Implementação e avaliação de uma Private Cloud em OpenSource

Mestrado em Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoCom as crescentes necessidades e exigências em fornecer melhores ferramentas e sistemas de informação a todos os intervenientes do setor da educação, é considerado fundamental a promoção e reformulação dos serviços tecnológicos atuais, de forma a acrescentar mais autonomia, celeridade e eficiência. Considerando o ambiente atual como economicamente restritivo, o cloud computing poderá constituir uma interessante solução para colmatar os objetivos enunciados. O presente projeto consistiu no desenvolvimento de uma nuvem privada num organismo central da administração pública portuguesa, com o objetivo de desenvolver um serviço de Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) para o ensino e organismos da administração central da educação. Pretendeu-se construir uma solução que permitisse consolidar recursos tecnológicos, simplificar arquiteturas de rede, reduzir custos de operação e acelerar a disponibilização de recursos de computação. Como objetivo secundário, foi aplicada uma plataforma que permitisse disponibilizar um serviço de Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) para responder às necessidades dos clientes e avaliar a capacidade de integração tecnológica com a plataforma IaaS. Foi considerado vital neste projeto que a implementação recorresse a tecnologias opensource que permitissem obter retorno ao nível da interoperabilidade e capacidade adicional de mudar de fornecedor tecnológico (vendor-lock-in). No final, foi possível disponibilizar uma nova solução centralizada e unificada de recursos de computação e plataformas, que permite entregar melhores serviços e, ao mesmo tempo, reutilizar a infraestrutura tecnológica existente na organização e restringir necessidades de investimento adicional.With the growing needs and demands to provide better tools and information systems to all stakeholders in the sector of education, the promotion and reform of the current technological services is considered fundamental in order to increase autonomy, speed and efficiency. Taking into consideration the current economically restrictive environment, cloud computing may be an interesting solution to address the stated goals. This project consisted in the development of a private cloud in a central government agency, with the aim of developing a service of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) for schools and agencies of the central administration of education. The goal was to provide a solution to consolidate technological resources, simplify network architectures, decrease operating costs and increase the availability of computing resources. As a secondary objective, a platform that allowed a service of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) to respond to customer needs and assess the ability of technology integration with IaaS platform that was applied. It was considered vital for this project that the implementation used opensource technologies that allowed returns of interoperability and additional capacity for technological vendor change (vendor-lock-in). In the end, it was possible to make a new centralized and unified solution of computing resources and platforms that enables the delivery of better services and, at the same time, reuses the existing technological infrastructure in the organization and limits additional investment needs

Continuous Application Delivery in Hybrid Environments

The use of hybrid deployment models is becoming a standard since it provides many benefits regarding on-demand scalability, high availability, and reliability. However, the management of resources (application specifications and infrastructure details) in a hybrid environment is a complex task since interfaces vary depending on the ven dor. Therefore, continuous practices already established must be adjusted whenever new interfaces are to be supported. This work aims to explore how a deployment process can be improved regarding the adoption of hybrid environments at the host organization DevScope, producing a proof of concept capable of explaining how this improvement can be achieved. A Components-of-the-Shelf (COTS) approach is followed for developing the solution that relies on different technologies to achieve the expected results. The proof of concept consists of deploying the infrastructure that supports the new deployment process and the orchestration of the components to enable the delivery of applica tions to the environments. Terraform is used to define and deploy the infrastructure, and KubeVela is the technology used for managing applications. The implementation of the solution made it clear that managing applications in heterogeneous platforms is not easy. After some experimentation and answers to a prepared questionnaire regarding the new deployment process, it was possible to conclude that the solution still has a margin for improvement and that some technologies are projects still being actively improved. Although KubeVela is not polished enough, it was possible to verify that it is easily extendable and that more scenarios for specific applications can be added when needed. The obtained results are relevant for future studies and will contribute to a better understanding of how the delivery of multiple applications can be homogenized. It also helps to address other problems, such as oversimplification of deployments, losing important infrastructure-based details, and the associated learning curve to deploy a complex application.A utilização de estratégias híbridas de implantação está a crescer gradualmente, uma vez que proporciona muitos benefícios em termos de escalabilidade, alta disponibilidade e fiabilidade. No entanto, a gestão de recursos (especificações da aplicação e detalhes da infraestrutura) num ambiente híbrido é uma tarefa complexa, uma vez que as interfaces variam consoante o fornecedor, pelo que as práticas contínuas já estabelecidas devem ser ajustadas sempre que novas interfaces necessitam de ser suportadas. Este trabalho visa explorar a forma como o processo de implementação pode ser melhorado relativamente à adoção de ambientes híbridos na DevScope. Foi adoptada uma abordagem “Components-of-the-Shelf” (COTS) para desenvolver a solução, que se baseia em diferentes tecnologias para alcançar os resultados esperados. A prova de conceito consistiu na implementação da infraestrutura que suporta o novo processo de implementação e na preparação dos componentes para permitir a entrega de aplicações aos ambientes. O Terraform foi utilizado para definir e implementar a infraestrutura e a principal tecnologia utilizada para gerir as aplicações foi o KubeVela. A implementação da solução tornou mais claro que a gestão de aplicações em plataformas heterogéneas não é fácil. Após alguma experimentação e respostas a um questionário preparado sobre o novo processo de implementação, foi possível concluir que a solução ainda tem margem para melhorias e que algumas tecnologias são projectos que estão a ser ainda ativamente melhorados. Embora o KubeVela não esteja suficientemente polido, foi possível verificar que é facilmente extensível e que podem ser adicionados mais cenários para aplicações específicas quando necessário. Os resultados obtidos são relevantes para estudos futuros e contribuirão para uma melhor compreensão de como a entrega de várias aplicações pode ser homogeneizada. Também ajudarão a resolver outros problemas, como a simplificação excessiva das implementações, a perda de alguns pormenores importantes baseados na infraestrutura e a curva de aprendizagem associada à implementação de uma aplicação complexa

Data protection within the cloud: lessons for the new African data protection regime from the European data protection framework.

A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degreeThe digital wave has finally hit Africa, and its effect upon the African economy has been immensely positive. With the development of innovative products such as Safaricom's M-Pesa money transfer service, as well as iCow, a farming digital product that has optimized dairy farmers' productivity, the consumer market has developed an appetite for sound, data-centric solutions in order to enhance the various socio-economic activities present within the Continent. At the centre of the immense adoption of emergent technologies by the African populace is one of the most valuable resources present in the current technology era; data. The latter enables the adoption and execution of innovative strategies by multinational companies in order to minimise costs and maximise profits. Moreover, the widespread use of Big Data technologies and the incorporation of data into corporate strategies enables efficient market segmentation as solutions are tailor-made to suit specified clientele according to their needs. The latter leads to products that effectively lead to technological leaps and contribute immensely in terms of trickle-down benefits to the larger society. This could go a long way in combating familiar foes of African development such as ignorance (through educational platforms, such as Coursera), disease (through healthcare solutions such as HelloDoctor) and poverty (the kuhustle.co.ke application has enabled the provision of on-demand software services to the public through a bidding process, leading to access of cheaper affordable services for customers, while generating revenue for the biddee). . .~ Despite the monumental opportunities presented by the advent of emergent technologies, specifically cloud technologies whose proliferation in Africa is abundant, the African Union 's member states remain largely unprepared for the data presence within their jurisdictions. Only seven out of fifty-four African States have a working data protection policy, while the mobile phone industry continues to post sales of upto 50million units per year within the African market. The exposure to the violation of consumer rights as well as privacy rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is immense for citizens of African States . This paper intends to analyse the various data protection principles sourced from the European Union, whilst juxtaposing it with the present African data protection regime, insofar as the recent adoption of the African Union's Convention on Cybercrime and Personal Data Regulation is concerned. This paper will also critically analyse the encounter between an emergent, cloud¬based technology and the Kenyan jurisdiction, in the case of Bernard Murage v. Fine serve Kenya Limited & Three Others, in order to understand the state of Kenya's data protection standing in the current crisis. Finally, this paper will give the author's humble recommendations based on the view of more prominent Internet jurists who have dealt with the subject matte