Mumbai University >Information Technology>Sem7>Cloud Computing

Marks: 5 M

• Cloud APIs are application programming interfaces (APIs) used to build applications in the cloud computing market.

• Cloud APIs allow software to request data and computations from one or more services through a direct or indirect interface. Cloud APIs most commonly expose their features via REST and/or SOAP.

• Vendor specific and cross-platform interfaces are available for specific functions. Cross-platform interfaces have the advantage of allowing applications to access services from multiple providers without rewriting, but may have less functionality or other limitations vs vendor-specific solutions.

• Cloud APIs are segmented into infrastructure, service and application clusters. Applications typically combine these APIs as needed.

1.Infrastructure

Infrastructure APIs modify the resources available to operate the application. Functions include provisioning (creating, re-creating, moving, or deleting components - such as virtual machines) and configuration (assigning or changing attributes of the architecture such as security and network settings). These components and their common use is referred to as infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

2.Service

Service APIs provide an interface into a specific capability provided by a service explicitly created to enable that capability.

Database, messaging, web portals, mapping, e-commerce and storage are all examples of service APIs. These services are commonly referred to as platform as a service (PaaS).

3.Application

Application APIs provide methods to interface and extend applications on the web. Application APIs connect to applications such as CRM, ERP, and social media and help desk. These applications are delivered as software as a service (SaaS).

A cloud API interacts with a cloud infrastructure to allocate computing, storage, and network resources for requested cloud applications or services.

Cloud APIs vary according to the provided service or solution, as follows:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Infrastructure APIs provision raw computing and storage.

• Software as a Service (SaaS): Software or application APIs provision connectivity and interaction with a software suite.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS): Platform APIs provide back-end architecture for building intensive and feature rich applications.