The Automated Cloud Data Center management solution can help modernize your infrastructures with cloud-like features with 3 to 9 times lower cost versus the public cloud, while also avoiding much of the cloud migration hassle.
The appeal of the public cloud comes from several benefits. They include self-service delivery of computing and storage resources, quick scalability, and reduction of the management burden of those resources.
However, the big downside of the public cloud is its high cost, especially as your infrastructure becomes bigger, which many companies realize only later.
52% of the companies, fail to achieve value from the cloud initiative
Many companies operate their own technical equipment either in their own data centers or in colocation facilities. Due to the allure of flexibility and, ironically, perceived cost savings, some companies have reduced their data center footprint and moved to the public cloud. This happens despite the big investment it takes to migrate to the public cloud. Even with the investment, more than 52% of the companies fail to achieve the expected value from their cloud initiatives, according to an Accenture study.
14% of the companies are swimming against the tide, wanting to increase their data center footprint
Meanwhile, not everyone is heeding the call of the public cloud, with 14% of companies planning to actually increase their data center footprint, despite the operational challenges associated with managing their own equipment. These companies realize that this leads to lower costs, better control, and more customizable security.
Data Center Footprint Revival
Best of both worlds: cloud-like benefits without moving to the public cloud
With the right software, managing your own data center equipment can feel just like the cloud. You get the same operational efficiency and flexibility, while also enjoying a much lower total cost of ownership.
This software allows you to either modernize your existing data center footprint or to "repatriate" your public cloud workloads on your own equipment, in a colocation facility.
The two key requirements of the software are:
1. Less manual work and management overhead
It is critical that the management burden is significantly reduced by completely automating the operations of technical equipment, not just servers, but also switches and storage.
Full automation transforms data center operations while potentially saving millions each year by eliminating most of the manual work involved in configuring servers, switches, and storage.
2. One solution that covers it all
The software must support self-service style automated provisioning of resources directly by end-users using a portal or APIs, delivered in minutes rather than in days or weeks.
The delivered resources should be any combination of Kubernetes clusters, storage volumes, bare metal servers, and VMs, along with a network configured the way the end users want.
An Automated Cloud data center in a box
We call the software that can do all this, the Automated Cloud Datacenter software.
The software enables operators to remotely manage multiple data centers from a single pane of glass, with minimal or no on-site interventions after the initial cabling, and also enables:
· Self-service, cloud-like consumption of bare metal resources
· High-performance, low-latency networking
· Hardware based tenant isolation
· Co-habitation of bare metal, virtual, and container infrastructures on the same pool of resources
· Easy redistribution of resources among projects and end-users
Modernizing an existing data center
While deploying an Automated Cloud data center as a new (greenfield) environment is a relatively straightforward process, what can you do if you already have an existing data center full of equipment?
You can modernize the existing data center through an incremental approach:
1. Start by identifying a zone within the existing data center – it can be just a few racks or a cage to begin with.
2. Generally speaking, the equipment in those racks should not be older than 10 years, because there are certain protocols that the Automated Cloud Datacenter solution uses, such as IPMI, that really old servers do not implement well.
3. Then, the software will take over the management of those racks: in-use servers will be "partially registered" in the system.
4. Once a server is no longer in use, it can be rebooted, and the system will then automatically “fully register” it – that includes determining the type of CPU, the amount of memory, what kind of storage devices, etc. The server will then become part of the "pool of servers." When adding a new server to the rack, it will go through the same process.
5. The zone can grow over time as additional racks are added to the system.
Depending on the number of racks, the zone will feature a "mini spine" layer with uplinks towards the existing spine/aggregation layer (See Figure 1). The software will manage the “mini spine” layer and, below, coexisting with other systems/network outside of it. Within the zone, you are free to implement the latest technologies such as eVPN or M-LAG, while the rest of the infrastructure can stay as it is.
After the initial zone is set up, this zone can grow as additional racks are added to the system.
MetalSoft provides the most complete automated cloud data center solution
MetalSoft provides everything that you need to modernize your infrastructure with the fully Automated Cloud Datacenter management solution. It covers a wide array of equipment, both new and old, along with a wide array of network configurations and technologies.
MetalSoft's solution enables you to bring your existing data centers into the cloud era while enjoying the big cost savings associated with operating your own equipment rather than using the public cloud.