The purpose of this blog is, as we have done with the public and private clouds in previous blogs, to discuss the pros and cons of the hybrid cloud.   

In addition, we will present a table that compares the benefits and drawbacks of the different types of clouds so that the readers will have an easy way to compare and contrast each of these options.   

Hybrid Cloud - General Description 

As the name suggests, this model attempts to extract the best of both worlds.  An organization could choose to run some applications on the public cloud while leaving some others, maybe the ones dealing with the most sensitive information or the ones that require very fast and bandwidth hungry access to data, within a private cloud.  Both clouds can be easily connected, with data flowing between one and the other, and even ran by the same provider, keeping things as simple as possible.  The full system that would result from connecting the private and public clouds is a hybrid cloud. 

Hybrid Cloud - Benefits and Drawbacks 

In reality, a hybrid cloud only has benefits with respect to either a private or a public cloud.  It allows a company to utilize the type of resource best suited to each specific task. 

For example, an organization might use a public cloud service for archived data but continue to maintain in-house storage for operational customer data.  Another example might be to run a time-critical application within the private cloud while running other non-time-critical applications in the public cloud.  Ideally, the hybrid approach allows a business to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness that a public cloud computing environment offers without exposing mission-critical applications and data to potential third-party vulnerabilities.   

It is important to decide how the hybrid cloud will be implemented since this will have an impacts as to how the system will work.  The options are: 

1)  Via cloud storage software - This is, conceptually, the simplest approach, where a company would have both clouds running the same software, effectively working as a single and unified system.  Having said this, it is difficult to use this approach since there are still no standards that go across both types of clouds and few vendors can provide this type of offer and even fewer can do it reliably.  It will be the best solution in the future but, at this point in time, it is not yet a fully viable option. 

2)  Via cloud storage gateways - These gateways sit between private and public cloud storage. They translate between both protocols and perform data migration of information from private into public cloud storage and vice versa, usually via policy engines. 

3)  Through application integration - All public cloud storage services offer APIs to interact with private cloud storage software and cloud gateways, but these APIs can also be used to directly integrate applications with public cloud storage. Cloud storage APIs enable custom in-house and commercial applications to tap into public cloud storage. 

Comparison across Private, Public and Hybrid Clouds 

The table below can be used to compare the three approaches that we have been discussing during the last 3 weeks.  As mentioned, the hybrid options tends to allow the user to extract the best of the private and public cloud options and, more often than not, is the ideal solution for a company. 

References:
1)  The Ultimate Guide to Cloud Computing - MagBook, Cloud Pro - www.magbooks.com - @DennisMagBooks
2)  IDC Blog 
3) Wikipedia
4) PC Mag series of articles titled 'What is Cloud Computing?'

After last week's post on the public cloud, we will now focus on the other end of the spectrum and discuss key characteristics, pros and cons of the private cloud.   

As we initially discussed two weeks ago, the private cloud can be a bit difficult to clearly define and differentiate from the traditional data centers.  First of all, to make sure that we are not being 'cloud washed' (i.e. sold as cloud something that is not), let's review the key attributes we need to look for when analysing an private cloud offering. 

Private Cloud - General Description 

It is also called an internal cloud or enterprise cloud.  It offers functionality "as a service".  It is fully managed by a cloud provider but is deployed over a company intranet or hosted datacenter. It is meant to provide most of the benefits of a public cloud - scalability, ease of access and use - while improving security and availability from a speed and guaranteed up-time perspectives.  In general, a private cloud shares few, if any, resources with other organizations. 

Private Cloud - Key Attributes 

1)  Location - In principle, the servers and other infrastructure that make the private cloud can be located anywhere but, normally, it will be housed within the company's premises.  This often makes managers more comfortable regarding security and compliance. 

2)  Resources - In general, the company itself will provide the hardware infrastructure (servers and connectivity) but it will be an external cloud service provider that will facilitate everything else - management of the infrastructure and the operating system, security, S/W updates...  This model will allow a company to transfer many of the day-to-day responsibilities of its IT department to an external team, thus allowing it's own internal resources to focus on other types of development that can provide more value added to the company. 

3)  Linearly scalable - There should be no limit to the amount of capacity a company or user can access.  This does not mean that the company will not have to worry about growing the infrastructure when the servers go over capacity - at the end of the day, the hardware infrastructure is its responsibility - but it does mean that this process will be totally transparent to the users and, in principle, will be done automatically by the service provider.  So, for example, any server additions, server upgrades or data migrations should happen in the background, managed by the cloud provider and with no impact on daily activities.   

4)  Virtualization - A private cloud will mainly use two types of virtualization: 
4.1)  Storage virtualization - Pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. 
4.2)  Server virtualization - Pooling of infrastructure resources - such as physical servers, processors and operating systems - into what appears to be a single source of computing power.  This reduces the level of complexity the user needs to deal with when interacting with the system while increasing the utilization of the infrastructure. 

The creation of this virtual environment is what allows the scalability and transparency discussed in paragraph 3.  Virtualization is key for all cloud types but it is very important to make sure that it is being used by the private cloud provider that you are using because, otherwise, you are not 'buying' a private cloud but rather a conventional data center. 

5)  Chargeback and Multi-Tenancy - These capabilities are not always required by the client but the provider should be able to provide the service. 
5.1)  Chargeback or Showback - This capability allows each department or division's transactions and storage use to be tracked so IT administrators can see where the bulk of the storage burden is.  If fees are charged based on usage, this service is called chargeback, otherwise it is called showback. 
5.2)  Multi-Tenancy - It is required when customers share an application or resource and each customer's resources and data can't be available / visible to other tenants on the cloud.  Depending on the way the company is setup, this may not be a requirement but, when data usage needs to be clearly limited and restricted, this will be a key attribute. 

Private Cloud - Benefits 

The main benefits will be around control / security, availability and speed of access.   

1)  Control / Security - Only your company is accessing the data and programs in the private cloud so, the perception is that the information and resources are safer.  I specifically say 'the perception' because public clouds normally have very strong security and protection capabilities and, if well ran, may prove safer than any firewalls and system barriers a company may put in place.   

Another benefit from a control perspective is that, in highly regulated industries, such as banking or insurance, it may be very important to always know the exact physical location of your data.  For example, for many European institutions, customer data can only be kept within the borders of the European Union and, in some cases, of the specific country where the customer resides.  Even if your agreement with the service provider of the public cloud clearly states possible locations where your data may reside, where your local regulator to request proof, it could be extremely difficult to demonstrate that this clause has been respected at all times. 

2)  Availability - Cloud services are 'everywhere' these days but the industry is still in its infancy.  As result, contractual agreements are still being developed and refined and, at the moment, it is easy to see that there is no established standard or formal agreement around the contractual minimum availability of the system.  That is, it is not clear what will be covered by whom if the service were to go down for 1 hour, 1 day or 1 week.   

If you have full control of the system, problems may still arise, but you will be much more able to determine the likelihood of an event and also to avoid it and fix it should an issue arise. 

3)  Speed of Access - A public cloud is, by definition, part of the Internet.  The key benefit of the Internet is accessibility and reach, not necessarily performance or speed.  If a company needs to read/write large amounts of data very quickly or needs to run applications with large bandwidth requirements, the Internet may not provide the performance required where the private cloud can be built and managed to ensure 

Private Cloud - Drawbacks 

The main drawback will be around scalability since the company is still responsible for setting-up, maintaining and growing the infrastructure as necessary.   

After reviewing public and private clouds, the two ends of the spectrum, next week we will focus on hybrid clouds - definition and pros & cons.  We will also provide a simple table comparing each of the options around cloud implementation.  These three blogs together will give you a good view and understanding of the alternatives and their corresponding benefits.  

References:
1)  The Ultimate Guide to Cloud Computing - MagBook, Cloud Pro - www.magbooks.com - @DennisMagBooks
2)  IDC Blog
3)  Wikipedia
4)  PC Mag series of articles titled 'What is Cloud Computing?' 

Whether you are considering moving to a public or a private cloud, you need to be aware and carefully consider all of the benefits, as well as all the drawbacks, that such a move may entail.   Let’s look at each model separately.

Public Cloud – Benefits

1)    Operational expense with no major up-front investment – This is what we would traditionally call moving from a cap-ex model – with additional on-going expenses – to a purely op-ex model.

And, because there is no, or minimal, need to do infrastructure planning, a company can be up-and-running in a very short period of time.

2)  Particularly well suited for apps that easily scale horizontally - All software commercially available for the cloud  - such as Salesforce.com, Kashflow, Netsuite, Microsoft Office 365 - has this property, meaning that it can take advantage of running concurrently across many different servers.  If the application you will be porting can also take advantage of parallel processing, you can be sure that your processing and execution times will be reduced which, in turn, will mean faster results.  

2)  Charges directly based on usage, normally according to gigabytes transmitted and bandwidth – You only pay for what you use and you can use as much as you want.

Included in the charges are all the costs the provider has around running and maintaining the infrastructure – new servers, location rent, licenses, cooling – so you can be assured that there are no hidden or additional costs.

3)  No need for capacity planning – Because the cloud can absorb as much or as little work-load as you may have, the need to do capacity planning disappears.  

Seasonal peaks are not longer a problem and, just as importantly, you will have plenty of space to launch a new product, run new projects and tests even if they are resource- and data-intensive.  This, in turn, allows companies to be more agile and responsive, which is directly related to the next item in this list.

4)  Faster time-to-market – Because you are not resource-constraint and because you can take advantage of the programming tools available in the cloud (more on this in a later blog), you can reduce the time it takes you to develop and launch a new product or service.  This will be particularly true if you use the standard interfaces your service provider has available.  Any customization you require will probably add time to the development process.

In addition, because, by definition, everything deployed in the cloud is, potentially, accessible by everyone, reaching your customers will be easy, wherever they happen to be.

5)  Overall greater efficiency and a greener approach to computation - Because of the way resources are shared and utilized, power consumption is minimized and thus, so is carbon emission and water usage and their negative effect on the environment.  This has positive effects for your company from several perspectives.  First of all, the cheaper it is for providers to run their business, the cheaper they can offer their services to you.  In addition, more and more countries and industries are imposing limits, or at least guidelines, on energy consumption - making a power-hungry area of your business greener will help your company's overall 'score'.

Public Cloud - Drawbacks

1)  Lack of standardized terminology, legal agreements and SLAs - Although many engineers and industry practitioners will tell you that this is, by no means, a new technology, its commercial application is fairly recent and has expanded at an incredible rate.  As result, terminology used by different providers and expectations voiced by different customers vary greatly.  When a company approaches a provider, it cannot ask for a standard agreement following common industry practice, there isn't yet one!  The default approach at the moment is minimum responsibility by the provider with no clear definition of indemnities, legal responsibility, liabilities, insurance or remediation processes.  We will discuss this topic in more detail in a future post.

2)  Not clearly defined software licensing agreements - All software providers have clear licensing agreements for their 'conventional' packages but many do not yet have a clear policy around the cloud.  

For example, working through licensing with Microsoft has never been easy but trying to license MS Office Professional Plus actually requires a difficult-to-read 10-page document.  Having said that, Microsoft does have a single licensing policy valid across the world for their cloud services.  

Other companies may have different policies for different products and different geographies, depending on where they see the greatest demand and push.  For example, accounting software vendor CCH is quickly moving forward to licensing its on-demand cloud-based offering in the US but does not plan to do so in the near future in Europe.  As result, if you are an international player and are looking for a single solution across all locations, you need to make sure your provider applies a single world-wide policy.

3)  Public Cloud is less bess suited for apps:
a)  With a constant workflow – One of the problems the cloud aims to solve is capacity planning.  An application with a constant workflow can easily be accounted and planned for so, although it can certainly run in the cloud, it would be just as easily left in your data center.
b)  That cannot take advantage of parallel processing – One of the key benefits of cloud computing is that you have hundreds or thousands of servers at your disposal.  You can use one or many at a given time.  If your application can run concurrently on many servers, the run time will greatly decrease and you're business processes will run faster.  If the application is highly serial, you will not be able to realize this benefit.
c)  That have high band-width requirements – Connection to the public cloud is, by definition, a connection to the Internet which will normally be relatively slow.  Any application that needs to often input/output large amounts of data will suffer as result.  

4)  Porting may be a major effort - If you work for a large organization with thousands of in-house developed applications that are very interdependent, you may be in for a very long ride to port all the software to the cloud.  If this is the case, you may be better served by moving to the cloud functions that are not directly tied to this in-house infrastructure and to develop all new applications in the cloud but leaving this legacy software where it is today.  

5)  Relevance of location for audit and compliance reasons - Some industries, such as banking, have very stringent requirements when it comes to where data can be stored.  For example, the EU does not allow sensitive financial customer data to be stored outside the EU border and  some countries go even further not allowing data to be stored outside their own borders.  For a provider that bases its business model in using computing power anywhere it is available, this can be a drawback.  In any case, how can the provider demonstrate to your company and the authorities that this requirement is being met?    

All in all, it is extremely well suited for small players that have a small amount of code to port and can take advantage of the great SaaS offering to build and grow their business.  Larger players will need to weigh in issues around porting, currently established licensing agreements and competitive advantages provided by the current computing environment.  Both types of players will need to study their industry's audit/compliance requirements, data security, bandwidth required by their applications and the very small print in the contracts and SLAs.  

For the larger players, or some smaller players with very specific needs, you may be better off working within a private cloud or developing a hybrid approach.  We will look at the pros and cons of these options in our next post.

References:
1)  The Ultimate Guide to Cloud Computing - MagBook, Cloud Pro - www.magbooks.com - @DennisMagBooks
2)  IDC Blog 
3) Wikipedia
4) PC Mag series of articles titled 'What is Cloud Computing?'

There are three types of clouds:

1)  Public Cloud – This is the type of cloud that has been discussed in previous blogs.  In general, when we discuss the cloud, we are discussing a public cloud. 
Applications and computer power located somewhere on the Internet.  The user does not own the infrastructure, doesn’t know where the software or processes are running and accesses it via an Internet connection. 
Most consumer software resides on the public cloud – Facebook, Google Apps are just two examples.

2)  Private Cloud – Some practitioners will say this is an oxymoron since the cloud cannot, conceptually, be a private service.  In this case, there is no public operator and everything – hardware and software – is provided by the user. 
It may sound little different from a conventional data center, where your servers and apps are hosted in your own servers, whether or not they are on your premises and whether they are ran by you or by a specialist provider.
Having said this, it can be argued that there are some very relevant differences, the main being:

a.  ‘Virtualised’ infrastructure
b.  Special-purpose software that allows IT users to treat the infrastructure as a centralized pool of computing resources
c.  Automation, meaning the tasks can be handled without the intervention of an IT department
d.  Ability to measure and monitor resource allocation

3)  Hybrid Cloud – As the name suggest, this model attempts to extract the best of both worlds.   An organization could choose to run some applications on the public cloud while leaving some others, maybe the ones dealing with the most sensitive information or the ones that require very fast and bandwidth hungry access to data, within a private cloud.
Both clouds can be easily connected and even ran by the same provider, keeping things as simple as possible.

In our next blog, we will discuss the pros and cons of each model, so that we can better gauge what will suit our needs best

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are the three biggest names in cloud computing.  Amazon pioneered the public cloud when it decided in 2002 to use its vast infrastructure to offer computing facilities to customers and launched a range of services to developers including storage and a development platform.  Now Amazon Web Services, after less than 10 years, has hundreds of thousands of customers and an annual revenue of $750 million, as estimated by analysts at UBS. 

Microsoft launched Windows Azure Platform, it’s Platforme as a Service (PaaS) product in 2010 and Microsfot Online Services, it’s Software as a Service (SaaS) product in 2011.  Google has launched a number of initiatives starting in 2006 with Google Calendar, Google Talk and Google Page Creator and continuously expanding their SaaS offer through under the banner name of Google Apps.

These three giants are up against the traditional infrastructure makers such as AT&T, EMC, HP, IBM, Oracle and Verizon.  According to data supplied by International Data Corp. and Gartner, they collectively control 95% of the corporate infrastructure market, valued at around $1.5 trillion, through their data center solutions, the option traditionally taken by corporations to cover their storage and computing needs.  At 5% for Amazon, Google and Microsoft are starting small but the growth in this segment is particularly strong.

Building, maintaining and evolving corporate infrastructure is a lucrative business for providers and an area of strategic importance for companies.  Cloud solutions are bound to greatly alter the way corporate infrastructure is built and used.  It represents a completely different approach and, just as importantly, a major cultural and behavioral change.

Because it is so important, I will be devoting a number of posts to this topic in the coming weeks.  Some of the areas that I will be covering are:

1)     What is cloud computing?  And cloud services?
2)     Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Clouds – Pros and cons of each model
3)     Cloud APIs – Software, Platform and Infrastructure as a Service
4)     Small Print – What to look for when signing up with a provider of  a new, and not yet standardized, offering

Stay tuned if you are interested in discovering and learning about the cloud.