The "inter-cloud" or "cloud of clouds" is a theoretical model that combines multiple separate clouds into one unified system for on-demand operations. This model allows a cloud to access resources outside of its own infrastructure by leveraging agreements with other cloud service providers. The inter-cloud is crucial for addressing the limitations of physical resources and geographical reach, enabling a more flexible and scalable cloud computing environment. Its benefits include avoiding vendor lock-in, improving application resiliency, offering better service level agreements, and providing on-demand expansion for cloud providers.
Resource management in the inter-cloud involves different models, such as federation clouds and multi-clouds, each with specific characteristics. Federation clouds involve multiple cloud service providers collaborating to share resources, while multi-cloud ecosystems allow clients to use multiple independent clouds without shared infrastructure. Different topologies like peer-to-peer, centralized, multi-cloud services, and multi-cloud libraries support inter-cloud architecture, enabling more efficient and consistent cloud utilization. However, challenges like resource provisioning, flexible service-resource mapping, and integration with on-premises systems make inter-cloud research and implementation complex.
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