Beware of Cloud Sizing Tools and avoid Reliability Angst

Some time ago I wrote about the dangers of taking certain things for granted with new technologies.

This time I wanted to use a more specific enterprise application example to show that customers need to be extra careful when comparing solutions, especially for mission-critical apps.

Sometimes being too high-level means missing the unspeakable horrors lurking under the covers. And ignorance doesn’t mean bliss… just nasty surprises.

To summarize: Avoid bait-and-switch so you avoid surprise costs and pain.

  • Ensure all components in any sizing tools reflect your business requirements.
  • The simpler the infrastructure, the more reliable. If one must do things like stripe across many volumes in order to get decent performance even for medium-sized solutions, then that may be a warning sign that the solution is lacking.
  • Ensure all the underlying components in any pricing you see would fit your company’s mission-critical needs. For instance – what reliability and resiliency are the storage components rated for? And is that sufficient for your needs?
  • Ensure you are accounting for the right number of systems (Production-spec vs non, times number of applications, etc). This can quickly add up with certain apps.

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HPE Data Services Cloud Console – Solving Complex Operational Problems

The big announcement of HPE’s May 4th event was that of Unified DataOps through the HPE Data Services Cloud Console (DSCC).

DSCC is a true cloud-native control plane which delivers unified data operations through a suite of cloud services. DSCC automates data services and orchestrates infrastructure workflows for cloud operational agility and a simplified data management experience regardless of storage system location.

It’s important to clarify that this is aimed at both the CAPEX and OPEX customer bases, unlike certain competitor offerings.

DSCC is primarily a way to improve management, operation and orchestration, even for complex deployments, via Unified DataOps.

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The Loss of Important Knowledge and Acumen Through Perceived Commoditization

I posit that we now have a whole new class of consumer that is completely oblivious to certain hitherto fundamental concepts – and this can lead to poor business decisions and overall sub-optimal execution and results.

I got the idea after a discussion with an ex colleague (that’s now working for a cloud vendor) where he proudly proclaimed that infrastructure is unimportant and uninteresting.

I’ll start generically and shift to IT. The generic aspect of this problem is very interesting, since it’s lowering quality in all sorts of fields.

And never forget: Just because something is widely and easily available doesn’t mean it’s better. It simply means that more people have access to it.

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Nimble Cloud Volumes Removing Risk From Cloud Storage

As of February 27th 2017, Nimble Storage announced Nimble Cloud Volumes (NCV), marking Nimble’s entry into the cloud space.

For those short on time: Nimble Cloud Volumes is block storage as a service, works with compute from AWS & Azure, and avoids the significant block storage drawbacks of those two providers. In essence, it is enterprise storage as a service, at a competitive price, while retaining all the cloud conveniences.

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Is convenience devaluing products? Does quality suffer because of it?

Kind of a long hiatus posting (far too busy working on cool stuff) and for you looking for a deep technical post this may not be it… but here goes anyway since the content may also apply to my more usual subjects.

Recently I decided to discard my Luddite membership card and join the hordes of people using network-based services for music.

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