How Cloud Redefined Data Center Resource Utilization

Cloud-ready hardware resources. Cloud computing revolves around the proper utilization of data center resources. This is why it’s important to understand your cloud and see where the latest high-density, multi-tenancy hardware is required. Don’t forget, cloud sprawl can be a very real issue and controlling cloud resources is an important part of the deployment process. One big ask from data center administrators is that they create a cloud environment capable of resilience and cost-effectiveness. Properly sizing and utilizing hardware resources is a great way of optimizing your cloud.

Data control and security. The distributed nature of cloud computing necessitates planning around good data controls and logical infrastructure security. This might mean creating user-based roles for storage systems or placing entire applications behind virtual application firewalls. Remember, the cloud isn’t perfect; this is why it’s important to be proactive around your information and the security platform. I won’t get into all of the latest breaches that have happened; let’s just say there’s been many. Security in your multi-tenant environment is critical for your users, the data, and your own brand image.

User transparency. One of the key components of any cloud deployment will be the end-user. As the user consumes your cloud, the entire process must be as seamless as possible. You can have the best infrastructure in place, but if the user experience is degraded; you cloud will face adoption challenges. In creating user cloud profiles, know what workloads they are accessing, the information they require and the amount of resources you’ll need to provision to ensure a good user experience. Here’s another tip: new kinds of cloud tools can help you dynamically optimize user experiences based on specific contexts like latency, location, and even devise used.

The elastic cloud. Cloud-based resources not only have to be carefully managed, but they have to be logically distributed as well. This is where the power of an elastic cloud can really come in. Modern organizations are able to leverage resources as needed and only pay for them when required. This “pay-as-you-go” model not only increases the efficiency of your cloud model, it also allows you to elastically utilize the resources that you need. This, in turn, helps prevent cloud sprawl. By utilizing the elastic cloud, administrators are able to dynamically provision and de-provision resources as needed. Remember, the cloud is a diverse, moldable, service-driven technology which can be custom-tuned to your requirements.

Capacity planning. Whether you’re working with a private, public or hybrid cloud- the capacity planning process is integral. You’re not only planning for today’s needs; but you’re also ensuring that you have resource capacity to grow. Cloud computing is designed around placing numerous workloads and users onto single redundant cloud systems. These platforms must have the right resources to process data, user requests and the various cloud services which are becoming available. The capacity planning portion of a cloud deployment is actually an on-going process which must continuously evaluate resource utilization to ensure optimal cloud infrastructure performance. There are amazing tools ranging from DCIM to ITSM capacity planning features which can help you proactively size your data center and your cloud. Use these tools to stay head of demand and in pace with the cloud.