Bubbling up for Cloud Processing

Transcription

1 Bubbling up for Cloud Processing Using the Cloud vs Your Other Options 3Ds (UK) Limited October,

2 The conundrum Once upon a time you had client PCs and servers. At the highest level, it was pretty simple big things went on servers and front end client applications ran on the PC. The network connected them together using a lot of cabling! With the evolution of the internet, all that s changed. The original option still exists and is far faster than it ever was, but now we can not only access the internet seamlessly using Wi-Fi, we can now save data globally enabling us to access it again and again from many different devices. We can store it in the cloud. But what is the cloud, which method is best and why are the different options still about? The cloud There's loads of information on the cloud with various big players like Microsoft, Amazon and Google offering hosting services for it. But what is it, do you need it and at the very least should you be looking at it? Search Google and it ll say something like this The cloud is a network of servers, and each server has a different function. Some servers use computing power to run applications or "deliver a service." Others provide storage for users to save their files or other data to. Hmm OK, but what is it?! First of all, if you've tweeted, played with Facebook or uploaded photos to Instagram, you've used the cloud already! For the SME of course, the cloud offers more than a place to simply share data. It provides an opportunity to use data centre infrastructure, management & features quickly and easily, without the need to procure anything yourself. To put it simply you re renting part of someone else's data centre, along with 1000s of other people. Although it s by no means free, it s certainly worth weighing up and comparing the options there with more traditional environments, more especially when those environments need to run well if your business is to survive.

3 Cloud providers There are a number of companies offering cloud services to you. Each have their own take on things and different pricing models, but the main 3 ones are Microsoft with Azure, Amazon with EC2 and Google s Cloud Platform. Public vs private clouds Although often overlooked, there are actually two types of cloud the public one we just mentioned and a private one. In a private cloud, you use similar virtual machines, but their hosted on site by you so called on premise virtual machines. You manage the hardware and allocate their resources but because the environment is virtualised, you can change configuration options more readily expanding or shrinking memory, disk space etc. as needed. Although not often considered as cloud technology, many companies in recent years have virtualised part or all of their environments to help aid manageability across systems etc. From the perspective on security & personal management, private clouds have some obvious advantages. Hosting your systems clouds or pie in the sky? Being the new kid on the block, what should you do with the cloud? Ignore it, or drop everything and move everything lock stock and barrel to it? Well, as with most things in IT, there s no de facto answer - it depends. It depends on quite a few factors, some of which we ll discuss here. Some might actually dictate what you do, while others will simply make you think harder as to which way makes more sense for you. But all in all there s often no right or wrong answer, it simply depends what works for you. All or nothing? As we shall see, using the cloud isn t an all or nothing affair and you don t have to jump one way or the other. Local environments and the cloud are interchangeable to an extent, and one might consider developing and testing using one environment, whilst maintaining the live system totally separate using the other.

4 What do you have now? OK, first things first. Most people would agree that jumping ship just because something s new is a false economy with potentially huge repercussions. So if you already have a computer room, people looking after your infrastructure and processes in place to do so, there's a lot to be said for continuing down that road, unless of course you're not happy with it. Your business is probably geared up to working that way, you ve already invested loads and so there's little reason to change it. If you re venturing into something new, you might consider the cloud for say, creating a test environment to play with, but if you re already managing a server estate, networks, domains, Active Directory, or even a few of these, you re a long way to having what you need already. If on the other hand you don't have access to this, or maybe you're starting again, or you're a start-up company gearing up to totally new systems, the cloud certainly offers a way forward for your IT without the need to get into purchasing hardware, arranging backups, and all the infrastructure hassle that goes with it. If you ve got all your infrastructure working well & processes in place, there s a lot to be said for sticking with it. If you haven t, or it s proving too difficult to maintain, externally hosted solutions, including the cloud offers an alternative that might serve you well. Products vs bespoke solutions Next, how is your system actually created? If you're buying a product, you'll probably find the vendor is has their own set of requirements. So before worrying about where to host it and what you may or may not need, check with them. Likewise, if your IT is outsourced or you're getting a software house to build the solution for you, get their advice. They may have a preference or be able to at least advise you on the way forward that will work best for what their creating. If you're implementing a bespoke system yourself (or even if you're not), its worth at least understanding what the cloud can offer, to see if it can provide a cost effective and more powerful solution than you would otherwise have access to. If your hands are tied by a product or vendor, ask their advice first as there s no point getting a headache for nothing! If not, weigh up the costs by reading on.

5 Hosting options So what are the hosting options available? When we say hosting we mean providing a home for data, applications, web sites, other services etc. Well these are the main ones The computer room Doing it yourself is arguably the most flexible in that you have absolute, total control. Of course if you don t quite understand it, or don t have access to those that do, this might be a dangerous position, but it is at least flexible! Of course parts of your environment can still be virtualised, thus creating your own private, and secure cloud solution if you so wish. Shared hosting Typically used for web sites and possibly the odd small database, shared hosting is an extremely cost effective option for getting your hands on part of a larger server. Remember though you are sharing it, probably with a lot of other people, all of which could in theory cause you problems. Although fine for small less important web sites, running your business this way is a cheap, but hugely risky solution. Hosted VPS With the advent of virtualisation - such as Hyper-V, Citrix etc., many hosting companies have branched out realising the shared option doesn t suit everyone. With a hosted VPS, you effectively get a virtual server all to yourself. Although you have full admin. rights and can do what you like, don t be fooled - you are in fact still sharing the underlying hardware, although virtualisation does at least protect you from those who don t know what they re doing! Being your own VPS means you re also responsible for it, including all updates, patching and usually backups etc. It s worth remembering that. Dedicated server If you want even more, many hosts also offer you the option of a dedicated server. Effectively you buy a machine and run it from their data centre instead of having to have your own. The advantage here is often that their network connection is likely to be faster than yours and permanent. Hopefully they ll also have UPS s to help guard against power failures etc. Again, this is really your server so you re still responsible for all aspects of its running and upkeep.

6 The cloud VPS (IaaS) The cloud VPS is really an extension of the hosted VPS after all, that s really what it is. With it, you rent a virtual server, just like before, shared on a larger host machine. However, depending on the provider, the VPS may come with preconfigured environments such as IIS or SQL Server and again, depending on what you choose, may be far more dynamic than a normal VPS or local machine. Using the cloud s elastic configurations, you can for example, bring in more power when you need it and even have the system automatically expand or shrink to meet demand, something that s impossible to do yourself unless the extra capacity has already been purchased and is ready to go. This is typically referred to as Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS. Cloud services (PaaS) Take the above a stage further and you ve got cloud services. With these you rent one or more specific services a database, web site, storage etc. and let the provider deal with everything else. They re known as Platform as a Service or PaaS features. These have a number of advantages for a start, the provider manages the underlying systems, upkeep, patching and maintenance so you don t have to. With most you get so called high availability, meaning if something does fail, you ve got an automatic failover to an alternate system, again without you needing to do anything. The downside is that you have far less control over the underlying system and no admin. access. In theory of course you don t need it, but it may be too restrictive for your needs, depending on the functions required. Hardware As you can see, a lot of the differences are based around hardware, who owns it and who looks after it. With your own computer room, you make all the decisions and pay all the bills. It also up to you to back it up and take all the necessary steps in the event of a failure. With hosted options, some of that is taken away. With a VPS or dedicated server, you still need to maintain it, but the physical hardware is handled for you. With cloud services, both the hardware its upkeep and recovery are all handled for you, but this is at the expense of some overall control.

7 Cost When it comes to money, you have to factor in a lot of components. For example With your own solution there s a single up-front cost for the hardware, connectivity and maintenance including personnel, but once it s paid, it s paid until upgrades etc. are needed. With hosted solutions, you typically pay per month or per year and don t need to buy any hardware, though you might need IT resources to look after it. The cost is typically lower - but take care to choose the right provider. Being financially cheaper is great, unless the service is poor and the support is worse! With cloud platform services, all you need is the solution you wish to run. The provider does all the rest in theory at least, even to the extent of data integrity if you choose the high availability options. Various plans are available, but many revolve around the pay as you go model. The more you use, the more you pay but in fairness you don't have to pay for something you don't need. Sounds great and it is. But the cost depends on the facilities and the amount you use them everything you or your customers do is charged. All the bells and whistles are nice, but do come at a cost an ongoing monthly cost. If you need a server with more memory or disk space, you'll pay more than someone who doesn't need as much, so it pays to think about what you will actually use. Most providers have a free trial for development and testing, so that's a good way in without needing to commit very much at all. Hybrid solutions If you re thinking I ve got some of what I need, but could do with some help in this area, or you re looking at setting up a new system which requires an additional you don t already have, you also have the option of placing part of the system in the cloud, whilst leaving the other parts alone. This is especially though not exclusively true for platform services such as web sites and databases. For example, you can run your Windows clients in house from a file share or local PC, but connect to a cloud-based SQL database.

8 Interchangeable Whilst it may not be a 2 minute job, you also have the option of changing your environment as your system grows or your needs change. For example you can Develop locally Test in the cloud Publish to live partly in the cloud and partly locally Likewise If you find your local system is getting overloaded, you could outsource key parts to the cloud whilst still retaining overall control You could run everything on a dedicated server and keep a backup copy in the cloud, ready for use in an emergency or as a backup for your data. There really are a lot of options, it just depends what you need and how you want it to operate. In the next section we ll look at some specifics and how they may work in each environment.

9 The main pros and cons Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Hardware You have full control but you must purchase everything needed up front. As your needs change, you can change the environment, but you would need to foot the bill, even for a temporary solution. Depending on what you already have & what you need this could be costly. However, it s very flexible as you re in control and you have full access to everything. You rent the environment you like, but share with others on the same physical host. No hardware costs or upgrades needed. You are responsible for all maintenance & upgrades within the O/S environment, though the provider may handle VPS level backups and performance monitoring of server itself. Less flexible as changing needs may mean moving everything to a new server, but you do have full access as needed. You rent the environment you like, but share with others on the same physical host. No hardware costs or upgrades needed. You are responsible for all maintenance & upgrades, though choosing high availability options can vastly improve resilience with less need for standard backups. More flexible than most hosted solutions. With pay as you go, you can change your options to meet demand or in some cases the system can even do it for you. Least maintenance option as you only look after your specific system not the O/S or other underlying technologies. Resilient with high availability options and kept up to date by the provider behind the scenes without you needing to do anything. You retain full access as needed.

10 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Network You connect using your own local network. Everything is run remotely so you need good internet connectivity. You are also reliant on the provider s network connectivity and data centre resources. Everything is run remotely so you need good internet connectivity. Cloud providers are big players so you wouldn t expect too many issues here. The system is accessed remotely and so a good internet connection is required for those parts of the system. Other parts can use on-site connectivity or local processing. Cloud providers are big players so you wouldn t expect too many issues here. Backup & recovery Totally down to you. If there s a machine failure, you must repair or replace hardware and recover software and data. Reliant on the provider to restore a backup of your VPS to a new host. Although there s little for you to do, check the provider s SLA and check how often backups are taken. In the event of recovery, how much data might be lost? Depends on options being paid for. If you have a single VPS, the same issue apply as with a hosted VPS. If you have high availability, the system continues as before using a second node within what Azure refers to as an availability set. With high availability, this is handled solely by the provider. The provider then resolves the hardware issue or can seamlessly swap you to a new host.

11 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Upgrades & patches You are responsible for maintaining these periodically, especially security patches etc. You are responsible for maintaining these periodically, especially security patches etc. You are responsible for maintaining these periodically, especially security patches etc. The provider is responsible for maintaining all hardware and the underlying O/S. Includes testing and potentially backing out failed updates. Includes testing and potentially backing out failed updates. Includes testing and potentially backing out failed updates. In theory your environment should be kept up to date for you. Scalability Dependent on the resources purchased so this is totally down to you. Scaling further may require the purchasing of new hardware. Dependent on the service being used; increasing scalability may require moving to a new server. Dependent on the service being used but with high availability, scalability can be built-in, but at a price. Dependent on the service being used but with high availability, scalability can be built-in, but at a price. Flexibility This option is extremely flexible, if you re prepared to throw money at it. You have total control over what you need, but you ll need to pay up front, even if you only need extra capacity for part of the time. Not always that flexible unless you select the maximum potential up front. That could be costly if you re paying something you won t need very often. More flexible. If you find you need more power, or your system doesn t need so much, you can upsize or downsize as needed with the cloud depending on the service(s) you re subscribing to. With so called elastic configurations, many options can alter dynamically to meet demand, depending on the plan you sign up to. Dependent on plan but with PaaS you have even more options, where the services can monitor & size depending on demand. Of course you re paying for this, but you only pay for what you use so it could work out cheaper.

12 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Security Relatively easy to secure yourself compared with other options, if you have the expertise. Security is totally within your control with data being held on your own machines and protected by your own software. You are responsible for server patches & any security updates, firewall settings etc. Security is partly down to the VPS configuration you manage & partly down to the provider. You are responsible for server patches & any security updates, firewall settings etc. Security is partly down to your setup & partly down to the provider. Cloud providers are larger players and are likely to concentrate on security more than most. But you must acknowledge your data is on servers being shared by many others albeit they shouldn t be able to access it. You also don t actually know where this data is. You ll know the data centre, but that s all you ll know. The provider is responsible for keeping your system up to date so it depends which services you re using. Security needs will be different for say, IIS and SQL Databases but in the main you are paying them to look after it for you. Cloud providers are larger players and are likely to concentrate on security more than most. But you must acknowledge your data is on servers being shared by many others albeit they shouldn t be able to access it. You are responsible for server patches & any security updates, firewall settings etc. You also don t actually know where this data is. You ll know the data centre, but that s all. Fault resolution You are responsible for this. Hardware & network faults are down to the provider; everything else is down to you. Hardware & network faults are down to the provider; software is down to you. With high availability options, you pay for greater fault tolerance. With high availability options, you re paying for greater fault tolerance.

13 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Reliability This is dependent on your management, IT personnel & maintenance etc. This is largely out of your control; you are reliant on the hosting provider. That may be good, or it may not, depending on your choice so choose carefully and read reviews. Managed by the provider. With high availability options, you can greatly increase reliability. Managed by the provider. With high availability options, you can greatly increase reliability. Not all providers were born equal!

14 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Data integrity & backups This is for you to choose and manage including the maintenance of adequate backups & recovery. Often overlooked, this is extremely important but only gets recognition when it s needed which hopefully isn t very often. Can be costly to implement and you may need additional expertise, though the cost of not doing it could be greater. This depends on the SLA, but don t rely on it. If the worst happens, the provider should recover a recent backup, but how recent is down to them and what s been agreed. Consider managing your own data backups at least, just in case. With the cloud, this problem may be side-lined. Firstly it s not really your problem you re paying Microsoft, Google, or whoever to look it for you. Secondly the cloud gives what s known as high availability automatic replication & failover type configurations that many people would only dream of on their own servers. However, at this level the provider is dealing with the VM (your virtual machine) and as with the hosted VPS, they ll only be able to recover that as a whole. Consider managing your own data backups at least, just in case. The options are totally dependent on what you ve asked for so check you re getting what you think. The more dynamic you make it the more expensive it will be though. With high availability, the data is meant to be safe safe from technical failures. If there is a failure, the cloud has its own backups and mirrored copies. The system itself simply switches to another machine or even data centre and you continue without effort. With PaaS the provider is dealing handling raw data (not just an entire VM), so you should be better off. However, remember this manages data integrity and doesn t allow for someone deleting things by mistake. To handle that you d need to implement your own backup scheme.

15 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Disaster Recovery You will need to ensure your own plan (or outsourced provider) meets your needs. The cloud could be useful here though, simply to backup your local environment just in case. In terms of the VPS, the provider should handle this. Though recovery from data corruption within your VPS is down to you. The provider can most likely restore a copy of the server but that will roll back everything on the machine. Depending on the options chosen, the system is far more fault tolerant and so the problem should not arise. However, if you choose to avoid high availability options on cost ground, you effectively just have a hosted VPS. Again this depends on the options chosen, but it s far more likely to be fault tolerant as you re dealing with individual systems & data rather than the complete VM. Check your options though just to make sure. Personnel You must employ or outsource these. Down to the provider. Providers may be smaller or subcontracting from other companies. Totally managed by the provider. You simply manage your software & data running on the VM. Totally managed by the provider. You simply manage your software & data running on the cloud service.

16 Area Local Hosted VPS Cloud IaaS (VM) Cloud Platform (PaaS) Cost (TCO) Full up front cost, plus costs for ongoing maintenance personnel and upgrades etc. Hardware rarely gains in value and has a finite life, so budgets in the future 7will need to take this into account. No ongoing rental cost though. Relatively cheap, depending on options needed. But you may get what you pay for and you re reliant on the provider. Pay as you go, depending on options required and usage. Many options available, but the better they are, the more you continually need to pay. You re also dependent on the provider, though these are typically big players. Problem might be that a big problem for you is a relatively unimportant to them, so check the SLA! Pay as you go, depending on options required and usage. Many options available, but the better they are, the more you continually need to pay. You re also dependent on the provider, though these are typically big players. Problem might be that a big problem for you is a relatively unimportant to them, so check the SLA!

17 Other considerations Bandwidth As we ve seen, nothing is a free lunch. Cloud solution providers have to make their money and they do that based on usage. That figure might be somewhat variable and depends on what you or your customers use It could be a significant gain over your own upfront cost Equally the costs could escalate and will definitely continue month by month. Bandwidth is a good example. Bandwidth is the amount of data transferred between the cloud (the host s servers) and you or your customers. The more you or they do and usually that means the more data is transferred, the higher this usage becomes. And the higher the usage, the more you pay. With a local solution the bandwidth is free, once you ve paid for a suitable network which might be expensive. The cloud may still of course be considerably cheaper than all the other costs of running it yourself, but it may not, especially where you re using it internally within your own networked offices. Internet connection Local solutions are usually connected via your own local network a network totally within your own control. With the cloud everyone including your own users are forced to use the internet they may not realise it, but that s what s happening. Both are workable and both have advantages. Typically apart from specific failures, network issues boil down to speed & capacity, or the lack of it. Making your own network faster might be expensive, but it can be done in your own timescale, funds permitting. With the cloud, most likely it ll be your internet connection that needs improving remember, everyone in your organisation now needs to share. If your solution doesn t have to be internet based, this might be quite a considerable cost you wish to avoid. Remember too, we re not just talking web sites here. It could be data within the cloud-based SQL Server you need to constantly access. A growing market The cloud today is still relatively new with new features and options coming out all the time through updates to Microsoft Azure, as well as Google s & Amazon s offerings. Keep up to date you may find some of the arguments for or against change as new facilities become available.

18 Conclusion In this paper we've looked at the cloud and the pros and cons of local vs cloud computing. In the main, the cloud provides you with access to your own virtual data centre, without the pain of buying, configuring or maintaining any hardware whatsoever! We ve also seen the flexibility of the cloud, some typical scenarios that can benefit from it and the huge potential it offers to SMEs. Equally the more traditional approach is just as valid and has some advantages of its own, especially for larger organisations or companies that already have some or all of the facilities in place. As with many areas of IT, there s no hard and fast rule and we can t simply say one is better than the other. Both operate in very different ways, both are equally valid, and both have areas you will need to consider. Ultimately it pays to think these through to determine the approach you wish to take, and the areas in which you wish to concentrate your own efforts. 3Ds (UK) Limited is a UK-based IT consultancy and software house. For more information to contact us regarding anything outlined above, please Visit info@3ds.co.uk Call (+44) (0)

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