Cloud-Hosted Databases

One of the main advantages of the cloud computing paradigm is that it simplifies the time-consuming processes of hardware provisioning, hardware purchasing and software deployment. Currently, we are witnessing a proliferation in the number of cloud-hosted applications with a tremendous increase in the scale of the data generated and being consumed by such applications. Cloud-hosted database systems powering these applications form a critical component in their software stack. This chapter discusses the existing technologies for hosting the database tier of software applications in cloud environments and illustrates their strengths and weaknesses.