Cloud Computing (PDF)

Christian Baun is a PhD student at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). His principal research interests are solutions to integrate different cloud services in public as well as private cloud infrastructures. A special topic of Christian's interest is the performance optimization of cloud-based storage services.

Marcel Kunze heads a research group on cloud computing and a cloud computing lab at KIT, and his research focus is on service-oriented architectures, virtualization techniques and system development for cloud computing. In addition he is a technical lead in the Open Cirrus(TM) cloud computing testbed of HP, Intel and Yahoo!. Before joining KIT, Marcel was with SLAC / Stanford University to investigate and further develop the Grid computing paradigm for distributed processing of particle physics data.

Jens Nimis is Professor for Business Informatics at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany, with his teaching focus on databases and web technologies. Until 2010 he was manager of the "Dynamic Service Nets" department at the FZI Research Center for Information Technologies in Karlsruhe where he investigated technical and economic aspects in particular of cloud computing.  Jens Nimis' current research interests are in the evolving field of NoSQL databases.Stefan Tai is Professor at KIT and Director at the FZI Research Center for Information Technology in Karlsruhe and in Berlin, Germany. His principal research interests are in the areas of service computing and Web engineering, including platforms for the development of reliable, scalable cloud application architectures. Prior to his appointments in Germany, Stefan worked for more than eight years as a Research Staff Member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York, USA. Overall, he has more than 15 years of experience in industry research in the US and in Europe.

From the reviews:

“The book provides a well-written, surprisingly comprehensive introduction to the topic of service-oriented architecture, which is a core concept underlying various ‘as a service’ possibilities … that together are commonly called cloud computing. … Both the glossary and bibliography are valuable resources--the former for those becoming familiar with the field, and the latter for those wishing to delve deeper. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners; two-year technical program students.” (C. Vickery, Choice, Vol. 49 (5), January, 2012)

“The authors are presenting a well prepared introduction to cloud computing. … The book provides clear and sufficient material for an introductory lecture for students in computer science, engineering or business, as well as for decision makers.” (Dana Petcu, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1223, 2011)

“Present a very approachable 10,000-foot overview, summarizing all aspects of cloud computing circa early 2011. The main subject headings are ‘Cloud Basics,’ ‘Cloud Architecture,’ ‘Selected Cloud Offerings,’ ‘Cloud Management,’ ‘Open Source Cloud Stack,’ ‘Economic Considerations,’ and ‘Opportunities and Risks.’ The extensive bibliography provides a good springboard for those who want to delve into specific topics. … I recommend this book for anyone wanting a fairly quick read that introduces the field of cloud computing.” (Wes Munsil, ACM Computing Reviews, February, 2012)