Putting the Existing Picture Together

We have now inventoried our 4 servers and measured the Internet bandwidth. We should be able work with cloud providers better because we speak their language.

We can summarize our existing computing power as follows:

           Disk:           RAM:                 CPU:

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Server 1:  C: 20, D: 20 -- 2 GB (2.99 Ghz)   -- 5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
Server 2:  C: 8         -- 2 GB (2.99 Ghz)   -- 5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
Server 3:  C: 14        -- 1 GB (3.00 Ghz)   -- 5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
Server 4:  C: 20, D: 30 -- 3.5 GB (3.00 Ghz) -- 5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
Bandwidth: 5 minute peak  In: 0.9 MB   Out: 6.4 MB


There will be some other options that we might anticipate:

What operating system should be on the servers?    Windows 2003 Server

Do you have licences or do you want to rent from the cloud provider?   We have licences.

Do you want to rent other software? i.e. mail server, sql server etc.    No

We now have a pretty good picture of our cloud needs. Before we start getting prices, lets consider some other issues:

1. Besides cloud rental costs, what else should we consider?
2. How do we move our existing computing power to the cloud?

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Next Post: Other Cost Considerations

Additional resources:

IBM Smart Cloud

Measuring Bandwidth

We now have information about the disks, memory and CPUs. This will help with the cloud comparison, but we also need to get a handle on bandwidth. I don't have any experience with this so I googled "Measure Bandwidth and came up with NetWorx by SoftPerfect. I installed it on 4 of my servers on March 27, 2012.

I looked at the results from NetWorx and realized that it includes all network traffic both internal network and Internet. The NetWorx tool recommended installing WinPcap, which would enable the isolation of the Internet traffic.

Here are the results for sample date 3/29/12:

NetWorx Daily Report    
             Received -- Sent ------- Total
SRV01  12.5 MB      81.3 MB   93.8 MB 
SRV02  103 KB        316 KB     418 KB
SVR03  136 KB       45.9 KB     182 KB 
SRV04  924 KB       10.8 MB   11.7 MB 
             --------------------------------------------------
Total     13.6 MB     92.4 MB    106 MB

Using the FibreCloud  measuring technique (see link below) I'm going to convert these daily totals into estimated 5 minute peaks. I will be ultra conservative. I will divide the totals by 12hrs then by 12 for 5 minute intervals and multiply by 10 to get a high number. We will only pay for what we use, so this strategy is only to get a price from the provioder.

Daily total in MB		13.6	92.4	106.0
per day in bytes		14,260,633.6	96,888,422.4	111,149,056.0
divided by 12 - per hour		1,188,386.1	8,074,035.2	9,262,421.3
divided by 12 - per 5 minute		99,032.2	672,836.3	771,868.4
times 10 - estimated Max		990,321.8	6,728,362.7	7,718,684.4
5 min peak converted back to MB		0.9	6.4	7.4

Important Note: This is only a one day snapshot. The existing computing power should analyze for a longer period. If you are thinking about porting to the cloud, go ahead and set up NetWorx/WinPCap now, so you will have stats when you need them.

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Next Post: Putting the Existing Picture Together

Additional resources:

NetWorx        WinPCap    FibreCloud Internet-Bandwidth

Getting Info about Existing Computing Power

For each of the 4 servers in our example let's get the values:

1. How much disk space is available?
   
   Open "My Computer" on each server and get each disk space value.

          a. Srv01 -  C: Total 20.0    Free 3.3       D: Total 20.0   Free 8.6
          b. Srv02 -  C: Total   8.0    Free 1.0
          c. Srv03 -  C: Total 14.0    Free 2.3
          d. Srv04 -  C: Total 20.0    Free 5.0       D: Total 30.0   Free 7.0 

    2. How much disk space is used?

          a. Srv01 -  C: Used 16.7                        D: Used 11.4
          b. Srv02 -  C: Used   7.0  
          c. Srv03 -  C: Used 11.7
          d. Srv04 -  C: Used 15.0                        D: Used 23.0   

     3.  How much RAM is installed?

          Right Click on "My Computer", click Properties, General tab, Computer:

          a. Srv01 -  RAM: 2.00 GB  (2.99 GHz)
          b. Srv02 -  RAM: 2.00 GB  (2.99 GHz)  
          c. Srv03 -  RAM: 1.00 GB  (3.00 GHz)
          d. Srv04 -  RAM: 3.51 GB  (3.00 GHz)   

     4.  How many and what kind of CPU are installed?

          Right Click on "My Computer", click Properties, General tab, Computer:

          a. Srv01 -  5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
          b. Srv02 -  5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz  
          c. Srv03 -  5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
          d. Srv04 -  5160 XEON - 3.00 GHz
   

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Next Post: How to Measure Bandwidth 

Additional resources:

Identify Your CPU                   Measuring Bandwidth Usage 

Converting Existing Power into Cloud Terms

In the Comparing Costs Problem post I propose that it isn't easy to compare an organization's existing computing power costs with the cost of cloud.  Using an example I came up with $500 as the monthly cost of the existing computing power that cloud would replace.  So maybe if the cloud costs less than $500, it would be wise to move.

Hosting vs. Cloud

This sounds like the old Hosting scenario. Just move all the computers to a hosting facility and pay per month. You often pay a flat fee for hosting.

Cloud differs from hosting because you only pay for what you use. Your monthly cost should vary.

Converting the Existing Environment into Cloud Terms

To communicate clearly with the Cloud provider, the following information must be collected:

For each of the 4 servers in our example:

1. How much disk space is available?
2. How much disk space is used?
3. How much RAM is installed?
4. How many and what kind of CPU are installed?

For your environment:

1.  How much Internet bandwidth is used per month?
2. Do you have special requirements that may prevent you from moving to the cloud?

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Next Post: How to Get Info about your existing Computing Power 

Additional resources:

Identify Your CPU                   Measuring Bandwidth Usage 

Comparing Costs Problem

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Overheard at 375,000 water coolers...

"Hey guys, this cloud thing is cool. All we have to do is get an account on the cloud and pay only for what we use."

Overheard in many initial partner planning meetings...

"Ok, cloud is cool. How much will it cost and how much will we save in the first year?"

Recorded on numerous sales calls...

"Yes, we have the safest, fastest and coolest cloud available. How many servers and CPU's do you need? How much memory, diskspace and bandwidth? With this information I can give you an exact price."

Overheard in many followup partner meetings...

"We don't know about CPU's and all that stuff. We've got 4 computers in the closet and a contract to keep them running. Let's table this cloud thing until we can figure this out."

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I know this senario is a little simplistic, but it points out the critical cost decision factor. As I defined in my last post, the first step in Cloud Porting is to decide to move to the cloud. Costs will be one of the first considerations in this decision process.

In the above example the cloud provider views the problem in terms of the computer resource components, which can be measured and sold. The customer views the problem in terms of computers and contracts.

Unless and until there is a easy way to relate these views to each other, there will be a barrier which will prevent a rush to the cloud.

Determining Existing "Computing Power" Costs

In my last post Computing Power was defined as the whole pile of stuff that you use to process information. It includes computers, internet fees, software and everything else. In the above senario what would we have to do to come up with a cost for the 4 computers in the closet? Here's a stab at it:

• 4 servers bought 2 years ago for $12,000 including set up 
• 1 Firewall device for $1,500
• 1 equipment maintenance contract for $2,000 per year
• 1 switch for $500
• Internet Service for $100 per month
• CRM software for $500.
• PBX software for $2,500
• Email software for $1,500
• Miscellaneous $1,000

Total Fixed Costs (Equipment and Software) = $19,500  Amortized over 5 yr = $4k
Total Annual Costs = $3,400   $3k/mo

Which Existing "Computing Power" Costs does Cloud replace

Hardware $4k/yr + Equipment Contract - $2k/yr  = $6k/yr or $500/mo


My next topic: More Calculating Existing Costs

Additional resources:

Pricing - Rackspace Cloud                   Pricing - Amazon Cloud 

Clouds seem simple so why the slow buy in?

I have been in the government information technology space for many years. When I first became aware of cloud computing, it seemed to be another hosting solution with the wrinkle of resource management. I could host my computing power in a safe place and only pay for what I use. It reminded me of the old time sharing scenarios of the 50s and 60s. Pay only for what was used. Simple.

Boy, has this idea gotten hot, "cloud computing" on Google today ... 198 million hits. The federal government is going cloud in a big way, CIO Council and FedRamp.

In 2010 I decided to jump on the bandwagon and started a cloud company. This blog is the result of what I learned about cloud from this experience. It isn't about the entrepreneurial challenges of building the company which was acquired. Much is already written about that topic. My focus is to figure out how all of us can take advantage of the cloud and to explore why we aren't moving quickly toward this exciting technology.

I'm no expert on this subject. I do have a little experience and hope that other folks will join in to kick this topic around. 

Computing Power - a definition. One of the first things that I struggled with was how to explain to everyday folks what the cloud concept was about. After wrestling with my partners and others in the field we came up with the concept of "computing power". Computing power is the pile of computers, networks, software, policies, procedures, wiring, power supplies, air conditioning and anything else that is used to process information. Your computing power may be as simple as a single PC or as complex as several acres of a hardened government facility. Both represent computing power only the size and complexity are different.

Cloud Computing - a definition. An alternative method of providing your same "computing power" from a safe, accessible and remote location.

Cloud Porting - a definition. The process of deciding to move and then moving your computing power to the cloud.

From my viewpoint cloud porting is the barrier that is slowing the adoption of the cloud today.

My next topic: The Cost Dilemma

Some other folks are addressing this subject:

Porting Apps to Amazon - Read Write Web                   Porting - Benchmark Consulting