hybrid cloud
A world of difference
The hype and promise of the
cloud can often be far removed
from reality. There can be a world
of difference between spinning
up a new compute instance and
actually getting a working instance
on to a production network, into
service, and in sync with the
traditional infrastructure.
If, for example, the automation
of core DDI network services in the
cloud lags behind compute and
storage processes, the roll out of
applications can be delayed, and
the number of inconsistencies in
network policies can increase.
Without a central resource
with which to manage DNS and IP
addresses in the cloud, IT teams may
find that the view they have of their
networks, virtual cloud platforms
(VPCs), IP addresses, and the DNS
records being assigned is incomplete
and out of date. What’s more, the
need to use multiple platforms in
a hybrid environment will lead to a
lack of correlation and consistency
with regards to common resources
such as DNS zones and networks.
While the server team may be
responsible for the virtualisation
component, for example, all the
network aspects may be handled
by a different team altogether.
The network team may, therefore,
have no visibility into the creation
and destruction of virtual machine
(VM) resources, making it difficult
for them to be linked to automated
set-up and configuration tasks.
Lacking this visibility, and
without any accurate and up to
date information on which IP
addresses and DNS records have
been assigned to which VMs at any
particular time, networking teams
may feel there’s little point in even
attempting to meet audit and
security compliance policies.
Most server admins will have
access to information on the
various different factors such as
‘The hype
and promise
of the cloud
can often be
far removed
from reality.’
applications, locations, and users
that need to be tracked for VMs
and networks, IP addresses, and
DNS zones. It’s likely, however, that
most networking teams won’t have
access to this information and,
with a reliance on manual methods
to create and destroy VMs, their
responses will be slow.
The time it can take for
the manual provisioning of IP
addresses and DNS records in
a virtual environment can be a
hindrance to the promise of rapid
delivery – arguably one of the main
attractions of cloud deployment.
Fundamentally, virtualised
resources can’t be seen on the
network without a DNS entry, and
if they can’t be seen then they can’t
be used. It’s all very well for an
organisation to be able to provision
resources in just a matter of
minutes, but it takes days or even
weeks before these resources are
in use, then its investment in cloud
technology is basically worthless.
On top of this, the risk of
unreliable DDI management
causing a potentially costly network
outage represents a serious threat
to an organisation, which could
have an impact far beyond the
network itself, as illustrated by
recent news headlines.
Strong and secure
foundation
If they are to perform effectively,
those organisations running critical
workloads in the cloud, or spanning
multiple different geographical
locations, will require the
scalability and resilience offered
by a foundation of highly available,
secure DDI services. Enabling this
requires a centralised platform
that can deliver greater levels of
automation and visibility, helping
to control, secure, and analyse next
generation cloud environments
and data centres.
Automating DNS provisioning
as part of existing workflows,
for example, and in the clean-up
following the destruction of VMs
can eliminate unnecessary trouble
tickets and time-consuming
manual processes. This will then
eliminate the most common
bottleneck affecting the successful
implementation and rollout of
cloud applications, and will allow
hybrid cloud deployments to be
optimised to meet an organisation’s
particular needs.
Consolidating different
terms and naming conventions
via a single, unified console will
allow the identification and
tracking of virtual machines
and components across
disparate platforms and cloud
environments, thereby avoiding
blind spots and incongruent
views within the network.
Automatically documenting the
destruction of a VM, cleaning
up its DNS record, and releasing
its IP address will ensure that
all appropriate information is
accurate and up to date.
And, by distributing
authorisation for permission,
IT teams are able to maintain
oversight and control of the
hybrid cloud as it evolves while, at
the same time, empowering the
workload of individual employees.
As more organisations
transition to a hybrid cloud
environment, it’s never been more
importan