How does a WAN and cloud computing service maximize the benefits of integrating cloud computing directly into an enterprise wide area network?

For almost all businesses, "cloud computing" means using public cloud computing services to supplement (note, complement rather than replace) internal IT resources. In general, the tight integration of internal IT resources and cloud computing services is not just about connecting to cloud computing, but it actually adds an equal number of cloud partners to the corporate WAN. So how do you combine wide area network (WAN) with cloud computing services? It involves three different kinds of information flow:

• Staff Access

• Data exchange between cloud computing and data centers

• Sharing of application and application components

In your own cloud computing application, how the flow of information works will determine the best technology and connectivity you choose to use. The direct integration of the WAN and cloud computing services is impossible or cost-effective.

Most companies need to identify a specific communication service level agreement (SLA) for their cloud computing service connections, and they think this is done by ensuring the level of integration between cloud hosting and their data centers. For workers who rely on cloud computing and Datacenter Resources, these resources should be equivalent and should all be supported by the same connections and SLAs. These SLAs must be determined based on the quality of the cloud services and your own needs, and you must ensure that the approach to connecting cloud computing services to the Enterprise wide area network does not negatively impact the availability or performance of cloud computing.

The first question to answer is how much additional reliability or availability is guaranteed with a dedicated VPN or cloud computing connection. Keep in mind that the SLA for cloud computing applications relies on two sources of SLAs for network connectivity and cloud computing services. For example, if your cloud computing service performance is difficult to improve, then spending a lot more on reliability and availability networks is a waste of money. If your cloud computing service SLA is stronger, then the SLA for cloud computing connectivity should also be stronger.

There is a potential problem in the form of many VPN, VLAN, or proprietary circuits connected to cloud computing providers, which will result in reliance on the cloud-computing sites that connect. If your cloud computing provider is connected to your WAN, then that site and associated devices will have to be run sequentially to make sure that your cloud computing services are available. Even if you can use a redundant data center facility to run your application, the failure of the facility at your connection point will cause your cloud services to become unusable. Although most enterprise-class cloud providers have multiple Internet connections, inferior cloud computing connections can be a potential vulnerability because they are accustomed to using the Internet as a cloud computing service.

In most cases, the enterprise will find that the SLA applicable to the dedicated WAN service and cloud computing connection is competitive in many technical choices. This means that selecting a specific WAN connection technology is likely to be based on cost considerations. In almost all cases, this means that a "private" or "Enterprise" VPN based on MPLS will be the cheapest option, but cloud computing connectivity is complete in a single, large area, and VLAN or VPLS services may not be the most expensive but provide higher performance. According to corporate reports, cloud computing providers are most likely to support two of services. Even if you are not using any of these services, use a VPN or VLAN to start your WAN integrated search. They may be easier to integrate and cost less.

The best way to integrate cloud computing services through your enterprise WAN will depend on the relationship between cloud computing resources and data center resources. If a user accesses your cloud application directly, cloud computing will appear in your WAN as another enterprise data center. For example, your goal is to simulate a regional data center for any connection and use your enterprise wide area network. If you use cloud computing to unload workloads or back up data center resources during peak application periods, cloud computing resources will exist as standby servers and/or storage devices in your datacenter. In the first example, you will almost certainly use the IP layer connection method provided by the VPN. In the second example, you will need to study your data center network options to make sure you are connected to your server/storage device at the IP layer or at the Ethernet level. If VPN is the preferred connection option, the need to provide connectivity between Ethernet and cloud computing means connecting Ethernet over a VPN, but this is not the best choice for performance or efficiency. In this case, contact your data center network vendor to see if there is an available ip-based connection to choose from.

Because performance and usability improvements benefit from cloud computing services that use an integrated WAN, it is equally important to manage the properties of the network that connect cloud computing and the attributes of the public cloud services. Cloud computing management standards are evolving only now, and you may need to manage cloud computing, the network, and your own IT assets independently, and use a fault-determination program to isolate the issues between the different components so that you can take the appropriate steps to return to normal operation. If you can design these processes well and implement them efficiently, you can maximize the benefits of integrating cloud computing directly into the Enterprise wide area network.