Server Virtualization and Cloud Computing

Server Virtualization and Cloud Computing

Describe the Organization’s environment, and evaluate its preparedness for virtualization

The Organization is in a good position to adopt virtualization and cloud computing. Most of the Organization’s resources are stored in local storage, which is vulnerable to failure and damage in case of accidents or other calamities. However, the Organization has partially migrated to using Hypervisors but on a small scale. Only developers and other Software Engineers are using virtualization to boost their productivity and to integrate and test systems on different platforms.

Our Software Engineers did not consider the security issues related to the Hypervisors before they installed them; therefore, there are security gaps that leave the systems at risk of external infiltration. Also, when the companies that design the hypervisors are addressing the security patches, the systems freeze the entire duration, thus impacting on productivity.

I believe the Organization is well prepared for virtualization since it has prior experience of the same. All the factors to be considered while setting up virtualization have such as security concerns, Administrative root control, monitoring of traffic, and how to handle the workload on the servers have been analyzed by the company and will be addressed when virtualization will be introduced on a large scale.

Explain Microsoft (or other product) licensing for virtual environments

Microsoft offers a wide variety of server licensing options for its products in Virtual environments. Some of the licensing models include Client Access Model, known as CAL, user CAL, and device CAL. Licenses for clients are designed for end-users such as the employees and clients. User CALs are the most common type of licensing, which allows users to access instances of a server using any computing device such as a laptop and a smartphone. Device CALs, on the other hand, will enable users to access instances of a server from a single machine even if the device has several users. They are less common than user CAL,s since their mechanisms of allowing multiple employees to use the same computer to access instances of the server is not realistic.

Windows Server on both local machines and in the Cloud is licensed by the Per Core/CAL model, which allows a user to have a minimum of 8 licenses per physical processor and 16 licenses per server. Also, the Datacenter edition of the same model will enable users to use an unlimited number of OSEs on the licensed servers. Virtual Machines running standard editions of the Per Core license model are licensed by virtual core only while those running enterprise editions are licensed by virtual or physical core. Virtual core requires a virtual core licensing with a minimum of four licenses per Virtual Machine.

In the case of licensing Microsoft products for use in virtual environments using the Server/CAL licensing model, customers running multiple VMs on the server require only one license per VM. Users of the VMs are allowed to run multiple instances of SQL Server in each VM. There are instances where clients require support for workload mobility across Server Farm rights, and product entries determine it in the Software Assurance section of the license.

In addition to the server software licenses, the Server/CAL model requires that customers are given access licenses for users and the devices used to access the licensed servers. In Specialty licensing, license for the various Microsoft products varies from product to product. Windows Server essentials are the most popular product in this category, whew each essential license cover covers only a single server. The server software in the VMs may be run in one physical OSE and the Virtual Machine.

Recommend a configuration for shared storage discuss the need for high availability and redundancy for virtualization for the Organization

Virtualization technologies can be combined with high-availability technologies to optimize the performance and availability of virtual machines while minimizing costs. To ensure the high availability of virtual environments and shared storage, an organization needs to identify availability requirements for the Organization, followed by the creation of a high-availability design that minimizes the risk of downtime. To achieve high efficiency in the implemented designs, it is essential to consider the following principles. Firstly, single points of failures should be eliminated for each fault domain and the entire system at the operating system level, the software level, and the SharePoint level. Secondly, the Organization should implement rapid fault detection, isolation of faults, and quick resolution.

Since virtualization software such as Hypervisors are prone to failure due to the way they consume computing resources, an organization should set up mechanisms to deal with server downtime to ensure that the servers continue to provide routine services, although at a slower rate than being completely shut down. A fault-tolerant solution is one that makes use of specialized hardware and quickly detects faults and instantly switches the functionality of the server to a replica server. In such a scenario, complexity increases as the number of VMs that should be made highly available increases.

To get rid of a single point of failure in a virtual environment, the virtual machines should be configured to run on different Hypervisor host servers. This is the best practice to ensure the availability and performance of virtual machines. Consequently, redundant resources should be eliminated to ensure address availability of VMs.

Explain Windows Azure capabilities for virtual machines and managing a hybrid cloud, including Windows Azure infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and storage capabilities

Azure is a cloud platform for deploying services and applications from anywhere. With Azure, a data engineer can add the cloud capabilities to an existing network through either PaaS or IaaS. Alternatively, an organization can entrust all the operations and data to Microsoft servers using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Microsoft Azure regularly updated its list of services offered in its convenient platform. Microsoft Azure monitors the resources that are consumed by a user and charges them as per their usage. Infrastructure as a Service. It can vary, depending on the needs of the client.

Microsoft Azure offers all the necessary operations necessary to set up a virtual network. Both Microsoft and Linux Virtual Machines can be set in a few minutes from the templates provided. These VMs are set up in the Cloud, and they run applications like a local machine. Also, Microsoft Azure offers SQL relational databases as a service. Consequently, having a cloud database saves company hardware and software expenses and the need for an organizational expert.

In addition to VMs and SQL relational databases, Microsoft Azure offers Azure Active Directory Domain Services, which allows for remote management of group policies and authentication. Microsoft Azure manages a hybrid Cloud with the help of the application services it offers. It makes the creation and deployment of applications easy than it is on other platforms. Office 365 is a popular application built on Microsoft Azure that has several APIs built to accelerate development.

The Azure platform offers safe, ample, and highly accessible storage for applications hosted in the Cloud and services. Microsoft has built its systems in an intelligent design that is highly scalable, and that is why they offer cost-effective storage plans for organizations. The VMs hosted in the Cloud are allocated sufficient storage to optimize their performance.

Make a recommendation for cloud computer use in the Organization, including a justification for your recommendations.

Before the Organization plans to use a cloud computer for the Organization’s activities, it should identify its data, the processing operation on its data, which should be hosted on the Cloud. The Organization should establish the types of data associated with the specified services and their level of sensitivity. Most organizations have four types of data: sensitive data, personal data, strategic data, and data used in business applications. Suppose an organization transfers some of the data and operations for a data mining solution, they should ensure that the data does not contain data of other services which have not yet been transferred to the Cloud. Consequently, different types of data may be subject to specific regulations; therefore, before uploading them, a data expert may check the constraints that surround each type of data involved and determine if they may be transferred to the Cloud.

Secondly, an organization needs to conduct risk analysis before the transfer to identify security measures that are essential for the company. Risk analysis helps a company determine the quality of the data they possess and can, therefore, demand for certain levels of security to be applied by the Cloud providers. Some of the risks that may be identified by the authority include the inconsistency of data in the Cloud since unauthorized parties can modify them.

Thirdly, the Organization should identify the most appropriate type of Cloud to host the data and services it offers. Cloud can be distinguished using three service models, namely Infrastructure as a Service (SaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) for managing Software in the Cloud, and Platform as a service (PaaS). They are different in terms of their strengths and weaknesses and the type of processing they offer. This approach makes companies make better decisions concerning their data and to guarantee the protection of the same from third parties.

Conclusion

Microsoft’s license for virtualization technologies is no different from licenses for local machines. An organization can, therefore, run multiple VMs on the Cloud and ensure that proper security measures are set up to guarantee data security. Also, it must ensure that data and services hosted in the Cloud conform with legal authorities. Microsoft Azure’s capabilities to host applications and to offer scalable storage capabilities to users ensures that an organization’s data and operations run smoothly. Therefore they should be adopted by every organization.

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