Enterprises can face many challenges when trying to implement a cloud solution. One that recently came to our attention in a LinkedIn discussion is about the various levels of preparation and knowledge needed across company departments.

While there is little doubt that cloud offers tremendous benefits (outsourcing the management of compute infrastructure or at application levels, reducing capex and opex waste through less overprovisioning), what both the IT department and users are struggling with is which legacy architectures/use cases fit best and what operating procedures need to change.

In helping companies adopt the cloud, it’s important to point out that certain legacy applications simply should not be put into the cloud.

Some of these applications were designed in an era where all the resources were assumed to be local, or certain components such as disks were believed to be unreliable, so they have tons of overhead code such as trying to ping the component systems to ensure it is working, sometimes at a rate of hundred times per second.

This approach is not necessary with the modern components that make up an enterprise-class cloud, and it will like cause major performance issues when the distances are separated and resources non-local.

Not all legacy applications fit into this category – many will be fine. And new applications use different architectures and approaches that are tailored for the cloud.

This is the same story for operating and control procedures, which are derived from the architectures and technologies being deployed.

The cloud is a major paradigm shift and not just a catch phrase. So companies need to be aware of these issues and develop solid plans to get from the legacy to the cloud. The business benefits for those who get it right early game are huge.

What are the biggest challenges your company faces in trying to push into the cloud?

A question about elasticity in the cloud was recently brought up in the Cloud Computing LinkedIn Group that got us thinking about tips and tricks about implementing your own cloud solution and we want to share them with you!

The following question was asked:

“I want to know how elasticity works in Cloud if implementing a private cloud. How does one implement the features of resource allocation and streamline it the same way Amazon AWS does? I mean automating the way resource allocation works in a private cloud setup.”

This is a great question and it highlights the fact that there is a lot of confusion in this area and it almost always stems around definitions – there just isn’t enough clear, consistent information out there to help people understand what can be complicated concepts.

I’d like to answer this question by expanding a bit on some of the key words floating around.

A private cloud solution means using your own equipment, either on your premises or hosted with a provider, which means your total computing capacity is limited to that of the equipment. If you are going to take this direction, it is also important to note that you’re paying for all of this equipment –often in full or on a monthly lease. 

From a compute capacity perspective a private cloud does not provide elasticity. Quite the opposite: with a private cloud, you are working with fixed capacity that you’re paying for, regardless of whether it is being fully utilized or not.

But this doesn’t mean your hands are tied.

From an application perspective, you can still create elasticity by installing software to allow either a) multiple instances of virtual machines to run or b) sub-dividing the operating system so that applications are assigned small, independent slices (typically called processes), and an orchestration software to increase or decrease the compute capacity allocated to the application.

Here’s an example to bring this to life for you.

Let’s say you are running a classic scale-out three-tier application – web servers to handle the session, application tier where the functional logic really resides, and a database tier. In a situation like this, you can start with just three virtual machines (VMs) – one for web, one for application, one for database – all running on your own private cloud.

But if the web application becomes popular, and you have more users than a single web server VM can handle, then through the orchestration software, you will need to fire up a second instance of the web server and balance the traffic.

To the application, this looks like elasticity, even though you have no total capacity elasticity. It is the orchestration software that plays the role of allocating the resources by creating new instances of VMs.

While orchestration software is necessary; writing it on your own is not easy. What typically happens is that you will need to call the hypervisor APIs directly to orchestrate the instantiation of the VM and inject the OS into the VM shell. The easier way is to template the process so you start with the OS and then instantiate the VM. You then have to ensure networking connections before you can actually use it. This also implies you also need to build some sort of total capacity monitoring tool so you don't wildly allocate the resources as well.

This is a just very simple high level overview of orchestration. If you have more complicated equipment such as non-local disks (SAN or NAS) or actual switches, you may have to extend the orchestration software to work with those as well.

If you have any further questions or ideas about implementing this kind of cloud solution, please share them with us and comment below!

Cloud computing is gaining broad recognition as being the way IT services are delivered going forward.  The key advantages that cloud computing offers compared to current IT approaches are flexibility and speed.

What is Cloud Computing?

“Cloud computing enables individuals and businesses to use computer programs and resources over the Internet."

While individuals and businesses have been using the Internet and visiting websites for well over a decade, cloud computing dramatically expands it to the point that users can run all their programs “in the cloud” and instead of buying and installing big computers in the home or business, they can simply rent computing power from a service provider, just like buying electricity from your local hydro company.

With the ability to deliver IT services in a way that organizations can add resources as needed, cloud computing allows for greater ability to support a growing user base, adapt to increasing or cyclical business activity, and react faster to market opportunities. All this with significantly higher efficient use of capital and a resulting lower cost per unit of IT.

There are three fundamental avenues for cloud computing to deliver these benefits.  These are described in the industry as three layers: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).  Each one addresses a different aspect of IT and is geared towards a distinct set of users and their needs.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS is predominantly geared towards the end-users - your employees.  It enables users to quickly access standardized business applications, from e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets to customer relationship management tools and enterprise accounting programs, from anywhere via a web browser.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

IaaS and PaaS layers are geared towards your technical staff.  IaaS enables IT departments to rent computing power and sub-system components such as storage capacity on an as-needed basis.  This capability is particularly useful when the demand for computing capacity is seasonal or needed for relatively short durations, such as projects (e.g., oil exploration or customer analysis projects), developing and testing new programs, or to function as backup systems in case of system failures or disasters.  IaaS provides effective alternatives for small and medium businesses to run their systems in a hosting company’s data center  rather than having to invest in their own infrastructure. This includes computers and the supporting capabilities such as redundant power supplies and cooling.

PaaS provides system and application developers an accelerated approach to write programs by enabling access to pre-built program libraries or functions such as databases through special commands called Application Program Interfaces (API), which in turn, automatically deploys the programs.

What it means for business

The common theme behind all three layers of cloud computing is that from the business buyer’s perspective, each layer of service can be accessed independently, so that the business can get just what it needs without having to become entangled in  all the other components.  This greatly simplifies and accelerates IT deployments, leading to lower cost and a concrete way of  aligning IT with business needs.

Underpinning cloud computing are cumulative technological advances over the past 10 years or more, including increased network speeds, robustness, multiple access methods from wireless to wireline, extensive use of virtualization techniques, and advances in computing hardware power.  The confluence of these technologies makes cloud computing possible in a cost-effective and pervasive manner that is transforming the IT industry today as is evident in many publications, from the leading daily press to the Costco member magazine.

Businesses need to plan now to embrace cloud computing to their advantage.  This is a broad topic that will be discussed further in upcoming articles.  As a starting point, the first step is for both business owners and IT leaders within the company to understand the potential of cloud computing to reduce their costs while allowing flexibility and growth. This is the opportune time for businesses of all sizes to review the different layers of service from SaaS to PaaS to IaaS, and examine  how the IT challenges – both current and future - can be addressed through the “cloud”.

Join the conversation!  Tell us what your thoughts are on cloud computing.