How does Cassatt define an internal cloud?An internal cloud has all of the compute properties of an external, "public" cloud (e.g. elasticity, self-healing, low-cost economies-of-scale), but is located behind an organization's firewall. It is architected from existing multi-vendor IT assets (servers, network, storage) and works with existing security, compliance, and operational procedures.How does Cassatt define cloud computing in general? What are the distinctions between "internal" and "external" clouds?Fundamentally, cloud computing is any service through which applications and/or data are hosted remotely. Current implementations of cloud computing services can be thought of in layers. At the base is a utility computing architecture which provides foundational "infrastructure-as-a-service" (IaaS). This is sometimes also described as "hardware-as-a-service." IaaS has inherent properties such as "elasticity" and "self-healing" management. IaaS can then support higher-level "platform-as-a-service" (PaaS) and/or "software-as-a-service" (SaaS) offerings, which are also types of cloud architectures.When IaaS is implemented within an enterprise's own data center (i.e. behind the firewall), it's considered an "internal cloud." When IaaS/PaaS/SaaS is implemented by a hosted service provider and re-sold, it is considered an "external" cloud. Isn't "internal cloud" an oxymoron or contradictory?An "internal cloud" has sometimes also been described as a "private cloud" or an "on-premise cloud." While purists may not agree with this terminology, it is meant to convey that the functionality, performance, and economics found in external, "public" clouds can be replicated within the four walls of an enterprise. A pragmatist would view an internal cloud as a pooled set of resources which can be sold to internal users based on their usage, lowering costs while improving quality of service.Is an internal cloud still sometimes dependent on the external cloud? When? If that's the case, how is it an internal cloud?Internal clouds treat all compute resources equally by pooling them. They do this by re-purposing either internal virtual or physical resources as needed to match demand. This also means they could could be transparently extended to re-purpose external resources.There could be scenarios when an "internal" cloud pulls-in "external" cloud resources temporarily: for example, during high peaks in compute demand. Or, an "internal cloud" could depend on an external cloud service provider for disaster recovery resources, failing-over to an "external cloud" provider should such an event occur. Why would a customer be interested in the Cassatt Active Profiling Service?Cassatt has found most medium- to large-scale data center operators don't have a clear handle on their hardware inventory, usage pattern dynamics, utilization, or software interdependencies. This is the data that is necessary for IT leadership to make decisions regarding virtualization, consolidation, resource retirement, and cloud computing. The results of profiling will certainly give you recommendations that would be useful in conjunction with the implementation of Cassatt's software, but will also provide results helpful for hunting down "orphan" servers, and planning other initiatives like virtualization and data center consolidation.Is Cassatt just latching onto the latest trend? How does cloud computing relate to your "green IT" and data center energy efficiency solutions?Cassatt has been developing our utility computing technologies and products for over four years. And we have been expecting the advent of "clouds" (elastic, self-healing infrastructure operation and management) for just as long. We believe that today's market discussion about cloud computing is validating our efforts. We believe we are in the right place at the right time to provide our customers the ability to shift to a cloud-style infrastructure and take advantage of these fundamental shifts in the economics of running IT.Our "green IT" message is a by-product of cloud-style infrastructures - with cloud computing, you only use the resources needed at any point in time. This means automatically powering down unused server pools, saving power. Implementing energy-efficient power management within data centers is an ideal place to begin when starting down the path to an internal cloud. Do you think the economic crisis will affect companies' willingness to invest in new, untried technologies right now?The current economy will cause companies of all sizes to re-evaluate capital investments, resulting in their purchasing only the most pragmatic technologies with the greatest payback. We hope the broad IT market will realize what Cassatt customers already know: utility computing (and use of "internal cloud" technologies) results in dramatic improvements in IT operational and capital efficiency. IT operations can't afford not to move in this direction.Is Cassatt planning on competing with Amazon or Google?No. Cassatt provides data center management software to help increase IT capital and operational efficiency, and to build cloud infrastructures. We are not a service provider, cloud provider, or hosting firm. We provide our customers with a way to run their own data centers with the efficiency of Amazon or Google, using the IT resources they already have.If I already own a data center, why is an "internal cloud" preferable to an "external cloud"?Building an "internal cloud" can achieve the advantages of using external resources in many situations where existing applications cannot be externally hosted or re-designed to operate within the constraints of external clouds as they exist today. Also, in these situations many large organizations are sensitive to the possibility of compromising security, compliance, service level agreements (SLAs) and overall control when outsourcing to an external cloud. If they still want the operational and economic advantages of a cloud, they can pursue a strategy of working with Cassatt to use their existing multi-vendor capital to operate like a cloud - but within their four walls.What is Cassatt's compatibility and technology roadmap?Cassatt will announce specifics as and when appropriate, but expect us to continue our course to pursue compatibility with all major computer hardware platform, virtualization, networking, and storage technologies.Does building an internal cloud mean a "fork-lift upgrade"? Where do I start?IT management cannot be expected to make instantaneous, radical changes to its operations. For that reason, Cassatt offers ways to get started simply and pragmatically, with the ability to then expand incrementally over time as needed. We often first recommend our Cassatt Active Profiling Service to help characterize a customer's current infrastructure usage and dynamics. This can be used to help build an ROI model and project scope for next steps.In addition, Cassatt provides a "starting point" product, Cassatt Active Response, Standard Edition. This product uses the same policy-based management engine as our other products, but it is designed to perform server power management for greater data center energy efficiency. It is an easy-to-implement product with a clear ROI, and usually is self-funding within a year. Finally, migrations to pooled cloud services can be done in parallel with current operations incrementally, requiring no disruption to current operations. If I don't want a cloud, what else does Cassatt offer?The Cassatt Active Response product line provides a number of specific data center solutions that don't require building a cloud. Cassatt Active Response, Standard Edition, provides energy efficiency by using policy-based server power management. Cassatt Active Response, Premium Edition, provides high availability across both physical and virtual environments. The Premium Edition can also provide "capacity-on-demand" for physical and virtual environments, as well as pathways for providing entire data center disaster recovery and data center migrations. |
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