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Current Filter: Storage>>>>>Opinion> In-house, In-cloud, In-data-centre or hybrid – a range of choices Editorial Type: Opinion Date: 03-2016 Views: 2185 Key Topics: Storage Cloud Data Centres Hybrid cloud Key Companies: City Lifeline Key Products: Key Industries: | |||
By Roger Keenan, managing director of London data centre, City Lifeline. Today’s IT and data communications manager has a wide range of choices about future architecture. The old days when every organisation had its own server room or its small in-house data centre are drawing to a close. As older operating systems, such as Windows XP and Server 2003 fall out of support, they are replaced by cloud-compatible or cloud-only systems. For software vendors, there are considerable attractions in moving their customers to the cloud, adding the value of their own data centre operations and increasing their billing. For this and many other reasons, cloud applications will continue to grow and replace in-house processes. The question is, which operational architecture best suits your business?
In-house operations When IT was a peripheral addition to the organisation’s main operations, in-house IT was a logical decision. Today, the management, manipulation and communication of information is the main function of most businesses. The requirements laid on an in-house data centre are no less than those of a commercial data centre, but most fall far short. For example, few have 24/7 manned security, duplicated power systems, duplicated diesel generators (if any) and multiple fibre providers. Space, especially in London, is expensive, as too is insuring the company’s IT and so it’s unsurprising the world is moving away from in-house data centres.
Commercial data centres
The cloud In an all-cloud implementation of an organisation’s IT and data communications, the business no longer needs to look after physical equipment, but still needs the same DevOps staff. Using public clouds also moves cost from capital expenditure to operational expenditure, which may be an advantage depending on the organisation’s financial policies. However, security is often considered a problem, with senior management asking “where is my data, is it safe and who else can access it?†There are no clear answers, in spite of the assurances from public cloud salesmen. Private cloud is simply remote hosting operated by multiple suppliers. An example might be an accounting firm offering its clients online accounting services, rather than running accountancy packages on the client’s own premises. There are all sorts of private cloud implementations, and they are each as good or bad and as secure or insecure as the supplier makes them.
Hybrid cloud implementations Predicting the future of fast moving industries is fraught with difficulty, but it does seem as though the overall trends are clear. Organisations start by implementing less critical applications in public or private clouds, then transition to all-cloud or to a long-term hybrid implementation. In-house IT installations are fading away but instead of updating hardware, businesses will replace in-house technology with mixtures of commercial data centres, public clouds and private clouds. | |||
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