A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing

Yesterday, Berkeley released their View of Cloud Computing with a view that cloud computing provides an elasticity of resources, without paying a premium for large scale, that is unprecedented in the history of IT. Specifically, cloud computing provides:

• The illusion of infinite computing resources available on demand, thereby eliminating the need for Cloud Computing users to plan far ahead for provisioning.


• The elimination of an up-front commitment by Cloud users, thereby allowing companies to start small and increase hardware resources only when there is an increase in their needs.


• The ability to pay for use of computing resources on a short-term basis as needed (e.g., processors by the hour and storage by the day) and release them as needed, thereby rewarding conservation by letting machines and storage go when they are no longer useful.

In the article, they have actually provided an equation that captures the value trade off for a web business with varying demand over time and revenue proportional to user hours.

Of particular interest is their "Top 10" table of cloud computing opportunities and obstacles.

If you're serious about exploring the use of cloud computing, this paper is well worth your time.