This way to the Cloud

Well, is the cloud the next great IT innovation? It could be or it could be a wispy apparition that dissipates on the winds of poor planning. Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS are all sophisticated buzzwords to us “mere mortals” that conjure up images of cutting edge technologies that will resolve all our Information Technology issues. However, I maintain that if we limit our thoughts about “The Cloud” strictly to technology, we are in for a disappointment. If we only complete an element of the cloud environment (e.g., server consolidation) we are only going to get a portion of the benefit of what the strategy and architecture of cloud computing can provide.

We need to begin our path to the cloud by defining the business problems that need to be solved, explicitly set goals, and translate these pain points into services that need to be delivered. During this blog discussion, I am going to suggest certain business imperatives that cloud computing addresses introduce a framework that I believe is critical to the eventual desired end state of cloud computing.

• First of all a major promise of cloud computing is a much better approach to helping IT drive greater agility…



• Secondly, the cloud has proven to lower costs (60% on CapEX, 30% on OpEx and up to 80% on Energy)



• The third business imperative that is addressed is ensuring compliance and security, while also maintain business-required service levels

OK, now what are these layers critical to a successfully end state of cloud computing – There are Three…

1. Your infrastructure and existing investments: Organizations must take existing IT processes and ensure that they can be brought into the cloud environment.
   


2. The growing demand for a new brew of business applications. Ultimately, infrastructure is there simply to support applications. So it’s important for us to address this layer as well. How we approach applications can affect both costs – OPEX, and Agility.



3. The third tier is our End User. The challenge is to enable end users with the freedom to have access anytime, from anywhere while still ensuring security, and support all of this in a cost-effective manner.
   
   Over the next weeks and months I will expand on this framework by discussing how the leading vendors are addressing these issues – so watch this space…

Think Architecture, Not Just Operating System

We move into the New Year with anticipation of doing great things with our infrastructure and improve the efficiency of our operations. Unfortunately, many have a tendency to look at the latest great thing (e.g., application, Operating System, etc…) as the magic bullet. Each vendor points to how his/her product is the “killer app” that will save our infrastructure. I am not a cynic, but before we invest time and money into a product we need to step back and make sure we are implementing the correct architecture. This is especially true for SMB or government directorates/offices with their own budgetary authority. The term architecture (from the Greek word architektonike) can refer to a process, a profession, or documentation. As a process, architecture is the activity of design¬ing and constructing buildings and other physi¬cal structures primarily to provide shelter. In our context, architecture is a structured process to help ensure the stability of valuable business processes and assets. I like to think a good architecture is constructed in pyramid layer fashion, from the ground up. Every lasting architecture has been conducted in this manner – Whether structural (Egypt or Mexico) or logical (ISO layers) or a combination of both (network infrastructure/virtualization). I find it comforting to see the major players like Cisco, VMware, EMC and Symantec collaborating to provide a solution to a fragmented architecture. A good architecture allows the designer flexibility in both the vertical and horizontal plane of his design. Vertically, it will account for the foundation and services (network and user/application) layers and horizontally, it will consider the business foundation of the organization. It will consider size, location, and business policies and procedures. It should be flexible enough to accommodate the 1000 person office located on a metro campus or dispersed state wide and since one size does not fit all a good baseline architecture should also fit the small 25 person branch with teleworkers. An example baseline architecture is shown. This example is based on a Cisco model but can be applied universally. Have a Blessed and Great New Year.

Creating A Virtual Machine

Creating a virtual machine from scratch is a three step process.

First I ran the New Virtual Machine wizard to create a virtual machine. The NewVirtual Machine wizard guided me through the key steps for setting up a new virtual machine, helping me set the virtual hardware specifications and other parameters. A virtual machine provides a base x86 platform and you use the wizard to choose devices to install on that platform. For example, you select the number of virtual processors, the amount of memory, the virtual disk capacity, and so forth. Next I set the virtual machine to connect to a physical CD-ROM device or an ISO file, power on the virtual machine, and install the operating system just like you would for any new physical machine. Finally, I installed VMware Tools to enhance the performance and manageability of the virtual machine. The VMware Tools installation wizard automatically selects the VMware Tools version appropriate for the operating system running in the virtual machine.

After creating a new virtual machine, like a physical computer, it has a blank hard disk. Before you can use it, you need to

partition and format the virtual disk and install an operating system. You can install the operating system from an installation CD-ROM or create an ISO image file and install from that file.The basic procedure to install the guest operating system from CD-ROMs is to first insert the installation CD or floppy into the physical device. Then on the VM menu on workstation menu bar for the virtual machine, click the Settings option to open the Virtual machine Settings editor. On the Hardware tab, for CD/DVD Drive, be sure to enable Connect at power on option under the Device Status. Then when you power on the virtual machine, it will boot from the installation CD. From there you can follow the instructions provided by the operating system vendor to partition the disk and install the operating system. A faster and often more convenient method is to install from an ISO image file. To do so, you must change the virtual machine settings to connect to the ISO image instead of the physical device. Virtual machines support both attended and unattended installations. You can install VMware Tools after installing the guest operating system VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance and manageability of a virtual machine. The installers for VMware Tools for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and NetWare guest operating systems are bundled into Workstation as ISO image files.

Viola, we have a virtual machine on our host…. Next week we will look at “configuring virtual networks”… Hopefully, this will keep you from making the same mistakes I and my two colleagues made.

Snap! This is not a “no Brainer”

Earlier this week I was walking past a desk with two “techies” deep in pensive conversation and actively gesturing. Curiosity got the best of me, so I asked them “What’s up”? Well it appears that they had just deleted and reinstalled a Windows VM in their VMware Workstation host and they could no longer see it. I smiled because I thought of something my father used to say, “if you live long enough, you are bound to see your old mistakes be committed by someone else”.

The trouble was that they did not remember that the default for a network adapter on a VM was NAT. This happens when we use the network wizard setting as “Typical”. They could not see the VM on the network because the network adapter setting needed to be set at “Bridged” for the VM to appear on an equal network status as the host. NAT configures a virtual machine to share the IP and MAC addresses of the host. The virtual machine and the host share a single network identity that is not visible outside the “workstation” network. In a “Bridged” network; the virtual network adapter in the virtual machine connects to the physical network adapter in your host computer, allowing it to connect to the LAN the host computer uses.

The point is, these folks were not novices and had easily overlooked a small but vital step. No, not the fact that when reinstalling the VM, they used all default settings but they did not remember the old adage; “when nothing else works, RTM….” It would have saved them energy and the irritation that a passer-by resolved their issue. They seemed relieved when I told them that that had just happened to me yesterday.

Fortunately, there is a cornucopia of knowledge to help you out of a jam. VMware has white papers, forums, training sessions, and videos. You are not alone…

Try it: you’ll like it….

This is aimed at the small to medium business that wants to get started in virtualization but thinks it takes too much of an investment. Well I’m here to tell ya – That aint the case. There are two VMware products with which you can start to learn what it’s all about and if you want to go further. One is VMware Server. VMware Server is a Free and easy way to get introduced to virtualization. VMware Server provides a risk-free introduction to Windows and Linux application server virtualization. I am currently evaluating it and the other introductory product – VMware Workstation 7.
The top three reasons many business use either of these products is (a) Test and Development of software and IT environments, (b) use of virtual machines to evaluate software, and (c) they want to assess what this virtualization thing is all about. Now before we go any farther, I want to let you know that there is another free product out there: It’s the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXI). However, it does require a dedicated server (recommended 4GB Memory and dual socket, dual core). The next step after ESXI would be vSphere. So if you have a server with the requisite configuration, go for it. But if you are just feeling your way – look at VMware Server or VMware Workstation 7 to begin. There is a cost for VMware Workstation 7 – Approximately $190.00. Now let’s do a quick comparison of these two products.
First of all neither require a dedicated server. They both can run on a Dual Core PC (XP, Win 7, or Linux) with 2GB Ram. This is the minimum that I would recommend. Remember the more ram and processing power, the more virtual machines/better performance. Both can run either Windows or Linux as a guest operating system. OK, what are the differences? They are Basic. VMware Server is designed with the Data Center in mind… it is a Server product while VMware Workstation 7 (while more flexible) is built for the desktop/laptop. With Workstation 7 you can demonstrate a complete network solution on your laptop – You can even run ESXI on one of your virtual machines. OK, which should I use….? Remember the universal answer – It all depends.
Actually, I plan to use both…. I can use VMware Server to establish a small test and development lab to evaluate software. When I am ready, I can use the VMware upgrade roadmap so that I do not lose my infrastructure investment. I can also use VMware Workstation as a demonstration platform both for the infrastructure and developed solutions.
How will you use these entry points?

Go Ahead, Rub the Lamp....

Well, I have been to the mountain top, but now I am back in the valley. I saw the big “cloud” and it looks like a magic genie. It offers “IT as a service”, reduction in time to a positive ROI, more freedom for end users, and effective control for the IT department. Well Aladdin, what do you think? Is it real or just smoke and mirrors? My take is that it is real but like the story goes, you need to be wise and prepared when you let the genie out of the bottle. This is sophisticated technology and just because it has a lot of graphical interfaces with the underlying code does not mean you can treat it like a series of drag-and –drop applications.
Remember that virtualization is networking and the same principles (and more) apply. Think of basic virtualization as today’s version of clustering – powerful but like the “genie”, waiting for some unsuspecting soul to have a momentary lapse in vigilance only to find they are trapped inside the “bottle of frustration”. Fortunately, the reigning “King of the cloud” and your ole buddy, the” IT Sage” understands this dilemma and stands ready to assist you. VMware has a veritable plethora of documentation, training videos, online training, discussion groups, and people like me, who have become converts, to assist you on your journey.
Maranatha & Associates, Inc., the sponsor of this blog, has partnered with the “royal court” of “cloud computing and stands ready to assist you on your journey. The video below depicts our philosophy.

VMWorld 2010: Days 2 & 3

Wow, what a rush. These three days have been at a non-stop pace. There are over 17,000 attendees. Over 13,000 hands-0n lab sessions (advanced and basic), ranging from installation of vSphere to troubleshooting VMware networking issues have been completed. The logistics of this conference has been intense. These folks "get it". No matter if you are a potential customer, a reseller, or a partner, VMware will win you over (is it the "dark side? - don't think so)... There are real programs here for everyone. Validation is shown in the "partners" that are investing their resources to support virtualization and the VMware paradigm. There are heavy weights like EMC, HP, Symantec and others who have reinvented themselves in the image of virtualization, e.g., Wyse, the thin client producer (remember them). The bottom line is that it is apparent that this product is currently setting the IT industry on a new path. Whether you want to call it "Cloud Computing" or enhanced data centers, it is not just infrastructure but a living treatise on how commercial and public sector entities can do business more efficiently. The goal is quite ambitious - satisfy the two factions of the company enterprise who traditionally are at odds with each other - the end user who wants freedom and the IT department who requires control - Good Luck with That....