Latest Cloud Computing Research

Cloud Reality Check 2012

Our latest cloud research reveals that IT teams from mid-sized UK and US businesses polled still spend over half (56%) of their time on server management and troubleshooting and only 28% on strategic, ‘value-add’ activities. Despite the widespread availability of cloud and managed hosting, many organisations are clinging to physical servers, leaving in-house IT teams struggling with troubleshooting and capacity planning amid demands from their bosses to do more for less.

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What is cloud computing?

When a business wants to put a website or application online, the one thing it must have is a server—a place to store the electronic information that powers the site. Large sites with lots of visitors will require many servers, whereas a small site with relatively few visitors may need only one.

Traditionally, businesses would need to estimate how many servers they might need, based on a guess of how much information they’d need to store and how many visitors they might receive. If they overestimate, they’ve spent money on servers they didn’t need or use. If they underestimate, their site crashes because it can’t handle the load.

Cloud computing changes all of that.

In the cloud, you can add servers when you need them, and remove them when you don’t, in minutes. This gives you access to almost unlimited server power. So, when your site has a sudden surge in visitor traffic, you can easily add more servers to meet that demand, and then scale back when traffic isn’t as high. Since you only pay for what you use, you also avoid the upfront costs of the traditional computing model.¹


The reason the cloud is so flexible is because it’s a virtual environment, running on a series of physical servers. So, imagine a massive data centre, full of servers—with cloud computing, large groups of these servers are connected, or “pooled,” so that their power and resources work together, rather than being divided up as individual servers. This way, you get to take advantage of this massive pool of resources, and your part of the cloud has the freedom to get bigger or smaller, according to your needs.

 

Business Applications

Businesses of all sizes and types are using the cloud. Some of the most popular business uses are: 

- Rich media website hosting 
Rich media is designed to be viral—or at least that’s the goal. Hence, the cloud makes a great fit for rich media’s unpredictable traffic spikes, since it can scale to keep up with demand and keep the site online. 

- E-commerce website hosting 
When an e-commerce site goes down, it’s like closing the doors to your physical store. Business stops. Therefore, it’s vital to choose an infrastructure that can grow to meet demand. It’s the kind of job the cloud was made for. - Software as a Service (SaaS) application hosting With SaaS, “service” is the key word, and you can’t deliver true service if your app is down. In the cloud, you can build an infrastructure that swiftly scales up to meet demand, to help keep your site online and running reliably. 

 - Corporate websites 
Your corporate website is the face of your business, so it’s important to keep it online—especially if you’ve suddenly become the talk of the town. The cloud can scale up in minutes to meet this kind of demand.

 - Test and development environments 
You can spin up a test and development environment in minutes in the cloud. It’s a great on-demand option for testing out your code, or checking on systems, performance, load testing and user acceptance. 

Rackspace Cloud

At Rackspace, we offer the full range of cloud hosting services—from private cloud to public cloud, to a hybrid of both. You can even add traditional dedicated servers to your environment, and manage it all from a centralised login via RackConnect™. 

Unlike many other cloud computing providers, we offer a managed service level on our dedicated and cloud computing platforms. This way, you can leave all of the server maintenance—updating, patching, responding to monitoring alerts, etc.—in the hands of our cloud specialists, so you can focus on your site. 

Controversy

Security

Since the cloud uses shared resources—many servers, pooled together, to create a cloud environment—your data can, technically, be stored alongside someone else’s data, on the same physical server. Although cloud technology is designed to keep everyone’s information separated, there is the potential for security vulnerabilities. 

For this reason, many businesses choose to use a hybrid environment—where they store their site’s sensitive information (e.g., customer information, credit card numbers, medical information) on private, dedicated servers, while storing non-sensitive information in the cloud. 

Another solution is to use a private cloud, where you can build your own cloud, on dedicated servers that are used only by you. 

I’ve heard about the “cloud” and “cloud computing”—but what is it, exactly?

The “cloud” is a specific technology that allows you to access on-demand compute power, and you only pay for the part you use¹. This means you can spin up servers when you need them, and spin them down when you don’t—and only pay for what you use¹. As you can create new servers or clone existing servers quickly to meet demand, your site should stay online during even the biggest traffic spikes.
_{1. Rackspace Cloud Servers with a Managed Cloud Servers Service Level are subject to a monthly account fee.}
 

Is the cloud for all types of business? 

Yes—businesses of all sizes, from small startups to major enterprises, are adopting the cloud. Specifically, they’re finding the cloud to be a great fit for e-commerce front-end webservers, rich media sites, and corporate websites, as well as SaaS apps and test/development environments. The sky’s the limit with cloud. 

What are the benefits of the cloud? 

The top reasons people are turning to the cloud are: 

- Scalability: Get the specific amount of compute power you need, when you need it. Spin servers up or down to meet your needs, in minutes. 

- Cost Savings: Thanks to the utility pricing model of the cloud, you only pay for what you use1. Plus, in the cloud, you avoid upfront hardware costs, as well as the costs of maintenance, software upgrades, power, and the manpower to manage it all.

- Reliability: Since the cloud can scale to meet sudden demand, cloud helps your site to stay online during even the highest traffic spikes. This helps to protect your brand and keep your business running smoothly.

- Business Agility: Since the cloud gives you instant resources and utility pricing, you can try different online strategies quickly, with reduced effort and cost.

- Business Focus: When you rely on the cloud, you can apply your capital and human resources toward your highest-priority business requirements, rather than on maintaining your IT infrastructure. 

I’ve heard there are different types of cloud. What are they? 

There are two types of cloud: public and private. With a public cloud, you are using servers that are shared with other customers. With private cloud, you are using dedicated servers—servers that are used only by you. 

Public cloud provides the most economical solution, whereas private cloud offers the highest levels of security. At Rackspace, we offer both public and private cloud, and even a hybrid combination of both—so you can design a system that maximises both cost savings and security. 

Learn more about public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid. 

How are other businesses using the cloud? 

Check out these whitepapers to hear it directly from our customers . . .

 • Mazda Cars USA 
• Domino’s Pizza 
• MedicAnimal.com

 

Will it be difficult to transition my business to the cloud? 

It doesn’t have to be. Complexity (or simplicity for that matter) depends on the planning that goes into the project, the cloud provider’s approach to migration and setup, and the types of applications you want to migrate, as well as the technology you already have in place.

I think my business is ready for cloud. Where do I start? 

• Start by identifying the people within your business who should be involved in the migration—from in-house technical expertise to key stakeholders. 

• Select a cloud hosting provider that meets your needs for reliability, trustworthiness, transparency, and accountability. Also, be sure that they won’t lock you in to proprietary systems that could end up costing you more over time. 

• Analyse your security policies, and those of your customers, to determine what data requires dedicated infrastructure (private cloud), and what can be hosted on a shared infrastructure (public cloud) 

• Identify which apps should be migrated to the cloud, as well as clear and realistic timelines and goals for the project.

Which apps should I migrate first?

It makes sense to migrate less “risky” applications first (i.e., those that are not customer facing or core to your business). You may want to start testing the cloud with low-risk or legacy applications that need to be refreshed. This will give your team time to learn its way around the cloud technology before moving on to your core applications.

Additionally, some applications are simply more cloud-ready than others, and they also are good candidates for migration.

What questions should I ask, when looking for a cloud hosting company?  

• How long have you been offering cloud services? 
Rackspace has been in the managed hosting business since launching in the US in 1998 and was one of the first companies to adopt and offer cloud technology as far back as 2006, before the term “Cloud Computing” was even coined. Rackspace has been recognised as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Managed Hosting and Cloud Infrastructure as a Service. View the full report here. 

• What types of cloud do you offer? 
Rackspace offers managed private cloud and public cloud, as well as a hybrid of both. We also offer traditional managed, dedicated, single-server hosting, which can also be included in your hybrid solution. 

• Do you offer 24x7x365 support? 
With Rackspace, you get 24x7x365 support from a dedicated team of Rackers who know your business inside and out, and who care as much about your business as you do. We’ve branded it Fanatical Support®—and you won’t find it anywhere else. 

• Describe your service level agreement (SLA). 
The Rackspace SLA is an industry leader. You’ll have the confidence of a Cisco Powered Network and our 100% network uptime guarantee. 

• Describe the key partnerships that identify you as a leader. 
Rackspace is a Microsoft Gold Certified Hosting Partner, and a 3-time recipient of Microsoft’s Hosting Partner of the Year honour. We are a Red Hat Premier Hosting Partner and a MySQL Certified Hosting Partner. 

 • Is your cloud technology proprietary? 
In July 2010, Rackspace and NASA launched OpenStack – an open-source cloud operating system based on the technologies behind Rackspace’s Cloud Files, and NASA’s Nebula Cloud Servers product. We are working to migrate our Public Cloud to OpenStack in 2012, and our Rackspace Cloud: Private Edition offering is already built on OpenStack™. This gives customers the flexibility to deploy a dedicated cloud at a Rackspace data centre, on-premises at their own data centre, or at an Equinix data centre of their choice. 

 • Do you require a long-term contract? Are there any setup costs associated with signing up? 
At Rackspace, there are no long-term contracts and no signup costs. 

• Do you offer a mobile app, for managing my cloud on the go? 
Yes, with the Rackspace Cloud App for iPhone^®, iPad^®, iPod Touch^®, and Android, you can manage your Cloud Servers and Cloud Files wherever you are. Find out more.