3_CC_Unit 1.pdf

6. Steps to transitioning to cloud: Step 1. Consolidation: An agency’s migration towards cloud computing begins with the consolidation of server, storage, and network resources, which works to reduce redundancy, decrease wasted space, and increase equipment usage, all through the measured planning...

6. Steps to transitioning to cloud: Step 1. Consolidation: An agency’s migration towards cloud computing begins with the consolidation of server, storage, and network resources, which works to reduce redundancy, decrease wasted space, and increase equipment usage, all through the measured planning of both architecture and process. Consolidation is achieved primarily through virtualization but can also be approached by the use of denser computing hardware or even high performance computing. By boosting the speed of critical processes and enabling greater flexibility, the consolidation of data centers and desktops allows agencies to do more with fewer. Network and application modernization is also an important initial step in enabling the transition to a cloud computing environment. A viable alternative to replacing infrastructure components or rewriting critical applications, modernization promotes communication between older systems and newer solutions, all while preserving the value in existing IT systems. Freed from the bonds of a mainframe environment, critical applications modernized through a service-oriented architecture provide agencies with the increased ability to leverage newer technologies. As for security concerns surrounding cloud computing, modernization actually works to enhance the security of sensitive information stored on critical applications. When established properly, the cloud platform provides security of all data in motion, traveling between the cloud and the desktop, and all data at rest in cloud storage. Step 2: Virtualization: Virtualization forms a solid foundation for all cloud architectures. It enables the abstraction and aggregation of all data center resources, thereby creating a unified resource that can be shared by all application loads. Hardware such as servers, storage devices, and other components are treated as a pool of resources rather than a discrete system, thereby allowing the allocation of resources on demand. By decoupling the physical IT infrastructure from the applications and services being hosted, virtualization allows greater efficiency and flexibility, without any effect on system administration productivity or tools and processes. Step 3: Automation: In this stage, automation optimizes an agency’s virtualized IT resources. Through a transformative procedure, the infrastructure is automated, and critical IT processes become more dynamic -- and greater control is achieved by trusted policies. With automation, data centers can systematically remove manual labor requirements for run-time operations. Among the various forms of automation in practice today, provisioning automation is perhaps the best known and most often implemented. Rather than managing underlying infrastructure, agencies in pursuit of cloud computing need to move toward managing service levels based on what is appropriate for the application users, whether it’s minimum tolerable application latency or the availability level of an application. Ultimately, automation can help agencies to reduce their operating expenses by: Reallocating computing resources on-demand. Establishing run-time responses to capacity demands. Integrating system management and measurement. Step 4: Utility: In addition to automation, both self-service and metering -- feedback about the cost of the resources allocated – are necessary requirements in creating a cloud service. With breakthrough capabilities for end users and agencies, self-service and metering facilitate not only better IT management but the further extension of the user experience. In the cloud, there is no intermediary between the user of a resource and the processes for acquiring and allocating resources for critical mission needs and initiatives. Since the user initiates the service requests, IT becomes an on-demand service and the costs of operation drop significantly, because costs are incurred only when the service is used and fewer dollars are spent attending to the needs of the infrastructure. Step 5: Cloud: With cloud computing, communication increases significantly, as data sharing between previously separate systems is fully enabled – and collaboration within and between government agencies grows exponentially. Ultimately, rather than each agency operating in isolation, constricted by the boundaries of its own data center, not only can services be shared among groups, but also costs can be shared and lessened. 7. Virtual Machine: A virtual machine is a software computer that, like a physical computer, runs an operating system and applications. The virtual machine is comprised of a set of specification and configuration files and is backed by the physical resources of a host. Every virtual machine has virtual devices that provide the same functionality as physical hardware and have additional benefits in terms of portability, manageability, and security. A virtual machine consists of several types of files that you store on a supported storage device. The key files that make up a virtual machine are the configuration file, virtual disk file, NVRAM setting file, and the log file.