Abstract 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
as well as being consumed by such applications. Cloudhosted
database systems powering these applications form
a critical component in the software stack of these applications.
To better understand the challenges in developing effective
cloud-hosted database systems, this article discusses
the existing technologies for hosting the database tier of
software applications in cloud environments, illustrates their
strengths and weaknesses, and presents some opportunities
for future work.