Discuss about the Management, Backup & DR.
The management of DSI based on cloud architecture evaluations has decided to implement ICT applications in their OSDS suite in SaaS model and in their hybrid cloud model. In the DSI cloud migration planning, SaaS delivery model is preferred for OSDS suite because it offers redundant resources for application implementation and can provide interoperability with any type of user operating systems. In hybrid model, private cloud is a highly secured infrastructure which is meant for internal users in government departments that make use of spatial information. This report focuses on assessment for deployment model, risk management and security issues for OSDS applications along with evaluating the technical management of cloud and service level agreements (SLA) agreed with the cloud provider. The management requirements are highlighted for the chosen cloud provider in terms of remote administration, resource provisioning, backup and disaster recovery (DR) and SLAs. The assessments are discussed in the next sections.
Since cloud service models are outsourced infrastructure and managed by a cloud service provider, the IT resources needed by DSI must be configured, administered and monitored for their usage. These management mechanisms in clouds facilitate control of IT resources as required by DSI and are the main elements of cloud technology architectures (Erl, Ricardo, & Zaigham, 2013) required for the OSDS suite of applications. Cloud management will cover the aspects of emote administration, resource management and SLA management.
The tools and UI for remote management can be used by DSI’s IT department to configure and monitor resources on the cloud. In order to have maximum benefit of cloud platform, the organization can make use of cloud operational checklists provided by Morad and Dhalbajan. The checklists can be used by DSI to support their cloud assessment needs. There are two types of checklists based on the maturity level and application development requirements. They are the basic operations checklist and the enterprise operations checklist (Morad & Dalbhanjan, 2013).
The basic operation checklist will allow DSI to the service model of SaaS and hybrid deployment model, the following assessment is made related to cloud DSI to evaluate their use of specific services needed for OSDS application suite before they are migrated to the cloud. The enterprise operations checklist will support to identify key elements related to DSI’s operational strategy and migration. The assessments performed by DSI related to cloud migration will include,
The enterprise operational checklist for DSI will cover the assessments for hybrid cloud usage to include,
The above checklists by Morad and Dhalbajan provide an assessment checklist which supports DSI in assessing and managing their cloud requirements and migration.
Resource management system allows DSI to perform IT resources, mostly the management of physical hardware. Some of the tasks for assessment here include management of servers, virtual servers, physical infrastructure management, and resilience and failover systems. These actions are jointly coordinated by both, DSI and cloud provider (Younge, Laszewski, Wang, Lopez-Alarcon, & Carithers, 2010).
SLA management (CSI, 2015) for DSI will include defined mechanisms for monitoring cloud deployment and provide features for administration, collection and storage, reporting and runtime notifications of SLA data.
The term disaster recovery (DR) has many forms and can occur unexpectedly. This is because IT systems are vulnerable to threats, both internal (human error), external (hackers) and hazards posed by natural environment (floods, earthquakes, etc.) (Krutz & Vines, 2010). A comprehensive DR plan is required by DSI must be aimed at protecting data and vital information from any type of vulnerability, and DR planning is unique for each organization. The DR planning and backup procedures must effectively restore critical functions in the event of any unplanned disruption. Morad and Dhalbajan checklist highlights the need for assessing backup procedures and disaster recovery measures (Kandukuri, Paturi, & Rakshit, 2009). In addition to this checklist, the key elements for DSI to consider in their disaster measures will include,
Normally, assessments for backup and DR for resilience will include the following areas:
Backup and disaster recovery is a critical area in cloud migration which must be considered by DSI prior to migration of OSDS applications.
SLAs come into play to make sure the services offered by a cloud provider are delivered as agreed with DSI. SLA has become a pre-requisite due to cloud business strategy and provides series of rules and directives (Hoehl, 2015) that must be taken by DSI to evaluate and agree on operating terms with service provider. SLAs will also include a set of non-functional requirements in cloud services. An example of SLA can be the return of operations (RTO) within 60 minutes in the event of any service failure in the cloud. SLAs in cloud must be assessed for their,
SLAs management normally follows the monitoring of SLA data based on already defined resource and performance metrics and reporting parameters. Cloud migrations for any type of business process must follow bet practices in risk management. The practices must also be in conformance to particular cloud service and business critical processes that deal with sensitive information. The SLA data can be made available on real time for cloud usage and administration through remote management in active cloud services. The SLA guideline provided by (Erl, Ricardo, & Zaigham, 2013) on cloud computing services includes the risk assessments in cloud migration and planning.
Assessments related to DSI enterprise risk management (CSA, 2009) will include,
SLA management and assessments are important for DSI because they provide the operational management aspects in day to day cloud usage. SLAs are important to note further that SLAs must focus more on reducing risks and protecting OSDS applications with the cloud provider.
Conclusions
The report highlights the importance of evaluation in cloud migration for DSI. Since cloud services are decided by the cloud provider it is important the SLAs are defined to suite the best interests of DSI. The assessments and methods for remote monitoring, backup and OSDS resiliency, and the importance of assessing SLAs prior to cloud migration are explored and discussed.
References
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