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Cloud Computing and Virtualization – Impact on Backup and Recovery

As any system administrator knows, there are two critical parameters that control your back up solutions and the policy you follow. These are “Recovery Time Objective” and “Recovery Point Objective”. After a short discussion of the two policies, I shall discuss in brief how these parameters are affected by moving your processes to the cloud.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) – This is basically the time it will take to restore your data from your backups and get back to work. Obviously, the RTO would vary based on the kind of business you are in. If you are selling airline tickets online, then you would naturally want a very short RTO. On the other hand, if you are providing an information service to tourists, you can tolerate a larger RTO. The cost of your solution will depend on the time you are willing to wait for full services to resume. RTO is not calculated by IT staff but rather by operational staff, because they define what time period can be accepted.

Recovery Point Objective (RPO) – While RTO is a measure of time needed to resume full operations, RPO is a measure of the data loss you are willing to accept. If your backup occurs at midnight and you have a server failure at noon the next day, you will have lost 12 hours of data even if the recovery time is within the prescribed RTO. Once again, your business dictates the RPO.

The challenges with backing up cloud systems – With cloud-based systems, there is a tendency to create virtual machines at will. There is a sprawl that can occur where new virtual machines are added automatically based on the workload. However, these virtual machines need to be backed up and their RTO and RPO need to be maintained as per company policy.

To simplify the process of backup and recovery, the first step is to create a formal process for adding a virtual machine. This process must also ensure that whenever a virtual machine is created, it is also ensured that an automated backup system is also created. (For further reference, check out GMO Cloud’s Manual on Creating a Backup.)

Every new production system must have an automated backup plan. Once again, this should be a well-considered business decision, because not every virtual machine needs to be backed up.

In many cases, software can simplify the process of monitoring backups. Software is able to generate alerts and dashboards so that system admins are able to see at a glance if their systems are backed up adequately.

Cloud-based backup systems are able to give both recovery time and recovery points that can be measured in seconds rather than hours. This is bringing great new capabilities to businesses.

How do you see backup and recovery using cloud systems? Would you want to keep your backup systems on a different cloud than your production systems? Or would you be happy ensuring that they are on different racks in the same cloud center?

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About the Guest Author:

Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.

How Do Layer-4 Load Balancers Scale Up Resources to Improve Business Performance?

The ever-growing popularity of cloud computing technology is largely due to the fact that it dynamically scales up resources to answer varying demands efficiently. There are three important factors in a business process that needs to be scaled up: The cloud computing system must provide solutions to replication, load balancing, and location mobility to applications.

Virtualization is one of the important aspects of cloud computing technologies. However, virtualization does not solve load balancing. There are different aspects of load balancing (like scaling up name space, session, logic, and transport) that needs to be efficiently addressed. Whether your business handles large volumes of traffic or runs web-based applications and games, load balancing is vital in handling traffic surges. This is where the Layer-4 Load Balancer comes to your rescue.

Load balancing challenges

Load balancers enhance the capacity of applications in both user limit and performance. Acting as reverse proxies, load balancers distribute traffic among different servers in the network. In a conventional network infrastructure, the focus is always on the lower layers of the OSI model. Conventional methods are used to design and host applications. In this setup, user customization and modifications cannot be dynamically handled. In a cloud-based setup, all layers are re-organized to facilitate dynamic updates.

The cloud computing setup emphasizes the need to pull out business intelligence from meta data while integrating the infrastructure at higher layers. For instance, the Layer-4 Load Balancer operates at the transport layer and intuitively handles changing traffic trends. In other words, a VDI environment is created with multiple servers sharing the same IP address. Traffic is shared among these servers. The Layer-4 Load Balancer distributes traffic among different servers based on various aspects. The number of sessions managed by each server is taken into consideration. Traffic is directed to the least busy server to facilitate the fastest response time. The Layer-4 Load Balancer identifies demand for critical resources and scales up load balancing factors like name space, transport, identity and logic. While resources are scaled, higher levels of SLA are met.

How do Layer-4 Load Balancers impact your business?

Layer-4 Load Balancers offer more throughput than Layer-7 load balancers. By properly configuring a Layer-4 Load Balancer, you can squeeze higher levels of gigabyte throughput from low end servers too. The striking feature of load balancing is that resources are scaled according to assigned SLAs. Configuring your load balancer setup is simple and easy. For instance: GMO Cloud offers a highly intuitive web-based API that enables you to provision load balancers quickly. Sudden surges of traffic are effectively handled by dispersing requests to multiple virtual machines. In case one VM fails, traffic can be routed to other VMs in the network. While resources are scaled up, fault tolerance is minimized.

In a cloud-based network, traffic trends are different. The majority of traffic is intra-cloud. Moreover, network infrastructure is taking a major revamp. In such conditions, it is important to adapt to changing technologies to stay ahead in the competition. Joining the cloud computing community is the right choice to achieve more production and performance.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Kaushik Das is an engineer, research analyst and a technical writer in the areas wireless, IT, enterprise software, next-generation hosting, storage and renewable energy. He specializes in competitive analysis, market research, industry insights, white paper and actionable web content development.

Social Media Applications and Cloud Computing

The new information era belongs to social media. Facebook and Twitter have become entwined in our daily lives, with Google hot on their heels to get in the game as well. The backbone of most prominent social media services is the cloud. But why exactly is cloud technology so important to social media?

Rapid, instant, scaling

This is perhaps the most important factor, one which has allowed for the creation of so many social media sites. One must remember that all the sites which are popular today actually started off on a very small scale. Mark Zuckerberg and friends launched Facebook from his dorm room. But the reason they could expand and scale was cloud computing technology.

Scaling from one server to thousands of server instances is a must for success. If you wish to do this with traditional infrastructure, you are certain to fail, not to mention the capital expenditure involved in such massive operations.

Requirement of massive amount of storage

Another problem faced by social media companies is the requirements for data storage. Users upload three million photographs a day on Facebook on average. You can imagine the amount of storage space required to hold such amounts of data. This article further explains the issues faced by Facebook in this area.

Minimum required support staff

Starting small is the norm in social media circles. Generally, these are one-man shows which get converted into mega sites. Unfortunately, only one out of a thousand such sites survive to make it big. Therefore, there is a need to work with fewer resources. Technical staff, like server administrators require a lot funds. Working with less staff is a necessity.

Cloud computing reduces the required technical support staff to a minimum, releasing much needed resources for other activities. My previous post has more information on this topic, so be sure to check it out.

You can also learn more about setup services from GMO cloud, which will reduce the cost of cloud implementation.

Cost considerations

Cloud services allow for phenomenal savings in comparison to a traditional datacenter setup. The ‘pay as you go’ model suits small social media sites, which can expand and scale, without bothering about concomitant expenses.

Conclusion

Overall, the marriage between social media sites and cloud computing is made in heaven. Entrepreneurs, with limited resources, can now dream to own their own social media sites and hope to become czars of this universe. Cloud technology can empower these people due to its inherent ability to scale up effortlessly, provide infinite storage capacity without sacrificing quality. We can do all this at less cost and more efficiently.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

Has Server Administration Become Redundant in a Cloud Environment?

Is a server administrator really required in these days of Iaas? This is an important question to answer when considering cloud based infrastructure. Let’s assume that an online business requires a single dedicated server. The operations are stable and they do not foresee any surge in traffic. Initially, they would require a server administrator who would install the operating system, database, anti-virus, application software, tools and other scripts which are essential for running a server. This is obviously not a job for a novice. In addition to the technical work, the server administrator has to coordinate with the data center people.

Managing Multiple Servers

The situation is a lot more complicated when you envision a multiple server environment. In the case of traditional server setup, there is a need for load balancing. This can be taken care of through the data center or the system administrator can install his own version of load balancing software. But again it has to be determined what kind of server configuration would be required. If there are many computations involved, you can opt for higher processor speed. In the case of multiple transactions, higher RAM would be required. This job obviously cannot be handled by anyone other than an experienced server administrator.

Maintenance and Monitoring of Servers

There is a need to maintain and monitor servers 24×7. Some think that once a server is setup, it doesn’t need any maintenance. This is a grave error on the part of business managers. The online environment can be higher erratic and can cause servers to go down quickly. You need to monitor your servers all the time.

Maintenance means applying patches, upgrades and additional software when required. This is an ongoing process, which is unavoidable.

Cloud-Based Infrastructure

Let’s look at cloud services from the standpoint of server administrator requirements. The operating system is pre-installed. There is no need to upgrade and maintain servers as far as the operating system is concerned. One would assume that you don’t need a system admin now that you have someone else doing the job for you. This would be a simplistic approach. I have been examining various cloud service providers and I invariably observe that the technical issues are way beyond a layman. For example, how do you decide which kind of instance you require? Do you need a fast processor or more RAM. Who will decide for you? I’m talking about the basics here. When you come to load balancing and failover, you get into technical matters which can be appreciated only by a server administrator.

Conclusion

A server administrator is perhaps unavoidable in any environment. For a single server or a simple, stable multi-server environment, I would recommend that a business opt for a consultant who will initially set up the cloud instances and provide guidelines for future operations, or in GMO Cloud’s case, subscribe to additional set-up services. You can always hire a junior server administrator working full time for you. This will reduce your operational costs. In any case, a technical hand is required when operating hardware in any environment.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.

How Does the Cloud Help Businesses Successfully Adopt BYOD Programs?

Changing economic conditions and increasing business infrastructure needs have made it critical for businesses to create optimized IT solutions. With that in mind, ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) is a new buzz term in IT circles, a policy that allows employees to corporate networks. BYOD programs have become increasingly popular because it can improve employee productivity levels.

Gone are the days when each employee had to use different electronic devices for different purposes. For instance, top management folks might use a desktop, a laptop and two or three mobile devices. Today, the revolution in the mobile segment has made it possible to use a single high-end device to handle all the business activities of an employee. When a company allows the BYOD policy, employees can carry one personal device to connect to work networks, access data and emails, and attend to personal and business calls as well. Integration of business processes makes life easier for employees.

Second, employees feel happier if they are allowed to use a specific brand. If you love Android phones, you can use an Android phone. Psychologically, the employee feels more comfortable on an Android phone, and this spills over into job satisfaction, improving productivity levels. In addition, employees have the expertise to operate their chosen devices efficiently. So, businesses processes run at a faster pace. And employees will take extra care while handling their personal devices.

Third, a BYOD environment offers the flexibility for employees to work from home. Whether you are in the office, at home or traveling, business processes can still be managed effectively. Video conferencing is a vital aspect of business delegations. With a BYOD environment, video conferencing can be efficiently arranged.

What about security?

While everyone talks about the immense benefits of BYOD policies, corporate data security is a concern. Businesses have to deal with growing online threats, network intrusions, and license agreements. In addition, the IT team needs to handle new requests for adding personal devices into the network every day. Stolen or lost devices create another headache for data management teams. Although higher security policies are in place, they cannot comprehensively manage BYOD environments. Cloud computing technologies offer the flexibility for businesses to effectively handle BYOD issues. For more on this, check out GMO Cloud’s Security Page.

In a BYOD environment, businesses need to implement intuitive mobile device management solutions (MDM). Cloud-based MDM solutions allow businesses to overcome security challenges. Every device that accesses the network goes through an authentication process. Personal devices within the network are given specific privileges based on certain criteria like location, designation, group and IP address. ‘Containerized’ data allows you to protect critical data from getting leaked. Corporate data is isolated from other mobile apps. In a traditional IT infrastructure, this is not possible.

By implementing powerful cloud-based infrastructure, businesses can use the power of a BYOD environment to speed up the performance. The key to success in business lies in how quickly company can adapt to technological changes. BYOD is the new trend. Businesses that embrace this new concept have a better chance of staying ahead of competition.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Kaushik Das is an engineer, research analyst and a technical writer in the areas wireless, IT, enterprise software, next-generation hosting, storage and renewable energy. He specializes in competitive analysis, market research, industry insights, white paper and actionable web content development.