Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Archives - Over the Wire

Expansion of OTW Private Cloud platform into Sydney underway

Mon, 10 Oct 2016 05:53:10 +0000

We are delighted to announce that Over the Wire has commenced the expansion of its Hosted Infrastructure (Private Cloud) platform. The platform has always had geographic diversity through hosting in multiple Brisbane data centres, however this next phase will nearly double the original environment configuration by adding a full production suite in Sydney. The end result for clients is not only resource and geographic backup redundancies, but also geographic zones to utilise for optimal performance.

Hosted in the Equinix SY3 data centre, the expansion comes on the back of demand from clients for additional resource availability and greater geographic redundancy between nodes. It also aligns with the Company’s geographic expansion plans into the Sydney market. Completion of the upgrade is expected by December 2016.

Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.

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Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Now Available

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 05:51:09 +0000

Microsoft ExpressRoute provides Over the Wire customers with a private, dedicated, high-throughput network connection between Microsoft Azure data centres and Over the Wire’s National MPLS network.

By bypassing the public Internet, ExpressRoute connects customers directly to Azure with faster speeds, lower latencies and excellent reliability; resulting in increased security, reduced network costs and improved performance. This offers clients moving into the cloud environment a secure, high-performing experience that best suits their objectives.

In addition to Over the Wire’s already existing connection to Amazon’s AWS Direct Connect, Microsoft Azure via ExpressRoute will further allow us to provide clients with access to the technology that they specifically need. By connecting to ExpressRoute clients are able to fully integrate their cloud services and internal applications whilst benefitting from flexible and dynamic bandwidth.

Over the Wire Director, Brent Paddon, commented that “having direct access to Azure will allow our customers to seamlessly integrate Azure cloud with their own infrastructure and other services, forming their personalised hybrid cloud solution. This is a service that our clients have been eagerly anticipating and we are delighted to now be able to provide them with it.”

For further information please contact you account manager or the OTW Sales Team on 1300 689 689.

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What is the Difference Between IaaS and PaaS?

Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:02:57 +0000

This is a question that has come up with a few organisations that we have been doing business with, and so we felt that it could use some clarification.

At their core, both Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) are exactly the same system – they are a bundle of virtual resources hosted on our infrastructure, which is located in one of our data centres.

Where the two systems differ is in the level of control that the end client has over the infrastructure they have been allocated. With an IaaS environment the client is only given control over the application layer (the layer on which software runs) and the VM operating systems (via a console). However, this does not give the client access to deploy new machines or make changes to existing machines (other than those functions which are accesable via the OS). The other functions are managed by the provider. For instance if an IaaS client needed to scale up their capacity, they would need to contact their provider and either place a request for some additional VM’s be set up, or request an increase in the resources allocated to an existing VM.

However in a PaaS environment the client is given control over the management of their own VM’s via the hypervisor layer. For this reason, we only recommend clients opt to use PaaS if they have experience in setting up and configuring virtual servers. In this instance, if a client wished to upgrade their capacity, the client only needs to request the base resources (computing, memory, and disk) and they would be free to choose how these are allocated and configured via a web based management portal.

Hopefully that helps to clear up some of the confusion, but if you still have questions we would recommend contacting us.

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Don’t Get Caught Out By Your SLA’s

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 05:47:41 +0000

One of the most important components to consider in a business grade telecommunications service is the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that accompany the terms and conditions of the contract. However, it is also one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of a service, and as such it can lead to a great deal of unexpected and unnecessary problems. Here’s why:

“A Service Level Agreement is not a guarantee that your infrastructure will remain active for the specified uptime. Rather it is the minimum period of outage after which the business will receive a financial rebate, where this has been stated in the contract.”

For instance, a 99.95% uptime SLA (which is typical for the majority of business grade Ethernet services) has a maximum target downtime of 21 minutes and 55 seconds per month. Many IT Managers make the costly mistake of thinking this means that the service is guaranteed to be active for the remaining time period. It isn’t. The SLA simply means that come 21 minutes and 56 seconds, the customer will be able to claim some remuneration for any additional downtime experienced.

Why are the SLA’s not guarantees?

Using the example of a 99.95% SLA, 21 minutes and 55 seconds is more than enough time for a provider to fix the majority of network faults. However, infrastructure faults, which often rely on third parties to be resolved, can take much longer. For instance fibre cuts, ULL faults, and NTU failures are normally beyond the scope of the service providers control and as such require third party technicians to be physically present at the point of failure to be resolved. Depending on the fault, the remoteness of the area, number of services affected and the availability of qualified technicians, infrastructure failures may take several days to resolve.

Why does this matter if the provider has to compensate me?

Whilst an SLA may provide remuneration in the event of a service outage, the rate of remuneration is determined by the provider and is not linked to the actual loss incurred by the business. This means that the risk of a failure still needs to be weighed against the potential costs of one occurring. If the impact on the business is deemed to be unacceptably high it is strongly recommended that organisations consider utilising a redundancy package to mitigate the risk of an outage occurring.

What redundancy options are available?

Typical considerations for redundancy should include the following; however, it is recommend that all organisations consider backup links on a per-site basis so that the appropriate technology can be balanced against the cost.

Due to their low cost and geographic availability, ADSL links are often recommended for the majority of sites.
However if the site is in a remote location or there is a high risk of a large scale problem (e.g. flooding, bush fires, etc.), 3G and 4G backup links can be used. 3/4G is also recommended as a method of providing redundancy against terrestrial problems. For instance if a fibre cable, or other form of cable infrastructure is cut, it is likely that an ADSL connection will be affected as well, making 3/4G the most viable alternative. Microwave transmission can also be used to the same effect, however it comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. You can read more about the differences in connectivity options in this article on connectivity.
The deployment of a second router to provide additional device redundancy can protect against hardware failure and get you back to work almost instantly.
Due to a slow reduction in costs, protected fibre (fibre that takes diverse routes to the exchange) is becoming increasingly common as a backup option. Protected fibre comes with the advantage of being able to offer the same speed as the primary connectivity option.

Considerations should also be made as to whether there is a requirement for automatic or manual failover, as each of these options has the potential to affect the speed at which your service can be restored.

The next time your organisation is considering setting up a link to a new office, or upgrading an existing network, make sure you keep in mind that an SLA is not a silver bullet, and that the risk of an outage needs to be balanced against the potential costs of one occurring.

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Migrating to the Cloud

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 06:10:24 +0000

With increasing interest being generated in Australia for cloud based infrastructure solutions businesses appear to be warming to the advantages of hosted services. A Frost and Sullivan report released earlier this month stated that the trend was strongest amongst Australian SME’s with large organisations following closely behind. The report cited “greater flexibility” and “lower costs” as two of the primary reasons that IT managers were looking to increase the allocation of their IT budget to cloud based services.

With cloud based backup solutions offering significant functionality advantages over traditional options many businesses are choosing to migrate these services to cloud backup providers rather than continuing with the hassles of physical backup technologies.

Other organisations are choosing to embrace fully hosted environments in the form of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platforms due to their ability to offer significant price reductions over On Premise solutions with comparable performance figures.

One of the major advantages of cloud-based solutions is the ease and flexibility with which existing platforms can be migrated onto them. Because there is no requirement for large upfront capital expenses, businesses can incrementally migrate their infrastructure across as their needs dictate, and as previous warranty and contract terms elapse.

Because Over the Wire houses our hosted infrastructure in our owned and operated data centres the process of merging multiple hosted products together is simple and painless. By having a full suite of products we are able to design a solution tailored specifically for your needs, with the ability to choose the right combination for you, whether it be implemented all at once, or in stages.

What this means is that businesses who do not wish to move all of their infrastructure to the cloud can take advantage of it for a single service, and can choose to migrate the rest of their services down the line, if they wish. This can be done by coupling Backup as a Service (BaaS) with your on premise servers, utilising BaaS + Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to provide greater Business Continuity options for your on premise servers, or use either of these two options as a stepping stone towards a longer term plan to migrate the on premise servers to IaaS. The solution combinations are highly beneficial, so speak to an Over the Wire Solutions Consultant to understand the best outcome for your business.

(Source: www.frost.com, State of Cloud Computing in Australia Report 2013)

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How Does IaaS Compare to On Premise?

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 05:59:28 +0000

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) has become increasingly common in the Australian business community, but many managers remain sceptical as to the value of a hosted solution over traditional On Premise options. Over the Wire’s hosted services expert Sean Bofinger takes us through some of the major differences between these solutions. For detailed information about how much these differences cost, the video below runs through a price comparison between IaaS and On Premise for a typical 50 person organisation.

Hardware

On Premise

IaaS

For many organisations, the hardware procurement cycle arrives every three years. Either purchased upfront or financed for a set term, evolving business trends often mean that hardware becomes obsolete very quickly. The risk for an On Premise Solution is that requirements arising between upgrade cycles will be ignored (resulting in a loss of productive capacity) or alternatively be expensive to implement. However, there is some good news, large infrastructure deployments can benefit from economies of scale in the hardware purchase.

Hosted services have the advantage of being able to leverage dedicated infrastructure that is in a continuous state of upgrade. Service providers with high SLA’s must ensure that the hardware is providing the best performance, and hence the supporting infrastructure is frequently upgraded. Due to the nature of the solution, these upgrades are seamless, meaning customers can benefit from the improved performance without costly disruptions.

Software

On Premise

IaaS

Much like hardware, software upgrades usually have an associated cost incurred. In many cases the software purchase costs will exceed the hardware costs, with any associated annual or recurring licensing requirements adding to the overall expenditure. Further complications can be added via any increases in staff or endpoint numbers and the additional licenses these require. This can be particularly problematic if numbers are added on a temporary basis.

On an IaaS platform, customers can leverage the flexible Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) available from software vendors. This allows for flexible monthly licensing options provided on a per-user basis, or node cost per month. In addition to being able to add or remove licenses as needed, the licensing arrangement entitles the customer to the latest version upon release, ensuring that the environment can be kept at the forefront of technology.

Support

On Premise	IaaS
The increasing complexity of servers, storage, and software requires that the customer invest in a highly skilled internal support team. This team requires ongoing training, and may leave the company vulnerable to staff unavailability. Alternatively, IT companies may offer customers the required support arrangements for On Premise solutions.	Like an On Premise solution, IaaS providers may offer support agreements to clients, however due to the difficulties of providing onsite support, this will typically come at a much lower cost than the maintenance for an On Premise solution.

Backup

On Premise	IaaS
Data Protection is paramount to ensuring that your business captures and maintains its critical business data. However, the ongoing management and preventative maintenance of backup systems can be challenging for in house support teams and is often overlooked, in light of more pressing matters.	Most IaaS platforms provide clients with the option for a managed infrastructure solution that includes backup processes. Where archives are required businesses should confirm that long-term backup storage can be arranged.

Redundancy

On Premise	IaaS
For On Premise deployments, a significant investment must be made to provide redundancy across compute, storage, and networking devices.	Redundancy is a key aspect of any IaaS solution. Every IaaS Service provider must ensure that its services are able to recover from an unexpected outage as well as providing a seamless migration approach whilst undergoing scheduled maintenance. Businesses should check with their IaaS provider to ensure that their infrastructure is configured to their requirements.

Data Recovery

On Premise

IaaS

Location, performance, and core services must be considered when implementing a Disaster Recovery (DR) solution, as each of these aspects has a corresponding cost. Moreover, adding additional business services will require detailed planning, a higher level of technical support, and additional implementation costs.

To achieve the organisation’s required Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), the cost in implementing the DR solution may be significant. DR solutions can easily account for the same amount as the production environment cost.

IaaS offers more cost effective DR solutions due to the higher performing networking infrastructure deployed within the provider’s solutions. With infrastructure deployed in a highly reliable environment and with high capacity networks between each site, an IaaS solution can be tailored to meet RPO and RTO requirements in a far most cost effective manner.

Cost

On Premise

IaaS

On Premise solutions generally primarily consist of capital expenditures, with organisations required to make a significant upfront investment to procure hardware, software, and implementation expertise. Such investments can be outside the reach of some SME’s and in any case must be depreciated over several years.

In addition, the ongoing support of these solutions must be considered, whether it is delivered via internal staff or a managed service provider. When combined with the monthly costs incurred from power and cooling the ongoing monthly costs can be significantly higher than a comparable IaaS solution over the useful life of the hardware.

With a set per month cost for both infrastructure and software licensing, businesses can easily plan their IT expenditure each year. A bonus of this system is that expenditure can be written off immediately, rather than depreciated. Ongoing upgrade costs are limited to the engineering time required to implement the new software, while the drawbacks regarding warranties, support, and performance are removed.

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Public Versus Private Cloud

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 05:29:12 +0000

‘Cloud’ is a term that has made its way into everyday life, yet is possibly one of the most misappropriated terms in Corporate IT at the moment. Decisions between Cloud and On Premise solutions are often being made before properly understanding the differences, or without knowing the distinctions between Public and Private Cloud offerings.

Cloud platforms can be considered as a scaled up version of the Virtualisation Technology that is commonplace within businesses today; using large scale deployments to service a significant number of Virtual Servers, in turn enabling the cost be reduced. How these platforms deliver these services to your business defines the different cloud models, with the main categories being Public and Private Cloud offerings.

Thanks to Google Apps, Microsoft’s Azure and 365 products, and Amazon Web Services working to make ‘cloud’ a household term, Public Cloud has become the most commonly talked about version of cloud services. Public Cloud services generally have a set configuration, with scaling based on predefined options, and accessible only via the internet. These features work well for organisations whose staff are on the go, or that are able to adjust their business’ IT requirements to align with the provider’s offering. However, for businesses with custom applications or requirements, the ability to leverage these public cloud offerings can be limited. In addition some Australian businesses may experience compliance issues as a result of data being stored offshore.

Private Cloud is a way of delivering similar Virtual Servers, though utilising the networking infrastructure of an ISP or Private Network service provider to connect directly into the platform core to avoid data traversing the public internet. In addition to the security and speed benefits, these products provide dedicated resources for the client while maintaining a common underlying platform. This means that customers receive a service specific to their requirements; adding site and hardware redundancy not experienced with an On Premise model, without the need to change the business to fit the offering.

With the ability to provide both high speed network connectivity and Private Cloud services on a new locally hosted IaaS platform, Over the Wire can help you choose the best solution for your business requirements. To learn more about these and other deployment types, or to hear our General Manager, Ben Cornish, talk about our IaaS services click here or watch the video below

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