basic references on cloud computing, network components and capacity planning

The good news is that there is an abundance of information on Cloud Computing. The bad news is that this is a space that is emerging and this has resulted in quite a lot of confusion. That said, here are some quick links to get your started:

The Issues and Business of Cloud
Cloud computing's fear factor: Acknowledge, reduce, move on: http://oreil.ly/gGMNxs
5 cloud computing conundrums: http://oreil.ly/bTDy9s
Driving growth with Cloud Computing: http://bit.ly/grqIDA

Technology Guides to Cloud
Cloud application architecture: http://oreilly.com/c...g/9780596156374
Cloud security and privacy: http://oreilly.com/c...g/9780596802776
Selecting the right cloud: A step-by-step guide: http://bit.ly/hxTBDR

Networks
Network warrior: http://oreilly.com/c.../9780596101510/
Scalable Internet Architectures: http://oreilly.com/c.../0636920014171/
Network flow analysis: http://oreilly.com/c.../9781593272036/
Linux networking cookbook: http://oreilly.com/c.../9780596102487/

If you drop me specific questions to my Twitter handle @reichental, I'd be happy to point you to other resources too.

SOGETI has some free e-books on Cloud Computing, notably Seize The Cloud (200 pages), which you can find here:

http://www.sogeti.co...i/publications/

You can also search for back issues of the Internet Protocol Journal from the cisco.com website. There are two introductory articles on Cloud Computing which discuss the various technologies used.