Exploring security issues in cloud computing

Cloud computing has promised to transform the ways in which we use and interact with information technology (IT). The claims of significant benefits for businesses by using cloud systems are being overshadowed with the increased concerns about security, particularly privacy. This paper explores the unresolved concerns that businesses and users are still facing in terms of ensuring their data remains secure within a cloud environment. Through illustrating these issues with recent security breaches, the evidence clearly suggests they are hindering cloud adoption. Unless more focus is placed on security then cloud platforms are unable achieve cost saving benefits, improved efficiency or performance for a business. This paper argues that rather than cloud computing reaching its potential there are still remaining issues that must be addressed

A Review of the Literature on Configuration Management Tools

Configuration management tools help administrators in defining and automating system configurations. With cloud computing, host numbers are likely to grow. IaaS (infrastructure as a service) offerings with pay-per-use pricing models make fast and effective deployment of applications necessary. Configuration management tools address both challenges. In this paper, the existing research on this topic is reviewed comprehensively. Readers are provided with a descriptive analysis of the published literature as well as with an analysis of the content of the respective research works. The paper serves as an overview for researchers who are new to the topic. Furthermore, it serves to identify work related to an intended research field and identifies research gaps. Practitioners are provided with a means to identify solutions to their organizational problems