What is intercloud

Definition of Intercloud

Intercloud is a network of clouds that are linked with each other. This includes private, public, and hybrid clouds that come together to provide a seamless exchange of data.

Intercloud Explained in Detail

The concept of Intercloud was introduced as a research project in 2008 at Cisco, which was later developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).The Intercloud platform provides end-to-end private connectivity for cloud applications, enabling customers to address the problem while ensuring security, the privacy of their data at any point-of-time. Most Intercloud platforms provide the ‘pay-per-use’ service flexibility, giving clients the opportunity to manage costs effectively, according to the cloud consumption. Other added advantage is its portability: Migration of data could become as simple as “dragging and dropping” from one provider to the next. This would save money, time and human resources. However, with advantages, there are some challenges to look after.

Inter-cloud Challenges

Identification: A system should be created where each cloud can be identified and accessed by another cloud, similar to how devices connected to the internet are identified by IP addresses.

Communication: A universal language of the cloud should be created so that they are able to verify each other’s available resources.

Payment: When one provider uses the assets of another provider, a question arises on how the second provider will be compensated, so a proper payment process should be developed.

Used initially in the context of cloud computing, intercloud is a term used for describing a theoretical model for cloud computing services. Sometimes referred as a cloud of clouds, intercloud is known to be impactful in cases such as the 3G and 4G wireless networks of numerous telecom providers as well as the global internet.

The idea behind an intercloud​

The whole concept behind intercloud is that one general function would merge with different individual clouds into a single faultless mass in terms of on-demand functionalities or operations. To get a better understanding of its working, it’s essential as well as helpful to think about how current cloud computing setups are designed.

An on-demand service is what cloud hosting delivers. With highly engineered and scalable technologies, cloud providers tend to give customers the chance to change service levels in different ways without having to wait for physical changes to happen. To ensure that clients do not have to deal with any limitations, rapid elasticity, on-demand self-service, and resource pooling are specific terms have become part of cloud hosting service designs. Keeping in with these ideas, intercloud ensures that a cloud could utilize resources that are far from its reach and this by making use as well as taking advantage of the already existing contracts with different cloud service providers.

Due to its theoretical nature wherein most telecom providers already cater to these arrangements, most national telecom companies reach out and use sections of another company’s operations wherever they lag behind in the local and regional footprint due to the vigilantly designed business agreements between them. This kind of a relationship between cloud providers could assure intercloud to become a reality.