Java and Cloud

[Preet Prasannan.]

Hi,

I wanted to know some basic information about Cloud.
Lets say I want to build an application using Cloud.

1.Can I have the entire development environment on Cloud?
I have seen Eclipse IDE plugins available but does that mean that the entire code will be in cloud?
Is it possible?

2.Can I set up the environment in a way that I can give the developers access selectively on the cloud? i.e. access mechanism on cloud?

3.Can I have some places where I can try cloud for sometime to know and understand it better without paying for it initially? I mean atleast being able to deploy some applications on a jboss server(for eg.) on a cloud, for a start.

4.How different is the this environment from the normal development enviroments?Advantages and disadvantages,if any?

Please help me with this as I am learning and trying to get to know more about cloud.

Regards
Preet

[Wouter Oet]

It think you'll need to read up on the definition of a cloud. You (usually) don't develop on the cloud but you develop applications for a cloud.

[Tim Moores]

See my comment here: https://coderanch.com/t/553456/java/java/Java-Development-Cloud-devlopment

[Preet Prasannan.]

Thanks a lot Wouter and Tim.

My apologies for a limited knowledge on the concept of cloud.
Did a small research in the meanwhile and I came to a conclusion that cloud is broadly more about the resources that are put on the network and that otherwise would have to be bought by an organisation,configured and maintained. So all the servers, as required, the operating systems etc can be had in the cloud.

Am I correct in saying so?

If yes, is it possible to get such a cloud for trial so that I can explore?
And as for java development, I can put the repository in the cloud and give access to the developers. Or is there a better way to do it?

If I am not correct, please correct me. Else if you could suggest a resource where I learn more about the same,it would be really helpful.

[Preet Prasannan.]

Any help would be appreciated.
Looking forward to guidance,

Regards
Preet

[Tim Moores]

Preet Prasannan wrote:Did a small research in the meanwhile and I came to a conclusion that cloud is broadly more about the resources that are put on the network and that otherwise would have to be bought by an organisation,configured and maintained. So all the servers, as required, the operating systems etc can be had in the cloud.

Am I correct in saying so?

Sort of. There are different kinds, though, -IaaS, PaaS, SaaS- on which you should read up: Cloud Computing

If yes, is it possible to get such a cloud for trial so that I can explore?

Most probably do. Check the offerings of Google GAE, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Microsoft Azure and others listed on that page.

And as for java development, I can put the repository in the cloud and give access to the developers.

What do you mean by "repository" in this context? Something like CVS/SVN? That wouldn't be considered part of cloud computing as such.

[Preet Prasannan.]

Thanks a lot Tim.

I did a lokkup on Amazon and did find that they are offering free service for a year. Suits me the best as of now.Need to check the others as well.

Just another question.
In the Java development lifecycle, the only place where the cloud comes into the picture is then, only the deployment.Is it correct.?
Which means I dont have to worry about the servers, physical machines, availbility and other issues.

And regarding the repository, I was thinking if I could have the Svn or a CVS server running in the cloud, that puts my development environment also to the cloud. Which means that I dont have to worry about getting physical machines or data centres for saving my code. Am I correct in saying so?

And thanks a ton for helping me out with this.
Have just started understanding cloud and hence all these ideas and doubts.

Regards
Preet

[Tim Moores]

In the Java development lifecycle, the only place where the cloud comes into the picture is then, only the deployment.Is it correct.?

No, not really. The kind of cloud you intend to deploy to can have a profound impact on the development, especially if you're talking about PaaS such as GAE. That comes with its own development kit that you need to use, since not all of JSE is supported.

And regarding the repository, I was thinking if I could have the Svn or a CVS server running in the cloud, that puts my development environment also to the cloud. Which means that I dont have to worry about getting physical machines or data centres for saving my code. Am I correct in saying so?

Again, a source code repository is not really "cloud computing" in the same way as Azure, GAE or EC2. Every decent hosting provider offers SVN/CVS hosting as part of their offerings. With an IaaS provider such as EC2 you could of course run your own SVN server as part of your cloud.

You really need to read up on the differences between hosting, IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

[Preet Prasannan.]

Thanks a lot Tim.
I guess I need to dig deeper into what exactly cloud offers and match with the needs that I have for the application.
But thanks a ton for providing for all the info.
Can take it as a solid starting point for this.

Regards
Preet