What are the 12 Benefits of a Dedicated Server Solution?

1. Enhanced Performance with a Dedicated Server Solution

When it comes to performance, a dedicated server takes the lead. By having all the server resources exclusively at your disposal, you ensure high-performance levels and lightning-fast loading times for your website or applications. Say goodbye to sluggishness and hello to seamless user experiences.

2. Increased Reliability

With a dedicated server solution, you never have to worry about other users’ activities impacting your website’s performance or availability. By having exclusive access to the server, you can rely on its robust infrastructure and enjoy uninterrupted operations.

3. Enhanced Security with a Dedicated Server Solution

Security is paramount in the online realm, and dedicated servers provide a higher level of protection compared to shared hosting. With a dedicated server, you have the power to implement stringent security measures, customize firewall settings, and have complete control over your server’s security configuration. Safeguard your valuable data and protect your customers’ privacy with peace of mind.

4. Customization and Flexibility

One size does not fit all in the digital landscape. Thankfully, dedicated servers offer extensive customization options. Tailor your server to meet your exact hardware specifications, operating system preferences, and software configurations. Enjoy the flexibility to optimize your server environment according to your specific requirements.

5. Scalability

Businesses evolve, and your server should be able to keep up with the changing demands. Dedicated servers provide seamless scalability, allowing you to effortlessly upgrade or downgrade server resources as your business grows. Add more CPU, RAM, storage, or bandwidth whenever necessary, ensuring your server aligns with your expanding needs.

6. Improved Website Performance

A slow-loading website can lead to frustrated users and high bounce rates. With a dedicated server, you can bid farewell to these concerns. By efficiently handling high traffic volumes and large data transfers, a dedicated server ensures optimal website performance, resulting in superior user experiences and increased customer engagement.

7. Better Control and Administrative Access

Take the reins of your digital infrastructure with a dedicated server. Benefit from full root/administrator access, granting you complete control over server settings, software installations, and application configurations. Shape your server environment precisely to your liking and streamline your operations.

8. Dedicated IP Address

Establishing a reputable online presence is crucial for businesses. Dedicated servers come with a dedicated IP address, providing a multitude of advantages. From running SSL certificates to facilitating seamless email server setups, a dedicated IP address bolsters your online credibility and enhances your digital communication channels.

9. Enhanced Data Privacy

Data privacy is a top concern for businesses, especially those handling sensitive customer information. With a dedicated server, you are the sole user, ensuring your data remains private and isolated from others. Safeguard your critical data and maintain compliance with data protection regulations confidently.

10. Resource Optimization with a Dedicated Server Solution

Efficient resource utilization is a key factor in maximizing server performance. Dedicated servers allow you to allocate server resources according to your needs, ensuring optimal resource utilization and maximizing your server’s performance potential. No more wasted resources or bottlenecks holding you back.

11. Improved SEO Ranking

A dedicated server can be a game-changer for your SEO efforts. Fast loading times, server reliability, and dedicated IP addresses all contribute to better search engine rankings. Boost your online visibility, attract more organic traffic, and surpass your competitors in the search engine results pages.

12. Better Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

In certain industries regarding data storage and security are stringent. A dedicated server empowers you to implement the necessary measures to meet these standards effectively. Stay ahead of legal obligations, build trust with your customers, and safeguard your business reputation.

Choosing the best server solution is paramount for businesses and individuals seeking high performance and security for their hosting needs. With these mentioned pros, dedicated servers unlock your true potential in the digital landscape. Embrace the power of a dedicated server and thrive in today’s competitive online world.

The post The Best Server Solution for Enhanced Performance and Reliability appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Based on Cisco’s 2022 Global Hybrid Cloud Trends Report, which surveyed 2500 IT decision-makers in 13 countries, 82% of IT leaders have adopted the hybrid cloud. However, the same survey also found that when deploying a hybrid cloud, the top 3 challenges are:

1. Security (37%)
2. Increased operational complexity and cost management (33%)
3. Compliance and privacy (31%)

What are Some Hybrid Cloud Best Practices?

To address the challenges mentioned in the previous section, businesses can implement a set of best practices to optimize their hybrid cloud deployment and mitigate potential risks. These are some of those best practices: 

Evaluate your needs and requirements

Evaluating your company’s needs and requirements ensures that your hybrid cloud deployment is tailored to your specific needs while avoiding unnecessary costs. This involves assessing storage needs, computing power, and network bandwidth. However, it’s important to note that this evaluation is an ongoing process. Regularly tracking resource usage and evolving needs allows you to optimize resource utilization and prevent unexpected costs. 

Additionally, consult with your provider to see if they allow you to pay only for what you use, or provide bundled service packages that can help you save money and avoid overspending. 

Check the hybrid cloud provider’s SLA

A provider’s Service Level Agreement outlines the provider’s guarantees regarding uptime, performance, availability, support, and security. Thus, before choosing a hybrid cloud provider, make sure that you review and understand their SLAs. By making sure that the SLA aligns with your organization’s requirements, you can minimize the risk of downtime and ensure business continuity.  

Implementing security measures

Security is a crucial best practice for hybrid cloud usage as you want to make sure all private information related to your business is kept confidential. Implementing security measures in your cloud environment can be done through encryption strategies, managing access controls, and regularly patching and updating your systems. Moreover, you should also continuously monitor your systems for potential security threats and make disaster recovery plans for your business, so that you can respond to any security issues quickly. It’s recommended to consult with your provider to see if they can help you with implementing these security measures so you don’t have to manage all that on your own.  

Who should use a hybrid cloud?

Small medium businesses (SMBs) 

Hybrid cloud is the perfect solution for small-medium businesses as it allows them to store their sensitive data securely in a private cloud while still utilizing the public cloud for scalable and cost-efficient resources. This ensures that the business has optimal website performance and delivers an excellent and secure customer experience. 

Software developers

Hybrid cloud provides software developers with an affordable and flexible platform to build, test, and deploy applications quickly and efficiently. Developers can still keep their sensitive data on the private cloud while using budget-friendly resources from the public cloud for development and testing needs. 

Regulatory-driven businesses

Hybrid cloud allow businesses that have strict compliance requirements to maintain control over sensitive information by safely storing them in the private cloud while still enjoying the scalability and cost benefits of public cloud services. This is so they can comply with regulatory standards and ensure data privacy and security, while still saving some costs.  

Media and entertainment industry

Businesses in the media and entertainment industry has to deal with large files that require big-sized storage. This includes high-resolution video, images, and graphics. Using the this type of cloud can help them store and process those data cost-effectively. They can also use the public cloud resources for their content distribution and streaming while safely storing their valuable assets and information on the private cloud. This helps them to ensure a smooth content delivery while maintaining the protection of intellectual property. 

Educational institutions and research organizations

Hybrid cloud can help educational institutions and research organizations as they allow them to keep their students and research data secure on the private cloud while taking advantage of the public cloud for hosting online courses and learning platforms. This way, they can enjoy easy and convenient access to resources, while still keeping their sensitive data private.  

Overall, a hybrid cloud is a perfect solution for organizations or individuals who want flexibility, scalability, affordability, and secure data management by combining private and public cloud environments to meet their specific needs.

Click here to learn more about how Hybrid Cloud works. 

The post Hybrid Cloud Best Practices appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

The good news is, you don’t have to find a new hobby even if your PC doesn’t have that amount of storage or that specs of GPU. You can still play games on your same PC without risking it getting overheated with cloud gaming.

What is Cloud Gaming?

Before we dive deeper into what cloud gaming is, let’s review a bit about cloud computing in general. The idea of cloud computing is to make computing resources, such as servers, storage, networks, software, and databases available online on a pay-as-you-go basis. With cloud computing, users can access software (SaaS), platforms (PaaS), and infrastructures (IaaS) at any device as long as the device is connected to the internet and the user subscribes to the services.

Simply put, cloud gaming or game as a service is similar to that, except that it is more focused specifically on accessing game services. Thus, gaming as a service allows its users to play video games on a remote server in a data center. This allows users to stream or play video games without having to install each game individually on their PCs or mobile devices as long as they have subscribed to the services and are connected to the internet. The user only needs to either open the website provided or download the app provided by the cloud gaming provider to enjoy the video games because the game is already rendered on the remote server.

What are the Benefits of Cloud Gaming?

There are some of the main benefits of using cloud gaming, which are:

Accessibility

Not everyone has the hardware to run the latest and super demanding video games, but with cloud gaming, users can enjoy high GPU-demanding and storage-demanding games without actually having to upgrade their PC or console. This also saves a lot of money for the users as they can just use their existing hardware without having to buy expensive gaming hardware.

Wider variety of games to play

Also, another benefit of cloud gaming technology is that similar to Netflix or other movie streaming services, users now have a wide range of games to choose from. This is a huge benefit for gamers as they can try out lots of games without going through the hassle of installing or purchasing them one by one.

Flexibility

In the past, we may have experienced playing games that can only run on Windows and can’t be played on Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. Cloud gaming has solved that problem. Similar to how you can always resume that Netflix series that you haven’t finished watching on any of your devices, cloud gaming also allows users to cross-play across their desktop and mobile devices, which can’t be accomplished using traditional computer or hardware-based games.

Easier Developer Experience

With cloud gaming, game developers now only have to build a video game once and it can directly be distributed across multiple devices without having to create multiple binaries. This means they no longer have to go through the hassle of optimizing the video games for multiple hardware platforms (mobile and desktop).

How Does Cloud Gaming Work?

Just like a movie or video streaming service, cloud gaming usually requires its users to pay on a monthly or yearly basis to access the games, and some require their users to buy the games on top of that fee.

The remote server will do all the heavy work. The server renders the game and streams the video game to your device.  Meanwhile, your device (PC, tablet, phone) will receive the streaming video and audio and your device will also send input commands. Your keyboard and mouse input actions will be sent over the network to the server. In short, the inputs from your device will be sent to the game server, and the server sends back a response, in the form of a video stream, in real time.

Future Trends in Cloud Gaming

In the future, cloud gaming can be as famous and as widely adopted as video streaming services like Netflix or Disney+, as the trend in subscription-based services is on the rise. People prefer subscription over ownership because it is more affordable and flexible without the required maintenance. Furthermore, the global e-commerce subscription market size is expected to reach $904.28 billion in 2026. Additionally, Newzoo, a provider of games and e-sports analytics, also predicts that cloud gaming will generate $6.3 million in revenue by 2024.

The global adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the rise. According to a 2021 survey by McKinsey , AI adoption is continuing its steady rise as 56% of the respondents adopt AI in at least one function of their organization, compared to 50% in their 2020 survey.  With the rise of global AI adoption, the future of cloud gaming providers will also be likely to utilize AI to provide a better gaming experience for their users. Aside from better graphics, Myelin Foundry , a deep tech product start-up, mentions that AI and deep learning can help users to have a lag-free and ultra-HD cloud gaming experience.

Ultimately, the future of cloud gaming is set for immense growth in-the-near future. With more and more gamers signing on and using this service, it appears that this has the potential to become the norm.

The post Is Cloud Gaming Becoming the New Norm? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Afterall, 80% of enterprises follow a hybrid cloud strategy according to a 2022 survey. In this blog post, we will explore how a hybrid cloud works and why it is becoming increasingly popular.

What is a Hybrid Cloud?

A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that combines public and private cloud resources, allowing businesses to take advantage of the benefits of both. Private cloud resources are dedicated to a single organization, while public cloud resources are shared among multiple organizations. By combining these resources, businesses can enjoy greater flexibility, scalability, and cost savings while maintaining the security and control offered by private cloud resources.

How does a Hybrid Cloud Work?

A hybrid cloud works by integrating public and private cloud environments to create a single, cohesive infrastructure. This is achieved through the use of cloud orchestration tools that enable the management and automation of workloads across both environments.

These tools can be used to manage resources such as storage, networking, and computing power, ensuring that workloads are allocated to the most appropriate environment based on their specific requirements.

For example, a business may choose to use a private cloud environment to store sensitive data and run critical applications, while using a public cloud environment to host less critical applications or to handle peak demand periods. This allows the business to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the public cloud while maintaining the security and control of their private cloud environment.

Benefits

The benefits of a hybrid cloud are many, including:

• Greater flexibility: A hybrid cloud environment allows businesses to choose the most appropriate environment for each workload, providing greater flexibility and agility.
• Improved scalability: With a hybrid cloud, businesses can take advantage of the scalability of the public cloud while still maintaining control over their private cloud resources.
• Cost savings: By using a combination of public and private cloud resources, businesses can optimize their IT spending and reduce costs.
• Enhanced security: Private cloud resources offer greater security and control, while public cloud resources provide additional redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities.
• Increased innovation: A hybrid cloud environment allows businesses to experiment with new technologies and services without committing to full-scale implementation.

Challenges

While a hybrid cloud offers many benefits, there are also challenges to consider. These include:

• Complexity: Managing a hybrid cloud environment can be complex, requiring specialized skills and expertise.
• Integration: Integrating public and private cloud environments requires careful planning and coordination to ensure compatibility and interoperability.
• Security: Ensuring the security of data and applications across a hybrid cloud environment requires a comprehensive security strategy that addresses both public and private cloud resources.

Conclusion

Hybrid cloud computing has emerged as the preferred model for many businesses, offering a flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solution to their IT needs. By combining public and private cloud resources, businesses can take advantage of the benefits of both while maintaining control over their most sensitive data and applications.

While there are challenges to implementing a hybrid cloud, the benefits are many, and businesses that take the time to plan and execute a hybrid cloud strategy can enjoy significant advantages over their competitors.

Contact us today if you would like to learn more about hybrid cloud computing and how it can help you business scale.

The post Hybrid Cloud Computing Combining the Best of Both Worlds appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Essentially, cloud computing has revolutionized the way businesses and individuals store, manage, and access their data and applications. Rather then relying on physical hardware to store and run their programs, you are able to access your resources and services over the internet.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the basics of cloud computing and how it can benefit you or your business.

What are Cloud Computing Basics?

Cloud computing is the delivery of resources and services over the internet. This can include storage, servers, databases, software, and more. Instead of buying and maintaining physical hardware, you can access these resources on-demand and pay only for what they use.

Cloud computing is made possible by a network of servers that are owned and managed by service providers. These servers can be located in various data centers around the world that you can access from anywhere with an internet connection.

Types of Cloud Computing

There are three main types of cloud computing: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS provides you with access to virtualized computing resources such as servers, storage, and networks. Additionally, you can configure and manage these resources to run their applications.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS provides you with a platform for developing, testing, and deploying their applications. This platform includes the necessary hardware and software to run the application, as well as tools for building and testing the application.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS provides you with access to software applications that are hosted by the cloud provider. These applications can be accessed through a web browser or an API, and the provider is responsible for maintaining the software and ensuring that it is always up to date.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing offers many benefits for you and your and business. Here are some of the key advantages:

Scalability: Resources can be scaled up or down to meet changing demand. This means that businesses can quickly add or remove resources as needed, without the need to invest in expensive hardware.

Cost Savings: You only pay for the resources you use, rather than investing in and maintaining your own hardware. This can result in significant cost savings for businesses of all sizes.

Flexibility: You are able to access resources and applications from anywhere with an internet connection. This can be particularly beneficial for remote workers or businesses with multiple locations.

Reliability: Cloud service providers typically offer high levels of uptime and reliability, thanks to their redundant infrastructure and multiple data centers.

Security: Cloud service providers often have dedicated security teams and implement strict security protocols to protect user data.

Conclusion

Cloud computing has changed the way we access and manage our data and applications. By providing on-demand access to computing resources and services it has become easier and more cost-effective for businesses to store, manage, and access their data. As technology continues to evolve, cloud computing will likely become even more ubiquitous and essential for businesses of all sizes.

If you would like to learn more about cloud computing to determine if it is the right move for your company, you can contact us today to learn more!

The post Cloud Computing Basics and How it Benefits your Business appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

What is a public cloud and its Advantage?

A public cloud is a multi-tenant infrastructure that is shared among many organizations. It is owned and operated by a cloud service provider and resources such as computing power, storage, and network connectivity are made available over the internet. One of the main advantages of a public cloud is that it is highly scalable, with the ability to quickly add or remove resources as needed. This makes it ideal for businesses that experience sudden spikes in demand, as they can quickly scale their infrastructure to meet their requirements.

Another advantage of public clouds is that they are cost-effective. Since many organizations are sharing the same infrastructure, the cost of maintaining and managing it is spread out among the users. This results in lower costs for the individual users, compared to the cost of building and maintaining their own private cloud.

What is a private cloud and its Advantage?

A private cloud is dedicated to a single organization, with resources such as computing power, storage, and network connectivity made available only to that organization. This results in higher levels of security, privacy, and control for the organization. A private cloud provides the organization with complete control over the infrastructure and the ability to customize it to meet their specific requirements. This makes it ideal for businesses that require a high level of control and privacy, such as financial institutions or healthcare organizations.

Another advantage of a private cloud is that it provides better performance. In a private cloud, resources are dedicated to the organization, which creates a no risk environment of resource or capacity contention. This can be especially important for businesses that require high levels of performance and scalability.

In terms of compliance, a private cloud can also be a better option for organizations that need to comply with specific regulations. Afterall it provides them with the ability to control and secure their data and infrastructure in a way that may not be possible with a public cloud.

In the end

Ultimately, the decision between a private or public cloud ultimately depends on the specific needs and requirements of the organization. Public clouds are ideal for businesses that require scalability and cost-effectiveness, while private clouds are ideal for businesses that require high levels of security, privacy, control, performance, and compliance. If you are unsure about which option is best for your organization, it is best to consult with a cloud computing expert for a personalized assessment.

You can contact us today to discuss which option would work best for you and your organization.

The post Public Cloud vs Private Cloud which is Better? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Provided by KirkpatrickPrice, this audit is a third-party validation and follows Trust Services Criteria stipulated by AICPA. In order to complete the audit, a company has to pass a series of security, availability, confidentiality, and system privacy tests. Wowrack has been proven to meet these criteria.

However, what does it mean to complete a SOC 2 audit for Wowrack? And, more importantly, why does it matter for the customers in the first place?

Why Wowrack SOC 2 Type II/SSAE 18 Matters for Your Business

Completing SOC 2 audit means a lot to Wowrack as it manifests a serious commitment to uptime, security and customer’s data privacy. Those three aspects are integral to Wowrack as it is part of the company’s mission to continuously improve services to its customers—to you.

Additionally, this attestation does not stop at benefitting Wowrack for it also benefits its customers. There are, at the very least, four benefits that you can get.

Guaranteed Security Practices

In times when digital adaption in business continuity practices accelerates faster than ever, cyberthreats are also becoming a bigger problem. However, one of the newest trends provides an interesting fact about the issue.

A 2021 study by Accenture reports that 35% of security breaches are now dominated by ransomware, targeting weak links in the supply chain or business ecosystem. In other words, even the slightest unsafe security practices potentially result in bigger problems than the cause.

By choosing a certified vendor that does not take security for granted, you are making one huge leap towards safer practices. This also mitigates the risks of receiving indirect as well as indirect cyberattacks.

Improved Trust from Clients

Growing concerns regarding collection, protection, and the use of personal information become a major issue for business. That, accordingly, does not only cover the practices, but also the infrastructure, used vendors, products, and services.

Based on a 2019 survey of 2,200 US adults by Morning Consult, 73% of the respondents agree that protecting personal data is the top deciding factor to trust a business. This scores higher than product usability (71%), product safety (70%), and customer service (68%). Ergo, the more a company conducts safe information practices, the more it likely to get customers’ trust.

One way to let your customers know that you care about trust, security, and privacy is by letting them know that you do the same thing. The easiest way to do so is by choosing a reliable service provider. In so doing, certification provides evidence to the reliability of a service provider.

Above-standard Service Quality

Standards play a significant role in determining the quality of a service. They work as a basis for mutual understanding and guarantee of how a company will deliver a service.

For instance, take a look at AICPA-standardized SOC 2 audit. This audit sets the bar for how a company must conduct the best information security practices, internally or externally. Consequentially, it is pertaining to how a company delivers and maintains a service quality.

Once a company passes the assessment, this means that it has followed all the criteria of a good service delivery and practice. A result of an audit also works as a warranty of the best version of services that you will get.

Peaceful and Secure Digital Collaboration

A lot of companies—and probably yours as well—relies on digital collaboration to run their business. Especially, during the pandemic, we have seen that digital collaboration has skyrocketed exponentially. The same goes for cyberthreats.

Following PwC’s 2020 Digital Trust Insights Pulse Survey, cybercriminals are expected to be the most dangerous digital threats for business. It is especially true with the current business condition that relies heavily on digitalization. In addition, these threats do not solely target people who are working from home. They, however, also target the very IT infrastructure of a company in many ways possible.

For that reason, by choosing a safe and reliable IT service provider, you are indirectly helping yourself mitigate these cyber risks. A proven-to-be reliable provider conducts every security practice securely to get rid of your pain points worrying of not being able to enjoy your digital collaboration.

In conclusion, security is not something any businesses should wager. Trusting your IT security to a reliable service provider, such as Wowrack, helps you work more securely and painlessly.

To learn more on how Wowrack can help you, you can directly consult with our expert team. Schedule a call now.

The post SOC 2 Type II/SSAE 18 Audit Completion – Our Dedication to Customer’s Data appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

There are three other types of cloud computing service available other than IaaS which is service-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and serverless.

There are many advantages in considering using or migrating workload into IaaS. For example, users of IaaS can use any kind of operating system or application disregarding the maintenance and operational cost.

IaaS service also provides access to servers throughout the world and a service-level agreement (SLA) regarding the uptime and performance of the service. This allows businesses to eliminate the need to manage and provision their data center manually.

How to Implement IaaS in Business

IaaS represents the general purpose of computing resources, thus it is capable of supporting all use cases of all types. The question of “how to implement IaaS” then becomes insignificant. However, there are 5 ways of implementing IaaS that are commonly used by businesses.

• Lift-and-Shift Migration

Lift-and-Shift Migration is the fastest and least expensive migration business can take when migrating into IaaS service. It allows businesses to scale the size, enhance the performance, and reduce the cost without many works.

• Test and Development

IaaS is also useful a field of test and development. Users can quickly set up and scale environments suitable for the need of the test, thus bringing results faster and better.

• Storage, Backup, and Recovery

In-house IT infrastructure often requires a huge amount of investment and cost to maintain. Employing an IaaS service will help businesses in handling the growing need for space for storage and simplify the process of backup and recovery data.

• Web Apps

IaaS can also be used to support web apps needs, from the networking resources, storage, and the web and application itself. The ease of scaling the IaaS service also means users can simply scale the service according to demand.

• High-Performance Computing

Completing the calculation of complex variables or analyzing large data can also be achieved using IaaS. IaaS flexibility allows focusing computing capability into one single demanding task or workload.

Wowrack’s IaaS Service

Wowrack is a global leader in various IaaS services. Our service include Disaster Recovery, Private & Hybrid Cloud solutions, Colocation, Backup Services, Managed AWS & Azure, SD-WAN services and more.  All of these can optionally be co-managed or fully managed by Wowrack 24/7/365 team of experts.  With a workforce that is 80% engineering, you can rest assured that no matter what challenges you face. Wowrack is by your side to help.

Get in contact today to schedule your no-obligation consultation!

The post How to Implement IaaS into Your Business? appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

Private Cloud

To see the difference between cloud solutions, we must have a basis at first. So, let’s take a look at the private cloud.

Private cloud only allows one user or tenant to use the cloud environment. A special connection is often necessary in accessing the private cloud. This allows the “private” element of the setup by not sharing anything with other customers or users of the vendor.

This setup allows the user of the private cloud to easily customize and scale the setup according to the user’s need.

While the idea of “private” might highly interest you, not all kinds of businesses need to use this setup. The following are the kind of workloads that are ideal in using a private cloud:

• Sensitive data
• A business that requires strong security for its IT workload and infrastructure
• Enterprise that demand high performance and customizable IT infrastructures
• Company that requires a complex and customizable data center
• Highly regulated industries and government agencies

Before using this solution, it is better to know the pros and cons of using the private cloud.

Pros:

• Flexibility: As the space of the cloud is only meant for one tenant or user, it is easy to transform the cloud based on the ever-changing need of your business.
• Higher Security: Users who require strict regulation regarding the safety and security of their data can easily apply protocols, measures, or configurations within the cloud as necessitated.
• Scalability Without Tradeoff: Users can easily scale the private cloud without sacrificing the security of the system and reduction in performance.
• Efficient in Performance: Private cloud is always known for high reliability and performance.

Cons:

• Higher Price: The privilege of being “private” does not always come cheap, as private clouds always tend to cost more than public clouds.
• Difficulty for Mobile User: Private cloud sometimes require special arrangement such as VPN to be able to connect into the cloud. Thus, mobile devices may have none to limited access within the cloud.
• Planned Scalability: While the private cloud can be scaled like any other cloud solution, the private cloud cannot be scaled at the spur of the moment and require planning.

Public Cloud

A public cloud is a cloud computing model in which the space within the cloud is shared between the customers.

This form of cloud computing is the most popular one out of the three that we will be discussing today. The public cloud could offer a wide arrange of choices for the growing need for IT solutions and computing resources.

The use of the public cloud could range from a small service such as email, apps, or storage. An enterprise-grade infrastructure environment can also be supported by public cloud..

You can look at the pros and cons that need to be considered before using this cloud service.

Pros:

• Affordability: Flexible pricing options are available based on the specification that you use makes it easily affordable to use.
• Business Focus: As the third-party vendor taking care of the necessary infrastructure and maintenance, user can put their focus straight into their business.
• Easy to Scale: Public cloud is very easy to scale and can be done at a moment’s notice, allowing it to be adaptable against a spike in the network.

Cons:

• Lack of Security: Unlike the private cloud, the public cloud is used by multiple tenants within the same cloud. This reduces the amount of security and protocol that can be used in the environment.
• Lack of Cost Control: Generally, the TCO or total cost ownership can skyrocket when using the public cloud for large-scale usage.
• Low Technical Control: The public cloud is a poor choice if certain compliances are required to be met. This is due to little to no control and visibility of the infrastructure.

Hybrid Cloud

Lastly, we have hybrid cloud as the last form of cloud computing model. This form of cloud computing is a unique one. In a sense that it combines elements of the private and public cloud into one.

You can find some of the common set up used by hybrid cloud:

• Businesses use private cloud environments for their day-to-day operation and IT needs while employing public cloud in case of a spike in network traffic, or
• Enterprise use public cloud as the common workspace and private cloud as a place to store sensitive data or information.

Other than combining two cloud solutions, the user of hybrid cloud could also choose to be homogeneous or heterogeneous.

Homogeneous refers to the use of cloud solutions from the same cloud provider. Meanwhile, heterogenous refers to the use of cloud solutions from two different cloud providers.

Combining two cloud solutions caused a whole new pros and cons that you need to consider. Thus, you might find the difference between cloud solutions in the hybrid cloud as a mix of private and public cloud.

Pros:

• Scale with Security: Hybrid cloud combination between two clouds allows this system to be able to scale without sacrificing security as the private cloud could.
• Cost Control: With the division of tasks that is possible with a hybrid cloud, businesses can choose which cloud to be scaled based on the workload.
• Reliability: The distribution of workload across two different cloud – or even services – allow businesses to have maximum reliability and data retention.

Cons:

• Complexity: Combining both public and private cloud adds another layer of complexity. This is true both in the operation and management of the cloud environment.
• Higher Price: Using both public and private clouds can be overwhelming and hard to track. Thus without proper management, the cost of the service could balloon.

Wowrack Cloud Infrastructure

Understanding the difference between cloud solutions is the first step in using a cloud environment. Wowrack offers all forms of cloud solutions from public, private, to a hybrid cloud. All of which, you can choose depending on your workload needs.

With data centers located all around the world and reliably certified by such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II/SSAE 18, Wowrack to assure your data availability and security to the highest standard.

So, are you ready to drive your workload to the cloud? Let’s start with us today!

The post The Difference Between Cloud Solutions appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

NTFS is the primary file system for recent versions of Windows and Windows Server, that provides a full set of features including security descriptors, encryption, disk quotas, and rich metadata, and can be used with Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) to provide continuously available volumes that can be accessed simultaneously from multiple nodes of a failover cluster.

So, what is ReFS?

Resilient File System (ReFS) is Microsoft’s newest file system, that designed to maximize data availability, scale efficiently to large data sets across diverse workloads, and provide data integrity by means of resiliency to corruption. The ReFS used to detect all types of disk corruption, data striping and also copy-on-write features. ReFS is a newest system of Windows based on NTFS, and in other words, this is an update system to complete the Windows NTFS system.

Basically, the ReFS system is better than the NTFS system. Because the NTFS system has several limitations that have been improved by the system. ReFS supports features that already exist in NTFS such as BitLocker encryption, access control lists for security, USN journaling, change notifications, symbolic links, junction points, mount points, reparse points, volume snapshots, file IDs, and OpLocks.

How does it work?

ReFS uses checksums for metadata and optionally for data files and has the ability to detect damage reliably. Additionally it can automatically repair detected damage using alternative data copies provided by Storage Spaces. ReFS can delete corrupt data when the volume is damaged and a copy of the data is damaged and it can handle most irreparable damage. ReFS introduces a data integrity scanner, known as a scrubber, which can periodically scans volumes, identifies damage and proactively triggers corrupt data repair. However, this system cannot be used for booting PCs or used in external media such as USB flash disks or memory cards.

Some of the advantages of ReFS compared to NTFS include the field of hyper-V and backup applications.

On Hyper-V, ReFS has some advantages:

1. The “Block Cloning” feature can accelerate copy operations, enabling quick, low-impact VM checkpoint merge operations, which in turn reduces the disk I/O load
2. The “Sparse VDL” feature can zero files rapidly, reducing the time needed to create fixed VHDs from 10s of minutes to mere seconds.

However, it’s not suitable for SAN-based cluster shared storage, at least for now, because the Hyper-V cluster will always put the ReFS CSV on “File System Redirected” mode, which caused the owner node to be the only one accessing the SAN, while the other nodes are accessing the storage over the cluster network (I’ve seen no SAN traffic flowing on the other nodes, only on the owner node). See below for more details:

This is on a ReFS CSV:

BlockRedirectedIOReason: NotBlockRedirected

FileSystemRedirectedIOReason: FileSystemReFs

Name: HVC-Prod-Disk3

Node: WOWHVC3

StateInfo: FileSystemRedirected

VolumeFriendlyName: HVC-Prod-Disk3

VolumeName: \\?\Volume{ee02dcb9-8066-458f-8fb4-cc974f8be89a}\

And this is on a NTFS CSV:

BlockRedirectedIOReason: NotBlockRedirected

FileSystemRedirectedIOReason : NotFileSystemRedirected

Name: HVC-Prod-Disk1

Node: WOWHVC3

StateInfo: Direct

VolumeFriendlyName: HVC-Prod-Disk1

VolumeName: \\?\Volume{7973af21-ee14-4d9e-aada-314e8b8d8850}\

With NTFS, all nodes are accessing the SAN storage using DirectIO, which should give us better performance.

But ReFS is okay for Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) configuration, since there is no shared storage anyway (every nodes have direct-attached disks) so all access is essentially redirected.

For Backup Applications, the advantages are as follows:

System Center DPM 2016 is actually using the resilient file system by default for the backup storage, as it utilizes the “block-cloning” technology on ReFS to accelerate the backup process. It’s a part of the “Modern Backup Storage” technology that SCDPM 2016 offers.

DPM 2016 uses block cloning to store backups on ReFS volumes. Instead of using copy-on-write to store backups (which was used by VolSnap in DPM 2012 R2), DPM 2016’s block cloning uses allocate-on-write. This change improves IOPS efficiency, making backups nearly 70% faster.

Veeam also recommends ReFS for the backup storage, as it also utilizes the same “block cloning” technology on ReFS (Veeam calls it “fast cloning capability”) to speed up the backup process.

Version 9.5 leverages the fast cloning capability in ReFS API to create synthetic backups without moving the data blocks between files, and instead, references backup file blocks already present on the volume. This means all manipulations associated with synthetic full backups are limited to metadata updates and require no actual I/O operations on backed up data.

Another advantage of using ReFS for backup storage is: it enables us to scale-up the backup storage capacity up to 35 PB (compared to a maximum of 256TB on NTFS)

So, to conclude this story:

1. On Hyper-V Cluster, use NTFS on SAN-based storage, and use ReFS on Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) storage
2. On a Standalone Hyper-V server, use ReFS so that we can take advantage of the “Block Cloning” and “Sparse VDL” feature, which can accelerate VM checkpoint merge operations and fixed VHD creation. However, please be advised that a ReFS partition can be expanded, but cannot be shrunk, so if you know that you will need to shrink the partition in the future, please use NTFS.
3. On Backup servers using SCDPM 2016 or Veeam B&R 9.5, use ReFS on the Backup Disk/Storage to accelerate the backup process

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