Cognitive Computing and Big Data Analytics

CHAPTER 7 The Role of Cloud and Distributed Computing in Cognitive Computing

The ability to leverage highly distributed and cost-effective computing services has not only transformed the way software is managed and delivered but also has become the linchpin for commercializing cognitive computing. Large cognitive computing systems require a converged computing environment that supports a variety of types of hardware, software services, and networking elements that have to be workload balanced. Therefore, cloud computing and a distributed architecture are the foundational models required to make large-scale cognitive computing operational. This chapter provides an overview of distributed computing architectures and cloud computing models.

Leveraging Distributed Computing for Shared Resources

The cognitive computing environment must provide a platform that consolidates a massive amount of information from disparate sources and process that information in a sophisticated manner. The system must also implement advanced analytics to gain insights into complex data. Clearly, a single integrated system would be impractical because of the need to bring so many different elements together. This is where highly distributed environments supporting cloud computing become the delivery platform of choice. The cloud is a method of providing a set of shared computing resources including applications, compute services, storage capabilities, networking, software development, variable deployment ...