Hardware Management - Deploying and Managing a Cloud Infrastructure - page 222

Chapter 7, “Practical Cloud Knowledge: Install, Configure,
and Manage Virtual Machines and Devices,” touched on a lot
of technical details about the cloud and related technologies.
We will be going in the same direction here in this chapter as we visit, or rather revisit, a lot
of the technologies and terms you have encountered in previous chapters and go into a bit
more detail.
Cloud Hardware Resources
In earlier chapters, we discussed how cloud hardware technology isn't exactly different
from any other enterprise and consumer technology, and for the most part, the cloud para-
digm actually changed computer hardware technology for everyone. Computer hardware
technology (CPU, disk, and networking) is progressing to fill the need for better cluster
and distributed computing . The difference between enterprise and cloud technology is not
in the hardware or even the software, because both paradigms are able to make use of the
same technology and even apply virtualization. The real difference is through implementa-
tion, so it is worth our while to familiarize ourselves with the different hardware resources
and configurations used in implementing cloud technologies.
In the following sections, we will discuss in detail some of the configurations that are
being used for cloud infrastructures and virtualized environments.
BIOS/Firmware Configurations
The pre-boot sequence and BIOS configurations remain important aspects of many applica-
tion configuration requirements as well as other requirements and settings that need to be
controlled by IT administrators. But for most, moving to the cloud means losing control of
this important aspect. This is because it happens before the operating system loads inside a
virtual machine.
With pre-cloud computing enterprise installations, application developers and system
administrators had unrestricted access to the system's pre-boot sequence for easing asset
management, recovering from failure, or even fine-tuning system performance and compat-
ibility. Cloud computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and other solutions should be the
same and offer access to BIOS capabilities to allow further tweaking and customization of
virtual machine performance and compatibilities.
By allowing for BIOS-level access, service providers are able to make their virtual
machines feel and look more like their bare metal counterparts. This gives IT admins