Cloud
Computing
Security
Lecture 10
Dr. Mahmoud E.
Hodeish
Storage
Virtualizatio
n
in Cloud Computing
Storage
Goals
Introduction
Core concepts (Hypervisors)
Types of Virtualization
Important of Virtualization in Cloud Computing
Practical Applications
Benefits and challenges
Introduction
What is virtualization?
• Virtualization is the process of creating virtual representations of physical
hardware resources, such as servers, storage, network, or desktop.
• It allows multiple virtual instances to run on a single physical system,
improving efficiency, flexibility, and scalability.
• Virtualization relies on a software called a hypervisor to allocate physical
resources to multiple VMs.
Introduction
Role of virtualization in cloud computing
• Virtualization forms the backbone of cloud computing.
• It abstracts physical resources using hypervisors, containers, software-
defined networking (SDN).
• This abstraction creates flexible, scalable, and efficient virtual
environments that cloud providers use to deliver on-demand services.
Hypervisor
What is a Hypervisor?
• A hypervisor is a software that allows you to create a virtual layer over
the hardware system that manages the interaction between the
virtual machines and the system's hardware resources. They are
installed as any other software application in the system and perform
the task of virtualization.
• A hypervisor allows a single host to support multiple virtual
machines (VMs) by sharing resources including memory and
processing.
• It act as a bridge between the hardware and the virtualized
environment.
Hypervisor
Functions of a Hypervisor
• The main function of a hypervisor is to efficiently manage hardware resources
so that multiple VMs get the resources they need without impacting the
performance of others, ensuring high performance and stability.
Hypervisor
Types of Hypervisors
Type 1 : Bare-metal Hypervisor
• Runs directly on the physical hardware.
• Its advantages : High performance and cloud efficiency.
• Use in enterprise and cloud environment.
• Examples: Vmware ESXI, Microsoft Azure Hyper-V, Xen.
Hypervisor
Types of Hypervisors
Type 2 : Hosted Hypervisor
• Runs on an operating system that manages the hardware.
• Easy to set up and use.
• Ideal for personal use testing and educational purposes.
• Examples: Oracle VirtualBox, Vmware Workstation.
Hypervisor
Cloud Hypervisor
• Cloud providers usually use bare-metal hypervisors to
allocate virtualized hardware resources to users.
• For example, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
allows organizations to scale their cloud computing
capacities with Xen-based hypervisors.
Hypervisor
What is the difference between hypervisors
and containers?
• A container is a software package that stores all the necessary files and
configurations to run an application on any operating system.
• A containerized application can run on a public, hybrid, or on-premises cloud
with consistent performance because it is independent of the underlying
operating system.
• Both hypervisors and containers provide virtualization but at a different
software layer. A hypervisor abstracts the hardware from the software
environment. In contrast, a container runs in an environment where a
container engine abstracts the operating system.
Hypervisor
What are the security considerations for
hypervisors?
• Software programs on a virtual machine do not interfere with applications
on other guest operating systems, which provides a degree of security.
• The virtualized environment relies on the hypervisor for a robust security
posture.
• Any issues affecting the hypervisor will impact all virtual machines running
on top of it. So, it’s essential to use a hypervisor with built-in safeguard
measures to secure the workload’s integrity.
Types of Virtualization
Virtualization comes in various forms, each designed to
virtual a specific resource or aspect of IT infrastructure.
Types of Virtualization
Application Virtualization
Use an application on your local device while it’s actually hosted on a remote
server.
Your personal data and the app’s settings are stored on the server, but you can
still run it locally via the internet. It’s useful if you need to work with multiple
versions of the same software.
• Server-based application virtualization – Users can access the remote application
from their browser or client interface without installing it.
• Local application virtualization – The application code is shipped with its own
environment to run on all operating systems without changes.
Types of Virtualization
Network Virtualization
It is a process that combines all of these network resources to centralize
administrative tasks (a single virtual network).
Administrators can control these elements virtually without touching the
physical components, which greatly simplifies network management.
Use Case: managing large-scale cloud environments with virtual networks for
different tenants. Isolated network (AWS VPC)
Examples: VMware NSX, Cisco ACI, Open vSwitch.
Types of Virtualization
Desktop Virtualization
You can use desktop virtualization to run these different desktop operating systems
on virtual machines, which your teams can access remotely. This type makes
desktop management efficient and secure, saving money on desktop hardware.
Types of desktop virtualization.
Virtual desktop infrastructure: It runs virtual desktops on a remote server.
Local desktop virtualization: when you use virtualbox to create a linux VM
Types of Virtualization
Storage Virtualization
This combines storage from different servers into a single system, making it
easier to manage. It ensures smooth performance and efficient operations
even when the underlying hardware changes or fails.
Combines multiple physical storage devices into one logical unit.
It used for Improving
storage utilization and
efficiency.
Types of Virtualization
Server Virtualization
It is a process of dividing a single physical server into multiple virtual server
using hypervisor, each running its own operation system an applications.
It optimizes the server utilization and reduces the need for additional physical.
Use Case : Data Center Consolidation, hosting multiple applications.
Examples : Vmware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM
Types of Virtualization
Data Virtualization
Data virtualization abstracts data from multiple sources (databases, cloud
storage, etc.) into a virtual data layer.
This layer provides a unified view of data from various sources, presenting it
in a consistent format to users and applications. It allows applications to
retrieve and manipulate data without requiring technical details about the
data.
Simplicity: Presents data to clients as if it were stored on a single drive.
Accessibility: Allows multiple clients to access the same data.
Safety: Administrators can quickly implement safety measures such as RAID
mirroring to minimize the chance of data loss during a drive failure.
Important of Virtualization in
Cloud Computing
• Cost reduction
• Flexibility and scalability
• Enhance security
• Resource efficiency
Important of Virtualization in
Cloud Computing
1. scalability and flexibility: Scaling up or down on demand dynamically , in
other words you don't need to invest upfront for any hardware
2. cost efficiency :accessing resources as you pay , better budgeting and
better cost control.
3. accessibility and remote collaboration : accessing your applications and
resources from anywhere (productivity, filesharing, Realtime
collaboration).
4. disaster recovery and data backup :robust backup and disaster recovery
solutions (data is mostly replicated across multiple servers and multiple
data centers ) minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.
Important of Virtualization in
Cloud Computing
5. security and data protection: cloud providers heavily focus on their
security infrastructure some of them even implement their own
encryption techniques and access controls to safeguard sensitive
information
6. innovation and agility : they empower businesses to innovate and
experience with new ideas on a much more rapid pace scaling
applications and services without the need of extensive setup and
configuration
7. environmental impact : can contribute to a more sustainable
environmentally friendly approach
Practical Applications
• Virtualization in AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Vmware
• Real-world use cases in data center, development, and
education
Benefits of virtualization
• Resource Efficiency: As the name suggests, before virtualization, each application
server used its hardware resources, which were being under-used. Still, having
multiple virtual machines can achieve the maximum efficiency of the hardware
resources.
• Minimum Downtime: This refers to the crashes of the operating system and
application which can cause a halt in user productivity. By using virtualization, the
admin can run multiple similar virtual machines simultaneously alongside and
change over to the working instances in case of a crash, instead of having
numerous dedicated servers.
• Time Management: Buying, installing, and configuring a new system is costly and
a waste of time.
Challenges of virtualization
• Resource Allocation Issues : Improper partitioning during virtualization can lead
to uneven resource distribution, causing some virtual machines (VMs) to lack
necessary resources while others have excess. Collaborating with providers on
capacity planning can mitigate these issues.
• VM Sprawl : The ease of creating VMs can result in uncontrolled proliferation,
known as VM sprawl. This can waste valuable computing resources and
complicate management. Implementing strict policies for VM creation and regular
audits can help control sprawl.
• Performance Monitoring Difficulties: Monitoring performance in virtualized
environments differs from traditional setups. Utilizing specialized tools can assist
in creating benchmarks and tracking resource usage.
Challenges of virtualization
• Security Risks: Virtualization introduces additional layers that may pose
security risks if not properly configured and monitored. Potential threats
include hyperjacking, where attackers take control of the hypervisor, and VM
escape, where malicious code in a VM affects the host or other VMs. Regularly
updating and patching systems, along with implementing robust security
protocols, are essential to mitigate these risks.
• Compatibility Issues: Legacy applications may face compatibility problems in
virtualized environments, leading to performance degradation or failures.
Assessing application compatibility before migration and planning for
necessary updates can prevent such issues.
Challenges of virtualization
• Backup and Recovery Challenges: While virtualization can simplify backups
through snapshots, restoring individual VMs or specific data can be complex.
Developing a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery plan tailored to the
virtual environment is crucial.
THE
END
Storage
