GMO Cloud

Holiday Season, Online Stores And Their Servers – Part 2

Why did Hank’s ‘HanKing’ e-commerce store go down like a pack of cards? There are many reasons and numerous variables which decide the fate of a website. Unfortunately no single factor is solely responsible for deciding web server load. Therefore the decision on the number of servers required and their capacity depends on the risk you are ready to take.

How does one decide server load?

There are many ways to estimate load on a particular web server with a certain configuration. Mostly the formula for server capacity is highly dependent on CPU utilization. Other factors such as internal memory, cache and gateway capacity do not come into picture. Simulating load on a web server has its limitations. Nevertheless, transactions per second, average response time and queue length are other factors which come into play. It is clear that a novice like Hank could never have understood the calculations which determine server capacity.

 Load balancing  

When you have multiple web servers catering to a single website, the issues of load sharing become more complex. DNS Round robin is fairly common while there are many other advanced load balancing techniques. The inherent problem with some of these is the fact that  a single point of failure may lead to a cascading effect and quickly lead to a collapse of the entire web server chain. This is probably what happened to ‘HanKing’ when the website simply went down in a short period of time.

If you are running a website with high traffic and horde of users, load balancers are just what makes cloud technology so apt. GMO Cloud America, Inc. is offering load balancers which has a feature of auto-scale and round robin as well.

Server Capacity and efficiency 

It’s rather important to ensure that website visitors experience unhampered and smooth transactions and least frustration in completing their objective. Any deterioration in server performance can lead to visitors abandoning a site which would in turn lead to lost opportunity.  This would become a serious issue, more because estimation of these occurrences due to performance issues is quite difficult. One of the ways to overcome such a problem is to utilize only 80% of server capacity. Here too the estimates vary – some may put a limit of 50% as ideal server load.  Efficiency of transactions also depends on the type of application being run on a server.

Hank’s solution

Obviously server load capacity estimation etc. was beyond the understanding of Hank. But he was a shrewd businessman. Once his technical staff came up with a certain number of servers which would cater to the estimated traffic to his website, he simply doubled up the numbers. However, as a result of doubling up his servers, he had to pay double the cost for the sake of safety. What he didn’t cater for was the sudden spike on server load. Ultimately, the inevitable did happen.

Conclusion

Deciding server capacity is still not a perfect science. There are many factors which ultimately decide your fate or that of your website. Scaling up your servers to meet surge in traffic during Holiday season can lead to unnecessary expenses, which one can least afford during the prevailing highly competitive market.

In my next post, we will look at how Hank could have taken recourse to cloud technology to optimize resources and also save money. ‘Till then, happy holidays.

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

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.

Holiday Season, The Drifting Cloud And Online Stores

The holiday season brings cheer and joy to every one of us. But the happiest lot are the online infrastructure providers. The requirement of hardware jumps manifold at the beginning of December and the demand continues way into the month of love and roses – I mean February. These winter months are also full of frenetic activity for online stores and ecommerce sites. In the next few posts I will be discussing the hypothetical lives of some business owners who are likely to be in the thick of things.

The story of Hank Chikkoo

Hank inherited a Mom & Pop store at East end, London; otherwise he didn’t have much to show for himself till he decided to go online. Probably that period was in a way the end of his halcyon days while being extremely exciting and thoroughly enjoyable. Getting a website up and about was a challenge. The problems started appearing immediately in the form of technical expertise. No one was ready to work for him exclusively because the products he traded in were low brow and downright unromantic. Either the tech boys went for big names or start-ups with fancy ideas. Selling shoes and imitation jewellery was certainly not on top of the agenda for brilliant programmers.

The other issue which consumed his time was the selection of online infrastructure.  Hiring dedicated hardware like web servers and choosing different compatible software required technical knowhow which he didn’t possess. Finally, it turned out alright after all. Hank’s ecommerce site went live in the winter of year 2009. It did so well that Hank was compelled to concentrate his efforts on his online store and shut his shop at the East end.

When hank’s online store blanked out in the winter of 2012

For Hank it was a winter of discontent. His online venture ‘HanKing’ was doing well and was supported by fifty web servers which was quite an achievement. Hank was all excited about the coming Holiday season and had discussed the requirements with his staff consisting of a few software and a couple of hardware guys. They had recently moved from a traditional html platform to popular CMS called Joomla. This was a significant move by ‘HanKing’ and Hank was proud of his store. He had more than a thousand items on sale and the sales were expected to hit the roof in the coming New Year. And then all hell broke loose.

Estimating surge in traffic and online hardware requirement

On Christmas Eve of 2012, all fifty web servers of ‘HanKing’ were buzzing and business was bustling and bursting at the seams. From a mere thousand visitors a day, the traffic had surged to twenty thousand. Hank was literally looking forward to a Caribbean holiday which he had been dreaming of for a long time.  In addition to selling items online, Hank had also tied up with several manufacturers for providing special offers and promotions.  Right when things were going well, his online shop went up in smoke.

To be continued – What went horribly wrong with his online store? What could Hank have done to avoid the disaster? I will come to that part of Hank’s story in my next post. Till then, I wish all of you a happy holiday.

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, Twitter and Pinterest.

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.

Some Interesting News On Cloud Infrastructure And Computing

While trawling the net I found some interesting news on cloud infrastructure and computing other than the usual cost saving mantra which we keep hearing. The first concerns comparison of top public cloud vendors and the other on the competence or rather incompetence of technical staff in handling cloud infrastructure. Both have important lessons embedded in them. So here goes.

It is interesting to note that the revenue for all the vendors is increasing at a fast clip, which only goes to show that the cloud is here to stay and is not drifting away any time soon.

Small as it may seem, GMO Cloud America, Inc compared to these big cloud players have very competitive offerings with regard to cost-saving and flexibility solutions. It stays as the unbeatable and most affordable cloud hosting solution in the market compared to other cloud vendors, big or small.

43 per cent of UK IT professionals rate their knowledge of Cloud computing as poor

Isn’t this interesting? When you consider that the entire digital/online community is agog with cloud infrastructure, this is a surprising confession. And according to the survey, 54 %   had not undergone training in the past 12 months, and 53 per cent don’t plan to do so. This is startling news. Now how in the heavens (I mean the cloud) are they going to survive? As I have said time and again, few technical staff is enthusiastic about the cloud because they would become redundant in that environment and would lose their current job. This puts the brake on management plans to move into the cloud. There is tremendous opposition to the move simply because of the catch-22 situation.

If the technical staff is retrained to manage other operational matters, the shift to the cloud may be more palatable.  Moreover the organization would benefit from better efficiency and productivity. The point I want to make is that a company must rejig or reorganize the entire management structure to accommodate concerns of technical staff before deciding on the changeover to cloud.

Conclusion

IaaS is going to grow at a very fast clip. It is advisable to holistically look at the changes required in organizational structure rather than treat migration to cloud infrastructure as a routine technical issue.

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, Twitter and Pinterest.

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.

Do You Need Hand-holding When Embracing Cloud Infrastructure?

This is exactly the type of question a small business owner or a start-up is likely to ask. The answer is yes. There are some critical situations when hand-holding is imperative while in some circumstances it may be optional. Here are the inflexion points where a newbie to the cloud infrastructure needs to pay attention.

Setting up the cloud instances

In my opinion this is the most important situation when you need assistance. Now many of you would have heard that setting up cloud instances is a simple affair. This cannot be farther than the truth. I vividly remember the first time I tried migrating to the Amazon EC2 cloud. Believe me when I say that I was totally bewildered and I am a tech guy myself. I had problems with my database which somehow did not respond to my commands. The pricing itself was a tricky issue. Of course things have changed over the years but I suppose that grasping the technicalities of cloud infrastructure takes time. If an entrepreneur with a brilliant business idea decides to do it by himself, the task of setting up cloud instances can be daunting and frustrating. In the case of big cloud vendors like Rackspace and Amazon EC2, you need a consultant who knows the ropes well. Windows Azure can be equally challenging. No doubt independent cloud consultants are having a merry time setting up cloud infrastructure for their clients.

Running, updating and maintaining cloud infrastructure

In a cloud the more things remain the same more they change. The operational environment is highly dynamic. Fluctuating demand, requirement of other services like load balancing can be tough to manage without technical knowhow. This fact is not fully appreciated till you are already knee deep in operations. Grappling with emergency situations should not be left to fate. Remember that your business suffers when your website or web based services are down. Getting someone who knows the technicalities is a good practice.

Managed services

But if you have to maintain in-house technical staff, the very purpose of cloud infrastructure is lost. Ideally I would like to handover all maintenance to the cloud infrastructure provider. Unfortunately big cloud vendors don’t provide you that option. You have to hire an outside consultant to manage the daily and emergency tasks.

Managed services including setting up cloud instances are provided by some cloud vendors. Identifying these providers can save you a good amount of time and money in the long run. The cost of such services should be factored in when calculating your expenditure on infrastructure.

There are three types of Professional Managed Services that GMO Cloud America, Inc. offers. These are for security, monitoring and restoration, and setup services. These services are designed to reduce the burden of server administration, cut costs, and increase your business efficiency.

Conclusion

The truth is that you still need technical knowledge to setup and run cloud instances. It is advisable to choose a cloud vendor who can hold your hand while you take the perilous journey into the cloud. In my view, there is no point ignoring the basic fact that cloud infrastructure is after all based on technology and requires technical knowledge to manage. There are numerous other issues including routine maintenance which you must entrust to a reliable technical person. It would be ideal if your cloud vendor can act as a facilitator in this regard.

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, Twitter and Pinterest.

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.

Revamping Business Processes To Align With The Cloud

They say that history repeats itself. There was a time when every software tool was developed in-house. The IT department dictated how organizations worked and then we saw the big boys of ERP step into the business turf. I remember the confusion and chaos which accompanied adaptation of ERP packages like SAP and Baan. Most of the ERP implementations were massive failures because the employees who were used to the old ways were reluctant to learn the new ways of doing business.  In a way the cloud has ushered in the old by challenging existing business processes. Organizations are now learning that migrating to the cloud is not as simple as toggling a switch. Every successful cloud implementation will have to undergo painful pangs of business transformation. Business processes and cloud adoption must happen simultaneously in order to be effective.

Will the CIO become redundant?

This is a Catch 22 situation. The IT department has to work hard to achieve successful migration to the cloud which will in turn make them redundant. The tech guys, in a way, are working to sack themselves. I know that these things are talked about in whispers but the fact remains that this is not an ideal situation.

The question is how to manage an IT workforce with such a huge dilemma? I have no simple answers. One possible solution is to transform hitherto purely IT assets into business process enablers. By doing this you will at least ensure that the IT staff doesn’t face a bleak future. A few redundancies will be inevitable, but then we are all used to downsizing.

Coming to the question of CIO, there are two distinct possibilities. One is that such a position will no longer exist in future. The information stream of an organization will simply merge into management processes. Another view is that whatever may be the state of affairs, a CIO will be required to manage the new order of things. Software will not disappear, nor will the infrastructure requirement, only the color and shape of technology will change. Outsourcing of software as a service and Infrastructure as a service in the cloud will certainly require extreme adaptation by the new CIO.

 Will the cloud lead to flatter organizational structure?

The deduction is easier in this case. Of course organization structures will dramatically flatten and fold up. Multi-disciplinary managers will appear on the scene and will need to multi-task various functions within an organization.  An HR boss may eventually handle IT infrastructure by outsourcing to a cloud vendor. Managed cloud services will be both effective and economical. The same HR boss would also manage software using Saas providers.

Conclusion

Ultimately, in-house staff of an organization will deal purely with business processes and core management activities. The focus will be on sales and margins. Rest everything will be left to the cloud to handle. This ideal situation will emerge only when present day business owners will be ready to face challenges in the way they work and organize themselves.

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, Twitter and Pinterest.

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.