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6 Things to Consider When Building a Hybrid Cloud

Sponsored by

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Will the cloud be your white knight, rescuing your business

from the perils of application overload? Not if you allow the

public Internet to be your nemesis—dumping cold water

on your grand plans for lower TCO, greater flexibility and

enhanced scalability for your investments in the cloud.

Fortunately, IT superheroes like you now have a path forward

for realizing the upside of the cloud without having to rely on

the public Internet.

It’s called the hybrid cloud.

The hybrid cloud enables enterprises to optimize investments

in both private and public cloud resources and to seamlessly

integrate them across their wide area network (WAN).

6 Things to Consider When Building a Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud architecture includes connections

from the corporate WAN to the public cloud, as well

as integrated access to your data centers and private

clouds. That might sound simple, but the success

of your hybrid cloud architecture will depend upon

having a network that’s up to the task. Enterprise IT,

Network and Technology leaders need to take into

account six critical considerations before head down

this path.

Below are the six critical considerations for companies

contemplating building a hybrid cloud architecture:

IT superheroes like you now have a path forward for realizing the upside of the cloud without having to rely on the public Internet.

State of your current WAN. Typically, the technical architecture of the cloud or data

center networks have not been optimized to interface with

networks other than the public Internet. Therefore, enterprises

must assess the architecture of their existing WAN and

the interface with their private cloud(s) to determine how

much bandwidth they’ll need when integrating public cloud

resources. You’ll also need to assess what tools will be

needed to manage this interconnection.

Know your users’ needs. It’s important to have an understanding of how network

users interact with the network. What apps are they using,

and when? When is usage highest? A well-architected hybrid

cloud will provide the ability to run applications in a private

cloud during peak usage hours and then offload to the public

cloud during off-peak hours. This creates flexibility and helps

the enterprise to maximize the value of the hybrid cloud.

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Geographic availability. The network must work for the entire enterprise – it must

encompass all of the enterprise locations. If a provider

doesn’t provide high quality connectivity for all of your

locations, you need to look elsewhere. And if you’re planning

to grow and add locations, the flexibility across new

geographies can be critically important.

Application Performance Management (APM). An enterprise considering the hybrid cloud must have

visibility into how various applications are performing. APM

provides monitoring and management of apps running across

the network.

Class of Service (CoS). How many classes of service does a provider deliver?

CoS differentiates and prioritizes the payloads of packets that

comprise specific applications. A provider that offers multiple

classes of service helps to better optimize and manage the

performance of applications running across the WAN.

Security. Security and the cloud can be a hot button topic. What an

enterprise should be looking for is a consistent approach

to security across the WAN. With this consistent approach,

IT doesn’t need to worry about missing something on the

checklist for any business locations halfway around the

globe. Ensuring better security of data and applications,

along with optimizing investments in the cloud are two of the

major reasons to embrace the hybrid cloud.

Building a hybrid cloud architecture is a smart and realistic option for many enterprises. However, it’s important to understand that the decision to do so comes with complexity, borne of the intricacies of leveraging the power of the enterprise WAN and facilitating direct connections to leading public cloud providers. This complexity can be managed, but first it needs to be understood.

Once you have a firm understanding of your current state and desired future state, you’re ready to move forward, but partnering with a provider experienced in similar migrations is critically important for mitigating risk and being able to fully realize the benefits of the hybrid cloud.

This ebook is sponsored by XO Communications.

About XO Communications:

XO Communications is a leading nationwide provider of advanced

IP communications, intelligent networking, and cloud computing

services for business, large enterprise and wholesale customers.

These customers include more than half of the Fortune 500, in

addition to leading cable, mobile wireless and domestic and

international telecommunications companies.

XO offers a superior customer experience through its innovative

solutions, its employees’ focus on customers and the proven

performance of its advanced network. To learn more about

XO Communications, visit www.xo.com or blog.xo.com.

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