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Infrastructure Management &Monitoring for Business-CriticalContinuityTMReady Your Infrastructure for the Cloudby David Richardson
Ready Your Infrastructure for the CloudTable of Contents3Executive Summary4Data Center Trends4 Rapidly Changing Environments5 Managing IT Value6 Improving Agility of Service Delivery Via the Cloud6Cloud Defined6 Essential Characteristics7 Cloud Architectures and Service Models8Getting Cloud Ready8 Know What You Have and Where You Have It9 Plan for Rapid Change9 Command10 Manage Power10 Emerson Network Power Can Help11 Summary2 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Executive SummaryWe have all heard the incredible predictions for and forecasted adoption rates of cloud computing: IDC estimates the market for cloud products and services growing to 56B by 2014. Gartner more optimistically estimates the cloud market at 150B by 2013. AMI’s research estimates that SMB cloud spending alone will reach 100B by 2014.Is this hype or has the cloud arrived? Before we can answer that question, we will need to take a step back and explore just whatthis thing called “cloud” really is and what organizations hope to gain from it.Companies today want to use cloud technology to make their businesses more efficient, hoping to deliver apps, storage,computing power and infrastructure on demand. Unfortunately, many organizations are letting the bright promise of clouddistract them from first ensuring that their existing infrastructures are up for the challenge. Before companies can make thecloud commitment, they need to assess their current processes and procedures.In this paper, we will look into: What trends in the data center are driving a need for cloud computing? What has happened in technology to make this the perfect time for cloud? How prepared is my data center infrastructure to reap the benefits of the cloud?We will also outline some trends and technologies that make the environment ripe for cloud as well as some tips for preparingyour network for the cloud. This final question is key. Unfortunately, it is also the most often overlooked activity in cloudimplementation. After reading this paper, you should have actionable steps you can take to ensure that your data centerinfrastructure is prepared for the unpredictable demands that any type of cloud initiative can place on it. You must be able toensure that your service levels do not falter in your effort to provide greater computing power.3 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Ready Your Infrastructure for the CloudData Center Trendsdisciplined approach in order to become highly adaptable to theThese last few years have been full of challenges brought aboutneeds of the business; otherwise, they run the risk of becomingby a down and wildly fluctuating economy. As businesses strugglean obstacle to success. More than ever, the business has greaterto protect and grow their revenues, a more back-to-basics,concern over the services delivered and consumed than by thedisciplined attitude and approach has begun to emerge. Thistechnology behind it. Bottom line, IT needs to be in lock-step withrevenue alignment approach will cause increased pressure in ITthe business objectives in order to assist with the enterprise growthto provide products and services transparently while producingwithout becoming the point of failure.definable, measureable data. This is supported by a recent GartnerRapidly Changing Environmentsreport where CIOs selected top priorities in 2011. This reportIf the economic slow-down was not a challenge enough, there is nowdemonstrated the changes from the top priority of “improvingan almost desperate need for innovation and rapid time-to-market.business processes” to the new top priority for 2011-2014 ofIn times such as these, strong enterprises will turn to the innovations“increasing enterprise growth” (McDonald & Aron, 2011).brought about by IT to help them gain competitive advantage.What does this mean to you? Business units are razor focusedThe easiest target is the data center’s ability to handle operationalon monitoring their operations and are requiring lightning fastshifts as a result of requests for rapid change. In most cases,capabilities to capitalize on opportunities today, not in six monthsleadership is questioning the viability of its current data centeror one year. This results in IT needing to operate in a more fluid butpractices and is looking for alternatives for improvement.Ranking of business strategies CIOs selected asone of their top 3 in 2011 and projected for 2014Business Strategies20112010200920082014Increasing enterprise growth1 1Attracting and retaining new customers25423Reducing enterprise costs32256Creating new products or services (innovation)46834Improving business processes511113Implementing and updating business applications6 12Improving the technical infrastructure7 7Improving enterprise efficiency8 10Improving operations9 2Improving business continuity, risk and security10 23Expanding into new markets and geographies11131045Attracting and retaining the workforce124368Introducing and improving business channels1515 9RankingFigure 1. Gartner Executive Summary: Reimaging IT: The 2011 CIO Agenda4 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Keep in mind, rapid shifts in business practices impact more thanToday, IT is struggling to meet the demands for rapid deploymentjust IT applications. Without the ability to know, control, manageand agility due to the proliferation of customized and legacyand plan your critical infrastructure components, an enterprise’senvironments. While consolidation for cost and utilizationability to swiftly introduce change and take advantage of newefficiencies has been ongoing for the past five years, manytechnology is greatly hindered. Available infrastructure andorganizations are still weighed down by these environments andresources must be allocated more efficiently as needed to meet thethe applications that run on them. During this period, virtualizationchanges in service requirements. This means that the underlyinghas enabled improved utilization, cost and time-to-market, but itinfrastructure must be adaptable along with the compute, servicescomes with its own challenges. The initial cost savings for moving toand applications.a virtual environment are significant as the capital expense neededManaging IT Valuefor physical hardware decreases drastically. However, the operatingIT is being driven by both internal (business objectives) and external(increased competition, slow economic recovery) factors thatcontinue to disrupt the organization. Whether impacted directlyor not, organizations will face change as the actions of theirindustry and competitors will require significant response to retaina foothold in their respective markets. The increasing importanceexpenses for software and maintenance fees are no different in avirtual environment. Without a tie to direct value delivered, thesesavings will dwindle as virtualization of the enterprise increases.Businesses will be left wondering why their costs have not continuedto fall. These costs need to be carefully scrutinized and installationsmanaged to control “virtual server sprawl” in order for IT to continueof IT to the business will necessitate increased transparency into add value to the business.contribution, while becoming a more valued component of overallThe traditional views of success of on-time and on-budgetbusiness health and success.delivery of technology are no longer in sync with the measuresThe ability of IT to increase transparency and set cost benchmarksof the business criteria for success. IT organizations will need towill continue to be important in demonstrating IT’s efficiency.However, IT’s success will be measured by its ability to deliver theneeded capabilities that the business is seeking, set forth by theircriteria for success. Businesses’ fanatical focus on time-to-marketand cost is the top driver for the use of external IT infrastructureproviders, as “buyers of IT functionality” try to generate as muchrevenue as possible to stimulate a return to growth. This trendshows a dangerous precedent if IT is not successful. These “buyers”move quickly toward contribution to business outcomes set forthby the project success criteria; otherwise, they will risk beingdeemed ineffective and replaced by outsourcing. Moving towardthis differing view of value versus cost will help in determiningthe probability of delivering value when considering whetherprojects are kept alive. Investment decisions are then optimizedaround enabling innovation and managing appropriate cost andrisk mitigation.may lose faith in their in-house IT’s ability to deliver.5 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Ready Your Infrastructure for the CloudImproving Agility of Service Delivery Via the CloudInvestment decisions are mainly based on their revenue generation.The focus on revenue growth is forcing the enterprise to break thetraditional norms of IT-supported business practices. New modelsfor service delivery, such as cloud computing, will be needed toMore than half (56%) of enterpriseIT organizations are buildingtheir own private cloud-basedinfrastructures. (Aberdeen Group)support normal business practices, as well as those brought uponby ubiquitous computing. The impact of ubiquitous computingAccording to Forrester Research, successful cloud deploymentsitself will have a large impact on infrastructure and managementtypically are characterized by 1) high availability, 2) universalprocesses. Delivery of services, applications and data managementaccessibility, 3) dynamic provisioning, 4) a self-sufficient useracross multiple devices (laptops, smart phones, tablet PC) andexperience and, in many cases, 5) a pay-per-use pricing structure.across multiple operating environments will necessitate the furtherEssential Characteristicsuse of web and cloud technologies for more than just convenience,but to help secure and manage the data on them.When organizations introduce extreme change, supply and demandare at odds. Although buyers want agility and low-cost servicesolutions, utility offerings are a radical shift for the enterprise, andthe adoption of new models has proved to be unpredictable at theenterprise level where “slow and steady” has been the norm due tosecurity, regulatory and compliance concerns. Meanwhile, majorenterprise buyers are looking to the market leaders to validate theNIST also describes five essential characteristics that define the cloud:On-demand self-service - End users should be able to initiateand alter cloud services without interacting with administrative ormanagement personnel.Network access - Capabilities are available over the network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use byheterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones,laptops and PDAs).new utility-style service models to meet their requirements forResource pooling - Critical to the concept of a cloud environmentsecurity, reliability, scale and compliance. However, providers areis the idea that infrastructure services are consolidated to providecautious due to the potential for new offerings to cannibalize theira seemingly endless supply of computing resources. Examples ofrevenue from traditional offerings. Either way, the environment isresources include storage, processing, memory, network bandwidthripe for cloud computing.and virtual machines.Cloud DefinedRapid elasticity through automation - Provisioning ofLet’s take a step back and understand what is meant by cloudcomputing. According to National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST), “Cloud computing is a model for enablingubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a sharedcloud services should be nearly instantaneous. In fact, cloudimplementations are able to provision services such as virtualdesktops, storage and applications up to 240 times faster than moreconventional methods.pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers,Measured service - Cloud systems automatically control andstorage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisionedoptimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at someand released with minimal management effort or service providerlevel of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,interaction.processing, bandwidth and active user accounts). Resource usagecan be monitored, controlled and reported, providing transparencyfor both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.6 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Within each cloud computing system architecture, cloud computingservice offerings are divided into four additional categories: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): A comprehensive computerCloud Architectures and Service Models1. Public Clouds: Often characterized by the hosting ofinfrastructure (servers, storage, software and networks) madepay-per-use, virtualized servers by third-party cloudaccessible to users via the Internet.vendors and/or service providers. Security as a Service: An outsourcing model for applyingsecurity management. Security as a service is best known forthe utilization and application of security such as anti-virussoftware delivered via the web. However, this practice canrefer to in-house security management provided by an externalorganization. Storage as a Service: At its most basic, the term “cloud storage”2. Private Clouds: A highly virtualized, pooled resourcedIT infrastructure that hosts services for employeesand is managed by an organization’s IT staff in itsfacility. In a private cloud, all data remains under thefull control of the host organization, mitigating manypotential risks intrinsic to public cloud deployments.3. Hybrid Clouds: The concurrent or integrated use ofan on-premises private cloud as well as public clouddescribes data storage that is made available as a service via aofferings. The potential benefits of hybrid cloudsnetwork. Cloud storage service attributes include the availabilitywill be realized when organizations are able tofor massive scale; non-geographic barriers or limitations;leverage resources from both internal and externalcommoditized components; billing on a usage basis (price percloud resources for the optimal delivery of services.gigabyte); and are application agnostic.Practices known as “cloud bursting” are already Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): A full or partial developmentand deployment environment that supports online access andcollaboration. This type of cloud enables developers to leveragea robust developing environment–via an IT infrastructure–without the necessary investment in hardware and additionaltaking shape to reduce the need for additional datacenter build out to support peak growth periods,rather seamlessly shifting resources to the publiccloud to increase capacity on either a permanent ortemporary basis or to selectively host applicationsbased on their risk profiles.management personnel. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Turnkey software applications–including complex customer relationship management (CRM) andenterprise resource management (ERM) programs–accessible viathe Internet. These solutions are typically made available throughthe data center of a dedicated SaaS provider. However, PaaS andIaaS clouds can be used in place of a brick-and-mortar facility.7 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Ready Your Infrastructure for the CloudGetting Cloud Ready Comprehensive Visualization – You will need a centralMany private enterprise clouds currently exist in a prototypical state,system that is dynamically updated as equipment is installed,with IT managers establishing private clouds as a proof-of-concept todecommissioned or moved within the infrastructure.assess the viability and path of future public or hybrid cloud ventures. Know Your Inventory – This single repository eliminatesAmong the applications being explored by enterprises in these pilotthe need for personnel to conduct labor-intensive auditsclouds are commodity-based Web content; business intelligence andand update multiple spreadsheets, freeing up resources anddata analytics; email and collaborative workspace platforms; high-improving management efficiency.performance and batch computing; network testing and development;and enabling SaaS while maintaining core data center functionality.Both internal and external cloud computing deployments will be ableto help enterprises address changes in business needs and/or customerdemand efficiently and effectively. But, how do you get started?According to IDC, “ senior executives are creating cloud computingmandates for their organizations with little understanding of how thoseinitiatives might be implemented.” Know Your Capacity – Once you have a repository of yourassets, you will need to understand the capacity of each (space,power and network). Maximize Your Data Center – Plan and pool resourcedeployment and operation to optimize power and cooling usage.The first step in effectively sizing your infrastructure is to know whatyou have in the first place.Whether it’s a private, public or a hybrid of the two, lack of basicpreparation can be disastrous. So, how can you make your privateKey Questions:infrastructure resources scalable and ready for the demands of cloud Do you know what assets you have in your data center? Do you know where those assets are? How are those assets interconnected? Is there a process today to efficiently commission orwithout compromising business efficiency?Recognizing vulnerabilities in your existing data center beforeembarking on a cloud computing deployment offer an opportunityfor potential cloud computing adopters to fortify critical systems.The most significant opportunities for data center readiness can bedivided into three key areas:Know What You Have and Where You Have It:No matter where your current data center asset management isdecommission assets? Can you determine if you have enough space/power forfuture IT projects? Are you effectively organizing assets to maximize powerand cooling efficiencies?today–from scrambling to manage it all manually to overseeingmultiple automated systems–there is always a better, improvedlevel of efficiency to be reached. In order to more effectively managethe physical infrastructure, organizations need a fully integratedsolution that (at a minimum) tracks the physical infrastructureconfiguration, manages projects and calculates current capacity.8 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Plan for Rapid Change:The second step in infrastructure sizing is being able to plan forrapid change.Only being able to fully visualize the effects of change on load,power and devices can you confidently react to the changes inreconfiguration and additions to your cloud initiatives.Checklist to PLAN for Rapid Change: Do you have planning tools? Do you use actual data? Do you run rack capacity simulations? Do you look at power/space/network effects overtime? Physical asset and resource management People and process managementDo you act on those results? ITSM integration Performance optimizationOrganizations that take control of and optimize an increasinglycomplex physical infrastructure (including equipment, space,power, cooling, network and storage) begin the process ofreadying their infrastructure for the cloud.Command:Checklist to COMMANDYour Remote Locations:From the 2010 Emerson Data Center User’s Group, morethan half of those considering adoption of cloud were greatly Have you met your network availability SLAs? Can you manage your virtual and physical servers inthe same manner?concerned with it affecting availability and performance.Without tight control and management over current assets,from corporate all the way to remote data centers, you will Do you have an acceptable MTTR?Do you get real-time alerts or alarms regarding thestate of your assets?optimized environment for cloud. This means point failures If you have a server off-line, do you have a processto get that server back into operation?Remote access and management of all rack-level devicesnot be able to identify risk areas and right-size to create anmust be able to be quickly identified, isolated and corrected.is critical to maintaining the fluid nature of cloud computeworkloads. Downtime is not an option with the cloud.9 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
Ready Your Infrastructure for the CloudManage Power:Cloud’s virtualization technology facilitates a dynamic computeenvironment within a static foundation. Rapid changes incompute load translate into substantial increases in powerconsumption.That means you must not only be able to maintain “headroom”to handle normal peaks in demand, but also the odd spikes fromsudden and intense cloud utilization. Single points of failuremust be identified and eliminated.Checklist to MANAGE Your Power: Have you implemented virtualization in your data center?Can you measure/monitor the power implication ofthat implementation?Is that measured in real time?Is all your data center power data aggregated into asingle location?Do you analyze that data for planning and costing?Emerson Network Power Can HelpApertureTM Vista is a suite of applications that creates a unified viewBottom line? You may not know just how ready your data center isof physical resources across multiple data centers. The Apertureto handle the strenuous demands of a cloud initiative. Fortunately,solution is comprised of monitoring and control, physical asset andthat’s where Emerson can help. We are not here to help you designresource management and people and process management–allor launch a cloud. We are here to help you prepare your data centerbuilt on a foundation of integrated information. Organizations canfor cloud.now take control of and optimize an increasingly complex physicalEmerson has products and solutions ready to help you achievethe steps just mentioned, ensuring you have a healthy foundationinfrastructure including equipment, space, power, cooling, networkand storage.from which to build your cloud. Emerson provides intelligentThe Avocent Control and Manageability Solution delivers secure,connectivity, capacity control and management of data centerautomated, real-time tracking and control of all your servers,devices, power and remote location, plus intuitive planning toolsembedded technologies, network equipment and power devices.needed to visualize the effects of change now and over the longThis gives your IT staff what it needs to simply manage change fromterm.any location, at any time of day or night, without regard to hardwareThe Avocent Data Center Planning Solution gives you completetype, operating system or network status.insight. Insight into how your equipment is being utilized, whereThe Avocent Power Management Solution provides you with theit’s residing, how much power it’s using and what would happen iftools you need to monitor energy consumption, costs and trendsyou changed something. With that kind of power at your fingertips,across all levels within the data center and remote locations.you’ll be able to reduce costs and manage rapid change with fewresources, no matter how complex your infrastructure is.10 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
SummaryBy enhancing the efficiency and elasticity of network infrastructureWhile cloud computing offers a number of long-term benefits overthrough the optimization of existing facilities, enterprises are welltraditional, distributed computing architectures, enterprises shouldpositioned to achieve performance optimization and agility withoutnot discount the significant risks. Understanding that business-criticalcompromising the availability needed to support mission-criticalapplications and data have made network infrastructures more vitalapplications.than ever, enterprises can take steps now to optimize their data centerinfrastructures before experimenting with cloud computing.For enterprises that understand the risks as well as the best practicesnecessary to address them, a combined strategy employing bothinternal and external cloud approaches affords flexible capacity andmaximum availability and ensures any new capital expendituresare allocated toward creating innovation, continuity and drivingcompetitive advantage.11 Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
About Emerson Network PowerEmerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), is the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity from grid to chipfor telecommunication networks, data centers, health care and industrial facilities. Emerson Network Power provides innovative solutionsand expertise in areas including AC and DC power and precision cooling systems, embedded computing and power, integrated racks andenclosures, power switching and controls, monitoring and connectivity. All solutions are supported globally by local Emerson NetworkPower service technicians. Aperture and Avocent solutions from Emerson Network Power simplify data center infrastructure managementby maximizing computing capacity and lowering costs while enabling the data center to operate at peak performance. For more information,visit www.Aperture.com, www.Avocent.com or www.EmersonNetworkPower.com.Emerson Network Power.The global leader in enabling Business-Critical ContinuityTM.AC PowerConnectivityEmbedded ComputingEmbedded PowerDC PowerInfrastructure Management & MonitoringEmersonNetworkPower.comOutside PlantPower Switching & ControlsPrecision CoolingRacks & Integrated CabinetsServicesSurge ProtectionEmerson, Business-Critical Continuity and Emerson Network Power are trademarks of Emerson Electric Co. or one of its affiliated companies. 2010 ent000and the Avocent logo are registered trademarks of Avocent Corporation. 0511-CLOUD-WP-EN
computing power and infrastructure on demand. Unfortunately, many organizations are letting the bright promise of cloud distract them from first ensuring that their existing infrastructures are up for the challenge. Before companies can make the cloud commitment, they need to assess their current processes and procedures.
