Use Of Cloud-based Services Research Articles

Building a framework to drive government systems' adoption of cloud computing through IT knowledge

abstractMany governments in developing countries are finding it challenging to integrate cloud computing into their e-government systems because of the limited effective identification and evaluation of important factors. Cloud computing usage in government organizations is still restricted due to concerns over security, regulatory challenges, cultural resistance to new technologies, infrastructure limitations, and other factors (Abied et al. in Sustainability 14:15590, 2022). This research suggests a model that analyses the factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing in e-government systems within Jordanian government organizations by decision-makers. The survey was distributed online to a purposive sample consisting of 373 IT professionals and top-level managers in government organizations in Jordan. The study demonstrates that the technological factors which include complexity, compatibility, relative advantage, and security, the organisational factors which consist of top management support and cost, and the environmental factors which include industry competition and government rules and regulations, had a significant and positive impact on the adoption of cloud-based services in government systems. Furthermore, IT knowledge held by decision makers was recognized as a key factor in the adoption of cloud computing for e-government systems. This research is anticipated to provide significant insights for any organizations making investment decisions about the use of cloud-based services. This research considers the assessment of multiple aspects to encourage top management to analyse the consequences of implementing cloud services for e-government systems. This case study might not be applied broadly to all types of organizations in Jordan. Future research should employ large-scale samples to ensure the study's representativeness and could also broaden the scope by including samples from similar countries to validate the model or its implementation across different cultures, IT infrastructure and geographical settings. In addition, it is recommended that upcoming research consider using the level of experience and education as moderators.

A Secure and Smart Home Automation System with Speech Recognition and Power Measurement Capabilities.

The advancement in the internet of things (IoT) technologies has made it possible to control and monitor electronic devices at home with just the touch of a button. This has made people lead much more comfortable lifestyles. Elderly people and those with disabilities have especially benefited from voice-assisted home automation systems that allow them to control their devices with simple voice commands. However, the widespread use of cloud-based services in these systems, such as those offered by Google and Amazon, has made them vulnerable to cyber-attacks. To ensure the proper functioning of these systems, a stable internet connection and a secure environment free from cyber-attacks are required. However, the quality of the internet is often low in developing countries, which makes it difficult to access the services these systems offer. Additionally, the lack of localization in voice assistants prevents people from using voice-assisted home automation systems in these countries. To address these challenges, this research proposes an offline home automation system. Since the internet and cloud services are not required for an offline system, it can perform its essential functions, while ensuring protection against cyber-attacks and can provide quick responses. It offers additional features, such as power usage tracking and the optimization of linked devices.

Data Leakage Detection using Cloud Computing

Abstract: "Data Leakage Detection Using Cloud Computing" is a project that aims to address the growing need to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access and leakage in cloud computing environments. With the increasing use of cloud-based services, there is a growing concern about data privacy and security. The project proposes a solution that leverages cloud computing technology to detect and prevent data leakage in real-time .The proposed system employs data classification, access control, and monitoring mechanisms to prevent unauthorized data access and ensure data privacy. The system is designed to monitor user activities and detect any suspicious behavior that may indicate a potential data leak. The system uses machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies in user behavior and classify data based on its sensitivity level. The system then applies access control policies to restrict user access to sensitive data.

Adoption Strategy for Cloud Computing in Kenyan Research Institutions

Cloud computing has transformed the aspect of distributed computing from many other prevailing methods by offering more unlimited benefits, like cutting down computing costs and allowing more capacity and agility. It is viewed as a game-changer in how information technology is provided since it allows computer resources like storage, processing capacity, network infrastructure, and applications to be offered as a service via the Internet. In business, it seems to have become strategic, with the potential for use in crucial parts of an organization's IT infrastructure, as it offers a potential alternative to traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Most Kenyan research institutes' systems experienced certain flaws and recognized incidents of system rigidity, which prevented these institutions from efficiently meeting their mandate, especially when they desired to access services from home via the Internet. The Research design that was utilized in the study was a survey research design. The study employed a systematic review approach that examined the current literature on cloud computing adoption strategy. The systematic literature review revealed that existing research was dominated by issues of the characteristics/peculiarities and IT environments of research institutions in Kenya and if they were amenable to cloud solutions, the current cloud computing technologies, adoption approaches and drivers fostering cloud computing and the adoption strategy that met the requirements for cloud computing for Kenyan research institutions. The present research was reviewed for knowledge gap identification purposes and future research opportunities. The researcher developed an adoption strategy favorable to research Institutions that was flexible to the provision of cloud computing resources, enhanced greater cloud computing efficiency, reduced capital expenditure in hardware and software and increased the performance of the research Institution's operations, provided the efficiency of data and information and supported the effectiveness of the management activities since the cloud strategies discussed did not promote cooperation, agility, scalability and flexibility and saving costs by using calculating resources efficiently and optimally. This study employed a purposive sampling approach that picked a sample size of twenty respondents from the KMFRI and related organizations. The analytical review of specifically identified studies exposed the kind of challenges that existed and gave an indication that cloud computing was applicable for Kenyan Research Institutions because of the organization size, possession of required skills to make use of cloud-based services, Government regulations, industry regulations and internal policies necessitated the move to cloud computing strategy. The cloud service providers have adequate capacity to run the services and are ready with the services they provide. Researchers noted that all the research Institutions have dedicated ICT personnel and ICT Policies. Efficient service delivery means there is easy access to any research information from the cloud at any time and anywhere. Using Factor Analysis, variable weights for various study constructs (Technological, Internal and External Contexts) were used to develop the adoption strategy for cloud computing (ASCC). The recommendations of the study from the developed strategy showed that the network infrastructure should be more developed so that the Kenyan Research Institutions can be connected to high-speed Internet to allow for sharing of information, which will ensure efficient service delivery using cloud computing services. The study also recommended that Kenyan Research Institutes train their customers and suppliers on using cloud computing services for efficient service delivery and the adoption strategy for cloud computing (ASCC) to achieve efficiency in service delivery. Areas for further related studies can be conducted to determine the long-term impact of the developed adoption strategy for adopting cloud computing in Kenyan research Institutions. Also, further studies could carry out to determine ways of improving the developed adoption strategy for the adoption of cloud computing in Kenyan Research.

Investigating the factors affecting the intention to adopt cloud-based ERP systems during the COVID-19 era: evidence from Jordan

PurposeGenerally, the use of cloud-based services has proliferated all around the world. This tendency increased dramatically during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic when many people were obliged to conduct business remotely. This research study aims to investigate the intentions to adopt (IA) cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in Jordan, as this sort of research is scarce in developing countries. Specifically, this research study combined the model of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, in addition to looking at COVID-19 as a moderating variable.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 60 participants working in Jordanian companies that currently use, or have the intention to use, cloud-based ERP systems. An online questionnaire was developed and used to collect responses. The study hypotheses were examined statistically using simple regression analysis and hierarchical multiple regression.FindingsThe study results clearly indicate that complexity, observability, employee information technology (IT) skills, organizational culture (OC) and top management support significantly affect the intention to adopt cloud-based ERP systems. In contrast, relative advantage (RA), compatibility, trialability, regulatory environment and competitive pressure had no significant effect on adoption intention. Interestingly, the advent of COVID-19 increased the intention to adopt cloud-based ERP systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's findings will provide theoretical and practical suggestions for the effective adoption of cloud ERP in Jordan, as well as aiding other developing nations in comparable situations in implementing cloud-based ERP systems.Originality/valueThe study enriches the knowledge and further examines the underlying reasons for adopting cloud-based ERP systems in a developing country.

Distance learning technology in teaching geography course of continents and oceans in secondary general-education schools

The purpose of this article. The purpose of the article is to highlight the possibilities and prospects of involving distance- learning technology in teaching geography course of continents and oceans in Ukrainian secondary general-education schools. The main material. The article considers the essence, use of theoretical and methodological principles of distance educational technologies in secondary general-education schools of Ukraine, including didactic principles of their application, approaches to the interpretation of the essence of the informational educational environment. The study highlights practical aspects of implementing the distance learning technology in teaching geography of 7th grade, characterizing the use of interactive and cloud services in geography, showing the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the distance learning technology in teaching geography course of continents and oceans. We interpret the term” distance learning technology” as a set of educational content for teaching and learning as well as a number of pedagogical and technological methods/technologies allowing us to implement the remote learning in synchronous or asynchronous modes. The educational environment includes informational (educational) content, control/ correction’ content of study material; informational and reference content, etc. We use Bloom’s modified taxonomy as a conceptual foundation to implement distance - learning technology. Based on it, we should develop the tools for controlling knowledge and skills as well as monitor the effectiveness of these knowledge/skills assimilation. When teaching geography in the 7th grade, it is recommended to use both adapted versions of “classical” pedagogical methods, in particular case technologies, flipped classroom technologies, mixed learning technologies, as well as the closest to distance learning - TV and network technologies, widely used in Ukraine since March 2020 p. The most common in Ukraine is the synchronous teaching format, which means conducting lessons in real time by using video conferences on ZOOM, Google Meet, WebEx platforms. On the other hand, the asynchronous format, which means the distance- learning course development by teachers, is not so popular due to insufficiently formed digital and information-communication competences of the majority of teachers. Because of this, it is difficult for teachers to master online tools of a modern teacher, in particular, eTreniki, Learningapps, and WWW services. Interactive network services such as the Seterra portal, the Geoguessr map service, the National Geographic service, the Barefoot World Atlas portal, provide many opportunities for the teacher during distance learning implementation, for example, interesting game tasks for learning the nomenclature, the ability to “float” around a 3D globe, etc. The use of cloud-based services, in particular Office365 and G Suite for Education (Google WorkSpace), allows teachers to systematize educational content and automate the verification of test tasks. The advantages of implementing the distance learning technology in teaching geography include supporting the educational process in emergency, increasing both individualization of learning, and the visibility in the teaching process. Disadvantages are the difficulty of perceiving the material by some students, dependence of the quality of learning on external conditions - availability of power supply, the Internet, modern gadgets. Conclusions and further research. Distance learning technology allows us to organize the remote (distant) learning, which is very important for continuing the educational process during a pandemic, martial law, or other situations when students cannot attend school. The teachers use mixed learning technologies, TV and network technologies in teaching geography in the 7th grade. The most common is synchronous learning, represented by online communication between the teacher and students in real time with video conferences, using ZOOM, Google Meet, WebEx, etc. services. The largest range of possibilities for teaching the course “Geography of Continents and Oceans” includes interactive online geography services, such as the Seterra portal, the Geoguessr cartographic service, Google maps, interactive online atlases, in particular the Barefoot World Atlas. Cloud services, in particular Office365 and G Suite for Education (oogle WorkSpace), include the availability of educational content in the form of presentations, textual, illustrative and other materials to be used during a distance lesson, as well as a set of online tools for a modern teacher. However, the majority of teachers have a low level of digital competence and cannot master them efficiently. When conducting distance geography lessons in the 7th grade, teachers should use tools for working with an interactive map (currently, these opportunities are very little used). When working with tools for making control tasks for students, the teachers should use the possibility of including photos and map images. The virtual whiteboard, which is a component of programs for conducting video conferences, allows teachers to organize work on the project in mini-groups. The prospective direction of our research is to keep working on studying the possibilities to implement Smart-education based on distance learning technology, which will contribute to formation of a Smart-society in Ukraine.

Cloud Computing Leads Towards Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In today's environment, businesses are looking into cutting-edge strategies to improve their supply chain's cost and operational effectiveness. Cloud computing appears to be a promising technology that can help with this optimization by providing infrastructure, platform, and software solutions for the entire supply chain network over the Internet. The use of cloud-based services in supply chain management has financial and operational benefits, but all supply chain stakeholders should be aware of potential dangers and restrictions. Cloud computing can improve supply chain collaboration and infrastructure needs by allowing for more flexible outsourcing of software. Rather of sustaining and paying for maximum use, this technology proposes an approach that allows for flexibility in adding on the way, depending on the entire business process and supply chain network model. Aside from the normal tech hype, cloud computing has the potential to be an ideal technology for supporting and managing a constantly changing and dynamic network, and thus for supply chain management (SCM). This paper provides an overview of cloud-based supply chain management. A quick introduction to cloud technologies is given first. The factors of cloud computing which effect supply chain activities is then examined, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating this technology into current supply chains. Finally, findings are offered, as well as future study directions.

Factors affecting adoption of cloud-based services: evidence from an emerging market

The increasing use of cloud-based services by consumers makes a compelling case to identify determinants of its adoption. The researchers have used unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to explain the intention to adopt technology. However, the increasing technology convergence in form of internet of things (IoT) make a convincing reason for further investigating the role of unexplored variables influencing the technology adoption. Using UTAUT as the basic theoretical framework, the study investigated additional determinants such as perceived security risks, perceived trust and price value of technology adoption. Using SEM-PLS method to analyse data collected through a web survey in India, the study found that the performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived security risks, facilitating conditions, perceived trust and price value showed significant impact on behavioural intention towards the adoption and use of cloud-based services. However, social influence did not demonstrate any significant influence on behavioural intention.

A decision support model for waste heat recovery systems design in Data Center and High-Performance Computing clusters utilizing liquid cooling and Phase Change Materials

The Data Center (DC) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) sector is increasingly becoming one of the single largest energy consuming sectors in the energy system and the demand for new DCs is growing with the rising use of cloud-based services, social media and internet usage in general. DCs and HPC clusters employ energy intensive cooling in order to dissipate the generated heat from the Information Technology (IT) equipment. Conventionally, the cooling is almost exclusively done by air-based systems; however, the use of liquid based cooling has shown potential to increase computational efficiency of the systems and decrease cooling needs by operation above the free cooling limit. Furthermore, the liquid coolant can operate at higher temperatures allowing high temperature waste heat recovery. In addition, load shifting through Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) will allow the non-controllable waste heat resource to be stored seasonally, thereby granting the ability to cover larger District Heating (DH) loads. In this work, a decision support model is developed that will take basic information regarding a HPC cluster or DC as inputs. The decision support model will provide a parameterized output that shows different configurations and design parameters that can be utilized for the system. The main outputs includes yearly energy savings, yearly cost savings and efficiency gains through the Power Usage Efficiency and the Energy Reuse Efficiency. The decision support model is demonstrated in a Danish case study. Electricity savings between 8.14 % and 10.8 % of the total cluster electricity consumption and a waste heat recovery potential of 85 MWh/year to 576 MWh/year are obtained. It is shown that if the DH covered is needed to be self-sufficient the configuration would require an LTES with PCM mass of 500 kg, but system configurations that operate as an addition to an existing local heating source shows increases in yearly energy savings of 332 % compared to self-sufficient configurations. The goal of the decision support model is to assist the design of future waste heat recovery applications through selection of system parameters including coolant temperatures, energy storage design parameters, DH supply temperatures and DH load coverage from the DC or HPC cluster.

Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC): A Survey of Privacy, Security and their Impact on Social Life of Users

A foremost debated area in the IT world is Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) which merges cloud computing and mobile computing; MCC is a prospective technology of mobile services that have been inaugurated together with the fast development in mobile applications and cloud computing technology. MCC is in the early phase of development, so it is essential to have in-depth knowledge of the technology to identify future research. Cloud computing has seen exceptional advancement in the past couple of years regarding its turn of application and development. Thus, development and research in cloud computing are scaling in a positive direction because of the increasing demand for cloud computing. On the other hand, no one is concerned about its effect on mental health. People are more concerned about the privacy, access, and security of their data over the cloud. Users are not aware of the data stored in cloud technology. Therefore, end users are always worried about the security and privacy of personal data. When cloud base services are used, users have mental stress because of the unknown place of the data storage. Consistent use of cloud-based services creates a sense of anxiety among users that are more particular about data privacy. The present article gives a transitory explanation of cloud computing and mobile computing. Applications such as M-healthcare, M-commerce, and M-gaming have been discussed to debate potential applications for mobile cloud computing.

Secure Remote Storage of Logs with Search Capabilities

Along with the use of cloud-based services, infrastructure, and storage, the use of application logs in business critical applications is a standard practice. Application logs must be stored in an accessible manner in order to be used whenever needed. The debugging of these applications is a common situation where such access is required. Frequently, part of the information contained in logs records is sensitive. In this paper, we evaluate the possibility of storing critical logs in a remote storage while maintaining its confidentiality and server-side search capabilities. To the best of our knowledge, the designed search algorithm is the first to support full Boolean searches combined with field searching and nested queries. We demonstrate its feasibility and timely operation with a prototype implementation that never requires access, by the storage provider, to plain text information. Our solution was able to perform search and decryption operations at a rate of, approximately, 0.05 ms per line. A comparison with the related work allows us to demonstrate its feasibility and conclude that our solution is also the fastest one in indexing operations, the most frequent operations performed.

In the Direction Regarding Implementation for Cloud OS: A Review

With the exponential improvement of the recent information technologies, the use of cloud-based services, Internet of Things (IoT), and Big Data in the manufacturing industries of key national sectors such as shipping, energy, material science, refining, chemicals, banking, defense, etc., is unavoidable. Recently, cloud computing has been a hot subject. As large businesses such as Google and Microsoft have introduced launching cloud-based apps, advertising with cloud usage, and even releasing an open-source-based Cloud OS, cloud computing has lately seen a substantial rise in popularity. As the public becomes more conscious of cloud-based computing, the need for protection will rise as popularity grows. Extensive focus has been drawn to several research questions in cloud computing for the operating system in the cloud. Throughout this study, we discussed the cloud-based operating system (OS) architecture in cloud computing, issues related to the Cloud OS, and critical challenges while implementing and designing Cloud OS. Furthermore, a comprehensive review is presented by the author in the overall article.

A survey of authenticated key agreement protocols for multi-server architecture

This paper presents a comprehensive survey of authenticated key agreement protocols, which have been proposed for multi-server architectures. The growing use of cloud-based services has made multi-server authentication protocols a necessity. For a brief insight into the topic, the break-fix history of these protocols, vital functional and security requirements have been summarized. Protocols are categorized based upon the cryptographic mechanism used. To evaluate the trade-off between security and performance, comprehensive analysis concerning performance and security of multiple protocols, from each category, has been carried out. Some profound results of this survey include: 1) the majority of existing protocols engage the registration server (RS) in the mutual authentication, which results in extra communication overhead and creates a computational bottleneck on RS end. Secondly, majority of the hash-based protocols with offline RS are vulnerable to key compromise impersonation attacks. Thirdly very few schemes consider the efficient and demanded revocation of compromised participants. Finally, among all these protocols, pairing-based designs are the most computationally expensive.

ПРОЄКТУВАННЯ І ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ВІДКРИТОГО ХМАРО ОРІЄНТОВАНОГО ОСВІТНЬО-НАУКОВОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА ЗАКЛАДУ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ

У статті висвітлено результати теоретичних і експериментальних досліджень проблем проєктування, впровадження і використання відкритого хмаро орієнтованого освітньо-наукового середовища закладу вищої освіти, що проводилися в Інституті інформаційних технологій і засобів навчання НАПН України протягом 2011-2019 рр. Висвітлено науково-методичні засади дослідження, поняттєво-термінологічний апарат, окреслено методологічні принципи проєктування середовища, обґрунтовано загальну модель та методичну систему його формування і розвитку. У моделі відображено особливості процесу формування і розвитку середовища, що спрямований на досягнення цілей педагогічної системи, серед яких – формування ІКТ-компетентного фахівця; розширення доступу до ІКТ; використання в освіті і наукових дослідженнях найсучасніших засобів і технологій. Методична система охоплює ряд методик, що об’єднані системо утворюючим чинником, яким є хмаро орієнтований підхід, що спирається на відповідні базові характеристики і сервісні моделі. До складу методичної системи входять: методика використання науково-навчальної хмари наукової/освітньої установи, що спрямована на поліпшення організації і підвищення ефективності наукових досліджень, упровадження їх результатів; методики використання хмаро орієнтованих компонентів навчального призначення на базі гібридної хмари AWS а також спеціалізованих предметно орієнтованих сервісів. Охарактеризовано шляхи добору методик на базі запропонованої моделі в педагогічних системах закладу вищої освіти, визначено перспективи їх використання. Здійснено аналіз і оцінку досвіду впровадження і використання окремих сервісів і компонентів хмаро орієнтованого освітньо-наукового середовища у закладах вищої освіти України. Наведено результати експериментальних досліджень використання сервісів хмаро орієнтованого середовища в процесі навчання наукових, науково-педагогічних, педагогічних кадрів. Проведено аналіз і оцінку перспектив розвитку хмаро орієнтованого освітньо-наукового середовища на підставі запропонованих підходів.

Cyber security developments in Israel

Since the early 1990s, the State of Israel, ‘The Start-Up Nation’, has maintained its position as a leading powerhouse for cyber security innovation. It has been providing novel solutions, which have enhanced the robustness, resilience and security of other nations and organisations around the world, making a global impact that is non-proportional to Israel’s material size. As of today, Israeli solutions are more prevalent than ever before, protecting billions of people, sustaining the continuous supply of vital services, safeguarding governments and economic infrastructure, and ensuring the security and safety of business and individuals across the globe. The Israeli cyber security industry — relying on its skilled and creative human capital and empowered by long-standing government support and a unique synergy with the world-renowned Israeli academia — has been a key component of the local vibrant security-oriented ‘ecosystem’. It is a prosperous ground where cyber security exceptionalism and excellence can flow and thrive. As such, Israel serves as a global incubator for corporations and individual entrepreneurs alike; those that seek to tap into and embrace Israel’s unique culture, which cultivates entrepreneurship, fosters ingenuity and celebrates the audacity to undermine conventional thinking. When one reviews the ‘Six cyber threats to really worry about’ in the MIT Technology Review and focusing on the ‘ransomware in the cloud’ and the ‘cyber-physical attacks’ options, something is missing — the attacks are sure to happen, but how will they spread out? What is the most likely attack vehicle? As cyber security products are becoming better and more sophisticated, a potential attacker needs to take into account the multiple barriers that they will encounter when trying to launch a cyberattack on a certain enterprise. The attacker, though, has one great advantage; in most cases, they can run a full model of the cyber-security scheme that they will be facing. The cyber specialists that work for a cybercrime organisation live among us; they dig into the same WikiLeaks information, and take part in various conferences and expos. A resourceful cybercrime organisation can set up a complete model of their targeted victim and sandbox their attack. A resourceful attacker will not use ‘plain’ statistical attacks such as a ransomware campaign, knowing that if they target a bank or insurance company, it is most likely that they are well protected against those ‘standard’ attacks (assuming that they follow best practices for cyber security). The attacker may decide to attack an enterprise by using a counter-artificial intelligence (AI) methodology that can outwit existing AI detection algorithms. Another great attack vehicle would be through the use of manipulated hardware or firmware introduced into the organisation through an internal abuser or supply chain. As some cybercrime organisations still ‘support’ legacy crime activities, such as a silent penetration into a facility, obtaining employee extortion and basic human manipulation, ‘qualifications’ that resonate well with their goal of physical penetration into the organisation. In addition, as the use of cloud-based services becomes even more frequent, the cloud vendors themselves become the ultimate prize — the Holy Grail — if you can gain access to a regional data centre and access the data running in it, substantial gain awaits you. The cloud vendors are considered state-level targets as well, owing to fact that cloud vendors heavily guard their data; a ‘promising’ attack would be to tape-out a manipulated chip (ie, a serial peripheral interface [SPI] bus controller) that will ‘find’ its way to the motherboard later when assembled in a server supplied to a cloud vendor. This paper will familiarise the reader with Israel’s cyber security scene and its specific strong points. An analysis of 2017’s cyber security incidents will be conducted, upon which an analysis of the forecast for 2018 will try to predict what to expect in 2018. Various startup companies in Israel can shed some light of what are perceived to be the next threats.

Human-Driven Edge Computing and Communication: Part 1

The articles in this special section focus on edge computing. The vision of edge computing considers that tasks are not exclusively allocated on centralized cloud platforms, but are distributed toward the edge of the network (as in the Internet of Things and fog computing paradigms), and transferred closer to the business thanks to content delivery networks. The traditional gateway becomes a set-top box machine, with additional computation and storage capabilities, where micro-tasks can be offloaded first, instead of directly to the cloud. Mobile edge computing can also be a more suitable approach to also extract knowledge from privacy sensitive data, which are not to be transferred to third party entities (global cloud operators) for processing. The proliferation of the networking connectivity and the progressive miniaturization of the computing devices have paved the way to sensor networks and their success in the automation of several monitoring and control applications. Such networks are built in an ad hoc manner and deployed in an unsupervised manner, without an a priori design. The consequent availability of long-range communication means at certain nodes of those networks has enabled the possibility of the Internet connection of the sensor network to make use of cloud-based services.

An autonomic approach for resource provisioning of cloud services

Recently, there has been a significant increase in the use of cloud-based services that are offered in software as a service (SaaS) models by SaaS providers, and irregular access of different users to these cloud services leads to fluctuations in the demand workload. It is difficult to determine the suitable amount of resources required to run cloud services in response to the varying workloads, and this may lead to undesirable states of over-provisioning and under-provisioning. In this paper, we address improvements to resource provisioning for cloud services by proposing an autonomic resource provisioning approach that is based on the concept of the control monitor-analyze-plan-execute (MAPE) loop, and we design a resource provisioning framework for cloud environments. The experimental results show that the proposed approach reduces the total cost by up to 35 %, the number of service level agreement (SLA) violations by up to 40 %, and increases the resource utilization by up to 25 % compared with the other approaches.

Building Trust in E-Government Services

A population model shows that distrust in e-government services--the belief that the service deliberately sabotages the user's intent--spreads rapidly even when problems affect only a few users. Strategies such as user-focused development and the use of cloud-based services can help mitigate that distrust.

A head in the clouds? Part two: exploring distributed, multi-server 1H NMR prediction

The Tony Davies column is a joint effort by Tony (A.N.) Davies, Mohan Cashyap, Bob Lancashire and Bob Hanson on “Exploring distributed, multi-server 1H NMR prediction”. This is the second part of the column’s investigation into the use of cloud-based services in the analytical arena. It describes a web page linking services from multiple sites on both sides of the Atlantic to deliver molecular structure drawing, 3D structure representation, name to structure conversion and display of data generated by linking chemical structures to 1H NMR prediction.

Data center network architecture in cloud computing: review, taxonomy, and open research issues

The data center network (DCN), which is an important component of data centers, consists of a large number of hosted servers and switches connected with high speed communication links. A DCN enables the deployment of resources centralization and on-demand access of the information and services of data centers to users. In recent years, the scale of the DCN has constantly increased with the widespread use of cloud-based services and the unprecedented amount of data delivery in/between data centers, whereas the traditional DCN architecture lacks aggregate bandwidth, scalability, and cost effectiveness for coping with the increasing demands of tenants in accessing the services of cloud data centers. Therefore, the design of a novel DCN architecture with the features of scalability, low cost, robustness, and energy conservation is required. This paper reviews the recent research findings and technologies of DCN architectures to identify the issues in the existing DCN architectures for cloud computing. We develop a taxonomy for the classification of the current DCN architectures, and also qualitatively analyze the traditional and contemporary DCN architectures. Moreover, the DCN architectures are compared on the basis of the significant characteristics, such as bandwidth, fault tolerance, scalability, overhead, and deployment cost. Finally, we put forward open research issues in the deployment of scalable, low-cost, robust, and energy-efficient DCN architecture, for data centers in computational clouds.