Many companies are moving their services and IT infrastructure to cloud providers. According to the IDG Cloud Computing survey, the cloud now represents a third of the IT spend. The majority of organizations plan to use cloud services for over half of their infrastructure and applications.
Cloud migration is no longer a fashionable trend, but rather a necessity. Outsourcing the maintenance and administration of IT infrastructure helps to focus on business while saving money. In addition, the cloud helps both Russian companies and international businesses solve an issue related to complying with personal data law № 152-FZ.
To get the most out of moving your services to the cloud in Russia, you need to choose a reliable provider. After all, even the best idea of optimization may have negative consequences if a provider not enough competent. In this article, we will look at what to consider when choosing a Russian cloud provider.
Types of cloud service in Russia
The first thing to look at is the type of cloud provider and its services. All cloud service providers can be divided into three categories:
Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider. Offers large and complex virtual infrastructures. User is given an opening to virtualized components to build their own IT platforms. That includes virtual server space, network connections, bandwidth, IP addresses, load balancers. An IaaS provider uses the latest hardware and software solutions and can implement a project of any complexity.
IaaS is a cloud service, offers a number of additional benefits – it is a scalable solution meaning you don't have to worry about resource limitations, and you only pay for what you use rather than paying extra for physical services to provide redundancy when needed. As for infrastructure management, you don't have to monitor, maintain or upgrade servers, but simply manage resources from a centralized platform.
VDS\VPS server provider. Such providers offer separate servers with the ability to manage them via a special web panel. VDS-providers use mid-level hardware and software and focus on small companies, which do not need complex systems. The price is significantly lower than that of an IaaS provider. This is an option for companies that want to deploy a file or web server in the cloud for data security or to host company websites on a dedicated resource.
The Technical aspects of cloud server
This is the most important factor to consider when developing a cloud strategy. Before deciding to use cloud infrastructure, examine your IT environment and understand what business goals you are trying to accomplish. You can then investigate cloud infrastructure providers by reviewing these components:
Equipment. It is definitely worth observing the kind of hardware used to build the provider's infrastructure. The use of hardware from world-leading brands such as NetApp, IBM, HP, and others will mean that the storage and servers are reliable. Of course, a lot also depends on the competence of the staff who configure and administer the equipment, so it is worth paying extra attention to the certification of the vendor's top professionals.
Computing. This component of the cloud infrastructure consists of processors and memory. You need to ask whether there are physical servers or virtual machines; whether they are single-tenant or multi-tenant. How many CPUs can be dedicated to a server? What is the memory speed?
Networking. Consider the bandwidth for your workload, processing speed between storage and VMS; the integration of the on-premise network with the provider’s data centers.
Virtualization. An important aspect of the quality and reliability of a cloud provider's services is the virtualization system. Different hypervisors have different functionality and level of vendor support. It is a good sign if a cloud provider uses systems from Microsoft or Vmware virtualization. Hyper-V and VSphere hypervisors are the most reliable.
Cloud provider’s data center
Even if a cloud provider uses industry leaders’ hardware and software solutions, the site on which they are located is a very important consideration. The fact is that engineering systems, while not directly affecting the performance of the IT infrastructure, can cause it to fail. The data center must have redundant power and cooling systems, fire suppression, as well as restricted physical access to the equipment.
Despite the fact that the cloud provider is often financially responsible for data security and business continuity with the client, the client's business will still lose more in the event of an emergency. That is why it is worth enquiring about the capabilities and limitations of the data center, where the cloud provider's equipment is located.
Conclusion
Experience means a lot. Before using the services of a particular cloud provider, it makes sense to find out which projects have been successfully implemented. If a provider has implemented more than a dozen projects similar to your current task, most likely, the quality of their services meets the required level.
It is always better to carry out an evaluation of a service provider before concluding an agreement with it. In this article, we have outlined the considerations you need to take into account when selecting a cloud provider in Russia. By paying attention to them, you will be able to assess the level and capabilities of the provider, thereby avoiding many problems in the process.
