Cloud computing allows companies to use IT resources as a service, taking advantage of shared applications, processing and storage managed within the cloud - either inside a private cloud at an internal data center, or in an external cloud at a service provider. Greater robustness of the virtualized servers supporting this new IT model will ensure a resilient cloud infrastructure capable of delivering "on-demand" access to users.
A White Paper by Stratus Technologies ? June 2009 Server Virtualization and Cloud Computing: Four Hidden Impacts on
Uptime and Availability
Abstract As x86 virtualization has become established and cloud computing emerges, a robust IT infrastructure actually matters more than ever. Software aspects get most of the attention partly because they are new. Despite the hype, not every technical challenge is better solved by software alone because of the tradeoffs involved. For high-performance, high-density or mission-critical services and applications, using fault-tolerant server hardware hardens against new vulnerabilities and complements the resilience you can achieve with virtualization and cloud computing. Virtualization and the Cloud: Where Are We Now? Early adopters of x86 virtualization focused on server consolidation, and they have benefited from cost savings and increased flexibility. Now they look forward to using virtualization to help them enable cloud computing, the next big trend on the horizon. The cloud concept takes virtualization a step further by enabling users of IT resources to avoid investing in dedicated infrastructure. IT costs become a variable operational expense for business users because capacity is shared. Adopting this mode allows capacity to scale up and down dynamically and immediately in a manner that advances how virtualization is used today. The cloud model is designed to let companies use IT resources as a service, taking advantage of shared applications, processing and storage managed within the cloud ? either inside a private cloud at an internal data center, or in an external cloud at a service provider. Cloud Computing Defined As in any rapidly developing area, there are multiple definitions of cloud computing and what it constitutes. The type of cloud computing discussed in this paper includes both internal and Texternal clouds. VMware, whose vSphere 4 is positioned as the industry's first operating system for building the internal cloud, uses this definition: "Cloud computing is the use of networked infrastructure software and capacity to provide resources to users in an on-demand environment. Sometimes known as utility computing, clouds provide a set of typically virtualized computers which can provide users with the ability to start and stop servers or use compute cycles only when needed, often paying only 1upon usage." At a fundamental level, the value proposition promised by cloud computing remains much the same as for virtualization: a means to reduce expenses and improved agility to meet changing business needs. Using virtualization to enable disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity has become another significant selling point as adoption of virtualization technology has grown.
1 "VMware Cloud Computing FAQs," retrieved May 8, 2009 from http://www.vmware.com/solutions/cloud-computing/faqs.html Server Virtualization and Cloud Computing: Page 1 Four Hidden Impacts on Uptime and Availability
While virtualization solutions are a known quantity and deployed in real-world IT environments, cloud computing is still taking shape. In reports published in early 2009, Forrester Research estimated that 54% of enterprises had implemented x86 server virtualization or planned to do so within the next 12 months. Some 53% of small and medium businesses had already implemented x86 server virtualization or planned to do so within the next 12 months. In the cloud computing area, Forrester found 5% of enterprises had already implemented pay-per-use-hosting of virtual servers, with 3% more implementing within the next 12 months. Among SMBs, 2% had already 2implemented pay-per-use-hosting of virtual servers. Figure 1: From Server Virtualization to Cloud Computing Today Tomorrow . Server virtualization is the major trend . Cloud computing is the major trend . Virtualization initially driven by hardware . Driven by desire to benefit from IT consolidation and the resulting savings in resources provisioned as a service capex, power, space . Pay-as-you-go, "utility computing" models . Business agility, disaster recovery and allow business users to avoid fixed costs business continuity became additional . Highly elastic, instant access to drivers computing resources and IT services . Virtualiza... [download for more]
