A public cloud server, or a set of them, is enough for many customers, who like the flexibility it provides and can use it to reach their goals. Some clients have much larger needs, though, and in those cases a private cloud often makes more sense. Large organizations such as Apollo Education Group, the company that owns University of Phoenix, rejected the public cloud because at the scale they needed, private cloud was the better fit. They built a VMware-based cloud instead, spanning thousands of virtual machines, and stand as a strong example of an organization that planned ahead to build the right cloud environment for its needs. If you are considering a private cloud, here are the key steps to prepare for so your move to the cloud goes smoothly.
Consolidate Infrastructure for Your Private Cloud
The first step in preparing for a private cloud is to take inventory of your existing IT infrastructure and consolidate servers from there. This lets organizations phase out older equipment that runs less efficiently, along with equipment that simply sits unused. These unused servers, sometimes called ghost servers, just draw power in the company data center without providing any benefit.
Take Advantage of Virtualization
While consolidating equipment, it is also worth considering virtualization. Newer server infrastructure especially carries features that put hardware to more effective use. Hyper-threading is a good example: it effectively splits CPU cores in two, so a server with 8 physical cores can function with 16 virtual cores, spreading the workload further across a single machine. A hypervisor needs to be in place to manage a virtual environment. Common hypervisors include VMware ESX, Citrix XenServer, and Microsoft Hyper-V. Different admins have different preferences, but all three virtualize an IT environment well.
Automate What You Can
Automation matters too, especially when deploying a large private cloud. When you streamline how virtual machines get created and automate basic tasks such as system updates and application installation, IT saves time that is better spent supporting end users and handling bigger issues. Tools such as Chef or Puppet enable automation by deploying applications automatically when virtual machines are created. Hypervisors also include their own automation tools, though these usually require a subscription.
Give Users Self-Service Access
Finally, giving users a way to self-service their environment is another strong way to save IT time. In most cases, departments get a budget of IT resources, much like a traditional money budget, so rather than pulling IT in every time someone in, say, Marketing wants to test a new tool, it works better to give Marketing the tools to manage its own processes. This lets departments see the benefits of the cloud environment in their own workday, and it keeps the cloud from becoming IT’s private toy instead of a tool for the whole company.
How Vault Networks Can Help You Build a Private Cloud
Vault Networks can help you build a private cloud in a number of ways. We can provide dedicated servers you lease from us, scale up a large quantity of servers on a month-to-month basis as needed, or help you move your own hardware into our colocation space. Regardless of how you plan to build your private cloud, we are here to help get your project off the ground. To learn more about our solutions, reach out to us by calling (305) 735-8098 option 2 or by emailing sales@vaultnetworks.com.