Obviously, we are not the only hosting company on the market. There are many companies, each with their own appetites and opportunities. It is also obvious that the market can develop only if its customers develop - not only their business, but also their understanding of technology. The market is built by the efforts of the participants and this post is another small stone in its foundation. In it (in post), we have summarized some recommendations that may be useful to those who are thinking, deciding / is going (sometimes, not very quickly) to go to the clouds. Under the cut - a few tips that will be useful when planning the transition to the cloud and choosing a cloud provider.

So…

The concept of clouds is blurry. In its simplest form, the “cloud” is a software and hardware complex that is located on the site at the provider, and whose resources are leased. For the user, to a certain extent, it does not matter where the power is located. The user's computer should only know the address from which it receives data. Finally, on the screen, the user gets the same picture as in the case of a regular desktop, and he doesn’t care about the concepts of “cloudiness” and “virtualization”. An example of how the essence of technology does not change because of the name - public email services. Not so long ago, when logging on to gmail, ukr.net, yahoo or yandex, users had no idea where their letters were - on which continents and in which countries. The mail was simply used, without assuming that after some time this service would be called "cloud".
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From a business perspective, when moving to the cloud, the IT infrastructure of an enterprise can turn from a deterrent into a powerful catalyst for development. Why? The answer is in two words: “adaptability” and “flexibility”. It is these qualities that make it possible in a matter of hours to change the configuration of the IT infrastructure, to increase or reduce it. Now it is possible only in the cloud (well, or with disproportionately large money and resources - in the physical space).

If you look at cloud technologies more broadly, their appearance fits into the global historical logic. People have long ceased to independently create heat, food, clothing, transfer information, transport money, etc., giving the solution of these tasks to professional manufacturers and suppliers. All this has become a commodity. Now we use the phone, mail, banks, go to the shops and in ZhEKi, if there is no heat :-)

How to start and not make a mistake with the choice

Perhaps the first of the most important in working with cloud projects will sound like an axiom - each project should be considered individually. The cloud is not a panacea for everyone. Many providers forget about this seemingly obvious fact. Moreover, they often do not hear the client at all and do not try to offer the most effective solution to a specific problem in a particular request. Often, in response to a request with a non-standard task, the client is provided with sample solutions that are suitable for many, but not all.

Having decided on the rental of resources, you need to think about a competent migration process to the cloud, and this is a separate story, the outcome of which is in the hands of integrators. The result of the migration to the solution proposed by the provider should be tested and, if necessary, adjusted leased resources. The purpose of all the described actions is to help the client to get acquainted and “make friends” with cloud technologies. A good, responsible provider understands this.

The concepts of “public cloud” and “private cloud” are widely known. They can be built using similar technologies and structures, but each has important differences and features.

The main feature of a private cloud, important for many users, is isolation from other provider clients. This model is always recommended for companies with special approaches to information security and increased requirements for data integrity - for those who work with financial databases, etc. In the private cloud, the client gets maximum control over their resources and maximum security. Naturally, in this case, the client must initially inform the provider about the requirement of complete "physical" isolation in the data center of his private cloud.

In the public cloud, resources are simultaneously used by many clients. Cloud resources are redistributed automatically. For this purpose, load balancers are used to help the provider efficiently use the power of the cloud.

Who uses public clouds? As a rule, separate divisions of enterprises or individual employees, separate (non-critical) applications for divisions.

Are public clouds needed? Yes very. And the reason for this is their obvious merits:

- attractive price;
- the speed and ease of deploying services;
- effective replacement of capital costs with operating expenses.

Using public clouds, you can quickly regulate the resource pool required by various departments according to various criteria - season / non-season, time of day, time of year, etc. This increases the efficiency of using both computational and financial resources.

A serious lack of a public cloud is a lower level of security and control compared to a private cloud.

Hybrid cloud According to some ratings, this is the most popular solution. Hybrid clouds allow an enterprise to intelligently and balancedly distribute existing tasks — individual services, individual employees, data — into different types of clouds, depending on criticality and relevance. Plus, it is this model that allows better use of financial resources - as a private cloud, with all its advantages, is more expensive.

What do users say when talking about moving to the cloud

Reasons to transfer business to the cloud:

• flexibility
• efficiency
• handling
• increase productivity
• reliability and fault tolerance
• availability anywhere in the world

Unprecedented flexibility. This is the first thing the business focuses on when it comes to clouds. Interestingly, the very concept of flexibility was not so long ago abstract - it was difficult to calculate the consistency of resources, business processes and investments. If a business lacked IT resources, it was felt, but if the resource was redundant, then hardly anyone could accurately assess the scale of idle capacity and how much money was frozen in them. Now, having a pool of virtual resources in the cloud and using only a few numbers, it is possible to calculate the necessary resources for the enterprise, division, and even for each workplace.

Efficiency. As already mentioned, the customer does not always care where the resources are physically located, he wants to be sure that his infrastructure is functioning normally. In this case, the customer only pays for the necessary resources for work, thus achieving maximum efficiency. If we talk about the cost of ownership, then abandoning the physical IT infrastructure in favor of the cloud, a business can save up to tens of percent of the budget for maintaining its IT.

Controllability. This is one of the top priorities for many users. Moving to the cloud, the enterprise is reaching a higher level of consolidation of IT resources. Under certain conditions, the infrastructure can be managed by one person from anywhere in the world. Moreover, with proper backup management, such an administrator will be able to easily restore not only data, but virtual machines.

An interesting fact: foreign experts from organizational consulting claim that with the introduction of cloud technologies, labor efficiency increases. By combining clearly limited resources and time with sophisticated control tools, they have achieved increased efficiency in the use of working time.

Reliability. This is an important issue that we always discuss with customers. At its core, the cloud is fundamentally different from the usual solutions so far. In the cloud, all nodes and communication channels are duplicated, at least according to the n + 1 scheme. This allows customers to avoid asking questions about the physical security and resiliency of the solution. The client concentrates on the issues of higher levels - OS levels, settings, applications, data. Everything else is already on the shoulders of the cloud provider.

Accessibility from anywhere in the world. This is especially important for enterprises with geographically extensive infrastructure - cloud technologies allow you to consolidate the data scattered across different cities of units in one place. The possibility of remote simultaneous work of a wide range of users (both individual employees and entire branches) is embedded in the technology itself, and the company simply uses it.

Some recommendations that will save from mistakes and help squeeze the maximum out of the cloud

• Worry about transmission security, encrypt communication channel and data. Your data is the most valuable thing you have. You yourself must be concerned about their safe transmission. It seems commonplace, but many customers do not. We prompt and remind, but the transition to our cloud does not relieve you of responsibility for your "home" work.
• Implement efficient backup algorithms. You always need to build the right backup process. In the cloud, it is convenient to archive not only data, workstations, but also entire virtual machines. At the same time, you can use for this not only local storage facilities located in the same cloud, but also remote sites - this will make your infrastructure not only fault-tolerant, but also disaster-proof.

• Free migration. Very often the company has the need to transfer data. Choose providers that offer free data transfer. There are such providers (if we do this, then there are others). Buying a bus ticket, you do not pay separately for entry at the door. Decent companies, as a rule, do not rip off customers. So just find the right provider.

• About fees. Oddly enough, there are still providers of charging and limiting traffic. Advice from Captain Obvious: work with those who offer unlimited tariffs.

• Internal network bandwidth. The bandwidth inside the cloud is an "asterisk" question. This is a scrupulous moment, and many vendors are extremely reluctant to talk on this topic, not wanting to reveal the structure of their network. If you touch on the subject matter, the cloud bandwidth largely determines how much quality service you buy from your provider. How are the nodes connected? at what speeds? What protocols? Services of many enterprises may well work on 1 gigabit, but you need to consider that most providers use 10G, and only the most advanced build their clouds on 40G, or InfiniBand 56G. Lada is also a car, but why do you need old technologies? Choose from providers with opportunities "for growth".

• Kernels. Another important and difficult moment. It is well known that rented and virtual cores in the cloud can be very different - there are different generations of processors, different bus frequencies, different memory speeds. Do not hesitate to check with the provider what kernels it offers you. You should know what you pay for.

• And again migration. Many large companies are faced with the need to plan the migration process from their existing infrastructure to the cloud. There are no two identical situations in IT, as there are no two identical people. And it is unlikely that you will be satisfied by a provider operating on the principle of “take what you have, use it, but how - we do not care.” Competition is a great thing, and if you are looking for a contractor who will be not just a seller, but will become a partner and consultant for you on whom you can rely, you will not have to search for such a provider for a long time. We know at least one such company :-)

• There are a number of situations where client departments work with applications that cannot be placed in a virtual environment. If this is your case, you need a rental provider and physical equipment.

• Data center security is not the latest criterion when choosing a provider. Choose a supplier who is able to fully protect your future infrastructure. Below is more about this.

Physical security when choosing a site

Modern data centers have 4 degrees of security - Trier I, Trier II, Trier III, Trier IV. It hardly makes sense to talk about the weakest levels. Therefore, consider levels III and IV. A well-protected data center, at a minimum, must meet the following criteria:

• Protection from access by unauthorized persons on the territory of the DC.
• Availability of electronic protection systems in DC. The advantages of electronic systems relate mainly to human factors (a person can be distracted, ill, bribed, etc., and electronic systems always work).
• Clear video and audio surveillance system.
• Access to data center only for authorized personnel, depending on the level of access - there is no access to a specific compartment or rack - it means you cannot get there. Visitor location tracking by RFID technology.
• Rigid documentation of all actions and events when working in the DC.
• Fire extinguishing systems without zeroing and data damage.
• Power supply systems without interruption

As life shows, in reality, all this will not protect the business from a mask show with supporting documents, but will reduce to zero the probability of any other accidents. And everything else is a matter of legal security, which is further.

Legal security

A pragmatic assessment of alternatives leads to a simple conclusion: the data center should be placed where:

• Withdrawal of anything was possible only by a court decision.
• In the event of seizure of data or equipment, in no case unrelated persons / clients can suffer, as well as the hosting provider itself - this is protected by law.
• The issuance of customer data without a court decision is impossible.

Three obvious requirements lead to the idea of ​​placing in a jurisdiction that is able to provide all this. There are a lot of offers on hosting in data centers and clouds all over the world. You just have to choose, taking into account the specifics of your activity. A good provider will offer you several options at one and the same supplier. For example, due to sensitive legislation, not everything can be placed in Germany. For such situations, we will offer you a more liberal jurisdiction of the Netherlands.



It can be said that the concept of cloud computing is only beginning to penetrate the minds of representatives of the business environment. The evidence of the potential of this technology makes many managers rethink the classic approach. It's trite, but true. Many need to change their IT outlook and destroy their stereotypes. There is a very important psychological block on this path - many are simply afraid of this new technology. However, sooner or later the clouds will permeate everywhere, and even the most conservative business will have to use this technology - after all, we already use cloud technologies everywhere, just do not suspect it.

The article was written on the basis of a report by Miroslav Migovich, Head of the SIM Networks Project Department, at the “Around the Cloud” conference.

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Our other cloud technology articles:

Cloud Solutions - IT Engine
What are the clouds and myths about them in the heads of ITshnikov: opinions, stereotypes and life in the "clouds"

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