The value of cloud computing and server consolidation

The price drop of distributed computing technology and budget freedom have led to the growth of specific application servers. For CIOs, this has triggered a huge increase away from central technical support resources, including not only server multiple applications, but also their distribution throughout the company.

These platforms are not fully functional and often fail to meet corporate standards, making compliance audits and security issues serious. Difficulties and costs drive the "server consolidation" trend, which is the main incentive for server virtualization and cloud computing.

Server consolidation is the virtualization of a central server "farm" to replace the unordered, distributed server large community. Cloud computing also offers a similar opportunity to add added value: Using managed services instead of local computing, which is not fully functioning and difficult to support. Companies can use server consolidation or cloud computing outsourcing services to replace servers for many specific applications, so it is important to pick the best strategy.

When to outsource server cloud computing

To see if a particular server should be consolidated or cloud computing outsourced, you need to know how much of the memory, CPU, and storage I/O activity has been generated on that server. This information will help you estimate the cost of the application's outsourcing of cloud computing and determine if the application is using too much resources to run on a virtual machine that shares servers with other applications. resource-intensive applications should run on their own servers, while businesses centralize their servers for support.

Data storage and exchange costs can delay or even terminate some companies ' cloud-computing outsourcing projects, so it is important to carefully review the data usage and cost factors of candidate applications before making decisions. Platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) can reduce the maintenance costs and license costs of application or platform software. Applications that are best suited to cloud computing are often those that have limited data usage and no access to large enterprise data stores.

SaaS, IaaS, or PAAs: Choosing a cloud computing service model

After reviewing applications for cloud computing, the next step is to identify the cloud services model that best fits the application. Many users are making a fundamental mistake when they attempt to replicate a virtualized server consolidation architecture in a cloud computing service model that uses infrastructure as a service (IaaS). While this approach is almost always feasible, because IaaS is the most pervasive and flexible cloud computing service, it may not be the most cost-effective option. To determine whether the cloud computing service model is a good choice for server consolidation, let's ask three questions:

1. Does the resource usage of the application adapt to the pricing model of cloud computing services? Any application that accesses a large database can have a high cost of storage, especially if a 24/7-day-running application is more expensive to use. Look for low resource usage, especially data storage.

2. Does cloud computing services allow companies to choose a single cloud computing provider to support many applications? The cost of supporting multiple cloud computing vendors is very expensive, while it is highly complex to technically maintain an enterprise data center application in collaboration with multiple vendors. Look for a service that provides the best possible cost and the widest range of support for a candidate.

3. Can cloud computing services replace as many application platforms as possible (such as hardware, operating systems, middleware, and application software)? It is your responsibility to support the user component. This includes software licensing, maintenance and updates, installation, and technical support. Higher-level cloud computing products, such as PAAs and SaaS, take the place of more cost, which can make them more valuable, especially for small or remote businesses with limited technical support resources.

Most enterprises should first decide whether an application can be replaced by SaaS, whether it is the same company or another company that has the same mission. For example, companies hosting customer Relationship Management (CRM) on stand-alone servers often find that salesforce.com is a cheaper option than consolidating CRM servers to a single datacenter using virtualization technology.

Deciding whether to use IaaS or PAAs to support a particular program requires more analytical work. PAAs includes operating systems and middleware, so the cost of cloud computing services usually includes software and support. Savings and support are key factors in making decisions, especially if an enterprise usage license does not include the application's platform services. Not using a license may also mean there is no internal support. Cloud computing outsourcing can overlook the need for hiring and training support teams. The PAAs section typically requires less cloud management and is easier to collaborate with internal application services that use the same platform.

On the other hand, IaaS is a more general method, and the widest choice. If you don't need multiple services and vendors, IaaS cloud computing Services is a better alternative to consolidation than PAAs for a very diverse portfolio of applications.

For each application, cloud computing is not always a good choice for consolidation tasks. Even though many companies are using cloud computing services, they will still have some in-house IT applications. The mix of public cloud computing and private data centers will become an important component. A single cloud computing model and vendor will greatly simplify migrating to hybrid cloud computing, while reducing support costs as applications evolve in cloud computing and data centers. Perhaps the simplest model for managing your company is the best one.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)