How Cloud Computing is Changing Traditional Infrastructure Environments by Jim McEnroe

How Cloud Computing is Changing Traditional Infrastructure Environments

Cloud Computing is a service that providers such as Apple(iCloud), Amazon(Web Services) and others are assisting users and corporations with their storage and organization issues.  Apple and Amazon market this service through print media and television.  Apple has promoted iCloud through the use of iPhone and iPad also.  You can search iCloud and Amazon Web Services on Facebook and 'like'.  These providers house storage environments in their data centers.  Customers and Corporations pay these providers for this service and access data and applications through the use of the internet to store  information instead of traditional storage hardware located in companies data centers.  For example, a user in a traditional company will create or change customer data on one of their applications.  This application is hosted on a storage device located in their data center.  As the application grows, more hardware will be required to host this environment.  Other environmentals such as power, cost and space are also impacted.  Companies have been opening new data centers because of this growth rate issue.  That results in additional real estate costs.

Now, companies are getting smarter by consolidating data centers and storing applications to the 'Cloud'.  Storage can grow in a corporate environment at a rate of 300% annually in some instances.  When you post something on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc..., this uses storage.  Most users are not aware of costs and other environmental impacts when they request storage.  Storage vendors such as EMC, NetApp, Hitachi Data Systems and others are challenged by corporate customers to optimize current environments in order to make use of installed hardware.  A number of businesses are not using their current hardware to it's full capacity and keep buying new hardware.  This creates headaches for Senior Management and Storage Administrators. 

With the use and growth of Cloud Computing, companies will be able to use service providers that maintain storage pools to house their data and applications.  This will results in cheaper hardware and software costs for corporations.  Additional saves in Data Center space, power and real estate will be achieved by using the "Cloud".  Cloud Computing will continue to grow and change the traditional hardware and software environments.