How are advances in cloud computing and virtualization technology changing our daily lives, and what are the benefits and drawbacks?

Cloud computing and virtualization technologies make it possible to manage and access data efficiently and maximize the use of IT resources. They offer portability and cost savings, but they also present security challenges. These technologies are driving innovation in the enterprise and are having a profound impact on our daily lives.

 

With Google Drive, Dropbox, and now Dropbox, you can download and read files you don’t even own at will. Gone are the days when you can only pull assignments out of your backpack. Even people who have free time on the subway are using their smartphones to watch videos and documents stored on internet servers. This was unthinkable in the past. Just a few years ago, we had to use external hard drives or USB drives to store and retrieve data. But now we can access the files we need from anywhere with an internet connection. How is it that I can access data I don’t even have and view it on my phone? It’s all thanks to the development of a computer network management technique called “cloud computing”.
Cloud computing refers to a computing system in which complex tasks such as information analysis, processing, and distribution are handled in a third space called the “cloud,” and then temporarily stored on an individual’s device, with only input and output being processed. The name cloud comes from this aspect. It means that the computer communication network is wrapped in a cloud and invisible, and the average user can reach into the cloud from anywhere and pull out the work they want without having to know the intricacies of its inner workings. At first glance, cloud computing is a seemingly simple and dreamy technology. How can you access data that isn’t even there? To understand how cloud computing works, you need to know about the core technology behind it: virtualization.
The promising IT technology that goes hand-in-hand with cloud computing is “virtualization,” a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources on a computer. To make it easier to understand, virtualization technology is divided into three main categories.
It divides a single physical resource into multiple logical resources.
It bundles multiple physical resources into a single logical resource.
Replacing an existing physical resource with a completely different logical resource.
For example, server virtualization involves virtualizing multiple logical servers while leaving one physical server untouched, carving up each part of the server’s resources, such as network, CPU, memory, and hard capacity, to use unused CPU as close to 100% utilization as possible.
This technology of virtualizing resources that don’t actually exist is now being adopted by most IT organizations because of its highly efficient nature. This virtualization technology is essential for society and for individuals. In the current IT situation, where the performance of hardware has increased exponentially, but the utilization rate of such resources has decreased, virtualization technology with these characteristics has become a much-needed technology. Also, from an individual perspective, with the development of the Internet, Internet users want to use the data they need at the time they need it on their mobile devices. To satisfy these needs, the introduction of virtualization technology was urgent, and it became an essential technology for cloud computing. Building cloud computing based on virtualization technology involves three steps.
The first step is to simplify the data center. The data center is the most expensive part of an IT organization to manage, so it needs to be virtualized and simplified for efficient and fast data management. The next step is to virtualize the desktop. The desktop needs to be virtualized to provide the IT resources that each individual needs, and the virtualization targets include the applications that run, the various devices and environments to access them, and security. The final step is to automate and transform into a service. While the first two steps have virtualized IT resources to reduce costs and make them easier to manage, users want the resources they need to be available immediately. To achieve this, user requests received through the service portal are processed immediately through a procedure, and the requested resources are quickly delivered to the user in an automated environment to meet their needs. This process completes private cloud computing.
The concept of cloud computing has risen to become a promising issue in the IT industry, thanks to its great advantages. As we know from our daily use, it is highly portable, low in initial purchase and usage costs, and easy to use without specialized knowledge. However, there is a crucial downside to cloud computing: if a server is attacked, personal information can be compromised. In the case of the Japanese FirstServer incident, FirstServer lost the data of thousands of companies during a large-scale software patch, and although the data was later recovered, it was impossible to limit the permissions of each customer, allowing customers to receive the data of other companies. This incident highlighted the importance of recognizing that even when using cloud services, organizations should at least perform their own backups.
Despite these drawbacks, according to a report by global solutions provider Symantec, more than 90% of global organizations will adopt cloud computing services this year. In addition, the recent rise of hybrid cloud computing technology, which combines a private cloud with a public cloud that utilizes the resources of an external cloud service provider, is being considered to make the most efficient use of resources. This could be a major turning point for organizations. However, despite Korea’s reputation as an IT powerhouse, the adoption rate of cloud services is still hovering around 32%. South Korea will need to embrace cloud computing technology to develop its IT industry.