Hybrid Hosting – Combining Private & Public Cloud: A Real World Scenario – Part 2

<<< Part 1 – Hybrid Hosting Real World Scenario

Client: [continued]

7.)    Do the VMs require high disk throughput?

The only disk-sensitive VM is the production Postgres server.  All the other VMs have low to moderate demands on disk I/O.

8.)      What type of data backups are required for the VMs? Options: Daily, None, or Other (If Other, please specify).

We’ll perform offsite backups of the database (and other critical data) hourly.  The VMs themselves should be backed up daily.  Our recovery plan would be to restore the failed VM from the most recent snapshot, then restore any critical data from the hourly archive.

I hope this is helpful.  Let me know if you have any further questions.

Consultant:

I spoke to our senior engineering department. We can provide you with Linux Host Firewall and set it up under an hourly consulting agreement. This will allow you to utilize our Public trusted public Cloud server at the monthly pricing listed on our website.

We believe that this is the best solution for your organization. You will be contacted by our senior engineering team very shortly.

Client:

I’ve entered the pricing information into a spreadsheet, and your offering is very compelling. I’d like to better understand the configuration of the Linux Host Firewall, and I look forward to discussing the details with the technical engineer.  How would the custom appliance work?  The pricing in your public cloud does not include uploading a custom .iso image.  What would be the price of running this custom appliance?  It requires 4GB of RAM, 100GB of storage, and a 32-bit container.

Additionally, I have the following questions regarding this solution:

[Questions included in reply]

Thank you, and I’m looking forward to hearing back from you.

Consultant:

I wanted to follow up with you this afternoon regarding your recent request for a quote.

However, before this, one of the items listed in your requirements was for an iFax system. At this time, we are not able to accommodate custom ISOs on our public cloud platform. This is a feature that we plan on implementing but is not something currently available.

To answer the other questions that you provided to Sam Guiliano:

Would our VMs each have a public IP address, or would they exist on a private vlan behind the firewall?

Each system would use private IP addresses to communicate with each other and the firewall. All public IPs needed for system access would be assigned to the firewall, and NAT’d to the respective private IP.

If they are on a private plan, would we have control over the firewall rules, or would we submit requests to Atlantic.Net for changes?

If deployed on our public cloud hosting platform, we would be able to assist you with the initial setup and configuration, along with providing you the necessary documentation to be able to make changes following the deployment.

Firewall changes, as well as additional network configurations needed if a new VM is added, would be done by you.

Would we have the ability to spin up and down new VMs on our own, or would the customized firewall require us to contact Atlantic.Net for changes?

All customers have a client portal that can be used for the creation, deletion, and re-provisioning of VMs. At this time, VM resizing (increasing the system specs for a VM) is handled directly by our support staff. If you did add a new VM, it would be necessary to make networking changes to the system (configuring the private IP on eth1), as well as updating the firewall to reflect the new VM.

I’m sure that you have more questions. Please let either Sam or me know, and we will be happy to address them.

Thank you, and have a great day!

Client:

Thank you.  Do you have any solution for hosting the iFax custom ISO?  My hope is that I could use your  VPS hosting offering for all the other VMs, and host the iFax system with you in some other capacity (i.e., private cloud, co-lo, or any other way that you can host a custom ISO.)  Ideally, the machines could exist on a vlan, but I would be fine if they didn’t.  (I could secure the VMs independently and secure the communications between them.)

[Article continues below]

Various surveys and analyses – including the State of the Cloud and Gartner reports referenced in Part 1 – have suggested that hybrid cloud is growing enormously. The reasoning behind that is in a CIO article published last December: businesses have a better understanding of distributed virtual technology now. They are savvier consumers looking for a mix of public and private options. Atlantic.Net, in business since 1994 and in the Inc. 500 for three consecutive years, has hybrid hosting expertise that can match any company’s mission.  See our VPS hosting price.

>>> Part 3 – Hybrid Hosting Real World Scenario

By Moazzam Adnan