12.09.09
“Private Cloud”? Been there, done that.
Cloud technologies… it’s all everyone is talking about at the moment. You can’t scan a blog site, pick up a magazine or log on to any technology forum without have “Cloud” shoved in your face.
And I’m as guilty as everyone else! When ones livelihood depends on the adoption and deployment of technology you sometime have to kick back and ride the wave and certainly there are new technologies emerging which are simply fantastic and would not have been possible without the recent developments in browser/OS/platform technologies. The Software as a Service Cloud is probably the most visible evidence of this, I can now write a document, put together a spreadsheet and edit graphics and a myriad of other cool stuff using free online services – brilliant!
But there’s another side (or two) to the picture. Let’s not forget about the techncal layers, the Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service versions of the “Cloud” definition. In particular I’m more than a little smug that, what I would have termed well designed, internal infrastructures are now being heralded as ‘Private Clouds’.
We did a project in the Middle East nearly two years ago which involved the deployment of a virtualised environment for a corporate development team. The idea was to provide the team with a scalable platform within which they could spin up or down servers and systems without needing to refer to the IT department for every build. The stated business goals here were improved productivity, reduced overhead costs and flexibility with control. The control element came into play by allocating ‘points’ to each developer allowing them to create and use ny specification of virtual server or servers as long as the ‘cost’ fell inside their points allocation. Simple, easy and all delivered within the functionality of the chosen underlying technology.
This, dear reader, is a Private Cloud, we were doing it before it had a name! Of course there are now entire solutions built around the idea of the Dynamic Data Centre and the technology has moved on to allow even greater levels of administration, deployment and management to be achieved but the concept is the same; abstract away from the hardware and introduce services which are scalable, flexible and resilient without even needing to think about how these features are achieved.
And pretty much any business can take advantage of this kind of solution for a minimal level of investment. I’ll put good money on most businesses have at least one important if no critical systems or service which runs as a single point of failure. It’s economics, running multiple physical servers for resilience costs money. Not only in the original purchase of the time and it’s ongoing update/upgrade/replacement cycle, but also the power, cooling and administration side of things too.
By using virtualisaion and some central storage (this is were some investment may be needed) EVERY service can be resilient, monitored and flexible in it’s consumption of resources. Private Clouds are not just for giant enterprises and Universities they are for anyone who values their technical infrastructure and who would love to see their IT move from being an overhead cost to forming part of the strategic assets of the business.
