Cloud computing is the successor of SOA

Cloud computing has become the hottest topic in the IT field, and its popularity has far surpassed the once-fiery concept SOA. And not long ago, Burton's analyst Anne Thomas Manes published a post called "SOA is Dead" has aroused extensive discussion in the industry. Anne said in the article, as an outdated concept, "SOA" is no longer necessary, but the idea of "services" in the cloud computing, SaaS and other technical fields continue. However, from the perspective of cloud computing, cloud computing can be used for reference and help regardless of future SOA development.

The first point to note is that cloud computing and SOA are conceptually similar, and understanding SOA can help us better understand cloud computing. SOA is an architectural model or idea for establishing an application system, characterized by loose coupling and allowing assembly. Similarly, we can deploy the data center infrastructure based on SOA. Coincidentally, the basic idea of the cloud is the same, but the cloud absorbs the idea of SOA and applies it to the physical infrastructure.

Second, deploying SOA helps companies use cloud computing technology. As we deploy SOA, we have learned about the challenges that enterprises may face in supporting service components, which are likely to be encountered when we use cloud services, such as the need for corporate governance when deploying SOA and cloud computing, and understanding of processes. Furthermore, SOA can play an important role in the integration of "cloud" applications with traditional applications.

In addition, the cloud and SOA emphasize reusable components and choose the right technical support to deliver services on a large scale out of the public network. If the enterprise is accustomed to the modular thinking habit when deploying SOA, it will help the enterprise to build its own "cloud".

Finally, it is particularly worth mentioning that SOA was once admired as much as today's cloud computing, and that some people began to doubt it because they could not see a clear return on investment, and the result would be similar now if the cloud did not return quickly. Therefore, cloud computing also need to learn from the development of SOA experience, landing as soon as possible to bring investors to see returns.

In fact, although cloud computing as a concept is relatively new, but cloud computing is not born out of thin air, in a way, it is a comprehensive integration of existing technologies, so we have the understanding and management methods in the future cloud computing environment can play an important role. For example, in addition to SOA, the security of virtualization technologies in cloud computing can refer to many of our past practices.

"After the virtualization technology is deployed, the first step in terms of security is still the traditional approach: to develop a relatively effective security strategy and stick with it." "Forrester analyst Natalie Lambert thinks. In addition, the traditional method is still worth learning in the access control of the server. ”

In traditional data centers, the management of access control standards and access control rights is one of the most important security issues, and this is even more important in the computing environment where virtualization technology is deployed. Because if someone has access to a service server, he can access all the virtual servers running on this physical server.

Natalie Lambert said: "The virtual server has all the attributes that the file should have, and the physical server does not, so some employees may access information that he or she should not access." To solve this problem, you can specify that a manager is responsible for listing the access Rights list and specifying which physical servers each employee is working on. These methods are not new to managers because they have been used in the past. ”

Of course, managing cloud computing also requires new techniques and tools. For example, it is critical to track and maintain virtual servers and to understand what applications are running on each virtual server. So far, however, tools that provide access control and visual management of virtualized environments are not yet mature, especially for tools that can achieve finer granularity of control. From this perspective, the management of the "cloud" also has to rely on traditional tools and means.