Avoiding the death zone: choosing and running a library project in the cloud
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831211266564 |
| Published date | 31 August 2012 |
| Pages | 418-427 |
| Date | 31 August 2012 |
| Author | Denis Galvin,Mang Sun |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Avoiding the death zone: choosing
and running a library project in
the cloud
Denis Galvin and Mang Sun
Library IT, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolving field of cloud computing and its
usefulness for library technology departments. It seeks to consider what types of projects are good
candidates for the cloud and which are not.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors spent a year trying out different projects using
Amazon’sWeb Service. They discusswhat went rightand what went wrong. Theybrought up their own
machineimage and tested out web sitesand applicationsin the cloud. They discussthe different types of
cloud services, evaluating and choosing a provider and the types of projects which best fit into this
architecture. Advantagesand considerationsare highlighted as wellas an alternative to thepublic cloud.
Findings – There are some projects that are better suited to cloud computing than others. Flexibility
and cost savings are the best reason for moving projects to the cloud. There are also good and valid
reasons not to move some projects off into the cloud.
Originality/value – This is an on-the-ground look at running projects in the cloud that used to be
done on back-end servers. The bulk of the paper looks at infrastructure as a service. All of the work
that has been done is in production and has been tested for over a year.
Keywords Cloudcomputing, Informationtechnology,Omeka, Amazon Web Service,Archivists Toolkit,
Libraries, Privatecloud, Linux, MySQL, Library systems,Worldwide web
Paper type Technical paper
Introduction
There are few terms as nebulous as cloud computing. It is defined in many different
ways, in many different papers, by many different people. This is because the term
cloud computing is used to define numerous different types of online environments
where computer operations are happening. Most of what people are referring to when
they say cloud computing is infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service
(SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). These three environments make up the bulk of
the cloud computing services available.
Cloud computing can be differentiated from traditional data center or server room
computing because it is typically on demand and off premise. It is elastic in nature and
it is typically, but not always, maintained by a third party. It has been applied to other
services such as monitoring and communications, but most of what most people mean
when they say cloud computing is IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.
Probably the best definition is the most open-ended; cloud computing is a set of
services delivered via the internet (Korzeniowski, 2010). This allows the broadest
possible interpretation of what it is, but problematically it suggests the necessity of an
external entity when cloud computing does not need one. There is no reason why the
model can’t work on an internal basis. In fact an ideal scenario might be IaaS delivered
through central IT to departments on an academic campus.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
LHT
30,3
418
Received February 2012
Revised March 2012
Accepted May 2012
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 30 No. 3, 2012
pp. 418-427
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378831211266564
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