Cloudifying Apps - A Study of Design and Architectural Considerations for Developing Cloudenabled Applications with Case Study

Abstract

With the emergence of Cloud Computing technology many enterprises started moving their applications to the cloud to gain the benefits of hosting applications online versus having to have physical hardware or build out infrastructure. This new technology trend presents new challenges to application developers to enable applications in the cloud. Building applications for the cloud requires a major paradigm shift and new thinking about the application design, system architecture and needs an emphasis on leveraging massive scale. Building scalable applications for the cloud requires solid engineering and design by addressing the Statelessness, Redundancy, Resiliency, Server failures, New database approach, security, fast-changing platforms and dealing with different frameworks. While cloud deployments can abstract developers from having to deal with infrastructure issues, developers can focus on innovation and business logic instead of worrying about plumbing and infrastructure such as the operating systems, hardware etc. This paper is targeted towards cloud application developers and architects who are responsible for developing brand new cloud applications as well as migrating existing applications to clouds. The focus of this paper is to highlight design principles and best practices applicable to application development in cloud environment.