Application Infrastructure, Application Storage
Article | July 19, 2023
What Is IT Infrastructure Security?
If you are reading this blog, we would like to assume that you are either an aspiring cybersecurity professional or a business owner looking for ways to improve their network security. A business IT infrastructure includes networks, software, hardware, equipment, and other facilities that make up an IT network. These networks are applied to establish, monitor, test, manage, deliver, and support IT services.
So, IT infrastructure security describes the process of safeguarding the core networking infrastructure, and it is typically applied to enterprise IT environments. You can improve IT infrastructure security by installing protective solutions to block unauthorized access, theft, deletion, and data modification.
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Hyper-Converged Infrastructure
Article | October 3, 2023
Nowadays, SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS are some of the most common names across the B2B and B2C sectors. This is because they have become the most efficient and go-to tool for starting a business.
Together, they are significantly changing business operations around the globe and have emerged as separate sectors, revamping concepts of various product development, building and delivery processes.
SaaS Vs PaaS Vs IaaS
Each cloud computing model offers specific features and functionalities. Therefore, your organization must understand the differences.
Whether you require cloud-based software to create customized applications, get complete control over your entire infrastructure without physically maintaining it, or simply for storage options, there is a cloud service for you.
No matter what you choose, migrating to the cloud is the future of your business and technology.
What is the Difference?
IaaS: Aka Infrastructure as a Service IaaS allows organizations to manage their business resources such as their servers, network, and data storage on the cloud.
PaaS: Aka Platform as a Service allows businesses and developers to build, host, and deploy consumer-facing apps.
SaaS: Aka Software as a Service offers businesses and consumers cloud-based tools and applications for everyday use.
You can easily access all three cloud computing tools on the internet browser or online apps.
A great example would be Google Docs; Instead of working on one MS Word document and sending it around to each other, Google Docs allows your team to work and simultaneously collaborate online.
The Market Value
A recent report says that by 2028, the global SaaS market will be worth $716.52 billion, and by 2030, the global PaaS market will be worth $319 billion. Moreover, the global IaaS market is expected to be worth $292.58 billion by 2028, giving market players many opportunities.
XaaS: Everything as a Service
Another term more frequently used in IT is XaaS, short for Everything as a Service. It has emerged as a critical enabler of the Autonomous Digital Enterprise.
XaaS is a term for highly customized, responsive, data-driven products and services that are entirely in the hands of the customer and based on the information they give through everyday IoT devices like cell phones and thermostats.
Businesses can utilize this data generated over the cloud to deepen their customer relationships, sustain the sale beyond the initial product purchase and innovate faster.
Conclusion
Cloud computing is not restricted by physical hardware or office space. On the contrary, it allows your remote teams to work more effectively and seamlessly than ever, boosting productivity. Therefore, it offers maximum flexibility and scalability.
IaaS, SaaS, PaaS; whichever solution you choose, options are always available to help you and your team move into cloud computing.
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Hyper-Converged Infrastructure
Article | September 14, 2023
Firms face challenges with managing their resources, and ensuring security & cost optimization, adding complexity to their operations. IaaS solves this need to maintain and manage IT infrastructure.
Contents
1. Infrastructure as a Service: Future of Cloud Computing
2. Upcoming Trends in IaaS
2.1 The Rise of Edge Computing
2.2 Greater Focus on Security
2.3 Enhancement in Serverless Architecture
2.4 Evolution of Green Computing
2.5 Emergence of Containerization
3. Final Thoughts
1. Infrastructure as a Service: Future of Cloud Computing
As digital transformation continues to reshape the business landscape, cloud computing is emerging as a critical enabler for companies of all sizes. With infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), businesses can outsource their hardware and data center management to a third-party provider, freeing up resources and allowing them to focus on their core competencies, reducing operational costs while maintaining the agility to adapt to changing market conditions.
With the increasing need for scalable computing solutions, IaaS is set to become a pivotal player in shaping the future of computing. IaaS is already emerging as a prominent solution for organizations looking to modernize their computing capabilities. This article will delve into the recent trends of IaaS and its potential impact on the computing industry, implying why IaaS is important for emerging businesses.
2. Upcoming Trends in IaaS
2.1 The Rise of Edge Computing
The rise in IoT and mobile computing has led to a challenge in the amount of data that can be transferred across a network in a certain period.
Due to its many uses, such as improving reaction times for self-driving cars and safeguarding confidential health information, the market for edge computing infrastructure is expected to reach a value of $450 billion.
(Source: CB Insights)
Edge computing is a technology that enables data processing to occur closer to its origin, thereby reducing the volume of data that needs to be transmitted to and from the cloud.
A mesh network of micro data centers that process or store critical data locally and push all received data to a central data center or cloud storage repository in a footprint of less than 100 square feet.
(Source: IDC)
Edge computing represents the fourth major paradigm shift in modern computing, following mainframes, client/server models, and the cloud. A hybrid architecture of interconnected IaaS services allows for low latency through edge computing and high performance, security, and flexibility through a private cloud. Connecting edge devices to an IaaS platform streamlines location management and enables remote work, thus looking forward to smoother future of IaaS.
An edge layer (fog computing) is required to optimize the architecture model with high-speed and reliable 5G connectivity, connecting edge devices with the cloud. This layer acts as autonomous distributed nodes, capable of analyzing and acting on real-time data. Doing so sends only the data required to the central infrastructure in an IaaS instance. By combining the advantages of edge computing in data capture with the storage and processing capabilities of the cloud, companies can take full advantage of the benefits of data analytics to leverage their innovation and optimization capabilities while simultaneously and effectively managing IoT devices on the edge.
IoT devices, also known as edge devices, possess the ability to analyze data in real time through the use of AI, ML, and algorithms, even in the absence of an internet connection. This technology yields numerous advantages, including superior decision-making, early detection of issues, and heightened efficiency. However, an IaaS infrastructure with top-notch computing and storage capabilities is an absolute necessity to analyze the data effectively.
2.2 Greater Focus on Security
Hackers might use cloud-based services to host malware through malware-as-a-service (MaaS) platforms or to distribute malware payloads using cloud-based apps and services. In addition, organizations often need more than they can secure in their IaaS footprint, leading to increased misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. Recognizing and reacting to an attack is called reactive security, whereas anticipating a dangerous event before it happens and intervening to prevent it is predictive safety. Predictive security is the future of cloud security.
The cybersecurity mesh involves setting up a distributed network and infrastructure to create a secure perimeter. This allows companies to centrally manage access to their data while enforcing security policies across the distributed network. It is a critical component of the Zero-Trust architecture. A popular IaaS cloud security trend is the multi-cloud environment. Multi-cloud proves effective when tools like security information and event management (SIEM) and threat intelligence are deployed.
DevSecOps is a methodology that incorporates security protocols at every stage of software development lifecycle (SDLC). This makes it convenient to deal with threats during the lifecycle itself. Since deploying DevOps, software releases have been shortened for every product release. DevSecOps proves to be secure and fast only with a fully automated software development lifecycle. The DevOps and security teams must collaborate to provide massive digital transformation and security. Digital services and applications need stronger and better security in exponential amounts. This methodology must be enforced in a CI/CD pipeline to make it a continuous process.
Secure access service edge (SASE) is a cloud-based architecture that integrates networking and software-as-a-service (SaaS) functions, providing them as a unified cloud service. The architecture combines a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) or other WAN with multiple security capabilities, securing network traffic.
2.3 Enhancement in Serverless Architecture
Serverless architecture apps are launched on demand when an event triggers the app code to run. The public cloud provider then assigns the resources necessary for the operation to occur. With serverless apps, containers are deployed and launched on demand when needed. This differs from the traditional IaaS cloud computing model, where users must pre-purchase capacity units for always-on server components to run their apps.
The app will incur minimal charges during off-peak hours with a serverless model. When there is a surge in traffic, it can scale up seamlessly through the provider without requiring DevOps involvement. A serverless database is a type of database that operates as a fully managed database-as-a-service (DBaaS). It automatically adjusts its computing and storage resources to match the demand, making it convenient for users. A serverless database is a cloud based service that eliminates the need to manage infrastructure, scaling, and provisioning. It allows developers to concentrate on constructing applications or digital products without the burden of managing servers, storage, or backups.
2.4 Evolution of Green Computing
In promoting green computing, infrastructure-as-a-service plays a significant role by allowing cloud providers to manage the infrastructure. This helps reduce the environmental impact and boosts efficiency by intelligently utilizing servers at high utilization rates. As a result, studies show that public cloud infrastructure is typically 2-4 times more efficient than traditional data centers, a giant leap forward for sustainable computing practices.
2.5 Emergence of Containerization
Containerization is a type of operating system virtualization where applications are executed in distinct user spaces called containers. These containers operate on the same shared operating system, providing a complete, portable computing environment for virtualized infrastructure. Containers are self-contained software packages operating in any environment, including private data centers, public clouds, or developer laptops. They comprise all the necessary components required for the right functioning of IaaS-adopted cloud computing.
3. Final Thoughts
With the expansion of multi-cloud environments, the emergence of containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes, and enhancements in serverless databases, IaaS is poised to become even more powerful and versatile in meeting the diverse computing needs of organizations. These advancements have enabled IaaS providers to offer a wide range of services and capabilities, such as automatic scaling, load balancing, and high availability, making it easier for businesses to build, deploy, and manage their applications swiftly in the cloud.
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Application Infrastructure
Article | November 23, 2021
In my last blog in this series, we looked at the present state of 5G. Although it’s still early and it’s impossible to fully comprehend the potential impact of 5G use cases that haven’t been built yet, opportunities to monetize 5G with little additional investment are out there for network service providers (NSPs) who know where to look.
Now, it’s time to look toward the future. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that 5G technology will be revolutionary across many industry use cases, but I’m not sure everyone understands just how revolutionary, and how quickly it will go down. According to Gartner®, “While 10% of CSPs in 2020 provided commercializable 5G services, which could achieve multiregional availability, this number will increase to 60% by 2024”.[i]
With so many recognizing the value of 5G and acting to capitalize on it, NSPs that fail to prepare for future 5G opportunities today are doing themselves and their enterprise customers a serious disservice. Preparing for a 5G future may seem daunting but working with a trusted interconnection partner like Equinix can help make it easier.
5G is so challenging for NSPs and their customers because it is so revolutionary. Mobile radio networks were built with consumer use cases in mind, which means the traffic from those networks is generally dumped straight to the internet. 5G is the first generation of wireless technology capable of supporting enterprise-class business applications, which means it’s also forcing many NSPs to consider alternatives to the public internet to support those applications.
User plane function breakout helps put traffic near the app
In my last article, I mentioned that one of the key steps mobile network operators (MNOs) could take to enable 5G monetization in the short term would be to bypass the public internet by enabling user traffic functions in the data center. This is certainly a step in the right direction, but to prepare themselves for future 5G and multicloud opportunities, they must go further by enabling user plane function (UPF) breakout.
The 5G opportunities of tomorrow will rely on wireless traffic residing as close as possible to business applications, to reduce the distance data must travel and keep latency as low as possible. This is a similar challenge to the one NSPs faced in the past with their wireline networks. To address that challenge, they typically deployed virtual network functions (VNFs) on their own equipment. This helped them get the network capabilities they needed, when and where they needed them, but it also required them to buy colocation capacity and figure out how to interconnect their VNFs with the rest of their digital infrastructure.
Instead, Equinix customers have the option to do UPF breakout with Equinix Metal®, our automated bare-metal-as-a-service offering, or Network Edge virtual network services on Platform Equinix®. Both options provide a simple, cost-effective way to get the edge infrastructure needed to support 5G business applications. Since both offerings are integrated with Equinix Fabric™, they allow NSPs to create secure software-defined interconnection with a rich ecosystem of partners. This streamlines the process of setting up hybrid deployments.
Working with Equinix can help make UPF breakout less daunting. Instead of investing massive amounts of money to create 5G-ready infrastructure everywhere they need it, they can take advantage of more than 235 Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers spread across 65 metros in 27 countries on five continents. This allows them to shift from a potentially debilitating up-front CAPEX investment to an OPEX investment spread over time, making the economics around 5G infrastructure much more manageable.
Support MEC with a wide array of partners
Multiaccess edge compute (MEC) will play a key role in enabling advanced 5G use cases, but first enterprises need a digital infrastructure capable of supporting it. This gets more complicated when they need to modernize their infrastructure while maintaining existing application-level partnerships. To put it simply, NSPs and their enterprise customers need an infrastructure provider that can not only partner with them, but also partner with their partners.
With Equinix Metal, organizations can deploy the physical infrastructure they need to support MEC at software speed, while also supporting capabilities from a diverse array of partners. For instance, Equinix Metal provides support for Google Anthos, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) Anywhere and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) Anywhere. These are just a few examples of how Equinix interconnection offerings make it easier to collaborate with leading cloud providers to deploy MEC-driven applications.
Provision reliable network slicing in a matter of minutes
Network slicing is another important 5G capability that can help NSPs differentiate their offerings and unlock new business opportunities. On the surface, it sounds simple: slicing up network traffic into different classes of service, so that the most important traffic is optimized for factors such as high throughput, low latency and security. However, NSPs won’t always know exactly what slices their customers will want to send or where they’ll want to send them, making network slice mapping a serious challenge.
Preparing for a 5G future may seem daunting but working with a trusted interconnection partner like Equinix can help make it easier.”
Equinix Fabric offers a quicker, more cost-effective way to map network slices, with no need for cross connects to be set on the fly. With software-defined interconnection, the counterparty that receives the network slice essentially becomes an automated function that NSPs can easily control. This means NSPs can provision network slicing in a matter of minutes, not days, even when they don’t know who the counterparty is going to be. Service automation enabled by Equinix Fabric can be a critical element of an NSP’s multidomain orchestration architecture.
5G use case: Reimagining the live event experience
As part of the MEF 3.0 Proof of Concept showcase, Equinix partnered with Spectrum Enterprise, Adva, and Juniper Networks to create a proof of concept (PoC) for a differentiated live event experience. The PoC showed how event promoters such as minor league sports teams could ingest multiple video feeds into an AI/ML-driven GPU farm that lives in an Equinix facility, and then process those feeds to present fans with custom content on demand.
With the help of network slicing and high-performance MEC, fans can build their own unique experience of the event, looking at different camera angles or following a particular player throughout the game. Event promoters can offer this personalized experience even without access to the on-site data centers that are more common in major league sports venues.
DISH taps Equinix for digital infrastructure services in support of 5G rollout
As DISH looks to build out the first nationwide 5G network in the U.S., they will partner with Equinix to gain access to critical digital infrastructure services in our IBX data centers. This is a great example of how Equinix is equipped to help its NSP partners access the modern digital infrastructure needed to capitalize on 5G—today and into the future.
DISH is taking the lead in delivering on the promise of 5G in the U.S., and our partnership with Equinix will enable us to secure critical interconnections for a nationwide 5G network. With proximity to large population centers, as well as network and cloud density, Equinix is the right partner to connect our cloud-native 5G network.”
- Jeff McSchooler, DISH executive vice president of wireless network operations
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