This 14-chapter book details introductory material and also provides a deep look into the basic technologies of consumption of remote-based computing resources over the Internet within all “as-a-service” models. The introductory chapters will give all readers, irrespective of their background in cloud computing, a strong understanding of cloud computing paradigms and fundamentals.

Chandrasekaran takes the reader though a well-organized, step-by-step discussion of cloud computing, from architecture and deployment models to software development and networking within the cloud. Of special interest are advanced concepts, which include mobile and media cloud computing, interoperability, governance, and most importantly cloud computing security.

The author discuses the technological drivers of cloud computing, including service-oriented architecture (SOA), virtualization, multicore technologies, Web 2.0 and 3.0, and programming models. Throughout the chapters, there is a sequential flow of cloud technology components that makes it easy for the reader to understand the basics before the more detailed aspects of cloud computing are presented. The difference between grid and cloud computing is made very clear: “cloud computing supports leveraging multiple resources ... to deliver a unified service to the end user.” A detailed discussion of the cloud computing-enabling technologies, especially processor, memory, storage, network, data, and application virtualization, leaves the reader with the essential details needed to understand this new technology. A chapter dedicated to cloud service providers like IBM, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and EMC provides readers with several tools and technologies available on the market.

The book does serve its intended purpose of comprehensively covering a range of cloud computing technology topics. It is a very good resource for teaching an introductory cloud computing class in any university. With RightScale’s 2015 State of the Cloud report showing that 93 percent of organizations surveyed are running applications or experimenting with infrastructure as a service (IaaS), it’s a fact that this book is timely in providing the knowledge needed to understand, manage, and support cloud computing.