Cloud Computing: how it works.
The Idea. It seems that everyone is talking about Cloud Computing Solutions these days. Unfortunately there really isn’t a unique definition of exactly what people mean when they talk about “cloud computing”. Like many things, cloud computing is not so much a new idea but an old idea that can be very effectively implemented using today’s technology. At the core, cloud computing is quite obviously dependent upon the internet but it also borrows ideas from web services, distributed computing, managed hosting services, server and storage virtualization, and utilizes dedicated hardware environments and/or grids. Collectively these technologies, along with many others, allow application software to be accessed and used as if it were running on your local machine when in fact it is operating on infrastructure that is physically located someplace on the planet and accessed through the “internet cloud”. In many ways “cloud computing” is an abstraction of the old central computing model but with the central computing facility being replaced by the computing and storage capacity attached to the internet. Today’s infrastructure is good enough that unless you have a reason to maintain your own computing and network infrastructure it may make little difference where an application is running so long as you can access it in a reliable and secure manner.
In “Cloud Computing”, as in other types of hosted services, you don’t need to own and maintain a computing infrastructure to run a software application. This allows people to access and use software without having to buy and maintain expensive buildings, hardware, networks and systems infrastructure. Buying and maintaining infrastructure and using software become dec
oupled. Using a software application in a cloud computing model is accomplished by subscribing to a service. This Software-as-a-Service model is a very cost effective approach for people who want to access the functionality of a piece of software but either don’t or can’t support the complex hardware, network and system software required to actually run the application. Much of the variability in what is being called “Cloud Computing” today is introduced because different types of hosting organizations exploit the great flexibility and functionality of modern computing infrastructures and virtualization technologies in ways that are tailored to providing services to specific customer communities. Such specialization can create the appearance of significant variation in what qualifies as “cloud computing” but in reality such solutions all use a common set of technologies, security models and access patterns. Cloud computing also lends itself to novel pricing models such as “on-demand” pricing where the price paid for accessing the system is proportional to the amount of computing, storage and network resources consumed.
oupled. Using a software application in a cloud computing model is accomplished by subscribing to a service. This Software-as-a-Service model is a very cost effective approach for people who want to access the functionality of a piece of software but either don’t or can’t support the complex hardware, network and system software required to actually run the application. Much of the variability in what is being called “Cloud Computing” today is introduced because different types of hosting organizations exploit the great flexibility and functionality of modern computing infrastructures and virtualization technologies in ways that are tailored to providing services to specific customer communities. Such specialization can create the appearance of significant variation in what qualifies as “cloud computing” but in reality such solutions all use a common set of technologies, security models and access patterns. Cloud computing also lends itself to novel pricing models such as “on-demand” pricing where the price paid for accessing the system is proportional to the amount of computing, storage and network resources consumed. What we provide. Fully supported web access to caBIG® applications, specialized application bundles and pre-configured development environments. All you need to do to take advantage of this service is subscribe to a package, obtain your username and password and begin working. It really is just that simple. You do not need to buy any expensive servers, install any complicated software, or even load caBIG® tools and applications. We have done all that work for you so that using caBIG® applications becomes simple and hassle free. If you are interested in using or developing caBIG® software and you do not want the cost and difficulties of buying and maintaining the hardware and system software required to use these state-of-the-art tools this is the solution for you. All of our subscriptions renew automatically on a monthly basis. There are no long term contracts required and you can cancel service at any time by giving us 30 days written notice. Cloud computing brings you the power of large scale computing resources without the capital expense or management headache.
When you sign up for one of our managed services you will actually be using caBIG® applications and tools running in our secure Rockville, Maryland hosting facility. You access the software by opening an internet browser window (like Internet Explorer or Firefox), going to the web address provided, and logging into your system. The application you will be using will .png)
be running inside a VMware ESX virtual machine that exists on one of our state-of-the-art dedicated Sun Computer SunFire 2.8 GHz 2 dual core X4100 M2 servers. This approach allows us to offer you a very cost effective and reliable solution that can scale to meet your future needs. In each of the Cloud Computing Solutions (application, bundle or developer) we provide you with an infrastructure configuration and any non-caBIG® pre-loaded software required to support the application. If additional computing, storage or network resources are required beyond the base package we can rapidly expand the virtual machine or other elements of the infrastructure to accommodate your needs.
be running inside a VMware ESX virtual machine that exists on one of our state-of-the-art dedicated Sun Computer SunFire 2.8 GHz 2 dual core X4100 M2 servers. This approach allows us to offer you a very cost effective and reliable solution that can scale to meet your future needs. In each of the Cloud Computing Solutions (application, bundle or developer) we provide you with an infrastructure configuration and any non-caBIG® pre-loaded software required to support the application. If additional computing, storage or network resources are required beyond the base package we can rapidly expand the virtual machine or other elements of the infrastructure to accommodate your needs. There are many ways to configure the virtual machines and design and operate network and storage infrastructure. We have chosen a relatively simple but scalable solution to support caBIG® cloud computing solutions. However, if after review you determine more resources or a different architecture is required for your application we can assist you. For example, if an institution were to adopt a set of caBIG® applications as part of its mission critical enterprise infrastructure we would recommend a fault tolerant solution based on clusters of SunFire servers (and other redundant infrastructure components such as switches, firewalls, etc.) running on virtual machines that automatically restart on a new server if the server that is hosting the virtual machine were to fail.
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Our infrastructure and your data. Our dedicated facilities consist of a raised floor, temperature and humidity controlled environment that is monitored by ionizing radiation and temperature sensors linked to dry fire chemical suppression systems and emergency power shut-offs. In addition, entry to the hosting facility can only be gained through keyless entry points that are under 24X7 video surveillance. When you select one of our solutions you can be assured that your data resides in our secure HIPAA compliant hosting facility that operates 24 hours per day 7 days a week. These are not co-location facilities where hosting floor space is shared with other companies. These are dedicated facilities where only authorized HealthCare IT staff can gain physical entry. Since we are a company that exclusively hosts healthcare applications and data any of our customers may put electronic Personal Healthcare Information into a system they are accessing. We automatically backup all the data and store data off-site at a vaulted facility every day. All data is encrypted before it is stored on removable media.
If you decide to set up an infrastructure at your institution that supports caBIG® or for any other reason decide to discontinue service with us your data will be sent to you at no additional cost in a format readable by caBIG®. Alternatively, since every caBIG® Cloud Hosting Solution subscription automatically includes a caGrid node you are free to move your data at anytime to any physical location that has a node on caGrid. There is no proprietary software involved in the caBIG® Cloud Computing solutions and no way for you to ever get locked into any infrastructure provide by HealthCare IT. You can always install the most recent copy of the caBIG® software on your local system and move your data from our servers to your local machine to ensure data retention and custody.
To learn more about hosted caBIG® applications and caGrid click here.