Cloud Hosting

What do you mean you arent using private cloud computing? Everybody is migrating to the cloud these days. Questions like that can make you cringe, especially if you have questions about what is private cloud computing but are afraid to ask them for fear of looking stupid.

But there really is no such thing as a dumb question and asking questions about private cloud computing before deciding whether or not to dive in is just good business! So here are the 6 things you always wanted to know about private cloud computing but were afraid to ask.

#1. Why would I choose private cloud computing over the public cloud, anyway?

There are a lot of long-winded, complex answers out there about the differences between the private and public cloud. But unless your applications have technical business requirements that a public cloud cannot accommodate, theres an easier way of thinking about it: private cloud computing is perfect for businesses who want to leverage the agility and efficiency that the cloud can bring, but who also want the creature comfort of having dedicated hardware. That is, you dont want to share your cloud with anybody else.

#2. Where should my private cloud sit?

Lets stay on that hardware question for a minute: if you want a private cloud with its own dedicated hardware, where do you want the hardware to live? You have two choices. You can have your hardware on premise (a private cloud), or you can have it hosted somewhere off site (a hosted private cloud). Either one is perfectly acceptable depending on your needs and desires. For instance, if you want to build your cloud yourself and have control over every aspect of it, then put it on premise in your data center. If you would prefer to buy the cloud capabilities you need and let someone else handle all the design, maintenance, and upkeep, then a hosted environment is probably ideal.

Have you been too embarrassed to ask about these or other private cloud computing questions?

#3. Whats the deal with open source cloud technologies? Open source technology is free to all. And there is plenty of open source cloud software out there. This can be very helpful for smaller organizations who cant afford to pay for a whole packaged software platform to run their cloud. The downside, of course, is that open source code has no formal support system you have to be willing to rely on user networks and forums for troubleshooting and such. There will also likely be some gaps, because nobody is engaged in perfecting the code 100%. Oftentimes, a business may start with open source cloud coding, but move to a fully-supported package as they mature.

#4. What do I need to budget for with private cloud computing?

This answer to this hinges on whether you want an on premise private cloud or a hosted private cloud. With an on premise private cloud, you will have capital expenses (capex). These could include data center space, power, hardware, software, and human assets. You will also need to plan for your capacity needs today, tomorrow, and down the road. Remember to take periods of high utilization into account if they exist in your business. This could mean thinking about seasonal workloads, or even end-of-month processes if they put additional demands on your infrastructure. With a hosted private cloud, your budgeting falls predominantly into the operational expense (opex) category: you can pay for the storage, compute, bandwidth, etc. that you need as you need it. You still need to account for periods of peak utilization, but operationalizing the expenses will help to ease the burden.

Continue reading here:
SungardASVoice: 6 Private Cloud Computing Questions You ...