Cloud bursting for operational resilience

Jon McElwee at iomart explains how a hybrid cloud computing strategy can help organisations meet spikes in demand

 

In a world where most businesses globally are facing both remote and office-based workforces, “hybrid” is a word we’re becoming very accustomed to using.

 

The same goes for when we talk about cloud. Computing and storage strategies have drastically evolved in recent years, with many opting for a hybrid approach, be that a mixture of on-premises and private cloud; private cloud and public cloud; or something that is becoming more common, multi-cloud, which involves a mix of public clouds hosting data. 

 

A trend that was popular around five or six years ago which, well, burst onto the scene was cloud bursting. 

 

Cloud bursting is a hybrid cloud computing strategy where a business uses a combination of its own private cloud and additional resources from a public cloud provider to handle sudden or temporary spikes in demand for computing resources. 

 

How does cloud bursting work?

An organisation’s own private cloud infrastructure should support its regular workloads as it is already designed to handle the business’s typical daily computing demands.

 

Where cloud bursting comes in is when there’s a sudden spike in demand for computing resources. This could be a result of a number of factors such as seasonal sales for a retail company; traffic surges as a result of a promotion or marketing campaign; or simply because certain computational tasks such as financial modelling or the use of artificial intelligence, require more resources than usual. 

 

When the demand surpasses the capacity of an organisation’s own private cloud, a cloud bursting system will automatically provision additional resources from a public cloud provider, such as Azure, and distribute the additional workload between them. 

 

Once demand decreases back to typical levels, the private cloud is able to handle the workload again, so the cloud bursting system scales down the resources from the public cloud. 

 

Benefits of cloud bursting

Even with the best intentions, businesses can’t always predict when their computational infrastructure may be in higher demand. Traditionally, organisations would have had to pay for additional resources in case demand did spike but most of the time, this extra resource would be underutilised and therefore not cost effective.

 

With cloud bursting, businesses only need to maintain the on-premises infrastructure they use regularly and pay for additional resources when needed, making it much more cost effective.

 

But this isn’t the only benefit.

 

Cloud bursting allows businesses to scale quickly to accommodate unexpected surges without causing performance degradation. At the same time, by combining the benefits of both private and public clouds, businesses can enjoy the security and control of their own private cloud, while also leveraging the scalability and resource of a public cloud. 

 

What’s more, by distributing workloads between different cloud environments, cloud bursting can enhance the overall resilience and availability of applications.

 

Who is it relevant for today?

Cloud bursting was a popular cloud strategy towards the end of the last decade, particularly for retailers or businesses who experienced frequent peaks and troughs in demand. Many of these organisations – particularly the larger ones – have likely moved away from cloud bursting today and have embraced fully cloud-native strategies as their digital transformation journey evolved.

 

There are, however, businesses that continue to benefit from cloud bursting. Smaller businesses or seasonal businesses who only require the benefits of cloud at certain points throughout the year, can benefit from the solutions hyperscalers like Azure offer through cloud bursting. 

 

In doing so, these businesses can also make the most of relatively inexpensive storage while even testing the benefits of cloud before making a longer-term commitment. 

 

Potential challenges 

Although there are many benefits to implementing cloud bursting, it’s not always easy to execute and its difficulty can vary depending on several factors including: the complexity of a business’s infrastructure; the compatibility between the private and public clouds it uses; the tools and technologies available; and simply, the business’s expertise in cloud computing.

 

Before implementing cloud bursting, businesses should consider the following.

 

Infrastructure set up and architecture. How infrastructure is designed will have an impact on how easy it is to embrace cloud bursting. For example, if a business is using technology that is built with cloud-native principles, it’s more likely to be more adaptable to cloud bursting. Meanwhile, legacy technology that has traditionally been on-premises may not work seamlessly across public and private clouds.

 

Cloud compatibility. As cloud bursting requires the use of multiple clouds, ensuring that data can pass easily throughout public and private cloud environments is vital. Checking that networking and security configurations as well as data storage rules are the same across all cloud environments is a good tip to remember. 

 

Data management. For businesses that rely heavily on data, managing its synchronisation, consistency, and availability across both public and private cloud environments can be complex. Investing in additional tools to monitor and manage data could be a good option. 

 

Security and compliance. Both of these factors can differ when it comes to private and public cloud. Before taking on cloud bursting, businesses should thing about how their data is handled, implement any additional cybersecurity tools that may be necessary, and ensure both environments meet compliance environments. 

 

Success in a complex area

Like with any new technology implementation or process, cloud bursting will bring about both benefits and complexities. If businesses want to embrace the benefits, it’s important not to rush into implementing cloud busting. 

 

Bearing in mind the previously mentioned considerations will put businesses in good stead but, whenever in doubt, bringing in external experts is always an option. Consultants who have a broad experience of all cloud scenarios as well as important aspects such as cyber-security and compliance will be able to assess a business’s infrastructure and processes, find the right strategy for them, and ensure whatever is implemented, is done so correctly and effectively. 

 

---

 

Jon McElwee is a cloud specialist at iomart

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com