IO Blog
Cloud computing, a type of shared computing that lets enterprises tap into a large-scale computing infrastructure for cost and performance benefits, is arguably the hottest IT trend of the past few years.
Cloud computing helps businesses cope with spiraling IT demands by dynamically combining and scaling server, storage, networking and other resources for remote data storage, running Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, development environments and various other purposes. In the most widely adopted cloud computing model, a service provider with a large number of interlinked servers rents out its massive computing capabilities to customers looking to only pay for the computing capabilities they actually use.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Cloud computing’s key benefit is its inherent flexibility. CPU cycles, storage space, data transfer rates and other resources can all be scaled depending on demand. In theory, a customer could use a single unit of cloud computing service (such as a CPU, storage, RAM or data transfer allotment) one second and hundreds of units the next second.
Besides reducing or eliminate the need to buy, store and maintain a large IT infrastructure, cloud computing can also simplify and enhance disaster recovery strategies and lower personnel, training and utility costs. On the other hand, cloud computing, at least in its purest form, also presents some serious drawbacks. If you select the wrong cloud service provider, you may find yourself facing serious problems, such as excessive data transfer latency rates, service outages, security and privacy concerns and cloud management issues.
Taking it Private
An alternative to pure cloud computing that delivers the technology’s key benefits without its pitfalls is launching a private or “internal” cloud. Any enterprise can build this type of cloud infrastructure, which allows internal resources to be made available for the organization’s own IT needs or, when appropriate, to use the public or “external” clouds that are available over the Internet.
Server virtualization is key to building an internal cloud infrastructure. By using specially designed software, an administrator can convert one physical server into multiple virtual machines that make more efficient use of server resources. Virtualization ensures that each physical server is being used to its maximum potential.
Yet server virtualization is only one part of the overall internal cloud picture. A meta operating system, such as VMware’s Virtual Datacenter Operating System (VDC-OS), is also necessary to manage an enterprise’s distributed resources as a single, unified computing pool. The meta operating system serves as a virtualization layer that resides between applications and distributed computing resources. The technology utilizes distributed computing resources to perform scheduling, loading, initiating, supervising applications and error handling.
Colocation is also vital to any enterprise’s internal cloud gameplan. Besides providing space for your virtualized servers, a colocation provider provides an “always on” platform for high performance network services, fail-proof utility and environmental services and other private cloud resources.
