Study of Cloud Computing & Databases

Evaluating Database Architectures for Dynamic Scalability in Cloud Computing

Abstract

The potential benefits of cloud computing are overwhelming. However, attaining these benefits requires that each aspect of the cloud platform support the key design principles of the cloud model. One of the core design principles is dynamic scalability, or the ability to provision and decommission servers on demand. Unfortunately, the majority of today’s database servers are incapable of satisfying this requirement. This paper reviews the benefits of cloud computing and then evaluates two database architectures—shared-disk and shared-nothing—for their compatibility with cloud computing.