We discuss the following topics in this blog:
- Need for Cloud-native Data Center
- Difference between Cloud and Data Centers.
- Different Business strategies in Cloud infrastructure for efficiently running applications.
In addition to these topics, we shall also be answering the following FAQs:
- What is cloud computing?
- What is WiFi?
Contents
Overview
STL’s last webinar on Designing and Building Futuristic Data Centre, highlights two specific aspects of next gen data centre design concepts;
- Efficacy of new data centre design and speeding deployment for High Performance Data centre and evolution of data centre infrastructure towards composable infrastructure to streamline its operations & management.
- Shifting towards converged infrastructure, multi-cloud connectivity for higher storage, computation and enabling network abstraction to drive operational efficiencies and cloud native strategies.
Our next webinar will deep-dive into the intricacies of Cloud Native Data Centre, where cloud infrastructure necessitates enterprises to adopt new business strategies viz. Hybrid, Edge, Multi and Distributed Cloud infrastructure for efficiently running their business applications.
How has the Data Centre Infrastructure Transformed?
Data centre infrastructure has undergone a rapid digital transformation from the days of mainframes in 1960s, to distributed architecture till early 2000s to now cloud enabled infrastructure. Since then, data centres have evolved into highly sophisticated physical and virtual infrastructures. The role and configuration of the data centres have transformed significantly.
Earlier, it used to be a data centre facility with 20-25+ years of commitment with inefficiencies in power/cooling, no flexibility in cabling and no mobility within or in-between data centres. But, with the advancements in technology and designs, it is now more than capable of delivering varied expectations in terms of speed, performance, scalability, modularity and efficiencies.
However, one size does not fit all and there are various possibilities in terms of architectures, configurations, and designs to deliver futuristic data centres for enterprises. This requires a highly automated infrastructure where applications and data will be deployed and provisioned to manage workload and traffic according to the demand. Infrastructure that is flexible enough to keep-up with automated, virtualized, dynamic technologies in the future as well as fairly managing capacity growth, efficiency demands and cost-benefits.
What’s the Difference Between Cloud and Data Centers?
There has been a fallacy around, cloud and data centre can be used interchangeably, but No they’re NOT! The only commonality found in traditional and Cloud data centres is the fact that they both are used to store data and run applications; however, design intricacies are quite different from each other.
Cloud native applications are not designed to run in traditional data centre infrastructure. They require a higher degree of service discovery, programmability, automation, and a robust communication network. Paradigms like Containerization and Microservices play an important role in enabling a robust cloud native infrastructure. With evolving end user expectations, technology landscapes and ecosystem maturity will impact the future modernization of data centre infrastructure.
We explore these aspects in details and more in our upcoming webinar on Cloud Native Data Centre, highlighting technological evolution, business use cases and pertinent applications. Please do join us to know more by registering here.
FAQs
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is a paradigm that allows On-demand network access to shared computing resources. A model for managing, storing and processing data online via the internet. The three major characteristics of cloud computing are On-Demand Service, Network Access, and shared resources.
There are three major delivery models of cloud computing, namely Software as a Service (for end-users), Platform as a service (for developers), and Infrastructure as a service (for system administrators).
1) Software as a Service or SaaS is a new method of delivering software applications. Instead of accessing the software from local servers (a powerful computer system), it uses the internet to access the software applications. To be considered SaaS, the software needs to be delivered either through a web interface or a mobile application. E.g., Microsoft 365, Salesforce CRM, Google suite apps, etc.
2) Platform as a service or PaaS is made up of a programing language execution environment, an operating system, a web server, and a database. The service enables users to build, run and compile the programs without an underlying infrastructure. Apart from the data and application resources, everything else is managed by the service-providing vendor, e.g., AWS, Azure, Google App engine, etc.
3) Infrastructure as a service or IaaS is a service that offers computing architecture & infrastructure and computing resources like data storage, virtualization, servers & networking in a virtual environment so that multiple users can access them. Apart from Applications, Data, Runtime, and Middleware, everything else is managed by the service-providing vendor. For, e.g., Cisco Metacloud, Rackspace, Amazon EC2, etc.
Uses of Cloud Computing include: Developing cloud-native applications on the go; Secure, Efficient & Reliable storage capability; Audio and Video streaming; On-Demand Software, Platforms & Infrastructure; Online Test and Build ecosystem support; Data Analytics; Embedded Intelligence; Scalability & Speed.
What is WiFi?
Put simply, WiFi is a technology that uses radio waves to create a wireless network through which devices like mobile phones, computers, printers, etc., connect to the internet. A wireless router is needed to establish a WiFi hotspot that people in its vicinity may use to access internet services. You’re sure to have encountered such a WiFi hotspot in houses, offices, restaurants, etc.
To get a little more technical, WiFi works by enabling a Wireless Local Area Network or WLAN that allows devices connected to it to exchange signals with the internet via a router. The frequencies of these signals are either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bandwidths. These frequencies are much higher than those transmitted to or by radios, mobile phones, and televisions since WiFi signals need to carry significantly higher amounts of data. The networking standards are variants of 802.11, of which there are several (802.11a, 802.11b, 801.11g, etc.).
