SYS-CON Events announced today that Zyrion Inc., the leading provider of Cloud and IT Monitoring software solutions, has been named “Entrance Carpet Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 12th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 10–13, 2013, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York.
Zyrion is the leading provider of integrated Cloud and Network monitoring software for distributed and complex datacenter environments, and offers the most scalable monitoring platform in the industry. Zyr...| By Yung Chou | Article Rating: |
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| March 2, 2012 05:00 AM EST | Reads: |
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Virtualization vs. private cloud has confused many IT pros. Are they the same? Or different? In what way and how? We have already virtualized most of my computing resources, is a private cloud still relevant to us? These are questions I have been frequently asked. Before getting the answers, in the first article of this two-part series listed below let's first go through a few concepts.
- Part 1: Cloud Computing Goes Far Beyond Virtualization (This article)
- Part 2: A Private Cloud Delivers IT as a Service
Lately, many IT shops have introduced virtualization into existing computing environmentw. Consolidating servers, mimicking production environment,
virtualizing test networks, securing resources with honey pots, adding disaster recovery options, etc. are just a few applications of employing virtualization. Some also run highly virtualized IT with automation provided by system management solutions. I imagine many IT pros recognize the benefits of virtualization including better utilization of servers, associated savings by reducing the physical footprint, etc. Now we are moving into a cloud era, the question then becomes "Is virtualization the same with a private cloud?" or "We are already running a highly virtualized computing today, do we still need a private cloud?"The answers to these questions should always start with "What business problems are you trying to address?" Then assess if a private cloud solution can fundamentally solve the problem, or perhaps virtualization is sufficient. This is of course assuming there is a clear understanding of what is virtualization and what is a private cloud. This point is that virtualization and cloud computing are not the same. They address IT challenges in different dimensions and operated in different scopes with different levels of impact on a business.
Virtualization
To make a long story short, virtualizationin the context of IT is to "isolate" computing resources such that an object (i.e. an application, a task, a component) in a layer above can be possibly operated without a concern of those changes made in the layers below. A lengthy discussion of virtualization is beyond the scope of this article. Nonetheless, let me point out that the terms, virtualization, and "isolation" are chosen for specific reasons since there are technical discrepancies between "virtualization" and "emulation", "isolation" and "redirection." Virtualization isolates computing resources, hence offers an opportunity to relocate and consolidate isolated resources for better utilization and higher efficiency.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing on the other hand is an ability to make resources available on demand. There are statements made on what to expect in general from cloud computing. A definition of cloud computing published in NIST SP-800-145 outlines the essential characteristics, how to deliver, and what kind of deployment models to be cloud-qualified. Chou further simplifies it and offers a plain and simple way to describe cloud computing with the 5-3-2 Principle as illustrated below.
The essence of cloud computing is rooted at the appreciation of a "service." In the context of cloud computing, a service simply means the state of being available on demand. So SaaS means software, i.e. an application, is available on demand and the focus is on functions available within and not beyond the application. PaaS provides a run-time environment on demand and the scope becomes what are the common set of capabilities available on demand for applications deployed to this run-time environment. Since the run-time environment is available on demand, an application deployed to the run-time environment then can be brought to a running state on demand. Namely those applications deployed to a PaaS environment are delivered, as a consequence, with SaaS. And IaaS denotes infrastructure available on demand, which means the ability to provision infrastructure on demand. For IT professionals, provisioning infrastructure at an operational level translates to deploying servers. And in the context of cloud computing, all servers are virtualized and deployed in the form of a virtual machines or VMs. So, IaaS ultimately is the ability to deploy VMs on demand.
"On-demand" is not to be casually used. This is a loaded term with a strong connotation of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing. On-demand means high accessibility and always-on readiness since it must be accessible and ready per SLA. In cloud, they are represented by self-service model and ubiquitous access. On-demand suggests there are likely standardization, automation, optimization, and orchestration in place, which are presented collectively as resource pooling and elasticity. On-demand implies the need for auditing and metering, i.e. analytics, so capacity can be planned accordingly. And that is why consumption-based charge-back or show-back model is included in the essential characteristics of cloud computing.
Unequivocally Different
With what has been described above, to realize the fundamental differences between virtualization and private cloud becomes rather straightforward. Noticeably, virtualization is not based on the 5-3-2 principle as opposed to cloud computing is. For instance, a self-serving model is not an essential component in virtualization, while it is essential in cloud computing. One can certainly argue some virtualization solution may include a self-serving component. The point is that self-service is not a necessary , nor sufficient condition for virtualization.
While in cloud computing, self-service is a crucial concept to deliver anytime availability to user, which is what a service is all about. Furthermore, self-service is an effective mechanism to in the long run reduce training and support at all levels. It is a crucial vehicle to accelerate the ROI of a cloud computing solution and make it sustainable in the long run.
Virtualization is centered on virtual machines and rooted in infrastructure management, operations, and deployment flexibility. Virtualizationis about the abilities to consolidating servers, managing VMs, streaming desktops, and so on. How to productively configure, deploy, and manage a workload in a deployed VM and
At the same time, cloud is about "service"and "service" is about the readiness and responsiveness relevant to market opportunities. Cloud is about go-to-market. Cloud focuses on making a requested LOB application available on demand and not just on just how to deploy a VM. Cloud is interested in not only operating VMs, but providing insights of a target application running in those VMs.
No, virtualization is not cloud computing. And cloud goes far beyond virtualization. So what are the specifics about virtualization vs. a private cloud? [To be continued in part 2]
This article is a cross-posting from http://aka.ms/yungchou.
Published March 2, 2012 Reads 8,497
Copyright © 2012 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
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More Stories By Yung Chou
Yung Chou is a Technology Evangelist in Microsoft. Within the company, he has had opportunities serving customers in the areas of support account management, technical support, technical sales, and evangelism. Prior to Microsoft, he had established capacities in system programming, application development, consulting services, and IT management. His recent technical focuses have been in virtualization and cloud computing with strong interests in hybrid cloud and emerging enterprise computing architecture. He is a frequent speaker in Microsoft conferences, roadshow, and TechNet events.
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The world’s first vendor neutral marketplace for IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) cloud computing is being built. This marketplace fills the current gap in the value chain by offering standardized products and by addressing the needs of providers and consumers of cloud computing resources. Zimory is the technical partner for the settlement process of this project.
In his session at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York [June 10-13, 2013], Zimory CEO Rüdiger Baumann session will introduce th...
At pennies per virtual machine-hour, the economics of cloud computing are both compelling and daunting to replicate. Whether you are building your own cloud infrastructure, building a public cloud or choosing a cloud service, there are key strategy and technology decisions that make the difference between success and failure.
This session will share industry best practices for deploying cloud infrastructure that maximize the benefits of cloud economics, agility and interoperability. Learn how...
Need to scale your data tier? The foundation of every application is the database layer, and today application architects have more choices than ever. With these choices come new questions: Which database technology is best for your application? How can your application take advantage of Big Data technology? Can you run your relational database at Big Data scale? What does it take to implement a comprehensive data infrastructure, including your core database, incorporating SQL, No SQL and Big Da...
Cloud enables SMBs to access new, scalable resources – previously only available to enterprises – in flexible and cost-effective ways. McKinsey’s SMB Cloud Report projects the public cloud market to reach $40-$50 billion by 2015, with SMBs comprising 65% of public cloud spending in 2015. But selling cloud to SMBs raises the questions of who, what and how.
In this session Manjula Talreja, VP of Cisco’s Global Cloud Business Development Team, will discuss the importance of knowing who SMB...
The economics of business are radically changing due to the way in which software and services are being delivered thanks to cloud computing. In his session at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York [10-13 June, 2013], Mike Kavis will cover six reasons for the disruption.
Our more interconnected planet is accelerating the adoption and convergence of next-generation architectures, in the form of cloud, mobile and instrumented physical assets. Organizations that can effectively balance optimization and innovation, will be in a position to leverage new systems of engagement, out maneuver their peers and achieve desired outcomes. In the Opening Keynote at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York, IBM GM & Next Generation Platform CTO Dr Danny Sabbah will detail the crit...
The massive computing and storage resources that are needed to support big data applications make cloud environments an ideal fit. In Nati Shalom's upcoming session at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York [June 10-13, 2013], you'll learn how to build your big data "database on-demand" using MongoDB, Cassandra, Solr, MySQL, or any other big data solution, as well as manage your big data application using a new open source framework called “Cloudify.” All this, on top of the OpenStack cloud.
SYS-CON Events announced today that MetraTech Corp., the leading provider of agreements-based billing™, commerce and compensation solutions, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 12th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 10–13, 2013, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York.
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