Cloud Computing

A Break in the Clouds: Towards a Cloud Definition
Luis M. Vaquero1 , Luis Rodero-Merino1 , Juan Caceres1 , Maik Lindner2
1

Telefonica Investigacion y Desarrollo and 2 SAP Research 1 Madrid, Spain, EU and 2 Belfast, UK, EU

lmvg@tid.es, rodero@tid.es, caceres@tid.es, m.lindner@sap.com
This article is an editorial note submitted to CCR. It has NOT been peer reviewed. The author takes full responsibility for this article’s technical content. Comments can be posted through CCR Online.

ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the concept of Cloud Computing to achieve a complete definition of what a Cloud is, using the main characteristics typically associated with this paradigm in the literature. More than 20 definitions have been studied allowing for the extraction of a consensus definition as well as a minimum definition containing the essential characteristics. This paper pays much attention to the Grid paradigm, as it is often confused with Cloud technologies. We also describe the relationships and distinctions between the Grid and Cloud approaches.

Categories and Subject Descriptors
H.3 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Systems and Software—Distributed Systems; C.2 [Computer Communication Networks]: Distributed Systems—Network Operating Systems

General Terms
Computing theory

Keywords
Cloud Computing, Cloud Definition, Grid

1.

INTRODUCTION

Cloud Computing is associated with a new paradigm for the provision of computing infrastructure. This paradigm shifts the location of this infrastructure to the network to reduce the costs associated with the management of hardware and software resources [16]. The Cloud is drawing the attention from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) community, thanks to the appearance of a set of services with common characteristics, provided by important industry players. However, some of the existing technologies the Cloud concept draws on (such as virtualization, utility computing or distributed computing)... [continues]

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