WilliamManning
Page 6
Page 7
D
espite all of its benefcial components and quirks,
cloud computing is still subject to the same kinds of
outages that a traditional computing/networking
setup is. That’s right, cloud computing is not immune
or invincible; however, it might surprise most people
to learn that it does provide users with a sophisticated
series of contingent resources to “pick up the slack”
so to speak. In other words, you might not have to do
very much at all in the way of taking specifc action
when your cloud service goes down, as reputable
and experienced service providers usually have one
or several contingencies in place to deal with any
problems.
Multiple availability zones
Cloud service providers are only able to ofer
uninterrupted service if they have an infrastructure
of remotely positioned resources on hand. So,
in the continental U.S. for example, an afuent
provider might have up to 10 or more data centers
(availability zones) positioned across the country.
These availability zones are essentially designed to
carry the workload of other downed systems. In fact,
many cloud computing providers will often copy and
spread client data across multiple systems (availability
zones) in order to both increase data transfer rates
and ensure complete continuity of service. It should
be noted, however, that most service providers will
charge extra for use of these availability zones; these
charges may be included in the established package
price or may be incurred on a pay-per-use basis.
Hybrid setups
If you’re one of the many companies that might be
slowly making a transition toward cloud computing,
but still employ the use of on-site servers, routers or
other hardware, then you are especially at risk. While
it’s safe to say that any data or virtualized components
that run on a cloud computing infrastructure will be
relatively safe from a catastrophic event, the same
cannot be said of your localized hardware. This is why
you need to consider fully transitioning to the cloud
or perhaps enacting your own hardware backup/
contingency system. At the very least, this should
include some form of daily/weekly backup or data
caching. So, for example, in a lax scenario, you might
want to create a hard copy of everything on your
entire system at least twice a week; that way, even
if you lose everything, you will, at most, only lose
around half a week’s worth of work. If, however, you’ve
made the move to the cloud already, you should be
good to go.
Some companies are
even moving toward
creating specifc
hardware backup
solutions for those
in the cloud. These
systems are often used
by those organizations
that are still in the process of changing over to the
cloud and are essentially added to one’s local setup to
collect and backup crucial information on a continual
basis. Based on traditional data center designs, these
backup systems may also function as another set of
hardware resources that can be tapped if need be.
Some are actually using the cloud as a backup. Still,
some companies haven’t given up on the traditional
grid computing model. Some organizations are
actually using their cloud service(s) as a backup for
their local system, and nothing more. While this
method completely forgoes all of the technology of
cloud computing, including its limitless resources, it
is still a viable use of the services ofered by a cloud
provider. Deciding to relegate a cloud computing
service to the job of backing up a traditional network
is a bit like using a small economy car to tow a tractor
trailer. However, if a cloud service is setup to perform
this type of task and is priced low enough, it is a great
opportunity for those that aren’t ready for mainstream
cloud computing. In fact, the price of setting up and
maintaining a cloud computing backup solution is
miniscule when compared to the costs associated
with a more traditional setup (which would also
include a sizable workforce, each member requiring a
salary).
In most cases (given that you have signed with a
reputable cloud service provider), you won’t have
to do that much at all if a cloud outage occurs. The
simple truth is that the big cloud computing providers
have already thought about how to best deal with
outages and that’s why they put a multiple region-
based system into use. While most people probably
cringe at the idea of having their data spread around
to multiple sites or seem at odds with having to
rely on remotely positioned hardware, you must
keep in mind that this is the best system that’s ever
been created for dealing with loss of data issues. In
the traditional model, failures meant not only loss
of critical data but also loads of downtime as well;
cloud computing has elegantly solved both of these
problems in one fell swoop.
Surviving a cloud service outage
a cloud computing
backup solution
is miniscule when
compared to the costs
associated with a more
traditional setup