Cloud computing has created a shift from the use of physical hardware and locally managed software-enabled platforms to that of virtualized cloud-hosted services. Cloud assembles large networks of virtual services, including hardware (CPU, storage, and network) and software resources (databases, message queuing systems, monitoring systems, and load-balancers).As Cloud continues to revolutionize applications in academia, industry, government, and many other fields, the transition to this efficient and flexible platform presents serious challenges at both theoretical and practical levels-ones that will often require new approaches and practices in all areas. Comprehensive and timely, Cloud Computing: Methodology, Systems, and Applications summarizes progress in state-of-the-art research and offers step-by-step instruction on how to implement it.