Cloud Terminology Simplified

Almost every corporation in the world is trying to understand how they can optimize their usage of cloud computing resources. Each has their own requirements that make their decision unique. Some decisions are driven by cost reductions while others are focused on redundancy or performance.Don't feel like you are behind if this article was the result of Google search that is getting you started. The terminology used by the various vendors is inconsistent but I am hoping the following will give you a solid base as you go forward with you research.





Sample Mobile Data Center

1. On Premise - this is the traditional approach to a data center. Your data center resides on your premise (in your building or mobile data center). You manage everything from power and cooling to the hardware and software. Your information technology team is responsible for everything.
• Private Cloud - many companies have employed virtualization and private cloud software (eg. Openstack, Microsoft System Center,VMware vCloud) to stand up their own cloud within their on premise data center. Virtualization allows for the dynamic configuration of your servers while keeping control of the environment.
2. In The Cloud - this is utilizing a third party to host your data center on their hardware in their facility. The third party (eg. Microsoft Azure, Rackspace, Amazon EC2) is responsible for many of the operational factors that companies using on premise have to deal with. This includes things like disaster recovery, continuity planning, power management, and hardware capacity planning to name a few. In most instances the hardware and software is shared in a way where the actual physical hardware you are on is unknown. The cloud provider manages the resources which are usually "thinly provisioned" to allow for the physical resources to be over allocated as all virtual machines are not simultaneously using all their resources. Provisioning more\less resources (servers, ram, disk space, processor) is as simple as adjusting it via a web based interface or simply using it and getting charged. There are two primary methods of moving to the cloud.
1. Cloud Computing – your company gets provisioned servers (virtual machines) to use on a private subnet to stand up your virtual datacenter.  In this instance of cloud your company is still responsible for things like application patching, load balancing, and server right sizing to name a few. Although, without (This may also be referred to as a private cloud)
2. Hosted Services - your company utilizes a fully hosted service. In this method, just the applications are exposed (eg. Microsoft Office 365 for Exchange, SharePoint, and more). Your company is only responsible for limited application based administration and there is no exposure to the physical hardware being used in the environment. By giving up control of things like software version and application level settings you will have less responsibility.
3. Hybrid – this is using a combination of the options based on your needs. Hybrid could mean 100% in the cloud with some applications hosted or on premise integrated with cloud services. This is the most likely situation because there is no one stop shop for everything needed for your corporation including standard IT services, payroll, learning management, etc.

When choosing the right options for you keep in mind that there is complexity when using the cloud. Some things to consider are identity management and the need to federate your cloud solutions for a seamless user experience. You will also want to consider how your local computers are going to authenticate to AD (especially if there is a network outage) and how to host local services like print servers. Your network engineers will need to understand your bandwidth utilization on  your ISP.

Every enterprise will have its own solution based on its requirements. Understand all the options and the cost implications to choose the option that is right for you.