Resource pooling in Cloud Computing
Resource Pooling
The next resource we will look at that we can pool is the storage. The big blue box represents a storage system with many hard drives in the diagram below. Each of the smaller white squares represents the hard drives.
With my centralized storage, I can slice up my storage however I want and give the virtual machines their own small part of that storage for however much space they require. In the example below, I take a slice of the first disk and allocate that as the boot disk for ‘Tenant 1, Server 1’.
I take another slice of my storage and provision that as the boot disk for ‘Tenant 2, Server 1′.
Shared centralized storage makes storage allocation efficient – rather than giving whole disks to different servers, I can give them exactly how much storage they require. Further savings can be made through storage efficiency techniques such as thin provisioning, deduplication, and compression.
Check out my Introduction to SAN and NAS Storage course to learn more about centralized storage.
Network Infrastructure Pooling
The next resource that can be pooled is network infrastructure.
At the top of the diagram below is a physical firewall.
All different tenants will have firewall rules that control what traffic is allowed into their virtual machines, such as RDP for management and HTTP traffic on port 80 if it is a web server.
We don’t need to give each customer their physical firewall; We can share the same physical firewall between different clients. Load balancers for incoming connections can also be virtualized and shared among multiple clients.
In the main section on the left side of the diagram, you can see several switches and routers. Those switches and routers are shared, with traffic going through the same device to different clients.
Service pooling
The cloud provider also provides various services to the customers, as shown on the right side of the diagram. Windows Update and Red Hat Update Server for operating system patching, DNS, etc. Keeping DNS as a centralized service saves customers from having to provide their DNS solution.
Location Independence
As stated by NIST, the customer generally has no knowledge or control over the exact location of the resources provided. Nevertheless, they may be able to specify the location at a higher level of abstraction, such as the country, state, or data center level.
For example, let’s use AWS again; When I created a virtual machine, I did it in a Singapore data center because I am located in the Southeast Asia region. I would get the lowest network latency and best performance by having mine.
With AWS, I know the data center where my virtual machine is located, but not the actual physical server it is running on. It could be anywhere in that particular data center. It can use any personal storage system in the data center and any personal firewall. Those specifics don’t matter to the customer.
How does resource pooling work?
In this private cloud as a service, the user can choose the ideal resource segmentation based on his needs. The main thing to be considered in resource pooling is cost-effectiveness. It also ensures that the brand provides new delivery of services.
It is commonly used in wireless technology such as radio communication. And here, single channels join together to form a strong connection. So, the connection can transmit without interference.
And in the cloud, resource pooling is a multi-tenant process that depends on user demand. It is why it is known as SaaS or Software as a Service controlled in a centralized manner. Also, as more and more people start using such SaaS services as service providers. The charges for the services tend to be quite low. Therefore, owning such technology becomes more accessible at a certain point than it.
In a private cloud, the pool is created, and cloud computing resources are transferred to the user’s IP address. Therefore, by accessing the IP address, the resources continue to transfer the data to an ideal cloud service platform.
Benefits of resource pooling
1. High Availability Rate
Resource pooling is a great way to make SaaS products more accessible. Nowadays, the use of such services has become common. And most of them are far more accessible and reliable than owning one. So, startups and entry-level businesses can get such technology.
2. Balanced load on the server
Load balancing is another benefit that a tenant of resource pooling-based services enjoys. In this, users do not have to face many challenges regarding server speed.
3. Provides High Computing Experience
Multi-tenant technologies are offering excellent performance to the users. Users can easily and securely hold data or avail such services with high-security benefits. Plus, many pre-built tools and technologies make cloud computing advanced and easy to use.
4. Stored Data Virtually and Physically
The best advantage of resource pool-based services is that users can use the virtual space offered by the host. However, they also moved to the physical host provided by the service provider.
5. Flexibility for Businesses
Pool-based cloud-based services are flexible as they can be transformed according to the need of the technology. Plus, users don’t have to worry about capitalization or huge investments.
6. Physical Host Works When a Virtual Host Goes Down
It could be a common technical issue that the virtual host becomes slow or slow. So, in that case, the physical host of the SaaS service provider will start working. Therefore, the user or tenant can get a suitable computing environment without technical challenges.
Disadvantages of resource pooling
1. Security
Most service providers offering resource pooling-based services provide a high security features. However, many features can provide a high level of security with such services. But even then, the company’s confidential data may pass to a third party, a service provider. And due to any flaw, the company’s data may be misused. But even then, it would not be a good idea to rely solely on a third-party service provider.
2. Non-scalability
It can be another disadvantage of using resource pooling for organizations. Because if they find cheap solutions, they may face challenges while upgrading their business in the future. Also, another element can hinder the whole process and limit the scale of the business.
3. Restricted Access
In private resource pooling, users have restricted access to the database. In this, only a user with user credentials can access the company’s stored or cloud computing data. Since there may be confidential user details and other important documents. Therefore such a service provider can provide tenant port designation, domain membership, and protocol transition. They can also use another credential for the users of the allotted area in cloud computing.
Conclusion
Resource pooling in cloud computing represents the technical phrase. It is used to describe a service provider as providing IT service to multiple customers at a time. And these services are scalable and accessible to businesses as well. Plus, when brands use this kind of technology, they can save a large capitalization investment.