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Episode 15, Cloud Computing.

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One of the most significant changes faced by information technology professionals in

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schools and in other organizations recently has been the widespread adoption of cloud-based

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data and productivity systems.

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Whereas previous generations of IT professionals configured servers that were physically located

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on campus to provide necessary services like file storage and print management and they

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installed applications on those hard drives and on the hard drives of individual computers,

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current generations often configure virtual servers and manage user accounts that are

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on these cloud-based systems.

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Schools make significant use of software as a service or SAS tools for productivity purposes,

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for educational activities and for business services.

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Google Workspaces is the dominant example of software as a service that we find in

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schools but other educational tools such as the student information system and the library

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card catalog as well as business services such as your accounting system are also provided

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by SAS providers.

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There are other instances in which schools will contract with vendors such as Amazon

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Web Services or AWS to provide highly configurable systems that can be used to replicate many

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of the same functions that used to be configured on physical servers.

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Some of these services are referred to as Platform as a Service or PAAS.

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For example, AWS allows subscribers to deploy databases on platforms that they host.

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AWS provides and manages the operating system and the database engine so the subscribers

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are only responsible for building and managing their database.

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Schools and other subscribers can also purchase access to highly configurable services during

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the cloud.

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These resemble the physical servers in traditional data centers as they can be assigned private

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internet protocol addresses so they can be accessed only by internal users just like your

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local area network or they can be made public like your website.

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This type of technology is commonly called Infrastructure as a Service or IAAS and it

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requires the most maintenance and configuration and the user or the subscriber must have their

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own licenses for applications that are installed on these virtual servers.

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All of these can be labeled cloud based as the virtual location is clear but the physical

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location of these systems is not.

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In fact, many of these systems are replicated in multiple data centers across the globe.

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In general, we recognize four benefits of using software, platform or infrastructure

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as a service model for providing our IT infrastructure.

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First, security. Cloud providers employ legions of security professionals to protect their

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data centers and we share responsibility for securing the other systems. When using software

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as a service, the provider secures the operating system and the applications. When using platform

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as a service, the provider secures the operating system and we secure the applications and

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our data.

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When using infrastructure as a service, the provider secures the servers and we secure

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everything else.

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Second, scalability. System administrators can log on to their administrative dashboard

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of a cloud based platform and request additional capacity which is usually available within

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minutes. That additional capacity does of course increase our fees but the systems are

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provisioned very quickly and without capital expense.

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Third, redundancy. The data and systems that are stored on cloud based systems can be easily

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duplicated. Depending on the exact configuration, systems can be copied with just a few mouse

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clicks. This allows both duplicate services and automated backups. As a result, essential

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systems can be restored immediately if any service is interrupted.

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Fourth, minimizing capital expenses. Data centers are very expensive to build, maintain, and

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secure.

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These expenses can be larger than we anticipate because it's always necessary to build extra

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capacity into the system. We'd like to make them future proof. Plus, it's necessary to

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provide air conditioning, janitorial services, and other supports to ensure the servers operate

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as expected.

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When using cloud based systems, IT professionals can spin up servers without the need to purchase,

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unpack, configure, or protect additional hardware. While cloud systems do remove hardware from

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school data centers, the system administrators employed by schools do continue to manage

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users and applications. Among the most important responsibilities is user management. Typically,

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user users in a school are grouped into organizational units, which has been the standard practice

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for generations of school IT administrators. And the schools want to ensure that only current

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students, faculty, and staff can access the systems. They also identify the tools and features

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that are available to the different organizational units they manage.

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Cloud based systems are built on very sophisticated databases. School IT professionals are often

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involved in managing the interoperability of different systems. For example, they may

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manage a learning management system that is connected to a student information system

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so that grades reported in the LMS that hosts the virtual classrooms are automatically sent

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to the student information system. This does require the participation of programmers from

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the vendors as the data must be accurately mapped to ensure interoperability. But once

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these connections have been established, local administrators can manage them.

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From the user's perspective, using a cloud based system is not unlike using files and

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applications that are installed on a local hard drive or a local area network. The difference

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of course is that all cloud based computing starts with the web browser. When using cloud

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based systems, the workflow is the same for all users. First, connect to the internet.

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Cloud based systems are available on every device that is connected to the internet.

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Second, point your web browser to the URL of the platform. Most schools provide a portal

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or web page where students, faculty, and staff and others can find links to the cloud platforms

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they support. This facilitates users finding the exact links they need to network locations

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of their cloud systems. These can vary depending on how the school's web domain is configured

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and how the vendor permits naming. That's why we use portals.

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One of the potential challenges for users of cloud systems is that different web browsers,

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things like Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari handle the code used to create

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cloud based systems differently. This means systems may function differently on different

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web browsers and some services may even fail on certain web browsers.

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When connecting to a cloud system using the web browser on a mobile device, some users

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find that not all the features work. That's why many providers of cloud platforms offer

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apps that allow full functionality on mobile devices.

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Once users get to the correct URL, they log on to the cloud. Access to cloud platforms

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requires you to have an account on that platform. System administrators have several options

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for managing users. They can create or manage users one at a time or they can do a batch

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upload in which the information for multiple users is uploaded in a single spreadsheet

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or CSV file. Most system administrators opt for one of many single sign on options. This

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allows the system administrator to manage a single database of users and then use that

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database to sign on to multiple systems. Because Google Workspaces is so widely used, many

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system administrators will create customer keys and shared secrets. That's actually what

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they're called. So the students, faculty and staff can use their Google Workspaces credentials

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to log on to other platforms. Once they have authenticated themselves, users have access

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to the data and the tools that they have been authorized to use. One of the most interesting

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tools at least to me for the users of cloud based computing systems is the ability to

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spin up virtual desktops. This will find the user pointing their web browser to the URL

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logging on and then having access to a virtual desktop computer that's out on the web. When

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they use a system, they have access to a real computer with an operating system and full

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applications that can be accessed through any web browser. This is a fantastic way to

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give users access to a full operating system when they might not have one available otherwise.

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Consider the student who's learning how to create access databases. That application

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is not available to users of Macintosh or those who are using Chromebooks or other mobile

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devices to access their education. But when they connect to a virtual desktop, they can

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have access to a Windows operating system and access rate in their web browser.

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Cloud computing has refocused the work of network administrators. We no longer spend

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our time ordering, unpacking and provisioning servers. We do spend lots of time managing

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users and we spend lots of time securing our systems and we spend lots of time ensuring

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that different systems are integrated for our users. But these systems do tend to increase

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access to our IT systems as long as folks have a connection to the internet.