Cloud Computing and Workload Management
Cloud computing can help businesses become more flexible and cost-effective by moving their workload into the cloud. As an alternative to traditional data centers, cloud computing is more agile and is especially suited to the needs of businesses dealing with dynamic workloads. While many companies already use cloud computing for many of their daily needs, the opportunity to take advantage of cloud computing to manage workloads is often overlooked and may be the biggest use of cloud computing technology for business in 2013. Rather than using traditional data centers, the cloud can be used to process increased computing workloads. While this technology is commonly used for storage and application hosting, cloud computing’s potential to help with increased batch computing workloads is often not taken advantage of – in fact, about 70 percent of these critical tasks are still handled at a traditional data center.
Enterprise workload automation tools can help businesses take advantage of the cloud’s power
Unlocking the cloud’s potential to handle increased workloads may be as simple as taking advantage of enterprise workload automation tools, typically an already critical part of any data center. The best enterprise workload automation tools ensure that computing jobs are done on time by making them as efficient as possible. They maximize output by ensuring that jobs are distributed in a sequence that takes into account resource requirements and available local and cloud-based resources.
Workload automation tools can also be tweaked so that they will have different priorities depending on your business’ needs, goals, and policies. Sending increased computing workload to the cloud can help reduce costs, increase speed, and help businesses avoid costly equipment expenses without sacrificing their potential to respond to increased workloads during specific times. Netflix is a good example of how a business can use cloud computing to handle increased workloads flexibly. Consumer demand for online television changes drastically during the day and one can observe how Netflix adjusts the number of active servers handling computing and processing at different times of day by cleverly managing local and cloud-based computing power.
How businesses can take advantage of cloud-based workload management
In the end it is all about efficiency. Cloud computing does away with the need for overcompensating when it comes to IT infrastructure to ensure that higher workloads can be handled. Thanks to cloud-based workload management, an IT department can get increased computing power only when required, having a great effect on operating and capital equipment costs. Workload management is not limited to a single kind of cloud model; hybrid, private, and public cloud models can all be used effectively for workload management.
Most data centers today are using the cloud in order to save energy and on hardware redundancy by using virtualization to increase access and avoid costly IT maintenance. Public clouds are typically used to host online applications and data. However, the potential for the cloud to help manage batch workloads has yet to be realized.
Batch workloads are tailor-made for cloud processing
There are several reasons why batch workloads are great candidates for this technology. These are usually the bulk of the processing done in data centers and are often critical to most companies, ranging from start-ups that are looking to grow as fast as possible to large multinationals that are already established.
The back-end processing involved in operations like handling reservations, automatic teller machines, and online retail is usually handled in critical batch workloads processed in traditional data centers. They are usually extremely important to a business and interruptions have a direct impact on a business’ day-to-day activities. Batch workloads also take considerable resources and – as more businesses move online and operate non-stop – require careful balancing and management to ensure that the capacity is there to handle the workloads. Since batch workloads represent about seventy percent of all workloads, applying cloud technology to increase efficiency can have a considerable effect on a company’s bottom line.
Productive cloud-based workload management
There are several reasons why using workload automation can help a business take full advantage of cloud computing. Fast-growing businesses can scale rapidly to meet increased demands without costly IT and staff expenditures. One of the main features of GMO Cloud thoroughly explains this as it explains the competitiveness that this function brings; visit the High Availability page to find out more.
Established multinational companies can cut costs and make acquisitions more efficient by avoiding the expense of adding on to existing IT infrastructure. These advantages are coupled with the “traditional” advantages of using cloud computing for other tasks, such as energy savings and more efficient hardware management. Rather than doing away with the traditional data center, cloud workload management can be an effective tool to help data centers become more dynamic and better at what they do.
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About the Guest Author:
Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.
