shifts the management of and responsibility for core operations away from industry, governments, or institutional sites.
- ↑ Neubert, Christoph. “‘The Tail on the Hardware Dog’: Historical Articulations of Computing Machinery, Software, and Services.” In There Is No Software, There Are Just Services, edited by Irina Kaldrack and Leeker, Martina, 32. meson press, 2015.
- ↑ Gurses, Seda, and Joris Vredy Jan van Hoboken. “Privacy after the Agile Turn,” May 2, 2017. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/9gy73.