Migrate To A Dedicated Private Cloud Service
Traditionally, organizations had to buy, install, and manage their servers in-house to streamline operations and become more productive. However, on-premises data storage and management accompany high upfront fees, increased vulnerabilities to data loss and breaches, as well as inaccessibility issues. Besides, on-premises storage makes it intricate for companies to share crucial data, leading to unavoidable problems until the emergence of cloud computing.
In a nutshell, cloud computing or service is a collection of storage, network, and computing solutions that allow users to access services in real-time via an internet connection. Cloud computing has become a norm for several industries globally, with most enterprises embracing it as a modern way of conducting business. This involves data centers managed by cloud providers offering cloud support to solve problems that plague on-premises systems.
Migrating to A Dedicated Private Cloud
With the adoption of cloud computing being part of different industries today, most businesses consider having more control over their infrastructure while enjoying the full benefits. Hence, most enterprises migrate to dedicated private clouds to customize their needs, maximize resource control, and ensure operation and security continuity. But for organizations lacking in-house expertise when looking to adopt private cloud operations, third-party service providers come in handy to facilitate migration.
Whether building your on-premises cloud or considering service providers, there are crucial cloud migration steps to follow when migrating from a public cloud service to a private cloud. Besides, businesses should engage all involved parties, including IT managers and executives, before migrating to a dedicated private cloud. This helps assess self-service capabilities, ensuring the organization benefits wholly from a dedicated private cloud.
Key Benefits of Migrating to A Private Cloud
- Low support costs: A private cloud offers businesses self-service management of their cloud, allowing them to choose which images to run on one or more virtual machines. This enables businesses to have hardware that runs more efficiently and at reduced support costs.
- Reduced time of deploying applications and services: Private clouds are characterized by the seamless and fast deployment of applications and services. Hence, app developers and systems architects can readily create and deploy new programs to the cloud without installing and configuring new hardware.
- Increased security: Data and application security in public clouds faces different threats than in private clouds. As a result, private clouds tend to provide more security since these servers are run on physical systems within the organization. Besides, private clouds have limited access compared to public clouds, guaranteeing enhanced safety of applications and data.
- Regulatory compliance: With improved security and personalized control benefits, private clouds
Scenarios for Migrating to A Dedicated Private Cloud
Businesses consider various factors before migrating from a public cloud service to a dedicated private cloud. However, some scenarios make it easier to determine the right time to migrate and capitalize on the benefits of private clouds. Besides, migrating at the ideal time limits cloud migration difficulties, such as downtimes and increased moving costs. Here are four scenarios for migrating to a private cloud.
- Your virtual machines or virtual private servers are in a specific public cloud.
- Your virtualized infrastructure is located on dedicated servers.
- You need to consolidate your physical infrastructure on dedicated servers.
- Your enterprise has an internal cloud solution already on your servers.
Whether considering gradual or total switchover migration, migrating to a dedicated private cloud is a systematic process. Since your business will manage and control the server, some scenarios make it possible to migrate and achieve cloud benefits more effectively.
Establishing Initial Cloud Migration Steps
Planning is a critical element when migrating from a public cloud to a dedicated private cloud. This involves getting more insights into your existing IT infrastructure, clarifying business goals, reporting, and cost allocation procedures. Other vital considerations include resource utilization levels and policies and structures governing your IT operations. All these elements create an ambiance that facilitates successful cloud migration.
For instance, your current infrastructure consists of storage systems, servers, and networking infrastructure. Because private clouds use similar servers, it is crucial to include a functional infrastructure while replacing old or outdated servers. Although older hardware may serve specific functions, integrating up-to-date and efficient systems is crucial before migrating to a dedicated private cloud.
According to IT experts, the adoption of private clouds in enterprises often faces internal resistance from IT admins who view private clouds as an as-a-service model or self-service, limiting control. Generally, IT administrators play a critical role in migrating to a dedicated private cloud that helps convince other parts of the business to embrace it. Another key consideration is gathering crucial data that forms a suitable deployment strategy. In the process, admins should focus on licensing, service-level agreement, depreciation tables, and available skills besides document systems and application inventory.
Incrementally Migrating to A Private Cloud
Migrating into a dedicated private cloud is a gradual process that requires adequate time and resources to ensure successful migration and integration. Hence, considering an incremental approach is ideal for deploying a private cloud into your organization. The process usually follows three basic steps:
- Identifying necessary hardware and applications: A dedicated private cloud requires specific hardware and applications to work more efficiently. Thus, it is crucial to identify the necessary hardware and applications to facilitate different functions of an internal cloud.
- Determining required utilization levels: Besides hardware and applications, a dedicated private cloud requires utilization levels that support these applications. By monitoring logs in existing servers, businesses can learn peak demand levels, including average CPU usage, duration when the demand is high, network utilization, memory, and storage, to determine extensive usage of the cloud.
- Establishing a monitoring program: This is an essential component in the migration process that helps capture data regarding how the cloud infrastructure is utilized. It provides room for IT admins to make any necessary changes or upgrades where necessary, promoting performance and efficiency.
Bottom Line
Dedicated private clouds are ideal for organizations to personalize and optimize their servers, storage systems, and network services at reduced support costs. However, moving from a public cloud to a dedicated private cloud requires a readiness assessment before deploying it onto existing infrastructure. This guide provides great insights into effectively migrating to an internal cloud, ensuring effective management and monitoring for short-term convenience and long-term efficiency.
At Mathe Inc., we remain passionate about helping organizations incorporate proper IT solutions into their infrastructure. If you want to migrate to a dedicated private cloud, our highly trained technical IT professionals can help you. Contact us to learn more or schedule a free consultation with us today!
With over 35 years in the business of supporting and implementing technology for the SME market, and 6 years previously in Corporate IT and Voice. I have seen a great deal of change. The only common thread is I have always focused on the Business Wise application of Technology. We always try to look 5 years ahead of the current technology to make sure our clients are on the right track to meet current and future needs.
