Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Cloud Flexibility
The flexibility of resource assignment within a cloud computing environ-
ment can be very attractive to operations that require a variable amount of
resources. Examples of scenarios where this availability provides greatest
benefit include:
• Thebump
—This scenario, illustrated in Figure 10.4, includes a sudden
unexpected spike in activity. Examples include sudden surges in activity
during emergencies or following the mention of a site on a popular news
aggregator, causing a flood of interest outside normal access levels.
• Cyclic surges
—This includes resources that are only necessary on a
cyclical basis but are unused during other times, as shown in Figure
10.5. Examples include mandatory training just before evaluation
periods and end-of-month or end-of-year reporting cycles.
• Rapid growth
—This scenario includes any application access that
expands rapidly beyond expected resource requirements, as illus-
trated in Figure 10.6. Prototypes placed into limited use may see
rapid adoption enterprise-wide, or Internet information sites may
experience sudden expansion of interest following initial exposure.
Best Practices
Due to the relative newness of cloud computing, best practices continue
to emerge and evolve. A few of the more common practices include:
• Setting standards
—Cloud resource hosting services, such as the
Amazon EC2 or Microsoft Azure standards, do not work well between
technologies. Selection of a cloud computing standard will ensure
that developed applications and services interoperate well with other
cloud resources and with in-place technologies in the enterprise.
• Controlling costs
—Because cloud service vendors scale costs based
on resource allocation and segmentation, enterprise cloud service
hosting should be negotiated using the most economical model
for existing and near-term requirements. Cost models include cur-
rent levels of dedicated resource and bandwidth availability, longer-
term contracts providing a set level of resources for a fixed cost, or
resource pools that may be used across a variable period of time and
