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Cloud Confusion Reigns

How to avoid a cloud disaster.

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
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How to Avoid a Cloud Disaster .................................................................................................................................................... 3 Is the Recession Clouding Judgement? ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Whats the big attraction? ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Impact of the recession .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Big benefits ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Potential concerns ................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Which Way Forward? .................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Types of cloud ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6 What is right for you? ........................................................................................................................................................... 8 Dedicated hosting ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 MyCloudStackTM ................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Cloud Buyers Checklist .............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Appendices .................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Examples of high profile security breaches ......................................................................................................................... 12

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
Executive Summary
There are many conflicting messages surrounding the merits and dangers of the cloud which is causing a lot of confusion about whether or not it is a viable hosting option. The growth in cloud computing has been due to its highly scalable, flexible and cost effective architecture. These fantastic benefits have helped a number of organisations to experience enormous growth. Groupon successfully entered markets in various geographic locations due to the virtual nature of the cloud, essentially allowing them to rapidly expand their reach and dynamically meet market demands. Another hugely attractive element of the cloud is its pay as you go cost structure and low investment. This means that organisations can effectively utilise advanced IT infrastructure without any capital expenditure. However, many have argued that the growth of the cloud is due to the recession, with market uncertainty making cloud hosting appear to be a very desirable alternative to dedicated hosting. The benefits speak for themselves. However with recent high profile cloud failures, is the cloud necessarily the best solution for your organisation? Do the advantages of cloud computing actually match your own business objectives? The cloud may not necessarily be the answer. It is essential to get balanced advice from an expert who can talk you through the pros and cons of all available types of solutions, including more traditional hosting architecture. This report aims to clear your confusion surrounding the cloud and to guide you through the different types of cloud and dedicated hosting solutions available to help you make an informed and confident decision. Dont let the recession cloud your judgement, understand your options and ensure that you have a clear view of what you need to support your business growth. Page 2

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
How to Avoid a Cloud Disaster
Cloud hosting has experienced exponential grown in recent years, due to its highly scalable, flexible and cost effective nature. Despite its fantastic benefits, cloud computing has felt the impact from damaging news stories of high profile outages and security breaches, such as those at Amazon1 and Google2. There are many conflicting messages surrounding the merits and dangers of cloud computing which are causing confusion about whether or not it is a viable hosting option for business. Read on to find out how to avoid a potential cloud disaster. Cloud computing
Cloud computing has transformed IT infrastructure with innovative virtualisation technologies. Through the Infrastructureas-a-Service model it has revolutionised the way businesses operate. The cloud removes the complexity of managing IT infrastructures, increasing performance and security levels, as well as reducing costs when setup correctly.

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Is the Recession Clouding Judgement?

Whats the big attraction? There are many reasons why people are attracted to the cloud. Forming the basis of a powerful IT strategy, the right cloud will make systems leaner, more agile and cost effective whilst freeing up IT expertise and resources. Impact of the recession The attractive price options have led many business owners to believe that the cloud is a panacea to their financial challenges.3 Financial pressures caused by the recession, coupled with the dazzle of publicity around the cloud have unfortunately led many businesses to make ill informed decisions resulting in prolonged downtime, data theft and security breaches. High profile issues with government census records4, the theft of credit card details from Lush Cosmetics clients5 and the hacking of The Linux Foundation6 all highlight the potential vulnerabilities of cloud computing. See the appendices on page 12 for more information. To complicate matters further, there has been an influx of hosting providers hoping to profit from the increased interest in the cloud, by reselling third party public cloud solutions. This new development in the hosting arena has significantly heightened the risk to business owners, who are often unaware of the dangers and pitfalls associated with providers do not offer robust service level agreements. As the cloud industry evolves, it is clear that a wider understanding of the options available is required. Consideration must be given to the relative pros and cons of each type of hosting available, including: public, private and hybrid cloud and also the more traditional hosting architecture.

Key benefits Infinite scalability Increased performance Greater business flexibility Reduced capital expenditure and maintenance overheads

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
Dont let the recession cloud your judgement. Are you clear what a move to the cloud could mean for your company? Big benefits Organisations have benefited enormously by moving to a dynamic working infrastructure that delivers greater flexibility and scalability, in response to market changes. Online group-discount company Groupon is a great example of how the cloud can directly impact an organisations growth. Arshid Mahmud, head of customer relationship management stated: Were now in forty-five countries around the world, and we got there in about a year and a half, he says. If it wasnt for the cloud architecture we have in place, we could never have done that. Groupon achieved this level of success by taking advantage of the flexibility cloud hosting offers. They were able to scale investment and infrastructure instantly, supporting the rapid growth of the company. Another recent example of an organisation that has been attracted by the cloud is The Isle of Man Government. Its recent move was to achieve its objectives of cutting operating costs by 15%, increasing speed and capacity, and creating a flexible solution which could scale to cope with periods of high demand during specialist events, such as the annual TT Motorcycle Race.8 The amazing success stories and reduced IT budgets make the cloud appear to be the perfect practical solution for any business. However the cloud may not necessarily offer everything your business requires. Addressing potential market concerns and understanding all of the hosting options available, including more traditional hosting architecture will ensure the perfect match to your business objectives. You must seek balanced and unbiased advice on the pros and cons of all available hosting options. An expert hosting provider will be able to build you a bespoke environment utilising one, several, or all of the different types of solutions available.
The value of the UK cloud computing market will more than double between now and 2014 from 2.4bn to 6.1bn.9
7

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Weather forecast: Cloudy

2014

Billions ()

2011

Market intelligence
According to IT market intelligence firm IDC, public cloud computing services will account for 46% of net new growth in overall IT spending across five key product categories by 2015: applications, application development and deployment, systems infrastructure software, basic storage, and servers.10

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
Potential concerns In order to decide if the cloud is the right solution for you, it is important to be aware of potential concerns you may face by using it. Issues dominating the news include: 1. Poor data security The E-Crime 2011 Report found that 68% of IT Managers were highly concerned that cloud computing has the potential to increase e-crime levels. Security concerns relate to the accidental release of protected data, difficulties in user authentication, access control and data location.11 2. Spiralling costs While a pay-as-you-go hosting contract is appealing it can raise concerns that costs will fluctuate on a month-by-month basis, making financial planning difficult. It may also raise the concern that you end up paying more over the lifetime of the contract than if you had purchased the equipment outright. Cloud sprawl is another current concern. Due to the nature of cloud technology, other business units can potentially add more capacity without having to consult IT. The result of this, is a sprawl of cloud services throughout an organisation that can rapidly eat away at budget.12 3. Weak SLAs There are many cloud providers in the market resulting in a huge variation in the quality and commitment to service level agreements (SLAs). The wrong choice of hosting provider could leave you tied into a lengthy contract with a company that delivers poor quality support if any at all. 4. Internal resistance Cloud computing by its very nature delivers increased efficiency and can reduce the admin required on a system. This means the role of the IT department can evolve. IT is freed to deliver value in other areas of the business and extend the strategic service it offers. Are you confident you now have a grasp of the potential concerns with the cloud? Do you know how to avoid them?
Dedicated managed Cisco ASA firewall Intrusion detection system McAfee Active Virus Defence Annual security audits DDoS protection

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Cloud security
UKFasts proactive security solutions dynamically monitor your cloud to catch any security risks and respond to security threats.

Must have protection

Cloud user experience

We are able to offer our customers

a solution that can scale flexibly and quickly. Weve been working with the cloud technology for some time so we can say with confidence when we think its a good fit for a business. Building Blocks

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Which Way Forward?
When considering which hosting route to take it is imperative that you fully understand all the options available. Types of cloud The three different types of cloud commonly adopted are public, private and hybrid. Each offers different business benefits and each has its best uses. Public cloud The public cloud offers a cost effective Infrastructure-as-a-Service hosting model giving your business access to advanced IT architecture within a shared environment. It is important to note that in the public cloud your data is stored on a shared SAN that also houses the data of other companies. The key benefit of the public cloud is that it delivers substantial cost savings. If sourced from a trusted provider, businesses of all sizes can gain access to advanced infrastructure at a very low cost. It is important to remember that the lowest priced option is not necessarily the best one for you. Some of the main uses for the public cloud include: Software platform for unrestricted information Low load website hosting Proof of concept, testing and development environments. Harper James, a leading internet marketing agency, uses the public cloud to deliver a significant business advantage. Using the space to develop websites, test new web tools and develop bespoke CMS systems for its many clients. The public cloud offers the ideal cost-effective space in which to trial new innovations, without impacting on the capacity and processing power of their main hosting solution. Private cloud The private cloud delivers an advanced level of security, delivering all the advantages of public but in an isolated environment. Private clouds do not share security or processing resources, meaning they are dedicated to your environment and secured behind a dedicated firewall. The isolation from other users is crucial for maintaining high performance, high availability and most importantly maximum security. Definitions: Storage Area Network (SAN)
A SAN is a high-speed, dedicated network that is used to connect all the storage resources connected to various servers in a solution.

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Firewall
A firewall stops unauthorised visitors from accessing valuable business information. It assesses the profile of the visitor and permits or denies network transmissions based upon a set of pre-defined rules.

Cloud user experience

With a private cloud we now have

the flexibility and the performance we need, when we need it, with the ability to switch it on or off whenever it is required. Gecko

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Some of the main uses for the private cloud include: Housing sensitive data Critical application and software platforms High traffic websites. Gecko, a digital campaign management company, recently adopted a private cloud solution to deal with spikes in traffic during client campaigns. It gave us the capacity and flexibility that we needed, particularly for clients when they are in cycles of campaign activity, said Andy Milner, Geckos development director, But security is critically important to us and weve not had to compromise on that with a private cloud. A further example of the private cloud in action is with home credit provider International Personal Finance (IPF). It recently embarked on a project to move its IT infrastructure into the cloud. The driver behind this was that they needed an agile solution which would support planned expansion. They were also confident that the flexibility of cloud technology would result in saving a significant amount of money. Andrew Herd, head of IT commercial and service commented, Since moving we have realised a significant reduction in service charges and reduced our capital expenditure. If we want more storage, we pay per gigabyte. If we want more service, we buy per virtual machine.13 Hybrid cloud A hybrid solution combines the capacity and security benefits of a dedicated server solution with the flexibility, agility and cost-effectiveness of a private and/or public cloud. Typically, an organisation would use a hybrid solution to store sensitive data and mission-critical applications, such as CRM or case management systems on its dedicated infrastructure. The less critical applications and services, such as email systems can then be housed in the cloud to take advantage of its scalable nature. Some of the main uses of a hybrid cloud include: Websites with varying traffic levels Storage and handling of sensitive data Meeting compliance/regulatory requirements Mission critical applications and databases Testing or development environment. As a hybrid solution merges the best of both worlds it can be engineered to meet your exact requirements.
As a founding member of the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) UKFast is dedicated to ensuring best practice is adhered to by all cloud providers. A code of practice has been established by the CIF. Its mission is to improve transparency of cloud services to help provide end users with confidence when choosing a provider. Maintaining a protocol will support the growth of this IT infrastructure and encourage providers to preserve a minimum standard of security and service.

Page 7 Cloud Industry Forum

Use the checklist on page 11 when talking to any potential hosting provider to ensure you are adequately protected.

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
What is right for you? Choosing the wrong solution can be disastrous. Despite the many benefits available cloud technology is not necessarily right for every business. Dedicated hosting Dedicated server hosting is a comprehensive hosting option particularly suited to large scale organisations placing high-demands on their servers, whether that be due to applications, phone systems, databases or websites. A dedicated solution is particularly applicable to any company that faces stringent data security regulations or compliance requirements, such as the legal or accounting professions. Dedicated hosting enables you to retain complete control over your server ensuring the highest level of security and availability possible. No one else will have access to, or share the resources or data stored on your server. Dedicated hosting delivers many business benefits including: Increased security your business has sole access to the resource Reduced costs once the initial investment has been made minimal future investment should be needed High availability you can utilise the full resource of the server leading to high availability and superior performance Tailored solution as nothing is shared you can design your solution to match your exact requirements Fully managed service with the right provider you also benefit from high-quality support teams and technical specialists that can proactively manage the day to day maintenance of your solution Comfort factor despite there being a strong business case for a cloud solution you may be limited by the simple fact that other business partners like the comfort factor of a physical solution they know and trust. The negative press and reported issues could have shaken peoples confidence so much that a dedicated solution is the only option. Our hosting architects design and manage complete dedicated server environments which can encompass clustering, replication and load balancing, offering full business continuity. Regardless of complexity, all our server solutions are protected by a redundant pair of Cisco ASA firewalls as standard and come with ample backup capacity.
Certified Level 3 engineers manning the support desk 24/7/365 UK based support round the clock HQ & on-site DC engineers 3 rings policy + 15 min rapid response + 1hr hardware replacement guarantee Managed firewall for all clients Intelligent backup secure, effortless full state system backups Proactive uptime monitoring continuous monitoring with engineer & client alerts Award winning ISPA Best Hosting Provider 4 consecutive years, ISPA Best Business Customer Service winner, ISPA Best CSR winner High grade bandwidth, optimised for web acceleration 100% network uptime guarantee

Page 8 Why choose UKFast

Data centre location, 2 x direct fibre links to the hub of the internet (Telehouse) with dark fibre redundancy Accreditations ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO27001, PAS2060, PCI Compliance

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CLOUD CONFUSION REIGNS
In order to provide you with flexible options, we offer a range of fully managed hosting solutions including: Windows dedicated servers Linux dedicated servers Database servers Email servers Application hosting If the cloud is not for you then UKFast can build you a dedicated solution in line with your exact requirements. We work closely with you and your IT team to provision anything from a single server to a complex hosting solution. MyCloudStackTM Having pioneered UK hosting for over 12 years UKFast understands all aspects of cloud computing. Our innovative cloud solution, MyCloudStack, is the latest evolution in cloud technology. Offering you your own dedicated cloud, it delivers the highest standards of security, flexibility and performance you need to support your business. MyCloudStack is built in layers designed to offer you a flexible package built to your exact requirements. MyCloudStack encompasses the following layers: Defence Performance WebceleratorTM Virtualisation Storage Backup Monitoring MyCloudStack allows you to take advantage of the strengths of cloud computing with added data security, performance and redundancy. Managed defence layers monitor your private cloud for any hacking attempts and alert you to any signs of cyber-crime which could affect your business. Dedicated hosting user experience Page 9

Within days of adopting a dedicated

solution the site was functioning better than ever. With UKFasts Linux expertise, Im confident that I have a direct line to a team of experts should I need it. You cant ask for more than that. Printerland.co.uk

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MyCloudStack offers you the best technology to drive your business forward, with SQL Clustering to deliver high availability, Webcelerator to increase the load speed of your site, and DDoS mitigation solutions for enhanced security. The tailor-made hosting solution allows you to quickly feed into cloud reserves, gain maximum flexibility and reduce costs by choosing your exact requirements. Being able to mix and match components allows you to balance levels of availability with security concerns and price. Resilient solution Are you clear which hosting solution is right for you? As experts in both cloud and dedicated hosting we are able to offer an unbiased review of your requirements and suggest the most appropriate solution to support your business now and in the future. Whether cloud or dedicated hosting is right for you, partnering with UKFast gives you the peace of mind that your solution is housed in state-of-the-art UK data centres protected by sophisticated security and failover technologies. For some businesses, the recession has clouded business judgement leading to major disaster in the cloud. However, for those with a clear grasp of the benefits and limitations facing users of the cloud the wrong decision can be avoided. A review of your system with an unbiased provider will point you in the right direction and ensure your hosting solution is the best fit for you.
UKFast has built high levels of resilience into its UK data centres. Features such as an onsite substation, dedicated failover generators, N+1 power supplies and cool aisle containment ensures your cloud remains secure and available in all eventualities. Our advanced SLA assures a 100% network and infrastructure uptime guarantee, a 15-minute paid response and 1-hour hardware fix. And not forgetting our highly responsive support team which is available to you 24/7/365 and operates with a 3 rings policy.

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Comprehensive SLA

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CLOUD BUYERS CHECKLIST
Key features to look for when evaluating a private cloud hosting provider.
UKFast Solution Protection: Managed Cisco ASA Firewall Dashboard alert control centre Intrusion detection system DDoS protection Server clustering Server replication Monthly performance reports SafeDNS Server maintenance and patch updates Proactive monitoring Hardware SLA UK based data centres Annual security audits Latest generation Dell and HP servers McAfee Active Virus Defence Security patches Intelligent burstable backup Capacity Threshold Monitoring Juniper front edge router Cisco anomaly detection and traffic analysis 100% network uptime guarantee Self healing network Tier 2 classified data centres 2 x direct fibre connection to Telehouse London 100% carbon neutral hosting Webcelerator caching technology Layer 7 dedicated load balancing Rapid scalability Highly resilient SAN storage Level 3 qualified support engineers 24/7/365 helpline Calls answered in 3 rings Call centres 100% UK based Fully manned data centres 24/7/365 15 minute rapid response promise 1 hour hardware replacement guarantee Security Standards: ISO 9001 ISO 27001 PCI DSS compliant CIF membership Other

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Hardware Protection:

Software Protection:

Network Security:

Performance:

Comprehensive SLA:

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Appendices
Examples of high profile data breaches Recent cases of hacking and associated security breaches have raised the case for compliance and legislation to effectively oversee the cloud hosting environment. 2011 Census Lulzsec claimed that the entire 2011 UK census database had been hacked and was ready to be published online. An alleged member of the hacking group had subsequently been arrested following the discovery of a significant amount of material that could have led to the entire 2011 database being published in full. The announcement by the group had been posted on the website Pastebin.com where it also claimed that the database was going to be published via The Pirate Bay a file sharing website. The Office of National Statistics was investigating the claims and stated The 2011 Census places the highest priority on maintaining the security of personal data. At this stage we have no evidence to suggest that any such compromise has occurred. 6 The Linux Foundation The Linux Foundation infrastructure was attacked and its websites taken offline following the discovery of a major security breach. This breach is believed to be the result of a major hack on a number of its servers which prompted the swift removal of associated websites. The decision to pull the websites, which included Linux.com, Open Printing and Linux Mark, was a bold move and has set the best practice benchmark for future security attacks. The company was keeping the sites offline in order to complete a full audit of its systems and pinpoint the exact source of the breach.9 Lush Cosmetics The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has warned online retailers that they must have regular security checks in place to identify potential hacking attacks and assess the security of data attained online. The ICO also stressed that online retailers must adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) or a similar such regulation. This follows a security breach of the Lush cosmetics website in early 2011 in which the credit card details of 5,000 clients were hacked. As a result 95 customers were victims of credit card fraud.8 Luckily for Lush the breach did not result in a fine. The ICO however does have the power to levy a penalty notice of up to 500,000 if a company is found to be in serious breach of data legislation. Page 12

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Dedicated managed Cisco ASA firewall, intrusion detection system, McAfee Active Virus, annual security audits

Layer 7 dedicated load balancing, Webcelerator caching technology Dell server hardware, Dual Quad Core Xeon processors, 64GB RAM

Redundant RAID 10 storage array, highly resilient dedicated SAN

Intelligent backup, vDR, Microsoft DPM, Linux Bacula

Capacity threshold monitoring, Proactive Uptime Monitoring Dashboard & alert control centre

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References

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/29/technology/amazon_apology/index.htm http://www.crn.com/news/cloud/231601251/google-memory-bug-caused-google-docs-cloud-outage.htm;jsessio nid=ZhaRtcl1BOr5cSeFp1J5wQ**.ecappj01 http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/cloud-essentials/1727/recession-thank-cloud-popularity http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8589078/Hackers-steal-entire-2011-census.html http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security-threats/2011/08/10/lush-hack-let-slip-5000-peoples-bank-de tails-40093664/ http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-09/14/linux-foundation-hack-attack http://www.information-age.com/channels/comms-and-networking/it-case-studies/1649528/groupons-call-cen tre-in-the-cloud.thtml http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/cloud-essentials/hybrid-cloud/1779/isle-man-heads-hybrid-cloud UK software and IT services Market Forecast TechMarketView, (Columbus 2011) http://cloudtimes.org/idc-public-cloud-computing-services-to-reach-72-9-billion-market-in-2015/ http://packetstormsecurity.org/news/view/19815/Cloud-Computing-And-Mobile-Devices-Increasing-The-RiskOf-E-Crime.html http://www.itpro.co.uk/636406/cios-concerned-about-cloud-sprawl http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2011/09/21/247951/Case-study-Why-and-how-International-PersonalFinance-moved-into-the.htm

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