Hybrid cloud computing model is the stabilizing force in the market

In the latest Storage magazine, Taneja Group's senior analyst and advisor, Jeff Byrne, shared his view on why the hybrid cloud model might be the most correct solution for users with cloud computing concerns. In addition to introducing the advantages of the hybrid cloud, he explains why the hybrid cloud needs to be further developed, such as performance related to critical applications.

The first half of 2011 is not a time when cloud computing is memorable. These months are a real eventful period for cloud computing storage services. The network failure of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in April caused several days of service disruption for news-sharing and social networking sites. In early April, Iron Kings Digital announced that it would quit its commodity-oriented public cloud computing storage business in the coming years (although the company would continue to provide enterprise-class cloud computing storage services through autonomous protocols). In the end, Cirtas BAE removed its cloud-computing storage products in April and dismissed the relevant engineers and technicians.

These are big news in the industry, but we've also noticed that some small factories are trying to get the industry interested in their cloud-computing storage and computing products.

In an environment that is still an emerging market, these developments may not be surprising, but they have shaken the confidence of data-store administrators in public cloud computing. To hedge their exposure, some users are now considering possible alternative strategies, including hybrid cloud computing, which ensures that storage and related applications are deployed separately in public cloud computing and private cloud computing infrastructures. In fact, the real hybrid cloud storage will span both the public and private cloud, and can be optimized based on the user's specific application and service level requirements.

Naturally, there are not many companies running mixed clouds. While the key technologies that support hybrid cloud are still in the development phase, their potential benefits have become the focus of our attention. The benefits of a hybrid cloud are similar to that of a public cloud storage deployment, such as the flexibility and self-service that is used. They are also committed to providing enterprise-class capabilities that exist only in private clouds, such as secure multi-tenant, availability and performance of quality of service delivery capabilities.

Major storage, systems and virtualization vendors are working on a hybrid cloud strategy and roadmap to make it possible to get a slice of the fast-growing market. Dell, HP, and IBM all have their own hybrid cloud plans, including services and storage. EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, and NetApp have some experience with mixed cloud computing storage services, and even some specific products.

Before the hybrid cloud becomes mainstream, some basic technical problems must be addressed. The security of data in transit and stagnation is a primary concern for users, especially given the recent data disclosure events. Storage vendors and cloud computing security startups are stepping up new encryption, firewalls, identity management, and related technologies. The performance of critical applications is another critical issue, and some vendors now offer innovative local caching products that reduce data access latency and accelerate data recovery.

Business issues are another concern for storage managers to consider the implementation of cloud computing deployments. For example, some industry regulations determine how critical data should be stored and where critical data is stored, which can limit the user's use of some public cloud computing across multiple regional data centers. Public cloud computing, subject to specific vendors, would be another worry. Uploading data to most public cloud computing is easy, but migrating data to another vendor after months or years will be difficult and costly.

When hybrid cloud storage comes out, while 2011 may not be a "curve inflection" year, some interesting apps are catching up. While the hybrid cloud may not yet be able to support the primary storage requirements of critical applications, some vendors have delivered disaster recovery, backup, and gateway solutions based on cloud computing. Twinstrata is building a powerful cloud computing storage Gateway service that enables on-demand scaling of storage capacity, data protection capabilities, and the ability to link several different cloud computing vendors. Another start-up company Storsimple can help users control a large collection of distributed, unstructured data through a method that is surrounded by a full data lifecycle service. These solutions are not just ready for the coming prime time for cloud computing, but they are meeting the needs of an increasing number of early adopters.

At least one vendor Nirvanix company is providing visually mixed cloud storage for enterprise users. Nirvanix Hnode provides a private cloud storage service at the front end of a corporate storage Delivery network (SDN) public cloud computing storage product. The company's cloud computing Sideloader technology allows users to migrate files directly from vendors such as AWS, Iron Kings to Nirvanix data centers.

In addition to storage services, the hybrid cloud requires a network infrastructure with high reliability and performance to enable the migration of multiple types of workloads between public and private clouds, as well as related monitoring and management tools to ensure that the system is functioning as a whole. Because most IT managers know very well, no matter how big a pipeline is not enough to solve this problem. Instead, it needs to optimize data services at the location where applications can be moved, regardless of where the data comes from, providing visibility into the entire network's data at the application, user, and server levels. For example, the steelhead and Cascase product family provided by Riverbed Marvell can provide these features for mixed cloud computing, and its partnership with Akamai seems to provide new ways to optimize all kinds of data and content, Regardless of where the endpoint location is located.

Although the hybrid cloud mainstream applications mentioned above may develop rapidly, we are not really implementing them yet. Cloud computing is still in the "hegemony" stage of development, and the mixed cloud model is still evolving. However, we can view the hybrid cloud computing model as a stabilizing force in the cloud computing market, and its advantages of both public and private cloud computing will effectively address the needs of midsize and enterprise users. As we evaluate some of the early hybrid cloud-computing solutions and expected innovations, we can be optimistic that this spring, which falls into the dark cloud computing period, has really passed.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)