EDUCAUSE Live!Infrastructure as a Service

Kyle Johnson, Associate ProvostSUNY Institute of Technology

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• Outline• Quick background of me and my institution• Overview of cloud computing generally• Conceptual framework for infrastructure as a

service• Considerations when looking at IaaS• Examples of IaaS

• Outcomes• Understanding of IaaS concepts• Ability to apply considerations to your institution• Willingness to consider IaaS for future needs

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BA in Anthropology and M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration

Been in this position for about six months Oversee all the traditional IT areas plus

instructional design, online learning, the library, and our tutoring center

Previously CTO at a Guilford College in Greensboro, NC

Before that Director of Student Affairs IT at Duke University

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Part of the State University of New York system and located in Utica, NY

2800 students by headcount (2050 FTE) Started in 1968 as an upper division

comprehensive institution First campus buildings constructed in 1986 Became a technology focused college in

early 1990’s In early 2000’s began accepting 1st year

and sophomore students

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“…the term cloud computing refers to the delivery of scalable IT resources over the Internet, as opposed to hosting and operating those resources locally, such as on a college or university network. Those resources can include applications and services, as well as the infrastructure on which they operate.”

EDUCAUSE, 7 Things You Should Know about Cloud Computing

<http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EST0902.pdf>

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“Infrastructure as a Service is a provision model in which an organization outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components. The service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing, running and maintaining it.”

<http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid201_gci1358983,00.html>

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Traditional outsourcing of support Sourcing of major design and ongoing

operations Purchasing service level

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Prerequisites Well designed and implemented identity

management plan Robust, redundant network

Financial The cloud model tends to shift expenses from

capital to operational Legal

Important to understand where infrastructure will reside

Contracts have to be constructed to ensure institution meets federal, state, and local obligations

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Staffing New focus on contract and vendor relationships More interaction with institutional community in

needs gathering and analysis Focus on integration of services

Culture Shift away from the “not invented here” mentality IT operation loses some control to gain ability to

meet community needs

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Challenges of research computing Uneven demand for services Expensive to setup and maintain Hard to justify for smaller teaching institutions

Potential benefits of cloud based Can provision service as needed and pay for what

you use Allows flexibility for different researchers Doesn’t require onsite expertise to maintain

Example Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

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Challenges of server management Myriad of operating system choices requires lots of

specialized in house expertise Space, HVAC, and power needs can be substantial,

even for a small school Providing failover at remote location can be

expensive Potential benefits of cloud based

Can select OS based on need rather than availability of in-house knowledge

Most providers include disparate remote locations No need for massive new data center

infrastructure

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Phasing in Might start with remote support contract for OS Move into heavier virtualization and have a

partner design, build and manage the infrastructure

Migrate VM infrastructure to offsite location Examples

Amazon EC2 (with Virtual Private Cloud) Rackspace and GoGrid Regional higher education hosted private clouds

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Challenges of storage management Always increasing customer demand for storage Hard to differentiate between enterprise and

individual storage needs Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure can

require significant capital outlay with short refresh cycles

Potential benefits of cloud based Can more easily add capacity Provide custom solutions for enterprise and

individual needs

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Phasing in Might start with remote support contract for SAN Mirror SAN infrastructure to offsite location As server infrastructure moves to cloud, so does

enterprise storage; provide cloud based solutions for individual storage

Examples Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network (SDN) DropBox and Box.net Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

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Challenges of backup management Volume of data storage makes tape or disk

management complicated Compliance with eDiscovery and retention laws Not all institutional data on central servers

Potential benefits of cloud based Data and compliance management simplified Can offer desktop/laptop backup options

Examples Iron Mountain (enterprise) Mozy and Carbonite (desktop/laptop)

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Challenges of desktop management OS and application patching Availability of applications to remote customers Ever decreasing refresh cycle for desktops

Potential benefits of virtual cloud based Able to provide desktop environment anywhere Easier to manage virtual images

Examples Panologic and NComputing (thin clients) ICC Global and Secure-24 (virtual desktop service) North Carolina State Virtual Computer Lab

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Challenges of telephony management Dial tone seen as necessary evil but not

investment area Many institutions running on unsupported analog

PBX systems Potential benefits of cloud based

No complicated PBX or VoIP systems to manage Only thing to manage on premise is handsets

Examples PAETEC Hosted IP Telephony solution Apogeenet for residential telephony

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Challenges of network management At some point, networks don’t “scale down” to

smaller schools Increase of services on network demand more and

more specialized expertise Potential benefits of cloud based

Gain access to broader network expertise Ability to monitor and manage network 7x24 Better scaling both down and up Stabilization of cost (albeit operating instead of

capital)

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Phasing In Contract resources for specific network activities Partner with firm to design, build, and manage

network (but still own hardware) Purchase network service level from provider and

don’t own network hardware at all Examples

Apoge.net for residential networks nfrastructure (new partner for SUNYIT)

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Make the data center you have the last one you will ever need

Everything doesn't need to be sourced at once, but start somewhere

When opportunities arise TAKE THEM

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Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2): http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): http://aws.amazon.com/vpc/

Rackspace: http://www.rackspacecloud.com/

GoGrid: http://www.gogrid.com/

Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network (SDN): http://www.nirvanix.com/solutions/tier-n.aspx

DropBox: http://www.dropbox.com/

Box.net: http://box.net/

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3): http://aws.amazon.com/s3/

Iron Mountain: http://www.ironmountain.com/online-backup/cloud-based-data-protection.html

Mozy: http://www.mozy.com

Carbonite: http://www.carbonite.com

Panologic: http://www.panologic.com

NComputing: http://www.ncomputing.com

ICC Global Hosting: http://www.iccglobalhosting.com/

Secure-24: http://www.secure-24.com/virtual-desktop-infrastructure.html

PAETEC Hosted IP Telephony Solution: http://paetec.com/products-services/voice/hosted-ip-telephony/overview.html

Apogeenet (digital phone service for students): http://www.apogeenet.net/our-services/digital-phone/

Apogeenet (managed residential network services): http://www.apogeenet.net/our-services/student-networks/

Nfrastructure: http://www.nfrastructure.com/solutions/network/

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