Thursday 29 July 2010
The emergence of cloud computing raises a host of questions about the best database technology to use with this new model for on-demand computing. The database manager you choose should be a function of the mission and the applications it supports, and not based on budgets and whether it will run in the enterprise as a private cloud or as a public cloud from a service provider. For instance, some companies turn to a cloud provider to back up mission-critical databases or as a disaster recovery option. Database-intensive apps such as business intelligence can be deployed in the cloud by having a SaaS provider host the data and the app, an infrastructure provider host a cloud-based app, or a combination of these approaches. And popular solutions for processing very large data sets, such as Hadoop MapReduce, can run in both the private and public cloud.
Security in cloud environments varies based on whether you use SaaS, a platform provider, or an infrastructure provider. SaaS providers bundle tools, APIs, and services, so you don’t have to worry about choosing the optimal data store and security model. Your database decision also will hinge on whether the environment supports a multitenant or multi-instance model. Salesforce .com hosts apps on Oracle databases using multitenancy. Amazon EC2 supports multi-instance security. If you fire up an Amazon Machine Image running Oracle, DB2, or Microsoft SQL Server, you have a unique instance that doesn’t serve other tenants. You have to authorize database users, define roles, and grant user privileges when using the infrastructure-as-a-service model. Consider the class of applications that will be served: data asset protection, business intelligence, e-commerce. Determine the suitability of these apps for public or private clouds and Factor in ease of development.
