Security in a Virtualised Computing
E.Geetha Rani · IOSR Journal of Computer Engineering · 2013
Do the security challenges posed by virtualisation make it a non-starter for your sensitive business applications?There is much debate about cloud computing, which promises to deliver utility-based virtual computing to the front door of every company.Some are dismissing it as marketing hype -but if it delivers the benefits it claims, it has the potential to transform enterprise computing.So what are the challenges -and what are the opportunities posed by this development?-We should assume that cloud computing and virtualized computing paradigms are not just a reality but a part of our future.So what can you do to make yourself safe and secure in the virtual world?‖Cynics might well say that cloud computing is just hype.It is, after all, based on today's rather than tomorrow's technology, all the technical ingredients are well established.In fact, in a sense it could be argued that it is yesterday's technology reborn.Utility-based computing has been a familiar concept since the 1960s, when it was born as the ‗computer bureau'.However, there has been a shift.Many recent internet innovations are based on the cloud proposition.In the future, we'll see the joining up of these services to provide ubiquitous computing.On top of that, as organisations look torationalise their own internal computing, they are considering a virtualised model.Traditional computing on complex networks ties up capacity -underutilized in one place or over-utilised in another.The flatter and homogenized nature of a virtualised architecture allows processing and storage resources to be allocated on demand and used more efficiently and effectively.In-house computing can be rationalised and there's the option of commercial, outsourcedservices.This approach also brings a shift away from bespoke business applications to online, ready-to-use business application libraries.We should assume that cloud computing and virtualised computing paradigms are not just a reality but a part of our future.So what can you do to makeyourself safe and secure in the virtual world?Here we first explore and demystify this technology, then look at the security challenges and couple with this discussion of some of the positive opportunities and advantages it presents to overcome those challenges.