Architectural Requirements for Cloud Computing Systems: An Enterprise Cloud Approach

Cloud Computing is a model of service delivery and access where dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. This model creates a new horizon of opportunity for enterprises. It introduces new operating and business models that allow customers to pay for the resources they effectively use, instead of making heavy upfront investments. The biggest challenge in Cloud Computing is the lack of a de facto standard or single architectural method, which can meet the requirements of an enterprise cloud approach. In this paper, we explore the architectural features of Cloud Computing and classify them according to the requirements of end-users, enterprises that use the cloud as a platform, and cloud providers themselves. We show that several architectural features will play a major role in the adoption of the Cloud Computing paradigm as a mainstream commodity in the enterprise world. This paper also provides key guidelines to software architects and Cloud Computing application developers for creating future architectures.