Cloud Databases: A Paradigm Shift in Databases
Relational databases ruled the Information Technology (IT) industry for almost 40 years. But last few years have seen sea changes in the way IT is being used and viewed. Stand alone applications have been replaced with web-based applications, dedicated servers with multiple distributed servers and dedicated storage with network storage. Cloud computing has become a reality due to its lesser cost, scalability and pay-as-you-go model. It is one of the biggest changes in IT after the rise of World Wide Web. Cloud databases such as Big Table, Sherpa and SimpleDB are becoming popular. They address the limitations of existing relational databases related to scalability, ease of use and dynamic provisioning. Cloud databases are mainly used for data-intensive applications such as data warehousing, data mining and business intelligence. These applications are read-intensive, scalable and elastic in nature. Transactional data management applications such as banking, airline reservation, online e-commerce and supply chain management applications are write-intensive. Databases supporting such applications require ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability) properties, but these databases are difficult to deploy in the cloud. The goal of this paper is to review the state of the art in the cloud databases and various architectures. It further assesses the challenges to develop cloud databases that meet the user requirements and discusses popularly used Cloud databases.
Keywords: Cloud computing; Cloud Databases; Database Architectures.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Indu Arora
Indu Arora obtained her MCA degree from Guru Nanak Dev University in 1992. She has been working as Assistant Professor in Computer Science & Applications at MCMDAV College, Chandigarh since 1998. She also served at BBKDAV College (Aug. 1993- Oct. 1997) and AB College, Pathankot (Aug. 1992 –Feb. 1993). She is also pursuing Doctor of Philosophy from Department of Computer Science & Applications from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her research interests include Internet technologies, databases and Cloud Computing. She has many research papers to her credit.
Anu Gupta
Dr. Anu Gupta has been working as Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Applications at Panjab University, Chandigarh (India) since July 1998. She held the position of Chairperson, Department of Computer Science & Applications, Panjab University, Chandigarh from Feb. 2008 to Jan. 2011. She was awarded University medal for securing first position in M.C.A. at Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab in the year 1997. She has the experience of working on several platforms using a variety of development tools and application packages. She obtained Doctor of Philosophy Degree from Panjab University in the area of Free/Open Source Software. Her research interests include Cloud Computing, Networking, Multimedia Technologies, E-Commerce and Software Engineering. She is a life-member of ‘Computer Society of India’ and ‘Indian Academy of Science’. She has published several research papers in various journals and conferences.
Indu Arora
Indu Arora obtained her MCA degree from Guru Nanak Dev University in 1992. She has been working as Assistant Professor in Computer Science & Applications at MCMDAV College, Chandigarh since 1998. She also served at BBKDAV College (Aug. 1993- Oct. 1997) and AB College, Pathankot (Aug. 1992 –Feb. 1993). She is also pursuing Doctor of Philosophy from Department of Computer Science & Applications from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her research interests include Internet technologies, databases and Cloud Computing. She has many research papers to her credit.
Anu Gupta
Dr. Anu Gupta has been working as Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Applications at Panjab University, Chandigarh (India) since July 1998. She held the position of Chairperson, Department of Computer Science & Applications, Panjab University, Chandigarh from Feb. 2008 to Jan. 2011. She was awarded University medal for securing first position in M.C.A. at Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab in the year 1997. She has the experience of working on several platforms using a variety of development tools and application packages. She obtained Doctor of Philosophy Degree from Panjab University in the area of Free/Open Source Software. Her research interests include Cloud Computing, Networking, Multimedia Technologies, E-Commerce and Software Engineering. She is a life-member of ‘Computer Society of India’ and ‘Indian Academy of Science’. She has published several research papers in various journals and conferences.
