Cloud Computing
Disruptive Innovation
&
Enabling Technology
Authors:
John Keagy (CEO & Co-Founder of GoGrid/ServePath)
Michael Sheehan (Technology Evangelist of GoGrid/ServePath)
Paul Lancaster (Business Development Manager for
GoGrid/ServePath)
August 2008
The “Cloud” = 10X Improvements
Ease of Use
Scalability
Risk
Reliability
Cost
Ease of Use
Deploy infrastructure with a mouse or API
– No cabling, screwdrivers, racking, unboxing, buying
– Middle of the night
– Do it yourself remotely from anywhere anytime
Scalability
See Ease of Use
Control your infrastructure with your app
Nothing to purchase and take delivery on
Instant
Risk
Nothing to buy
Cancel immediately
Change instantly, even operating systems
Throw it out
Rebuild it instantly after testing
RISK
Reliability
Based on enterprise grade hardware
Design for failures:
– Automatically spin up replacements
– Use multiple clouds
Cost
“Turn off the lights” = turn off servers you aren’t using
– Ex: Turn off development and test environments
Pay for only what you use
No need to buy in advance
Zero Capital Outlay
No contracts
“Breaking the Dam(n!)”
Colo
Managed
Colocation – 1st step to outsourcing
Managed Hosting – dedicated servers managed by 3rd
party take some pain away
Cloud Hosting – Lower cost, easier, lower risk, more
reliable
Traditional Hosting Costs Continue to
Grow
High CapEx
Low facility asset utilization
(55%)
High Depreciation (42-50%)
Power/Cooling costs > Server
Costs
Not “Green”
30% hardware obsolescence
- Source: Forbes.com, Kenneth Brill, “Servers: Why
Thrifty Isn’t Nifty”
Source: Forbes.com, “Servers: Why Thrifty Isn’t Nifty”
Trending Away from the “Pain”
Source: Google Insight for Search
Understanding how others view “Cloud Computing”
MULTIPLE DEFINITIONS
Forrester Research
“A pool of abstracted, highly scalable, and managed
compute infrastructure capable of hosting end-customer
applications and billed by consumption1”
1- “Is Cloud Computing Ready for The Enterprise?” Forrester Research, Inc.
Forrester Research (cont’d)
Different than SaaS
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Prescripted & Abstracted Infrastructure
Fully Virtualized
Dynamic Infrastructure Software
Pay by Consumption
Free of Long-Term Contracts
Application and OS Independent
Free of Software or Hardware Installation
“Cloud computing has all the earmarks of being a potential
disruptive innovation that all infrastructure and
operations professionals should heed.”
Other Definitions
“Cloud computing is an emerging approach to shared
infrastructure in which large pools of systems are linked
together to provide IT services.”
– IBM press release on “Blue Cloud”
“…a hosted infrastructure model that delivers abstracted IT
resources over the Internet”
– Thomas Weisel Partners LLC from “Into the Clouds: Leveraging Data Centers and the Road to
Cloud Computing”
“Cloud computing describes a systems architecture.
Period. This particular architecture assumes nothing
about the physical location, internal composition or
ownership of its component parts.”
– James Urquhart blog post
Multiple Graphic Descriptions of the
“Cloud”
Our view of “Cloud Computing”
REDEFINING THE DEFINITION
Defining the Segments
SaaS
– Software as a Service
– Storage as a Service
PaaS – Platform as a Service
IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service
Colo vs. Managed vs. Cloud Hosting
Colocation
Managed
Cloud
Time
Weeks to Months
Days to Weeks
Minutes
Scalability
Slowest, Rigid &
Costly
Slower, somewhat
flexible, Costly
Instant, Flexible,
Pay-per-usage
Cost
High CapEx
Costly, sometimes
month/year
contracts, no CapEx
No contracts, usage
based, no upfront
costs
“Green”
Low
Low
High - virtualized
Pricing model
Buy Servers & Colo
costs whether used
or not
Rent Servers &
Hosting costs
whether used or not
Rent based on
usage only
Hosting Industry Ripe for Change
Technology has evolved
People demand more control
Instant gratification
In-house too costly from CapEx and Human Capital
Colocation for those who want to be physically there
Managed is not dynamic enough
Cloud Computing -“Enabling Technology” to move
from Traditional Hosting to Cloud Hosting
The Cloud’s “Snowball Effect”
Maturation of Virtualization Technology
Virtualization enables Compute Clouds
Compute Clouds create demand for Storage Clouds
Storage + Compute Clouds create Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud Infrastructure enables Cloud Platforms &
Applications
Multiple Cloud types lead to Cloud Aggregators
Niche requirements enable Cloud Extenders
The “Cloud Pyramid”
Build upon a foundation
Layers equate structure
Building blocks: Infrastructure, Platforms, Applications
Breadth vs. Niche
The “Cloud Pyramid” Inversed
1000’s of Cloud Applications currently
Handful of Cloud Platforms
Elite group of Cloud Infrastructure providers
# of Marketplace providers
Cloud Computing is…
… virtualized compute power and storage delivered via
platform-agnostic infrastructures of abstracted hardware
and software accessed over the Internet. These shared,
on-demand IT resources, are created and disposed of
efficiently, are dynamically scalable through a variety of
programmatic interfaces and are billed variably based
on measurable usage.
Cloud “Applications”
SaaS resides here
Most common Cloud / Many providers of different services
Examples: SalesForce, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Quicken Online
Advantages: Free, Easy, Consumer Adoption
Disadvantages: Limited functionality, no control or access to
underlying technology
Cloud “Platforms”
“Containers”
“Closed” environments
Examples: Google App Engine, Heroku, Mosso, Engine Yard,
Joyent or Force.com (SalesForce Dev Platform)
Advantages: Good for developers, more control than “Application”
Clouds, tightly configured
Disadvantages: Restricted to what is available, other dependencies
Cloud “Infrastructure”
Provide “Compute” and “Storage” clouds
Virtualization layers (hardware/software)
Examples: Amazon EC2, GoGrid, Amazon S3, Nirvanix, Linode
Advantages: Full control of environments and infrastructure
Disadvantages: premium price point, limited competition
Cloud “Extenders” (Wild Card)
Provides extension to Cloud Infrastructure and Platforms with basic
functionality
Examples: Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon SQS, Google BigTable
Advantages: Extends functionality of Compute & Storage Clouds to
integrate with legacy system or other clouds
Disadvantages: Sometimes requires use of specific Platforms or
Infrastructure
Cloud “Aggregators” (Wild Card)
Sits on top of various Cloud Infrastructures for management
Examples: RightScale, Appistry
Advantages: Provides more options for Cloud environments
Disadvantages: Dependent on Cloud Providers
The NEW “Cloud Pyramid”
Hosting Heads to the Clouds
Static  Dynamic = Quick & Easy Scalability
Cost Prohibitive  Cost Effective = Cost Efficiencies
Predictable  Unpredictable = Innovations
Stagnant  Growth = Evolution
Traditional Hosting  Cloud Hosting = FUTURE!
Contact Information
Paul Lancaster
– Business Development Manager, GoGrid
– Email: plancaster@gogrid.com
– Mobile: 415.948.4182
Site: http://www.GoGrid.com
Blog: http://blog.GoGrid.com