Are you planning to make the switch to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)? Not only are you not alone, you’re already behind: almost two-thirds of companies IDC surveyed last year expected to use IaaS by the end of 2016.
IaaS gives you the same physical infrastructure you’d have in your own data center, except that it isn’t in your own data center, you can add to it on demand, and you pay only for what you use. You retain almost all control over the physical or virtual server and its operating system and applications, while the vendor provides support for the infrastructure.
That means when you adopt IaaS, you need to think through many of the same technical questions you would think through if you were bringing new infrastructure into your own data center. Be sure you think through all the areas impacted by the switch to IaaS:
1. Network
The network is rarely the focus of a switch to IaaS, but in fact, the network’s importance is increased by using IaaS. The network is the only way to access your IaaS equipment, so its performance is crucial. Understand the network bandwidth needed and latency tolerated by your workloads. You may be able to use settings that increase performance between virtual machines at the IaaS site.
You can’t walk over to a console and access devices directly, so network performance is important for infrastructure monitoring and management as well as production applications. Be sure you understand how to secure your network connectivity, as there’s no more intranet; by default, all your access is over the public internet. Your IaaS provider may limit your access to equipment such as firewalls.
2. Servers
3. Storage
4. Monitoring and Management
5. Security
6. Disaster Recovery
7. Plan for the Future
Since the goal of IaaS is to have the flexibility to react rapidly to add additional infrastructure, understand how your provider makes this possible. You may need to add controls to limit the number of users authorized to use self-service tools to add capacity.
Along with these technical issues, you should also think through the non-technical issues such as pricing, discounts, and contracts. Make a plan for how your team will come up to speed and work in the new environment.
Need help understanding how you can best take advantage of IaaS? Contact VAST to learn how our IaaS solution can improve the reliability and flexibility of your IT infrastructure.
