Understanding Data Centers & Cloud Computing
Author: Paul
Stryer
Abstract
With today's need for flexibility, competitive edge, and faster
time to market, IT organizations must find new solutions that are
more efficient and more cost-effective than their past or current
solutions. While some larger organizations continue to manage
internal data centers, many business managers are able to increase
service levels, cover more users, and lower response times by
outsourcing their out-dated server farms to third-party data
centers and cloud computing providers. This white paper defines
data centers and explores cloud networking.
Introduction
Competitive business environments are putting pressure on IT
managers to accomplish more each year with reduced budgets. With
the need for flexibility, competitive edge, and faster time to
market, IT organizations must find new solutions that are more
efficient and more cost-effective than their past or current
solutions.
The original data center started as a private server room hosted
within the organization's facility containing many individual
servers running single applications. In the early days of data
centers, most organizations were responsible for maintaining the
servers and software, and required a number of personnel resources
to manage the servers as well as the facility.
While some larger organizations continue to manage internal data
center, many business managers are able to increase service levels,
cover more users, and lower response times by outsourcing their
out-dated server farms to third-party data centers and cloud
computing providers. These third-party data center providers are
better equipped to maintain and update server equipment.
This white paper will define data centers and explore cloud
networking.
What Is a Data Center?
A data center (sometimes called a server farm) is a centralized
repository for the storage, management, and dissemination of data
and information. Typically, a data center is a facility used to
house computer systems and associated components, such as
telecommunications and storage systems. Often times, thereare
redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications
connections, environmental controls, and security devices.
In April 2005, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
produced specification TIA-942: Telecommunications Infrastructure
for Data Center. This was the first standard to specifically
address data center infrastructure. This standard encompasses all
parts of data center design, including cabling, facility, network
design, and data center tiers (see sidebar).
One key benefit to the data center is that physical hard drive
storage resources are aggregated into storage pools, from which
"logical storage" is created. The heterogeneous nature of most
storage systems allows many different vendors' storage hardware to
be added to the system with little or no noticeable effect (except
for the additional storage space). These logical storage spaces can
be reached from many different computer systems that share the same
pool of storage space. One of the biggest benefits to storage
virtualization - other than the obvious ones such as centralized
backups and the need for fewer hard drives overall - is the fact
that the data can be replicated or migrated to another location
transparently to the server using the logical storage point.
One of the not so glamorous or "hi-tech" benefits of the data
center is the consolidation of all of the facility resources such
as HVAC, electrical, network connections, wiring, hardware,
software, and personal. Many corporations have multiple server
rooms with duplicated services across their entire organization,
all of which are running on duplicated hardware and software
platforms. In an attempt to reduce duplication and wasted expense,
many corporations are consolidating their server rooms into private
data centers, reducing the duplication of hardware, software, and
facilities needed to operate their business.
Cloud Computing
Leveraging third-party computing capability over the network is
a good way to cut costs, increase scale, and improve agility. The
concept of cloud computing involves a data center somewhere in the
world, or even multiple data centers scattered around the world.
This is a paradigm shift from the historical client-server
architecture where the network users owned, maintained, and
operated their own network infrastructure, server rooms, data
servers, and applications.
Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business
applications online that are accessed from web browsers, while the
software and data are stored on the servers or SAN devices. These
applications are broadly divided into the following categories:
Software as a Service (SaaS), Utility Computing, Web Services,
Platform as a Service (PaaS), Managed Service Providers (MSP),
Service Commerce, and Internet Integration.
These data centers are hosting the servers and applications the
clients use to operate their business.
This structure reduces capital expenditures, since by renting
from a third-party provider to provide the services on a peruse fee
the business only pays for the resources used.
Some Cloud providers employ a utility computing model, meaning
they bill clients like a utility such as an electrical company.
Others bill on a subscription basis. In either case, the customer
gains the security of a service level agreement (SLA) as well as
the saved expense of hiring an IT staff to maintain a local server
farm.
There are many resources available in a data center and in the
cloud that a client can purchase or rent, such as processing time,
network bandwidth, disk storage, and memory. The users of the cloud
do not need to know where the data center is, or have any expertise
on how to operate or maintain the resources in the cloud. Clients
only need to know how to connect to the resources and how to use
the applications needed to perform their jobs.
Related Courses
ACEBC - ACE Boot Camp
CWAAS - Wide Area Application Services v2.0
DCASD - Data Center Application Services v2.0
DCASI - Implementing Data Center Application Services
v2.0
DCNI1-BC - Data Center Networking Infrastructure Boot
Camp
VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V4]
VMware vSphere: Fast Track [V4]