MICROSOFT PRIVATE CLOUD COMPUTING. Aidan Finn, Hans Vredevoort, Patrick Lownds, and Damian Flynn. Indianapolis: John Wiley & Sons Publisher. 2012. $49.99. 378 pp. softcover.
Of late, much of the chatter in IT has been going to cloud services. For those who just use the cloud services, data management, cloud-based software, data analytics, simulations, decision support, and other enablements, they don?t have to know anything of the back end. And actually, most of what they see is not different than if they were getting the information technology (IT) services in a different way.
The basic cloud rationale involves the need to more efficiently deliver various computer-based services to individuals in a variety of locations and using numerous devices. The main concerns that have been expressed publicly about the cloud is that security may be more difficult to effectuate. From the outside, it would seem like an organization would have to conduct an in-depth analysis of organizational needs in the present and near-future before committing to a changeover, which would likely be non-trivial.
However, for the IT architects and engineers, administrators, and consultants, they have to work with a complex new skill set to properly deploy and maintain IT services in the cloud. Aidan Finn, Hans Vredevoort, Patrick Lownds, and Damian Flynn?s ?Microsoft Private Cloud Computing? (2012) lays the groundwork for IT personnel to set up and run a private cloud. (All four co-authors are Microsoft ?Most Valuable Professionals? for their work.) This text introduces how to build a private cloud based on the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 (which consists of a configuration manager, operations manager, virtual machine manager, app controller, data protection manager, an orchestrator, and service manager).
The Basic Use Case
The authors begin with some of the common frustrations with IT in organizations: the massive delays to implementing fixes and changes; the unfulfilled requests; the cost over-runs, and unusable systems. IT deployment bottlenecks are not unheard-of. On the IT side, there are constant time pressures. Both in-house and external customers do not have clear specs in their requirements. The various non-IT stakeholders have little sense of the complexities of systems or of the many security and compliance rules that IT personnel work under. With so many new devices coming on line (smart phones, mobile computing devices) and many more applications and new functionalities, the authors suggest that there will just be even more pressures on IT.
What is cloud computing then? The authors turn to the National Institute of Standards ad Technology (NIST). The authors write: ?A cloud is a collection of shared (or multitenant) computing resources that are easily accessed and consumed at will.? Ideally, it should enhance the provision of self-service to IT business users. It should enable broad network access. It should enable shared computing resources. It should provide ?rapid elasticity? or ability to add server capacity as demanded by the tasks. There are three main service models linked to cloud-computing: software as a service (SAAS), platform as a service (PAAS), and infrastructure as a service (IAAS) through the deployment of virtual machines.
Cloud computing includes different types and different delivery models. ?From a technology perspective, this means that there are centralized dense server farms that must be architected and managed. There is a higher ratio of servers to administrators. Automation of management systems and quality control become critical,? they write.
Private clouds are used for single organizations, usually. Public multi-tenant clouds include the delivery of services to the general public. Hybrid or cross-premises clouds include both private and public cloud models. A community or open cloud is shared by many organizations, who share both the benefits and risks of the shared space. (?Security and compliance are only as strong as the weakest member,? the authors note about open clouds.)
Virtualization
To enable cloud computing, virtualization enables IT to abstract ?services and machines from hardware.? Setting up this virtual machine management architecture involves painstaking and meticulous work by system administrators, who have to learn how systems and technologies work (standalone and in interaction) and also, too, how people conceptualize and use their systems. After a certain point, there is irreducible complexity?as much as the software and hardware makers strive for clarity and encapsulate (or hide) the complexities. There are numerous levels of abstraction that people have to comprehend when they set parameters and activate particular functionalities. Further, the administrators who set up and run these systems have further concerns in terms of the hackers who would find ways into their systems that they are assigned to protect.
?Microsoft Private Cloud Computing? offers a fine-grained look at how to set up a private cloud step-by-step using the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012. The four co-authors share insights about what to consider before actually building the architecture. They talk about different cloud sizes and cloud uses. They provide insights on differing storage arrays. They discuss the pros and cons of different types of configurations. In addition to these larger insights, they offer granular step-by-step information on how to set up the cloud?with screenshots of the various interfaces. There is a helpful visual concept depicting the management of the cloud and the fabric built onto it. A virtual cloud ?fabric? consists of ?all the components that together form the physical infrastructure of a cloud? based on the main capabilities of networking, storage, and servers.
Support for Readers
Suffice it to say that for a reviewer without a background in the topic, she would be in the weeds very quickly if she were to try to go beyond generalities. That?s not to say that one will not appreciate the close attention to detail and logic, clarity, clear editorial hand over the text, and high production values of the contents.
It would seem that a cloud setup would not be tried by system administrators without years of experiences in basic network administration. There are elements that, from the outside, would apparently be familiar to network administrators: load balancing, libraries, security certificates, profiles, and role accesses. Then again, one would assume that there are many other elements that would be fairly new.
The authors are highly reachable through their email accounts, Twitter feeds, and websites. The text itself has its own site.
Source: http://id.ome.ksu.edu/blog/2012/dec/5/review-private-cloud-computing-microsofts-vm-manag/
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