Cloud computing application model in the field of security

First, the concept and characteristics of cloud computing

Since the advent of “cloud computing”, great waves have been created in the IT industry and academia. Many companies and experts regard cloud computing as the future direction of the IT industry and have begun to devote all of them. From the policy level, cloud computing has entered the medium and long-term development plan of the central government of China. The State Council has issued the "Decision on Accelerating the Cultivation and Development of Strategic Emerging Industries." It is determined that China will focus on cultivating and developing energy conservation and environmental protection at this stage. A new generation of seven strategic new industries such as information technology, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials, and new energy vehicles. As a key development field for next-generation information technology, cloud computing will become a pillar of the next generation information technology industry. one. It can be said that a good policy environment will ensure that cloud computing technology can obtain continuous favorable policies, adequate and stable capital investment, and has attractive development prospects.

Generally speaking, cloud computing is to make computing the same infrastructure as water, electricity, and gas. People can purchase computing services like water, electricity, and gas. Therefore, cloud computing can redefine IT hardware and software resources. The way of designing and buying can lead to large-scale changes in the IT industry.

There are four types of cloud computing: public cloud, private cloud, community cloud, and hybrid cloud. The public cloud uses the Internet to provide cloud computing services to the public; private clouds use the enterprise intranet and private networks to provide cloud computing services to a single enterprise or organization. These services are not available to the public; community clouds use the intranet. , private networks, and VPNs provide cloud computing services for multiple affiliates; hybrid cloud is a combination of these two or three clouds.

There are three types of cloud computing service models: (1) Software as a service (referred to as SaaS). The corresponding users are mainly terminal users that directly use application software, and the services provided are application software required by end users. Instead of buying and deploying these applications, end-users use cloud-based applications by paying software or rental fees to SaaS providers. (2) The platform is a service (Platform as a Service, referred to as PaaS). The corresponding user is mainly an application software developer using a development tool, and the provided service is a development platform that the developer needs to deploy in the cloud and a platform for the platform. Technical support services. (3) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The corresponding users mainly use application developers or IT system management departments that require virtual machines or storage resources; the services provided are developers or IT system management departments. The cloud infrastructure that can be used directly includes virtualized hardware resources deployed in the cloud, such as computing resources and storage resources.

The characteristics and benefits of cloud computing mainly include the following:

1, low cost

Cloud computing converts construction costs into operating costs. Users do not need to purchase facilities for peak services, and do not need large amounts of hardware and software to purchase and service costs to enjoy various IT applications and services.

2, flexibility

Cloud computing can quickly and flexibly build basic information facilities, and can flexibly expand IT resources according to demand. Cloud computing gives users the flexibility to use IT resources on a short-term basis (for example, buying processors on an hourly basis or purchasing storage on a daily basis). When these resources are no longer needed; users can easily release these resources.

3, measurability

Cloud computing has the ability to measure IT resources. This capability enables the monitoring, control, and optimization of the use of resources, making IT systems more convenient, smarter, and more meterable.

Second, cloud computing for the security industry opportunities

The advantages of cloud computing itself and its position in the strategic emerging industries of the country indicate that it will receive broad policy support from all levels of government, and it will have a great impetus for the development of the IT industry. Therefore, it will also have a profound impact on China. IT industry development pattern. Security as an industry closely related to IT will undoubtedly be affected by cloud computing. Driven by cloud computing, the traditional security business model and technology will face a revolution, new business models and new emergencies. The various innovative and innovative product technologies will change the security market landscape, including security chips, security front-end equipment (cameras, sensors, controllers, etc.), back-end equipment (memory, control host, management host, alarm host), Manufacturers of network equipment, developers of all types of security software (platform software, middleware, application software, etc.), security engineers, system integrators, service operators, and governments, enterprises (industry), and household personal users All of them will become the witnesses and witnesses of the entire transformation of the security technology ecosystem, and the security industry will usher in new opportunities for development.

First of all, with the promotion of technology and application requirements, security has completed the development of digital and networked development, which laid the foundation for the integration of security and cloud computing (Note: traditional analog security and cloud computing is difficult to integrate ). Recently, with the concept of VSaaS (Video Surveillance as a service), the security industry has officially begun to discuss how cloud computing can drive the development of the security industry. In fact, although VsaaS is a new concept that has only recently been proposed, the "security operation service" model that it has implied has existed in the past. The so-called "security operation service" mode means that the user entrusts all or part of its own security functions to a specialized security operation service provider, and the specific commissioned portion can be determined according to the user's needs. For example, for non-professional customers such as companies, schools, hospitals, communities, and families, the construction and use of security systems is not the focus of their attention. What they want is to have a long-lasting security environment, so that they can feel at ease and rest assured. Therefore, for them, the "security operation service" includes all of the security system equipment and security management application software. Users only need a simple client to know their own security status at any time, and can receive alarm information and get corresponding The safety precautions and assistance, and everything else, is done by the security operations provider in the cloud. This is actually a manifestation of "SaaS" and "LaaS" thinking in cloud computing.

At present, services provided by telecommunication operators (such as Global Eye and Wide Horizon) and network alarm service providers are examples of applications of this model. In addition, for the public security, prison, and bank security departments, because they are very professional in the security system itself and have a strong autonomy for security systems and applications, VSAaS can be managed from the equipment maintenance and hosting services. Start. Equipment maintenance and custody means that the user gives the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the security equipment to the security operation service company, and is no longer responsible for the operation and maintenance of the security system. Check-in refers to the long-term service of the technical personnel assigned by the security operation service company to the user equipment room to ensure Security system is operating normally. In addition, with the in-depth development of security operation services and the gradual display of their advantages, professional institutions such as banks and public security will further open their security service areas. It is understood that the public security departments are also starting to use software-as-a-service application systems. This includes monitoring equipment that can transmit video and audio streams to external data centers.

In addition, the safe city system as a large and complex comprehensive security management information system, needs to meet the social security, traffic safety, emergency command, urban law enforcement management, urban disaster prevention and reduction management and other requirements. The city security system operates continuously during 7×24 hours, collects a large amount of information in the process of city operations, how to effectively store this information, and discovers useful information from a large amount of redundant information. The support of the research and decision-making and commanding will be the key factors for the success of the Safe City system. The emergence of cloud computing provides a basis for urban security systems, including storage and computing capabilities. By deploying a cloud computing platform in the city, massive security information collected by cameras located in the corners of cities can be dynamically transmitted to cloud computing platforms in real time. Through the powerful computing and storage capabilities of the cloud computing platform, it is possible to compare various types of video information and conduct in-depth analysis on the degree of association between different types of information, and to discover possible situations. The monitoring mode will be monitored by subsequent tracing. It will be transformed into pre-prevention monitoring and make full use of the effectiveness of urban security systems.

Third, the key technologies and application models of cloud computing in the field of security

Cloud computing is a kind of data-centric supercomputing method. Its technical features are: computing, data storage, data applications, and related hardware and software resources are virtualized and clustered, then parallelized, and the results are fed back to users. Therefore, the key technologies needed to achieve cloud computing include “virtualization technology”, “mass data storage technology” and “mass data management technology” and “cloud platform management technology” on it. With these technologies, data can be Resources, software resources, and hardware resources are all on the remote computing cloud. Users can enjoy various cloud services only through the client. These key technologies of cloud computing are very important for applications in any field. For the security industry, how to apply cloud computing and how to use the benefits brought by cloud computing is not the key to further study of these technologies. The most important thing is to study how to combine the business characteristics of the security industry and apply it from the perspective of security to better use. These technologies provide better services for security management and application.

Currently, cloud storage technology is a hot spot for storage device manufacturers to compete with each other. The core of cloud storage is the combination of application software and storage devices, and the transition from storage devices to storage services is achieved through application software. This has a lot of enticement in the field of security video surveillance with massive image information and huge storage capacity. Then for security cloud storage with massive video image information resources, manufacturers should not only pay attention to the technology of cloud storage, but also according to the characteristics of security video storage; combine cloud storage with intelligent technologies, and use video intelligent analysis technologies and manual Smart technology realizes the feature extraction of the monitored objects and intelligent cloud storage, which helps security users to efficiently use stored images.

In addition, the use of virtualization technology, massive data management technology and cloud platform management technology to cloud the urban video surveillance management platform widely used in safe cities, so that the security monitoring system from the existing "multi-level distributed deployment model" to The evolution of the thin client + data center model will be the focus for the security industry.

IV. Suggestions and Prospects for the Application and Development of Cloud Computing in the Field of Security

As an emerging field, cloud computing has not yet emerged as a leader or monopolist. Many well-known IT companies have released their own cloud computing strategies, significantly increased their investment in the cloud computing field, and cooperated with cloud computing to change the product development model. Promote the promotion of cloud computing applications in order to occupy a favorable position in the future development of the information industry. In such a huge market trend, how should security companies face it? Here are some suggestions:

1, highly concerned, advance planning

As security has evolved from the previous small security and small audience industries into the current large security and large audience industry, the integration of security and other industries is becoming more and more close, and the success of the construction of safe cities will further promote the development of security technologies. The digital city and smart city field, so the impact of cloud computing on the security industry will inevitably come. In this environment, security companies must not bury themselves in chasing cars. They should pay high attention to cloud computing, strengthen research on relevant technologies, industrial policies and user needs, and formulate strategic plans in advance to meet the needs of enterprises. The business orientation, development direction and phase objectives in this wave of tides will be based on the ambition to respond to the upcoming industrial changes and market opportunities.

2, upgrade products, seize the market

Qualified companies should use the new technologies such as cloud computing to upgrade their products and solutions in the advantageous areas of the company by deeply digging into the needs of the households, combining their own advantages, and form new products and solutions based on cloud computing technology for the new format. Program. In this process, companies should try to avoid blindly trying their own unfamiliar areas. Instead, they should make full use of the advantageous products and business directions that the company itself has formed, and complete the improvement of product and service capabilities on this basis. For example, developers of security software platform can enhance the functions of their platform software in virtualization, distributed storage, parallel processing, and data management based on the distributed computing characteristics of cloud computing; secondly, they should also strengthen the research on middleware technologies so that Using middleware technology to achieve a smooth transition from the original system to the cloud platform. In addition, under the cloud computing environment, the security software platform must not only meet the high security and reliability requirements of the system, but also be capable of providing massive user service support capabilities to support large-scale video applications.

In terms of market expansion, security companies should seize the opportunity of local governments to build pilot projects such as cloud computing centers and cloud application services, and strive to participate in the construction of relevant demonstration projects and benchmarking projects. Through the construction of some pilot projects, users should master users. Demand, training team, and missed the cloud in the future of cloud computing applications.

V. Summary

As a new high-end networked computing technology centered on the Internet, cloud computing requires very specialized companies to carry out research on core technologies and research and development of basic products. Security companies cannot and do not need to join the core areas of cloud computing technology and Product competition goes. On the other hand, when a professional cloud computing company builds a cloud computing platform for its customers, it also encounters many demands for security video from customers. These are not what professional cloud computing companies can solve. Therefore, security companies can take the form of cooperation with professional cloud computing companies in order to seek complementary advantages and achieve a win-win situation.