Private Cloud and the Realization of True Hybrid Cloud (Part 1)
~ Todd Matters, CTO
Getting to the Cloud computing we have today has been a long and serpentine path. Several underlying technologies had to be in place for the robust cloud computing we know today. CPUs with an abundance of cores married to multi-level caches dripping with memory, the Operating Systems able to efficiently use all those cores, Hypervisor to virtualize servers. Having been in the technology business long enough (old enough I guess) to have seen the emergence and flowering of these advanced and complex technologies allows me to look in awe at simply provisioning and using a $50 VM in a Cloud.
While we can’t say that Cloud is in its infancy it’s certainly not completely mature yet. Let’s say it’s an adolescent. And like an adolescent, or even an infant, we can get glimpses of what adulthood might be like. Early in Cloud computing the concept of Hybrid Cloud was conceived.
I won’t argue with the marketeers that call pretty much anything they are selling “Hybrid Cloud”, but for now, Hybrid Cloud is the unification of three environments. First, onsite (or on premises) is a traditional datacenter for those mission critical application that shall not to be shared or compromised in any way. Extraneous constraints and considerations are not worthy of even prioritizing in this arena when caring for these applications. These datacenters may also be running older systems not supported in a Cloud or maybe they just haven’t been moved to a Cloud environment yet.
Second, also on site, is a private Cloud. Private Cloud brings the flexibility and speed of Cloud to the safe, comfortable confines of the onsite datacenter. Departments can spin things up quickly, repurpose servers, experiment, and research without the hassle of those pesky server requisition forms, not to mention the costly time involved for procurement and then someone to actually touch a server and perform the long list of installations and configurations to make it operational. Private Cloud is ideal for applications still too sensitive and/or mission critical for Public Cloud but don’t need the dedication of a static datacenter. Importantly, Private Cloud is not shared with any other companies. There is no competition for performance, all compute resources are always available for in-Company computing. And possibly most important, in the event of an emergency, Company IT is making decisions for itself, rather than a Public CSP making decisions with all their tenants in mind. And for the finance folks, with Private Cloud money never leaves the company as in Public Cloud (at least not directly). And this is an excellent baby step for moving applications to the Cloud.
Third, of course, there will be Public Cloud in the milieu. Given the cost and complexity of onsite datacenters for power, cooling, redundance, physical security, virtual security, compartmentalized bomb proof rooms, etc. Companies will be using Public Cloud for as much computing as they can.
So, Hybrid Cloud is the unification of traditional datacenter, onsite Private Cloud, and one or more Public Clouds. Hybrid environments allow companies to reduce their expensive datacenter footprint and all the operating expenditures and capital expenditures costs associated with it. The dance of how these three environments interact, and what goes where will take time to mature. But rest assured, it will happen.
But where is Private Cloud? Early on, when the promise of Private/Hybrid Cloud could be seen in those Cloud toddler eyes there were a lot of initiatives. Most prominent were OpenStack and CloudStack. Turns out building a Private Cloud was a lot harder (a LOT harder) than most people thought. Cloud touches every aspect of computing and in Cloud every aspect of computing must be virtualized and provisioned instantaneously, configured, monitored, meet security and privacy requirements (both sciences all to themselves today). Beyond just the complexities of software, deploying the hardware components, ensuring performance, meeting the ebb and flow of compute needs adds other dimensions to Private Cloud.
Most companies abandoned their Private Cloud efforts and focused on migrating their “low hanging fruit” to Public Cloud. I would argue this was a good thing. Most Companies have years of experience using Public Cloud now enabling them to solidify their larger strategy and use Cloud resources efficiently which is completely different from using datacenter resources efficiently.
So, is Hybrid/Private Cloud dead? By no means. All the same reasons for Private Cloud still exist today. And now Private Cloud is being enabled by the same companies that build the best Public Clouds. They are now providing packages of software, and sometimes with hardware that can be deployed on site. Many of the hard problems that delayed Private Cloud are already solved and come in a nice package that can be bought, unwrapped, and used.
Private/Hybrid Cloud is an opportunity for Public CSPs to leverage their development effort additional sales. In addition, hardware vendors will also be driving the adoption Cloud Appliance. Hybrid Cloud also benefits hardware vendors by retaining a target market beyond Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) to sell servers, switches, routers, and storage. What a boring world it would be for laptops to be the only computer hardware to be marketed and sold outside of CSPs (though the evolution of the thin client to the Cloud is a subject all to itself).