How to manage cloud computing resources properly?

Many companies in the market are looking to migrate their respective on-premises resources to cloud environments. Undoubtedly, is premised on several factors that the cloud can bring, such as elasticity, possibility of cost reduction, geographic redundancy, among other characteristics.

However, regardless of whether the resources are in the cloud or on-premises, managing them is critical for any business.

Based on this, how to manage cloud computing resources properly?

ON-PREMISES RESOURCES

Initially, before we understand the importance of cloud resource management, let’s recap its importance when it comes to on-premises resources. Despite the particularities of a cloud environment, we will notice that there are significant similarities (between an on-premise environment and a cloud environment). 

A technological environment, it is composed of various elements (such as servers, switches, routers, cabling, firewall, among others). Here’s how management behaves according to some types of resources:

Computational resources

Regarding computing resources, management has the role of monitoring whether the equipment (such as servers, for example) is working correctly (if they have any alarms or not) and whether they meet the current demands of the company.

Data network resources

For data network resources, management must provide an accurate diagnosis of the current network situation (if there is packet loss, for example) as well as identify the traffic being consumed in the company.

Structured cabling

The management associated with cabling is directly related to network resources, as if the cabling is inadequate, it may impact the use of the physical (local) network for employees. Regarding structured cabling, it is important that your company frequently assess its conditions, as well as performs the necessary maintenance.

CLOUD RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

When talking about cloud resource management, it is important to keep some concepts in mind. Let’s look at the following:

IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service

In this model, your company hires the necessary infrastructure resources (such as physical servers, networking, virtualization). However, it needs to have total management of the software resources that will be allocated to the machines (such as applications and the operating system, for example).

SaaS – Software as a Service

In this model, your company hires the services related to the software that will be used, and the cloud solution provider provides all the necessary hardware and necessary for the (contracted) features to operate properly.

In addition to these models, there is also the PaaS (Platform as a Service) that is indicated for companies that aim to develop their respective applications.

IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT IaaS

Now that we have briefly recapitulated these concepts, considering that your company adopts the IaaS-based cloud model, here are some points that your company needs to pay attention to (in terms of management):

Sizing the necessary resources

It is critical that your company checks if the resources that will be used in the cloud are in line with the respective needs.  At this point, it is important to emphasize that the concept of cloud itself encompasses a feature called “Elasticity”, which allows your company to increase or reduce resource consumption, on demand.

However, it is essential that the resources to be used (through the cloud) adhere to the budget provided by the company. In this aspect, the management of the IT team is essential to ensure efficient consumption.

Use of applications

As your company implements the necessary machines in a cloud environment, it is also essential that there is a management of the applications that were implemented on these machines.

Therefore, management consists not only of computational resources, but also of applications that will be implemented on the virtual machines. It should be identified if your company has the necessary tools to properly manage all essential applications.

It should also be observed, before implementing the applications, if the machines (to be made available in the cloud) meet the requirements of the applications that will be implemented on them.

User security and authentication

Security is undoubtedly essential to ensure proper management for any company. In this respect, when we talk about cloud-hosted solutions, we must identify whether the scenario (currently being used by the company) has the necessary security features to prevent any types of attacks.

It is important to check, among others, the following aspects related to safety:

o Which employees have access to the technological resources that are hosted in the cloud?  

o How to authenticate users in applications?

o Are the security policies (which were implemented in the cloud environment) in accordance with the necessary requirements imposed by the company?

It is important to remember, that in the IaaS model your company should pay close care of the software that will be implemented on the machines, as well as implement the necessary security mechanisms for their respective uses.

Network and communication features

When implementing virtual machines in the cloud, it is necessary to have information about data transfers, as well as in which region the machines will be deployed.

For this, it is essential that your company have all the necessary information about the network at hand, as well as about the traffic that is consumed.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

As we have seen, performing an adequate management for a cloud technology park requires that the technical area be aware of many aspects, related to various topics.

Although a cloud environment provides excellent mechanisms for hosting computing resources (including availability), it is necessary that such resources are consumed efficiently, and aligned with the needs of the enterprise.

With that in mind, Telcomanager, Latin America’s leader in the software network management sector, in the market since 2002, with a unique and innovative methodology, provides intelligent solutions for data monitoring to give complete visibility to the customer’s infrastructure. This allows your company to keep track of the main aspects of your network.

Published on 05/27/2022