Page 112 - How Cloud Computing Is Transforming Business and Why You Cant Afford to Be Left Behind

MANA GEMENT STRATEGIES F O R THE CL OUD R EV OL UTION

The next step in the evolution of this data center is for an
ambitious CIO or IT manager to set a goal of utilizing the
server cluster at a rate closer to 100 percent. Furthermore, he
thinks he knows how to do that: get close to the typical level of
total use. That is, the internal cloud will run at what amounts
to the data center’s average or steady state of operation, which

can be culled from server logs and management system views.
To implement such an approach would result in major hard-
ware savings, if a method of offloading the peaks of activity
above steady state that will still occur can be found. No one will
actually shoot to operate at 100 percent utilization of servers
all the time, but 90 percent might be reasonable if there were
good coordination between this private cloud on the enter-

prise’s premises and a public cloud on the Internet.
It’s this hybrid of private, on-premises clouds and public
clouds—the potential for offloading work during peak activ-
ity—that highlights cloud computing’s potential value to busi-
nesses. The offloading of peaks has even been given a name:
these shifted workloads are called “cloudbursts.” Such an ap-
proach could conceivably work for business users of many
kinds. The traditional data center could streamline its opera-
tions, offloading peaks as a minimal invocation of the public

cloud. Small or large businesses might find ways to use the
cloud on a more regular basis and avoid building out a data
center that tends to get more and more complex in the first
place. Let the cloud managers manage complexity. That’s
what they’re good at. The business can then just pay for what it
uses, rather than repeatedly overspending on hardware.

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