How to deal with the impact of cloud computing on the network?

Cloud computing is currently the hottest topic in the field of http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/14054.html > Information technology. Through cloud computing, data center functionality and resources can be outsourced to third parties through network connectivity. For many companies whose it needs are constantly changing, cloud computing can help them avoid the costly problem of excess internal computing power. The challenge is to ensure that network costs do not offset the cost savings of cloud computing.

There is no "ubiquitous" Computer application program in the world. The company uses it to handle highly distributed activities, including transaction processing, online sales and customer support, data analysis and mining, and regulatory reporting. If the application is hosted through cloud computing, it is important to connect the cloud resources to the company's own data center to achieve data access. In addition, you need to provide users with access to the cloud application. The impact of these features on the network depends on the following three important aspects.

The first is the source data. Applications in the cloud require data, and data storage locations are the most important factors in determining the impact of the network on the cost and performance of cloud computing. Applications need to use large amounts of data (one or more large databases), so data access must be fast and reliable, or the application will run out of bounds. This means that you either store the data in the cloud (which can cause cost and confidentiality issues), or deploy a high-speed and highly QoS network to enable cloud connectivity.

The second aspect is Data update and backup. If your application's source data is highly dynamic, or must be backed up, or synchronized with other company data, the connection between the cloud data resource and the enterprise data resource must be very efficient. If the data is not dynamic, then the network requirements for maintaining the data are not too harsh, and may not even affect the corporate network.

The third area is distributed access. If an application is to be accessed from multiple locations in multiple countries, most of the access is possible via Internet or Internet VPN. If access is primarily from the company's internal facilities, you may need to connect cloud computing resources to the company's own network.

If a cloud application is tightly integrated with a company's data center resources, the performance of the network connection becomes critical. If the connection is interrupted, not only is the application at risk of interruption, but the data between the cloud and the Enterprise storage resource is also at risk of being out of sync, leading to complex and expensive reconstruction efforts. As a result, this cloud application is likely to require a dedicated data link to connect cloud computing resources. Tight consolidation between cloud computing information resources and data centers may increase the need for a data center network, or it may increase the need for trunk connections between data centers and other headquarters locations or regional headquarters.

As long as the quality of service and availability meet the requirements, cloud resource security can be guaranteed, and the connection between cloud resources and the enterprise IT infrastructure is sufficient to support traffic transmission, then the Internet and Internet VPN can be used for cloud communication. But if internal employees access cloud resources through the corporate WAN of an Internet port, many companies tend to overlook the traffic generated by such access. Because these portals are usually located in or near the headquarters location, cloud computing can significantly increase the network traffic in the branch.

In cloud computing outsourcing, the most difficult type of application is the "overflow" or backup application that traditional enterprise applications run after migrating to the cloud. Unless the entire enterprise database is hosted in the cloud, such applications can produce huge data access requirements, but only a handful of companies will adopt this scenario. If you need to support this cloud-computing application, the only effective strategy is to establish a high-speed connection between the cloud Computing data center and the enterprise data center, so that traffic can quickly enter the normal corporate network.

The simplest cloud computing application supported in the corporate network is an application that is accessed via Internet/VPN, where the cloud host can join the VPN, and there is little data synchronization between cloud hosts and enterprise data centers. This situation has minimal impact on the traffic of the enterprise network, but there are some security problems with the cloud resource as a VPN member. This must be done through technical means and by signing contracts with cloud providers.

Finally, do not go to cloud computing on a one-off scale, but must undergo a well-planned migration process. Smart companies will try cloud computing applications first, minimize their impact on the network, accumulate experience and then slowly increase cloud computing applications. In this way, the network cost and computational savings can be achieved reasonable planning.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)