cloud storageIt's an onlineOnline storage(English:Cloud storage）Mode, that is, data is stored in multiple virtual machines usually hosted by a third partyThe serverInstead of the exclusive server.trusteeship(Hosting) The company operates a large data center, and the people who need data storage and trusteeship meet the needs of data storage by purchasing or leasing storage space from them.Data CenterOperators prepare in the back end according to customer needsStorage virtualizationAnd provide it as a storage pool. Customers can use this storage pool to store files or objects.In fact, these resources may be distributed on many server hosts.
cloud storageIs oncloud computingCloud computing is a new concept developed from the extension and derivation of the concept.cloud computingyesdistributed processing(Distributed Computing)、parallel processing (Parallel Computing) andGrid computingThe development of Grid Computing is to automatically divide huge computing processing programs into numerous smaller subprograms through the network, and then submit them to a huge system composed of multiple servers for calculation and analysis, and then send the processing results back to users.Through cloud computing technology,network serviceThe provider can process tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of information in a few seconds, and achieve "Supercomputer”The same powerful network service.
The concept of cloud storage is similar to cloud computingcolonyApplicationGrid technologyOr distributed file system, and a large number of different types of storage devices in the network work together through application software to jointly providedata storage And business access function to ensure data security and save storage space.In short, cloud storage is a new solution to put storage resources on the cloud for people to access.Users cananyplace, connect to the cloud through any networkable device to access data easily.If this explanation is still difficult to understand, we can use the structure of WAN and Internet to explain cloud storage.
network structure
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I believe you are rightLAN、WANandinternetI already know everything very well.In common LAN systems, in order to better use the LAN, users generally need to know the model andto configure, such as the modelSwitch, how many ports are there and what are usedRouterandfirewall, respectively.
How many servers are there in the system, and what operating systems and software are installed respectively.What types of connecting cables are used between devices, what IP addresses andSubnet mask。
Figure 1 Network Structure
But when we useWANAnd the Internet, we only need to know what it is likeAccess networkYou can connect to the WAN and the Internet with your user name and password. You don't need to know how many WAN and the Internet haveSwitch、Router、firewallAnd the server does not need to know the route through which the data arrives at our computer, what software is installed on the server in the network, and what kind of connecting cables and ports are used between the devices in the network.The WAN and the Internet are completely transparent to specific users. We often use a cloud graphic to represent the WAN and the Internet, as shown in Figure 1:
Although this cloud picture contains manySwitch, routers, firewalls and servers, but for specificWANInternet users do not need to know these things.This cloud graph represents the interconnected network services brought to us by the WAN and the Internet. No matter where we are, we can access the WAN and the Internet through a network access cable and a user, password, and enjoy the services brought to us by the network.
Create a new cloud structuredstorage system This storage system is composed of multiple storage devices, which work together through cluster functions, distributed file systems or similar grid computing functions, and provide users with certain types of storage services and access services through certain application software or application interfaces.
When we use an independent storage device, we must be very clear about the model, interface and transmission protocol of the storage device, and how many blocks are in the storage systemdiskThe model and capacity of the storage device and the server must be clear.To ensure thatdata securityAnd business continuity, we also need to establish corresponding data backup systems andDisaster recovery system。In addition, regular status monitoring, maintenance, software and hardware updates and upgrades of storage devices are also necessary.If cloud storage is adopted, all the above mentioned things are unnecessary for users.All devices in the cloud storage system are completely transparent to users. Any authorized user anywhere can connect with cloud storage through an access cable to access data from cloud storage.
Structural model
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Storage tier
The storage layer is the most basic part of cloud storage.The storage device can be FCFibre ChannelStorage devices can be IP storage devices such as NAS and iSCSI, or DAS storage devices such as SCSI or SAS.The storage devices in cloud storage are often large in number and distributed in different regions.They are connected to each other through WAN, Internet or FC Fibre Channel network.
Above the storage device is a unified storage device management system, which can implement the logic of the storage deviceVirtualizationManagement, multi linkredundancyManagement, as well as status monitoring and fault maintenance of hardware equipment.
Basic management
The basic management layer is the core part of cloud storage, and also the most difficult part to achieve in cloud storage.Basic management passedcolony、distributed file system andGrid computingAnd other technologies to achieve collaborative work between multiple storage devices in cloud storage, so that multiple storage devices can provide the same service externally, and provide greater, stronger and better data access performance.
CDN content distribution system and data encryption technology ensure that the data in cloud storage will not be accessed by unauthorized users. At the same time, various data backup and disaster recovery technologies and measures can ensure that the data in cloud storage will not be lost, and ensure the security and stability of cloud storage itself.
Application interface layer
The application interface layer is the most flexible part of cloud storage.Different cloud storage operators can develop different application service interfaces and provide different application services according to the actual business type.such asVideo surveillanceApplication platform, IPTV andvideo on demandApplication platformNetwork hard diskApplication platform, remote data backup application platform, etc.
Access layer
Any authorized user can log in to the cloud through the standard public application interfacestorage system , enjoy cloud storage services.Different cloud storage operators provide different access types and means.
Cloud storage is not storage, but service
Just like the cloud like WAN and the Internet, cloud storage for users does not refer to a specific device, but refers to a number of storage devices and serversAggregate。When users use cloud storage, they do not use a storage device, but use a data access service brought by the entire cloud storage system.So strictly speaking, cloud storage is not storage, but a service.
The core of cloud storage is the combination of application software and storage devices, through which storage devices can be transformed into storage services.
Implementation premise
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1、 Development of broadband network
True cloudstorage system It will be a huge public system distributed in multiple regions, all over the country and even all over the world. Users need to connect to cloud storage through ADSL, DDN and other broadband access devices.Only when the broadband network is fully developed, can users get enough data transmissionbandwidth, realize the transmission of a large amount of data, and really enjoy cloud storage services, otherwise it will only be empty talk.
2、 WEB2.0 technology
The core of Web 2.0 technology is sharing.Only throughweb2.0Technology, cloud storage users can realize datafile, pictures, video and audioCentralized storageAnd data sharing.
3、 Development of application storage
Cloud storage is not only storage, but also applications.Application storage is a storage device that integrates application software functions in the storage device. It not only hasdata storage Function, also has the application software function, which can be seen as a collection of servers and storage devices.The development of application storage technology can greatly reduce the number of servers in cloud storage, thereby reducing the system construction cost, reducing the single point of failure and performance bottlenecks caused by servers in the system, reducing data transmission links, providing system performance and efficiency, and ensuring the efficient and stable operation of the entire system.
4、 Cluster technology, grid technology and distributed file system
cloudstorage system It is a collection of multiple storage devices, applications and services that work together. Any single point storage system is not cloud storage.
Since it is composed of multiple storage devices, different storage devices need to passCluster technology、distributed file system And grid computing technology to achieve collaborative work between multiple storage devices. Multiple storage devices can provide the same service externally, providing greater, stronger and better data access performance.Without the existence of these technologies, cloud storage cannot be truly realized. The so-called cloud storage can only be an independent system, and cannot form a cloud structure.
5、 CDN content distributionP2PTechnology, data compression technology
CDN content distribution system and data encryption technology ensure that the data in cloud storage will not be accessed by unauthorized users. At the same time, through various data backups andDisaster recoveryThe technology ensures that the data in cloud storage will not be lost and that the cloud storage itself is safe and stable.If thedata securityWithout guarantee, no one would dare to use cloud storage, otherwise, the saved data will not be lost soon, or the whole country will know it.
The number of storage devices in cloud storage is huge and they are distributed in different regions. How to realize the logic between multiple devices of different manufacturers, different models, and even different types (such as FC storage and IP storage)Volume Management, storage virtualization management and multilinkredundancyManagement will be a huge problem. If this problem is not solved, the storage device will be the whole cloudstorage system In terms of structure, it cannot form a whole, and it will also bring about problems such as capacity and performance expansion difficulties in the later period.
Another problem caused by the large number and wide distribution of storage devices in cloud storage is the operation and management of storage devices.Although users of cloud storage don't need to care about these problems at all, cloud storage operators must solve the problems of centralized management, status monitoring, fault maintenance and high labor costs through practical and effective means.Therefore, cloud storage must have an efficientNetwork management softwareThe same centralized management platform enables all storage devices, servers andnetwork equipment Centralized management and status monitoring of.
framework
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Architecture methods are divided into two categories: one is to architecture through services;The other is through software or hardware equipment.
Traditional system utilizationTight couplingSymmetric architecture, which is designed to solve HPC（High performance computing, supercomputing) is expanding outward to become cloud storage to meet the rapidly emerging market demand.The next-generation architecture has adopted a loosely coupled asymmetric architecture, which centralizes metadata and control operations. This architecture is not very suitable for high-performance HPC, but this design is intended to address the mass storage requirements of cloud deployment.The summary information of various architectures is as follows:
Tightly coupled symmetric (TCS) architecture
The TCS system is built to solve the challenge of single file performance, which limits the development of traditional NAS systems.The advantages of HPC systems quickly overwhelm storage because they require much more single file I/O operations than single device I/O.The industry's response to this is to create and utilizeTCSAs a product of the architecture, many nodes are accompanied by distributed lock management (locking the write operations of different parts of the file) and cache consistency functions.This solution is very effective for the single file throughput problem. Many HPC customers in several different industries have adopted this solution.This solution is very advanced and requires a certain degree of technical experience to install and use it.
Loosely coupled asymmetric (LCA) architecture
LCA system uses different methods to expand outward.It does not make each node know the operation executed by each action by executing a policy, but uses a central metadata control server outside the data path.Centralized control provides many benefits, allowing new levels of expansion:
● StoragenodeYou can focus on the requirements for providing read-write services without having to come fromnetwork nodeConfirmation information of.
● Nodes can use different commodity hardware CPU and storage configurations, and still play a role in cloud storage.
● Users can adjust cloud storage by using hardware performance or virtualization instances.
● Eliminating the large amount of state overhead shared between nodes can also eliminate the need for user computer interconnection, such as Fibre Channel or Infiniband, so as to further reduce costs.
● The mixing and matching of heterogeneous hardware enables users to expand storage on the basis of the current economic scale when needed, while providing permanent data availability.
● Having centralized metadata means that storage nodes can rotate to archive deep applications, and metadata is often available on control nodes.
function
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Many functions and performance provided by cloud storage are designed to meet the storage challenges brought by the growth of massive inactive data:
·Scale performance and access speed linearly as capacity grows.
·Migrate datastores to distributed physical sites on demand.
·Ensure the height of data storageAdaptabilityAnd self-healing ability, which can be preserved for many years.
·Ensure privacy and security in a multi tenant environment.
·Allows users to scale performance and capacity on demand based on policies and service modes.
·The storage purchase mode has been changed, and only the storage cost actually used is charged, rather than all storage systems, including unused storage capacity, are charged.
(1) Storage management can be automated and intelligent, all storage resources are integrated, and customers see a single storage space;
(2) It improves storage efficiency, solves the waste of storage space through virtualization technology, automatically reallocates data, improves the utilization of storage space, and has load balancing and fault redundancy functions;
(3) Cloud storage can achieve scale effect and elastic expansion, reduce operating costs and avoid resource waste;
Problems in the application of cloud storage technology in the security field
Due to the characteristics of the security video monitoring business itself, there will be differences between the monitoring cloud storage and the existing Internet cloud computing models, such as security users tend to store video information locally, government video monitoring applications are more sensitive, video information privacy issues, video monitoring consumes more network bandwidth, and other issues.
Main purpose
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Cloud storage usually means that primary data or backup data is placed in an uncertain storage pool outside the enterprise, rather than in a local data center or a dedicated remote site.Supporters believe that if cloud storage services are used, enterprises can save investment costs, simplify complex setup and management tasks, and put data in the cloud to facilitate access to data from more places.
Data backup, archiving and disaster recovery are three possible uses of cloud storage.
"The emergence of the cloud is mainly used for any kind of large-scale storage needs of any kind of static type data." "You don't want to store databases in the cloud, but you may want to store a historical copy of your database in the cloud, rather than storing it in expensive SAN or NAS technologies."
"A good estimate is to regard the cloud as cloud storage that can only be used for delayed applications." "Backup, archive and batch file data can be handled well in the cloud because it allows a few seconds of delayed response time." On the other hand, she pointed out that due to the presence of delays, databases and any "performance sensitive" data are not suitable for cloud storage.
But before migrating data to the cloud, whether it is a public cloud or a private cloud, users need to solve a more fundamental problem.
"If you enter cloud storage, can you understand where the growth of storage space is out of control, or why it is out of control, and what is the value point when storing a special group of data in the entire end-to-end business process? Just migrating technology to the cloud is not the best solution."
Reducing work and expenses is one of the main reasons why cloud services are expected to continue to grow in the next few years.According to research company IDC, 4% of global IT spending is on cloud services;By 2012, this proportion will reach 9%.Due to the pressure of cost and space, data storage is very suitable for using cloud solutions;IDC predicts that during the same period, the proportion of cloud storage in cloud service spending will increase from 8% to 13%.
backups
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According to the survey results, 50% of the respondents said they used the cloud as the main storage method of production data, but there is a larger figure, that is, 63% of IT departments said they used the cloud as data backup.At the same time, 43% of users use the cloud for data archiving.
When enterprises start cloud storage, backup and long-term data archiving are usually the best starting points for this transformation, and it is pointed out that the operating costs of these initial use cases are also easier to see for enterprises adopting cloud storage.
However, many survey respondents said that one reason for using cloud for data backup is the market share of cloud storage services, from more traditional products, such as those from CommVault, to cloud gateways, and even new cloud disaster recovery, such as data protection as a service.
Although more organizations have begun to test cloud storage, not all enterprises have begun to do so, whether it is through backup services, archiving or using the cloud to save production data.Concerns about security and compliance, as well as vendor locking issues around cloud services, are still the main reasons why some IT departments have not started.
There are many more cloud storage options than before.Google's near line cold storage and data archiving services, corresponding to the Glacier of Amazon Web Services, are the new ones that enterprises can considercloud storagechoice.
choice
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● Service mode: In the most common case, when you consider cloud storage, you will think of the service products it provides.This mode is easy to start, and its scalability is almost instantaneous.By definition, you have a backup of data in another place.However, bandwidth is limited, so consider your recovery model.You have to meet the needs of data outside your network.
● HW mode: this kind of deployment is behind the firewall, and its throughput is better than that of the public internal network.It is very convenient to purchase a consolidated hardware storage solution, and if the manufacturer does a good job in installation/management, it is often accompanied by rack and stack models.But then you will give up someMoore's lawBecause you will be limited by hardware devices.
● SW mode: SW mode has the advantages of HW mode.In addition, it also has the price competitive advantage that HW does not have.However, its installation/management procedures should be carefully concerned, because it is really difficult to install some SW, or other conditions may be required to restrict people from choosing HW and choosing SW.
Storage Classification
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Cloud storage can be divided into the following three categories:
Public cloud storage can be set aside as part ofPrivate CloudStorage.A company can own or control the infrastructure and deployment of applications. Private cloud storage can be deployed in enterprisesData CenterOr facilities in the same location.Private clouds can be managed by the company's own IT department or by service providers.
2. Internal cloud storage
This kind of cloud storage is similar to private cloud storage, the only difference is that it is still inside the enterprise firewall.By 2014, platforms that can provide private cloud include Eucalyptus, 3A Cloud, minicloud security office private cloud, Lenovo online disk, etc.
This kind of cloud storage combines public cloud and private cloud/internal cloud.It is mainly used for access according to customer requirements, especially when temporary capacity configuration is required.fromPublic CloudA private or internal cloud can help companies face rapidly growing load fluctuations or peak periods.For all that,Hybrid cloudStorage brings the complexity of distributing applications across public and private clouds.
hidden danger
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In terms of functional realization, the co stepping technology of remote file access and file sharing has been applied since the formation of the Internet. When the Internet entered China in the last century, some manufacturers provided network disk services. At that time, the so-called network disk was not known as a network virtual disk, but was more like a SVN or FTP client,After more than ten years of development, the "online disk" integrated with the mobile Internet marketing concept and new technology has been packaged as "cloud storage" and has appeared in front of the public. According to relevant statistics, the daily user data increment of domestic front-line cloud storage service providers has reached PB,It can be seen that hundreds of millions of users are uploading and downloading various files to their cloud storage space every day. In this environment, excluding the consumption of network broadband, should we reflect on the future hidden dangers under cloud storage.
Copyright risk
The copyright issue has appeared in a wide range of domestic online disk services. Some individuals or groups will upload files with film and television music as the main body to the online disk through the cloud storage client, and then provide downloads within the circle through sharing. A large number of copyrighted video music is spread by this special piracy method,Moreover, this mode of transmission is temporarily a regulatory gap. Under the pressure of copyright units, some cloud storage providers began to limit the scope of link sharing and strengthen file filtering.However, these methods cannot fundamentally solve the problem of the spread of pirated files uploaded by users in cloud storage.In addition to the huge R&D operation and maintenance costs, it is difficult to unify the technical standards among various interest groups in the short term to establish a complete set of film and television document digital fingerprint signature verification system. However, until the problem is solved, this sharing is still in progress at the moment, and it is not only users but also cloud storage providers who face infringement problems.
privacy
Many mobile platform users like to upload their photos and videos taken with their mobile phones or tablets to the online disk through cloud storage at any time, which can quickly retrieve photos in other places or even instantly through the WEB or PC client. But people may not believe that every photo or other file you upload may be saved in clear text by the cloud storage server,According to the person who participated in the development of a cloud storage project, it is unrealistic to realize private key encryption from the perspective of operation and maintenance costs. Administrators can directly view and delete the files uploaded by users from the server platform. There are many users' confidential files or users' privacy in these files,At this stage, large servers restrict the professional ethics of managers through the establishment of strict systems, but people have weaknesses. Once people's ethics are abandoned, will the content visible within their power still belong to you?
data security
The data security is analyzed in two aspects,
1. User's operational security: Most cloud storage systems are designed with a multi client data synchronization mechanism, which is generally based on the last update. Other clients are automatically synchronized when they are enabled. This is very different from SVN's design. When a user edits a file in the company, he or she edits it again at home,Then when he returned to the company again, the file had been updated at home last night, which is an ideal state. Many times, after users edit a file, they will find that the editing is wrong. When they want to retrieve the version of the file that exists in the company, your attachment may have been incorrectly updated in the cloud storage that does not support version management. In the same way, when you delete a file,If there is no additional backup, you may find it in the online disk recycle bin. There is no problem in version management technology, but it will increase the difficulty of users' operation. Cloud storage service providers only have limited support from a few private cloud providers. In most cases, this kind of coverage happens frequently.
2. Security operations on the server side: cloud storage servers have long been the target of hacker intrusion, because there are not only infinite user data on the server, but also the hijacking of such large user group services is an important source of black revenue, that is, the security of the server directly affects the security of users' uploaded data,With the support of server virtualization technology, the reliability of V2V migration is quite high. Most cloud storage manufacturers have prepared security protection schemes, but they can't ignore the operation of forever people.
Operation stop
In the current Internet environment, the annual investment in providing public cloud storage services is more than 500 million yuan, and the profit model of private cloud storage is not clear. How many service providers can continue to provide such services permanently, and will such services be charged later?Will the operation be forced to stop due to loss and income problems, and where will the data of existing users migrate to?Who is responsible for data security,The profit models of IM and Emai are mature, so the relevant manufacturers can continue to be free of charge, while the investment in cloud storage is at least ten times the sum of the former two. The service integration and the formation of the convention between manufacturers is not a technical problem, but a benefit distribution problem. The biggest hidden danger of user data retention is that the service providers will shut down their services at a certain time.
Private enterprise
Considering the problems of data storage security and private file protection hidden dangers in public cloud storage, as well as the implementation requirements of enterprise online behavior management, cloud storage, as a convenient and fast way to backup files, many enterprises have begun to set up private clouds within their own networks and deploy cloud storage servers in their internal networks,The maintenance and management of the server can be controlled by the enterprise itself, and enterprise employees can safely use private cloud storage functions within the scope of authorization.Many functions that cannot be realized on the public cloud storage server can be well solved in a private environment.As a private cloud storage system for SMEs, it must be different from the design of public cloud storage. From the perspective of today's needs, it can be divided into two aspects:
Document control
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Automatic synchronization
Windows clients add, modify, or delete files or directories under the specified directory. This status will be automatically synchronized to the cloud.If any file on the cloud is added, modified or deleted, it will be automatically synchronized to the current Windows computer.
Selective synchronization
Users do not need to synchronize all files in the cloud to Windows computers, but can selectively synchronize them on Windows clients as needed.Select one or more subdirectories to synchronize.
File sharing
Directory sharing is provided. Enterprise members can automatically synchronize to each other's directory after editing files in the shared directory.Provide file external chain and file sharing, and members can share files externally.
Rapid deployment
It is completed through a single installation file, and the information required for installation is automatically obtained without user intervention.
Historical version recovery
After the user edits the file for many times, the previous version can be found and restored according to the time.
Deployment Management
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Software architecture
The technology model of separating the yuan and stream is adopted. The original data is stored in the database, the stream data is encrypted and confused on the existing hard disk media, and the Xinyun disk uses the Nginx server load balancing scheme and the MySQL redundant backup scheme to ensure the high reliability of the system and the high availability of the database.
Multi terminal support
It provides multi terminal support, including Windows PC client, Android mobile client, iPhone mobile client, and multiple browsers.
Perfect background management
Provide perfect management background.Including whether the system is open for registration, logo modification, user management, file management, user statistics, file statistics and other operations.
Operating environment
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It has good compatibility and trust cloud storage supports mainstream models.Including: Windows XP, Windows 7, Android phones, iPhone phones, IE8 browser, Chrome browser, Firefox browser, etc.
Node Configuration
CPU supports P-State in ACPI specification, with more than 1G of memory, more than 1G of free space on hard disk, 100M Ethernet and above, display screen resolution of 1024 × 768 and above, and Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 4.0 and higher browsers are used.
performance
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In the case of gigabit network, the transmission speed can reach 50M per second.The single node data scale reaches 10 million, and the system can operate normally.
In combination with the requirements of equal protection management, in the design of private cloud storage, the encryption and decryption function of employees' personal private keys should also be taken into account, that is, the files stored on the enterprise private cloud by employees according to the different levels of work permissions should be encrypted, and the information management personnel cannot directly obtain the plaintext files from the server database,Transparent restore can only be completed in the system background after the client that has distributed the specific key downloads the file.
advantage
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1. Cost savings
The biggest feature of cloud storage in the short and long term is that it can reduce costs for small enterprises.Because if small businesses want to store on their own servers, they must buy hardware and software, and know how expensive it is.Then, the enterprise will hire professional IT personnel to manage the maintenance of these hardware and software, and update these equipment and software.
Through cloud storage, server vendors can serve thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises, and can divide services among different consumer groups.It can bear a part of the cost of a startup having the latest and best storage to help the startup reduce unnecessary cost budget.Compared with traditional storage capacity expansion, cloud storage architecture adopts parallel capacity expansion. When customers need to increase capacity, they can purchase servers according to demand, and simply increase capacity to achieve capacity expansion: new equipment only needs to install the operating system and cloud storage software, turn on the power and connect to the network, and the cloud storage system can automatically identify,Automatically add capacity to the storage pool to complete expansion.There are no restrictions on capacity expansion.
2. Better backup local data and can process daily data offsite
If there is a natural disaster in your office, your data is stored in a different place, so it is very safe.Even though natural disasters prevent you from accessing data through the network, data still exists.If the problem only occurs in your office or your company, you can go anywhere and use your notebook to access important data and update data.It can keep you working under bad conditions.
In the past storage system management, managers need to face different storage devices, and devices from different manufacturers have different management interfaces, which makes managers have to understand the usage of each storage (capacity, load, etc.) complex and heavy work.In addition, traditional storage may cause data loss when the hard disk or storage server is damaged, while cloud storage will not. If the hard disk is damaged, the data will be automatically migrated to another hard disk, greatly reducing the workload of management personnel.For cloud storage, no matter how many storage servers there are, they are just one storage in the eyes of managers. The usage status of each storage server is monitored through a unified management interface, making maintenance simple and easy to operate.
Of course, that doesn't mean you should forget to back up data.Cloud storage provides most companies with backup of their important data and protection of personal data.
3. More access and better competition
Employees no longer need to access company information through the local network.This allows employees and even partners to access the data they need anywhere.
Because SMEs do not need to spend tens of millions of dollars to build the latest technology and applications to create the best system, cloud storage paves the way for SMEs and large companies to compete.In fact, for many enterprises, cloud storage is more beneficial to small enterprises than large enterprises, because large enterprises have spent a lot of money to build their own data storage centers.
Development trend
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Cloud storage has become a trend of future storage development.However, with the development of cloud storage technology, the combination of various search, application technology and cloud storage applications still need to be improved from the perspective of security, portability and data access.
(1) Security
Since the birth of cloud computing, security has always been one of the primary considerations for enterprises to implement cloud computing.Similarly, in cloud storage, security is still the primary consideration. For customers who want to do cloud storage, security is usually the primary business and technical consideration.But many users' security requirements for cloud storage are even higher than the security level provided by their own architecture.Even so, in the face of such high unrealistic security requirements, many large and reliable cloud storage vendors are also trying to meet their requirements and build data centers that are much more secure than most enterprise data centers.Users can find that cloud storage has fewer security vulnerabilities and higher security links, and the level of security provided by cloud storage is higher than that provided by users' own data centers.
(2) Portability
Some users also need to consider data portability when hosting storage.In general, this is guaranteed. The solutions provided by some large service providers promise that their data portability can match the best traditional local storage.Some cloud storage combines powerful portable functions, and can transmit the entire dataset to any media you choose, even special storage devices.
(3) Performance and availability
In the past, some managed storage and remote storage always had the problem of long latency.Similarly, the characteristics of the Internet itself seriously threaten the availability of services.The latest generation of cloud storage has a breakthrough achievement, which is reflected in the client or local device cache, keeping frequently used data locally, thus effectively alleviating the problem of Internet latency.With local caching, these devices can mitigate latency issues even in the face of the most severe network outages.These devices can also make frequently used data react as quickly as local storage.Through a local NAS gateway, cloud storage can even imitate the availability, performance and visibility of terminal NAS devices, while remotely protecting data.With the continuous development of cloud storage technology, manufacturers will continue to strive to achieve capacity optimization and WAN (wide area network) optimization, so as to minimize the delay of data transmission.
(4) Data Access
Existing doubts about cloud storage technology also lie in whether cloud storage can provide sufficient accessibility if large-scale data requests or data recovery operations are performed.Under the technical conditions in the future, there is no need to worry about this. Existing manufacturers can transfer a large amount of data to any type of media, and can directly transfer data to enterprises, and the speed is as fast as copying and pasting operations.In addition, cloud storage vendors can also provide a set of components to imitate cloud addresses on a fully localized system, so that local NAS gateway devices can continue to operate normally without resetting.In the future, if large manufacturers build more regional facilities, data transmission will be faster.In this way, even if the customer's local data is catastrophic lost, cloud storage vendors can quickly retransmit the data to the customer's data center.
Cloud security
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Cloud Security is a new term evolved from "cloud computing".The strategic concept of cloud security is that the more users there are, the more secure each user will be, because such a large user group is enough to cover every corner of the Internet. As long as a website is hung up or a new trojan virus appears, it will be intercepted immediately.
"Cloud security" obtains the latest information of trojans and malicious programs on the Internet through the abnormal monitoring of software behaviors in the network by a large number of mesh clients, pushes it to the server for automatic analysis and processing, and then distributes the solutions of viruses and trojans to each client.
Cloud application
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Cloud IoT application
The relationship between cloud computing and the Internet of Things can be illustrated with a vivid metaphor: "cloud computing" is the embryonic form of the nervous system in "the Internet", and "the Internet of Things" is the sprout of the peripheral nervous system emerging in "the Internet".
"The Internet of Things is the Internet connected by things".This has two meanings: first, the core and foundation of the Internet of Things is still the Internet, which is an extension and expanded network on the basis of the Internet;Second, its user end extends and extends to any item and item for information exchange and communication.
Two business models of the Internet of Things:
1. MAI (M2M Application Integration), internal MaaS;
2. MaaS (M2M As A Service), MMO, Multi Tenants (multi tenant model).
With the increase of the business volume of the Internet of Things, the demand for data storage and computing will bring about the requirement for "cloud computing" capability:
1. Cloud computing: PoP can meet the demand at the initial stage of the Internet of Things from the computing center to the data center;
2. In the advanced stage of the Internet of Things, MVNO/MMO operators (existing abroad for many years) may appear, requiring virtualizationCloud computing technology, SOA and other technologies to realize the ubiquitous service of the Internet: TaaS (everything As A Service)
Cloud storage application
Cloud storage is a new concept extended and developed from the concept of cloud computing. It refers to a system that integrates a large number of different types of storage devices in the network through application software and other functions such as cluster applications, grid technology or distributed file systems to work together to jointly provide external data storage and business access functions.When the core of cloud computing system computing and processing is the storage and management of a large amount of data, a large number of storage devices need to be configured in the cloud computing system, then the cloud computing system will become a cloud storage system, so cloud storage is a cloud computing system with data storage and management as the core.
Cloud call application
Cloud call center is a call center system built based on cloud computing technology. Enterprises do not need to purchase any software and hardware systems. They can quickly own their own call center only with basic conditions such as personnel and venues. The software and hardware platform, communication resources, daily maintenance and services are provided by the server provider.It has many characteristics such as short construction period, less investment, low risk, flexible deployment, strong scalability of system capacity, low operation and maintenance costs, etc;Whether it is a telemarketing center or a customer service center, an enterprise can establish a call center system with comprehensive functions, stability, reliability, and seats that can be distributed throughout the country and call access across the country by renting services on demand.
Private cloud applications
Private Cloud is the creation of cloud infrastructure and software and hardware resources in the firewall for organizations or enterprises to share resources in the data center.To create a private cloud, in addition to hardware resources, there are generally cloud equipment (IaaS) software;Current commercial software includes VMware's vSphere and Platform Computing's ISF, and open source cloud device software mainly includes Eucalyptus and OpenStack.
Private cloud computing also includes cloud hardware, cloud platform, and cloud services.The difference is that cloud hardware is the user's own personal computer or server, not the data center of cloud computing manufacturers.Cloud computing vendors build data centers to provide public cloud services for millions of users, so they need tens of millions of servers.Private cloud computing, for individuals, only serves friends and relatives, and for enterprises, only serves their employees, customers and suppliers. Therefore, personal computers or servers of individuals or enterprises are enough to provide cloud services.
Cloud game application
Cloud games are based on cloud computing. In the running mode of cloud games, all games run on the server side, and the rendered game images are compressed and transmitted to users through the network.On the client side, the user's game device does not need any high-end processor and graphics card, but only basic video decompression capability.As far as today is concerned, cloud games have not yet become the networking mode of the home and handheld computers, because the X360 is still using LIVE, and PS is PS NETWORK,wiiIt's wi fi.But in a few years or more, it is very likely that cloud computing will replace these things as the ultimate direction of its network development.If this idea can be realized, then the host manufacturers will become network operators. They don't need to constantly invest huge R&D costs for new hosts, but only need to take a small part of this money to upgrade their servers, but the results achieved are almost the same.For users, they can save the cost of buying the host, but they can get the top game pictures (of course, the hardware for video output must be excellent).You can imagine that a handheld computer and a home computer have the same picture. The home computer is as simple as the set-top box we use. Even the home computer can replace the set-top box of TV and become the way to watch TV in the next era.
Cloud education application
Examples of video cloud computing applications in the education industry: the streaming media platform is deployed in a distributed architecture, which is divided into web server, database server, live broadcast server and streaming server. If necessary, a collection workstation can be set up in the information center to build network television or live broadcast applications,Streaming media functional components are configured in classrooms where recording and broadcasting systems or live broadcasting systems have been deployed in various schools, so that the recording and broadcasting live can be transmitted to the global live broadcast server in the streaming media platform management center in real time. At the same time, the recording and broadcasting schools can also be uploaded and stored to the streaming storage server in the information center, facilitating future retrieval, on-demand, evaluation and other applications.
Cloud conference application
Cloud conference is an efficient, convenient and low-cost conference form based on cloud computing technology.Users can quickly and efficiently share voice, data files and videos with teams and customers around the world by simply operating through the Internet interface. Complex technologies such as data transmission and processing in meetings are operated by cloud conference service providers.
At present, domestic cloud conferences mainly focus onSAAS(Software as a service) mode is the main service content, including telephone, network, video and other service forms. Cloud computing based video conference is called cloud conference.Cloud conference is the perfect combination of video conference and cloud computing, which brings the most convenient remote conference experience.Jiyu mobile cloud teleconference is the perfect integration of cloud computing technology and mobile Internet technology. It can conduct simple operations through mobile terminals, and provide efficient convening and management of meetings anytime, anywhere.
Cloud social application
Cloud social networking（CloudSocial) is a virtual social application model of Internet of Things, cloud computing and mobile Internet interactive applications. It aims to establish the famous "resource sharing relationship map", and then carries out network social networking. The main feature of cloud social networking is to integrate and evaluate a large number of social resources in a unified way, forming an effective pool of resources to provide services to users on demand.The more users who participate in sharing, the greater the utilization value that can be created.
Cloud computing system
core technology
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The core technology of cloud computing system: parallel computing.Parallel Computing refers to the process of solving computing problems using multiple computing resources at the same time.The data processing is completed through the parallel computing cluster, and then the processing results are returned to the user.
7. Operation and maintenance management technology.
Self built cloud storage
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Cloud storage is prevalent, and IT experts need to look at their data center, cloud computing, cloud storage, and big data from a broader perspective than ever before. These concepts and technologies should not only be concerned, but also how to integrate into their current environment is an urgent matter.IT departments (such as network and storage) that used to be independent within the organization must cooperate more closely due to integration.This has prompted IT departments to improve the degree of cooperation, which has brought great benefits to the IT organization, promoting performance improvement and cost reduction.
For most IT organizations, scalability is a key indicator of internal cloud storage.Although supporters claim that the cloud is very easy to expand and has nearly unlimited growth potential, we still need to carefully consider the fault tolerance, dynamic expansion and capacity growth planning of the cloud.Cloud is not a panacea for data growth, it is a commodity that needs effective management.
In addition, before implementing cloud storage, we also need to define and understand key performance indicators.In general, we assume that inactive data does not need high performance like high level storage.However, other simultaneous projects, such as electronic discovery, may require such data to have considerable performance.
Response time and end-user experience must also be coordinated.We must have a service level agreement (SLA) or an operation level agreement (OLA),
And the cloud solution must meet these requirements.Since data is accessed through the intranet, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the current network capacity and capacity and judge the possible latency before implementing cloud storage.For specific internal cloud solutions, best practice guidance must be included in the entire solution.
When considering new technologies, we need to evaluate the simplicity of management and the convenience of implementation.We often need to rely on existing personnel who already have work tasks to deploy and implement new technologies.
We need to determine what roles and responsibilities are needed, how these responsibilities are allocated, and how much time is needed.These problems are not purely technical problems, but a thinking process that helps improve the overall efficiency of existing personnel.
It needs careful consideration to determine whether cloud storage is suitable for an organization.First, we need to analyze the data in the data center to determine how much data can be migrated to the cloud.Then, IT personnel must determine how these data can be migrated to the cloud.The migration of some data is very simple, just like the replication process;Other data migration may require some form of data migrator to ensure that these data can meet the set policies after migration.
Another important consideration is economic feasibility.External clouds may be suitable for companies that care about existing storage costs and are risk averse, while companies that are more sensitive to the costs and risks of external clouds may choose to deploy internal clouds.
Since external cloud is actually storage as a service, its cost depends onStore dataVolume and contract time.On the other hand, the consideration of total cost of ownership of internal cloud and most other internalstorageIn the same way.
Security challenges
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The growing demand for cloud storage capacity has brought growing security issues.How will enterprises overcome the security challenges of cloud storage?
Focus on local
Enterprises need to focus on the physical location of ECS and virtual security control.To some extent, this confirms the emerging idea of "data nationalism", that is, the ideal way for enterprises to protect information storage is to control within their own boundaries.In other words, cloud security threats are usually not from malicious factors, but from management problems;The local server provides better security protection.
Looking for manufacturers
An emerging trend of cloud storage is "zero knowledge." Now, storage vendors encrypt the company's data and hand over the key, which means that only authorized personnel can access it, and service vendors cannot secretly monitor the data stored in the cloud by enterprises.This is especially important for storing a large amount of personally identifiable information, such as name, birth date, and social security number.
Know the manufacturer
When data is transferred to the cloud, cloud service providers are likely to forge access certificates, and their access to data is not limited.And so far, there is no evidence to show that cloud storage vendors have not taken advantage of this flaw to achieve their own goals, which also gives rise to a point of view: when enterprises choose cloud storage vendors, they should know who has stored their data, where the storage location is, and what the reputation of the vendor in the entire cloud storage market is.
Review the contract repeatedly
To ensure the security of cloud data, enterprises must take the time to thoroughly review all service level agreements (SLAs).The first thing to note is the penalty clause: what should we do if the provider fails to ensure the security of data, data is lost or does not provide recognized uptime?
At the same time, aboutData backup, disaster recovery and storage devices themselves.After all, the cloud storage market is still relatively new, and there is no ready-made, unbreakable industry standard. In this way, many cloud manufacturers are just boasting, and there is no real action to learn from.
Use split stack
To ensure the security of data in the cloud, there is nothing wrong with using split stacks.Store mission critical applications on local servers, non sensitive data and cold datastorageIn the cloud.In addition, this concept can also be extended to consider using multi-purpose cloud vendors to avoid vendor lock-in.For archived information, a low-cost manufacturer that can ensure basic security can handle it;But for data with high frequency of use, it is necessary to find alternatives with high efficiency and zero knowledge.If properly handled, splitting the stack can save costs without compromising security.
Current status of cloud storage
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As early as 2010, less than 14% of survey respondents happily said that cloud storage is being used.However, in most of our recent surveys, we see that the number of enterprises using cloud storage is on the rise.For example, in 2012, the number was 30%.In two surveys in the past few months, 44% - 48% of enterprises said that they are currently using some kind of cloud storage, so the number of enterprises storing data in the cloud is rising.
In just two years, cloud storage has grown from less than 14 percent to this level, which is actually quite impressive.The data changes between surveys are so broad, but the average data range of 15TB-32TB on the cloud has unexpectedly dropped.In particular, the biggest selling point is the elastic and unlimited capacity service set.
From the perspective of these average data, in the "Cloud Storage Purchase Intention" survey last spring, we asked the company how much storage capacity it maintained, including disk, flash memory, optical fiber, cloud, tape, cookie code（cookieJar) and so on.The average is 1.4 PB -- this is a PB level.
If we go deeper, these same respondents saystorageThere is an average of 326TB of "active" data in.Therefore, even if we assume that all cloud storage data stored by these companies in the cloud is active (which is obviously incorrect), it means that only 5% - 10% of the average data of these cloud storage companies is delivered to the cloud.
According to the 2015 TechTarget cloud storage survey results, we found that 50% of the respondents said they used cloud as the main storage method of production data, but there was a larger number, that is, 63% of IT departments said they used cloud as data backup.At the same time, 43% of users use the cloud for data archiving.
"If enterprises have not started cloud storage, backup and long-term data archiving are usually the best starting point for this transformation," Nowalk said, pointing out that the operating costs of these initial use cases are also easier to see for enterprises using cloud storage.
However, many survey respondents said that one reason for using cloud for data backup is the market share of cloud storage services, from more traditional products, such as those from CommVault, to cloud gateways, and even new cloud disaster recovery, such as data protection as a service, Nadkarni said.
Although more organizations have begun to test cloud storage, not all enterprises have begun to do so, whether it is through backup services, archiving or using the cloud to save production data.Concerns about security and compliance, as well as vendor locking issues around cloud services, are still the main reasons why some IT departments have not started.
"What keeps people calm is vendor lock-in," Nadkarni said. "They want to know how to get their data back if it goes into the cloud."
However, the good news is that there are many more cloud storage options than before.He pointed out that Google's near line cold storage and data archiving services, corresponding to the Glacier of Amazon Web Services, are the new ones that enterprises can considercloud storagechoice.
classification
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Not all application data needsSSDPerformance.Frequently accessed data can be migrated to disk based storage.Both ssd and disk based storage support the standard I/O protocol, so when you move an application from local hardware to the cloud, you do not need to change the application.
With the attached direct solid state disk or disk drive, you can use any file system supported by your operating system.One disadvantage of this mode is that when the machine instance is shut down, the data on the hard disk drive will be deleted.In order to save data, you must copy the data to another storage system, such as object storage in the cloud.
Another disadvantage of an attached storage system is that it can only be connected to one instance.However, Microsoft Azure has a file storage system that enables SMB compliant file sharing across multiple instances.This is useful when migrating applications to a cloud that requires regular file system services, or when multiple instances need to access the same data.
In other clouds, data sets may be copied to additional storage devices, and these devices can be connected to other instances.However, this can cause synchronization and consistency problems.
When multiple instances are reading and writing the same data, the database may be the best choice.Each major cloud provider will provide relationship and non relationshipNoSQLDatabase.If the data storage requirements are clearly defined in the design phase, then the relationshipdata baseIt is usually very appropriate.If the location of the database schema cannot be known in advance, you can selectNoSQLDatabase.[1]
