A view at desktop clouds

Cloud has emerged as a new computing paradigm that promises to move into computing-as-utility era. Desktop Cloud is a new type of Cloud computing. It merges two computing models: Cloud computing and volunteer computing. The aim of Desktop Cloud is to provide Cloud services out of infrastructure that is not made for this purpose in order to reduce running and maintenance costs. This paper discusses this new type of Cloud by comparing it with current Cloud and Desktop Grid models. It, also, presents several research challenges in Desktop Cloud that require further attention

Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]