- Cloud providers offer different features and functions.
So, it's essential to determine your own requirements,
then look at all candidates, and compare, and contrast,
what you need and what the various providers offer.
It's only then, that you went understand how they function,
and understand which cloud will match your requirements.
Finally, if you make a mistake, just try again.
Every cloud conversion is a bit of a learning experience.
In this video, we'll focus on Infrastructure as a Service,
or IaaS cloud features and specifications,
but this knowledge is transferable to other cloud types.
Keep in mind, we need flexible resource configurations.
This means we're dealing with a cloud
that allows you to configure resources in different ways.
As you may recall, from the AWS demo,
Amazon Web Services had the ability
to be completely configurable.
Dynamic Scale-Up and Scale-Down of resources,
means that we can add service instances as we need them,
and remove them when we don't need them.
Seamless support of Multiple Clouds,
mean that we can use different cloud brands,
and types as needed.
Flexible Resource Quotas means that we can add,
or remove resources without suffering penalties.
Role-Based access controls are available.
This means that we can set up policies
to govern how the resources are allocated and used.
Comprehensive Monitoring and Logging
means that we can log all aspects
of the Infrastructure as a Service cloud
and read those logs at any time.
Also, we have the ability to monitor the cloud service
using some sort of dashboard.
Image Lifecycle Management refers to the fact
that we can manage images from the creation,
to the disposal.
Finally, integration into Incident and Change Management,
either as a part of DevOps structure,
or as part of existing configuration management approach.
Service Provisioning means leveraging a portal
into all cloud endpoints,
meaning that we can launch new storage
and compute instances at any time.
Also having a robust service catalog
that meets all of the customer cloud needs,
including most of your requirements.
It's at this point, that you want to pay special attention
to this feature,
ensuring that most of your requirements are met.
End-to-End Automation meaning that we have
to compare automation control
over the Infrastructure as a Service cloud.
Finally, the cloud should include supported APIs
or Application Programming Interfaces,
allowing the applications and data sources
to communicate with one another.
With Self-Service Resource Provisioning,
we can allocate resources such as storage and compute,
when and where we need them.
Also, provides Rapid Elasticity,
meaning that we can expand and contract
our cloud usage at will.
Capacity on Demand ensures resources are always available,
and rapid disaster recovery using active-active approach,
meaning that we can provide business continuity
and disaster recovery services
to ensure that our applications
never stopped supporting our users.
Finally employs Seamless Support
for different cloud endpoints.
This will ensure a consistent operational support
for each cloud component.
Metering and Chargeback refers to the fact
that we can monitor the cloud usage as dollars,
and allocate the charges to different departments
in the company.
Of course, this also means,
Pay-as-You-Go Consumption based billing.
You only want to pay for the cloud services that you use.
Finally, reliable Asset Tracking and Usage Reporting,
so you can understand what you're paying for,
who is using the cloud services, and when they used.
When picking a cloud provider,
it's helpful to create a set of requirements
such as storage and compute,
as well as the relative importance of those requirements
to the enterprise.
This force ranking will assist you in determining,
which cloud is most likely to be the correct choice.
Weighing the different categories such as compute
and network demonstrates the relative ranking
for each category.
Notice how the correct choice is easy to spot.
However, it's helpful to remember that each enterprise,
is going to have their own requirements,
and pick clouds for different reasons.
Never assume that what works for one company
will work for another,
that will quickly get you into trouble.
Defining your business needs,
and then researching various cloud providers
to understand how they function,
will go a long way to figuring out
which cloud, will match your requirements.
However, each evaluation process and criteria
will be unique to your needs.
So don't be afraid to change the process
for the best impact.
If you follow these steps outlined,
you will pick the right cloud, the very first time.