1 1 2 History and evolution of Cloud computing

Summary

Cloud computing evolved from mainframe time-sharing in the 1950s to virtual machines in the 1970s, enabling resource pooling and efficiency. With the rise of the internet, virtualization techniques allowed for cost-effective shared hosting. Hypervisors facilitated multiple virtual systems on one physical node, leading to the pay-as-you-go model. This utility computing approach, allowing scalable resources on-demand, revolutionized computing and paved the way for modern cloud services.

Takeaways

• 🌟 **Cloud Computing Evolution**: The concept of cloud computing has evolved from mainframes in the 1950s to modern cloud services.
• 🕒 **Time-Sharing Origins**: Early cloud computing involved time-sharing mainframes to efficiently use high-volume processing power.
• 🖥️ **Virtual Machine Innovation**: The 1970s saw the advent of VMs, allowing multiple virtual systems on a single physical node.
• 📡 **Virtualization Advancement**: Virtualization enabled distinct compute environments on shared physical hardware, driving significant technological progress.
• 💻 **Cost-Efficiency**: The high cost of physical hardware in the past led to the adoption of virtualization for cost efficiency.
• 🌐 **Internet Accessibility**: The increasing accessibility of the internet facilitated the shift towards virtualized hosting environments.
• 🛠️ **Hypervisors Role**: Hypervisors play a crucial role in creating and managing virtual systems on a single physical node.
• 🔒 **Isolation and Security**: Hypervisors ensure that virtual machines are isolated, preventing issues in one from affecting others.
• 💼 **Utility Computing Model**: The pay-as-you-go model allows users to pay for cloud resources on a per-use basis, similar to electricity.
• 📈 **Scalability**: Cloud computing allows businesses to scale up or down based on demand, optimizing resource usage and costs.
• 🚀 **Modern Cloud Computing**: The evolution of cloud computing has led to its widespread adoption and significant impact on technology and business.

Q & A

What was the initial concept of cloud computing?

The initial concept of cloud computing dates back to the 1950s with the advent of large-scale mainframes and the practice of time-sharing or resource pooling to efficiently use the computing power of these mainframes.

What was the role of dumb terminals in the early days of cloud computing?

Dumb terminals facilitated access to mainframes, allowing multiple users to access the same data storage layer and CPU power from any terminal.

How did the release of the Virtual Machine (VM) operating system in the 1970s impact cloud computing?

The VM operating system allowed for multiple virtual systems or virtual machines on a single physical node, enabling distinct compute environments to exist on the same hardware.

What is virtualization and why was it significant for cloud computing?

Virtualization is the technology that allows multiple operating systems to run on a single physical server by creating virtual machines, which was a catalyst for the evolution of cloud computing.

What was the role of hypervisors in the development of cloud computing?

Hypervisors enabled multiple operating systems to run alongside each other on the same physical computing resources, logically separating them and preventing interference.

How did the cost of physical hardware influence the shift towards cloud computing?

The high cost of physical hardware led to the virtualization of servers into shared hosting environments, which then evolved into cloud computing to make hardware costs more viable.

What is the significance of the pay-as-you-go model in cloud computing?

The pay-as-you-go model allowed users to pay for computing resources on a per-use basis, which was a key driver behind the adoption of cloud computing.

How did the pay-per-use model benefit companies transitioning to cloud computing?

The pay-per-use model allowed companies to switch from a capital expenditure (CapEx) model to an operational expenditure (OpEx) model, making it more cash-flow friendly.

What is the advantage of cloud computing in terms of scaling workloads?

Cloud computing allows companies to scale their workloads during usage peaks and scale down when usage subsides, providing flexibility and cost efficiency.

What is the impact of cloud computing on companies with little or no hardware?

Cloud computing enables companies with little or no hardware to access computing resources without making large capital investments in physical infrastructure.

What are some key considerations for cloud adoption that will be discussed in the next training?

The next training will cover key considerations for cloud adoption, which likely include cost analysis, security, compliance, and the selection of appropriate cloud services.

Outlines

00:00

🌩️ Evolution of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has evolved significantly since the 1950s with the advent of mainframes. The concept of resource pooling led to time-sharing systems where multiple users accessed the same data storage and CPU power through dumb terminals. The 1970s saw the introduction of the Virtual Machine (VM) operating system, which allowed for multiple virtual systems on a single physical node. This technology enabled distinct compute environments to share physical hardware. As hardware costs increased, virtualization became essential, leading to shared hosting environments facilitated by hypervisors. These hypervisors allowed multiple operating systems to run concurrently on shared physical resources while preventing interference between virtual machines. The improvement in hypervisors and resource sharing led to the creation of cloud computing infrastructures accessible to users without significant physical server investments. The pay-as-you-go model, or utility computing, became a key driver for cloud computing's growth, allowing companies to switch from capital expenditures to operational expenditures, and scale their workloads as needed.

Keywords

💡Cloud computing

Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services, including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, over the Internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. In the video, it is portrayed as an evolution from mainframe computing to a model where resources are accessed over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis, exemplifying the shift from capital expenditure to operational expenditure for businesses.

💡Mainframes

Mainframes are large, powerful computers typically used by organizations to process large amounts of data, transactions, and run critical applications. In the script, they are mentioned as the precursor to cloud computing, where the concept of sharing computing power among multiple users originated in the 1950s.

💡Time-sharing

Time-sharing is a method where a single mainframe serves multiple users simultaneously, with each user's job getting a slice of CPU time. The script explains how this practice evolved to make efficient use of mainframes' computing power, allowing multiple users to access the same data storage layer and CPU power from any terminal.

💡Virtual Machine (VM)

A Virtual Machine is an emulation of a computer system. The script highlights the 1970s release of an operating system called VM that enabled mainframes to host multiple virtual systems, each with its own guest operating system, simulating individual hardware despite sharing physical resources.

💡Virtualization

Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual version of something, such as hardware or a network, which separates it into a set of virtual machines. The video describes how virtualization was a technology driver that allowed multiple distinct compute environments to exist on the same physical hardware, leading to significant evolutions in computing.

💡Hypervisor

A hypervisor is a software layer that allows multiple operating systems to run on a single physical computer. The script explains that hypervisors enable the creation of multiple virtual systems on one physical node, assigning each a share of the underlying computing resources and preventing them from interfering with each other.

💡Shared hosting

Shared hosting refers to a web hosting service where multiple websites are hosted on a single server with all users sharing the server's resources. The video mentions how servers were virtualized into shared hosting environments as a way to make hardware costs more viable and accessible.

💡Pay-As-You-Go

Pay-As-You-Go is a pricing model where users pay for services or resources as they consume them. The script describes this model as a key driver behind the adoption of cloud computing, allowing users to order and pay for cloud resources on a per-use basis, similar to utilities.

💡OpEx vs CapEx

OpEx refers to operational expenses, while CapEx refers to capital expenses. The video explains how the pay-per-use model of cloud computing allows companies to shift from making large upfront capital investments (CapEx) to paying for resources as they use them (OpEx), which is more cash-flow friendly.

💡Scalability

Scalability is the ability of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources. The script illustrates how cloud computing allows companies to scale their workloads during usage peaks and scale down when demand subsides, providing flexibility and cost efficiency.

💡Resource pooling

Resource pooling is the practice of sharing a common set of resources among users or systems. In the context of the video, resource pooling is a foundational concept of cloud computing that evolved from the early days of mainframe computing, where multiple users could access the same data storage layer and CPU power.

Highlights

Cloud computing is an evolution of technology that has developed over time.

The practice of time-sharing or resource pooling emerged to efficiently use mainframe computing power.

Dumb terminals allowed multiple users to access the same data storage layer and CPU power.

The 1970s saw the release of the Virtual Machine (VM) operating system, enabling multiple virtual systems on a single physical node.

Virtualization allowed multiple distinct compute environments to exist on the same physical hardware.

Each virtual machine hosted guest operating systems with their own memory, CPU, and hard drives.

Virtualization became a technology driver for major evolutions in communications and computing.

Servers were virtualized into shared hosting environments, virtual private servers, and virtual dedicated servers.

A hypervisor is a software layer that enables multiple operating systems to run alongside each other.

Hypervisors logically separate Virtual Machines and assign each its own computing resources.

Companies could split one physical node into multiple virtual systems using hypervisors.

Some companies made cloud benefits accessible to users without physical servers.

Cloud resources could be ordered from a larger pool and paid for on a per-use basis.

The pay-as-you-go model was a key driver behind cloud computing's popularity.

Companies could switch from CapEx to a more cash-flow friendly OpEx model.

Cloud computing allowed companies to scale workloads during usage peaks and scale down when usage subsided.

The evolution of cloud computing has had a significant impact on various industries.

Transcripts

Cloud computing is an evolution of technology over time.

The concept of cloud computing dates to the 1950s when large-scale mainframes with high-volume

processing power became available.

In order to make efficient use of the computing power of mainframes, the practice of time

sharing, or resource pooling, evolved.

Using dumb terminals, whose sole purpose was to facilitate access to the mainframes, multiple

users were able to access the same data storage layer and CPU power from any terminal.

In the 1970s, with the release of an operating system called Virtual Machine (VM), it became

possible for mainframes to have multiple virtual systems, or virtual machines, on a single

physical node.

The virtual machine operating system evolved the 1950s application of shared access of

a mainframe by allowing multiple distinct compute environments to exist on the same

physical hardware.

Each virtual machine hosted guest operating systems that behaved as though they had their

own memory, CPU, and hard drives, even though these were shared resources.

Virtualization thus became a technology driver and a huge catalyst for some of the biggest

evolutions in communications and computing.

Even 20 years ago, physical hardware was quite expensive.

With the internet becoming more accessible, and the need to make hardware costs more viable,

servers were virtualized into shared hosting environments, virtual private servers, and

virtual dedicated servers, using the same types of functionality provided by the virtual

machine operating system.

So, for example, if a company needed ‘x’ number of physical systems to run their applications,

they could take one physical node and split it into multiple virtual systems.

This was enabled by hypervisors.

A hypervisor is a small software layer that enables multiple operating systems to run

alongside each other, sharing the same physical computing resources.

A hypervisor also separates the Virtual Machines logically, assigning each its own slice of

the underlying computing power, memory, and storage, preventing the virtual machines from

interfering with each other.

So, if, for example, one operating system suffers a crash or a security compromise,

the others keep working.

As technologies and hypervisors improved and were able to share and deliver resources reliably,

some companies decided to make the cloud’s benefits accessible to users who didn’t

have an abundance of physical servers to create their own cloud computing infrastructure.

Since the servers were already online, the process of spinning up a new instance was

instantaneous.

Users could now order cloud resources they needed from a larger pool of available resources,

and they could pay for them on a per-use basis, also known as Pay-As-You-Go.

This pay-as-you-go or utility computing model became one of the key drivers behind cloud

computing taking off.

The pay-per-use model allowed companies and even individual developers to pay for the

computing resources as and when they used them, just like units of electricity.

This allowed them to switch to a more cash-flow friendly OpEx model from a CapEx model.

This model appealed to all sizes of companies, those who had little or no hardware, and even

those that had lots of hardware, because now, instead of making huge capital expenditures

in hardware, they could pay for compute resources as and when needed.

It also allowed them to scale their workloads during usage peaks, and scale down when usage

subsided.

And this gave rise to modern-day cloud computing.

The impact of the evolution of the cloud has been immense.

In the next training, we will go over some key considerations for cloud adoption.