第13章ハイブリッドマルチクラウドのデジタルソリューション開発

The compute service provides the ability for the user to obtain access to a private computing environment and is another base infrastructure component that a cloud provider would need to provide. This is also one of the first things that the user will try when they start using cloud services. This will provide a similar experience to a remote computing service that a user may experience in their local environment. The user can access this environment to develop or run any tasks that they cannot run in their local environment. The performance of this service can vary based on the user request, or it can be based on how the application and tasks are required during runtime. Depending on the computer hardware specification, when they need to run, and how they scale based on the application requests, there are various services the user can select. The following are three common compute services the user can see from a cloud provider:

• A virtual compute service (VCS), which enables the user to request an environment to do some tasks and then shut it down to release the resource back to the cloud provider. Depending on when it was requested and how long the user keeps it running, the price for this service varies.

• A spot/not urgent compute, which enables the user to get a task done but keeps costs low by allowing the cloud provider to run the task without urgency when the time is convenient and cost-effective.

• A virtual functional and serverless compute service, which is an application that runs in the compute environment, is executed as a function, and is then shut down when the task is completed. The user will get charged based on the number of tasks or requests that the service completes. Because this service requires a different backend service from the cloud provider to operate, the cost per time unit for this service will be higher than other services. This service is common for cloud microservice architectural applications where the user may host different components and functions of their application as separate components. This will allow each component to be scaled independently and avoid a bottleneck to one large instance of an application needing to be maintained.

Similar to storage service, the user can have more than one way to access compute service. However, because the user needs to interact with the compute service to complete a task, they usually access through two main channels: CLI and Web UI controller console. Figure 13.4 shows how different users’ roles can access the compute service.

One thing to note is that we ignore the access pattern where either the user uses a local integrated development environment (IDE) to access the computing environment or when the user accesses the IDE that is hosted in the virtual environment. In both cases, the user has to configure the computing environment differently to bypass the provided tools and interfaces.

Another challenge in compute service that is similar to storage service is the limited number of access points in an area or cloud account that the user can use. However, this is not as big of a challenge as storage computing because most of the computing tasks can be scheduled, and it is easier to provide minimum compute service and operate with minimal performance that provides storage access with minimal I/O latency. The high I/O latency can destroy the user experience, and it can occur unpredictably.

Compute service is a critical component of cloud solutions. One of the largest providers of compute services is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which supports millions of customers, including small businesses as well as larger organizations. AWS’s website provides an overview of compute (https://openstax.org/r/76Compute) and explains how these services benefit cloud computing.