- Design Agency
The Need
This company is managing the development of a number of mobile applications and different websites concurrently for their clients. Upon completion they stress test, optimise and finally their client can choose to keep a managed hosting solution with the agency or take their hosting in-house. Such a company has the following key computing resource needs:
- Varying computing resource demands over time
- Managing resources by project
- Rapid prototyping and testing environments
- Multiple platforms
- Stress testing
Traditional Solution
The company has a
number of dedicated testing servers for development running different platforms. These servers are in a managed hosting facility. Once a project completes the client’s website is migrated to a virtual private server solution managed by the agency (using CPanel and Plesk) or they take their website under their own hosting. There are a number of key disadvantages to this approach:
- The company can only realistically afford a limited number of test environments, limiting optimisation
- Hardware is fixed, projects tend to be developed to fit the hardware available rather than the other way around
- During busy times hardware resources are stretched, at other times servers stand idle
- It is difficult to track and assign resources being used by a particular project
- Stress testing is limited by total hardware resources available, for larger clients this isn’t ideal
- Upon completion, projects need to be migrated onto the permanent hosting platform
The CloudSigma Solution
- The company deploys multiple dedicated virtual testing servers for their clients, these run concurrently and their size is tailored exactly to the project need
- Different testing servers can be used concurrently or hibernated and used for periodic testing.
- The company can compile and test multiple kernels for optimal performance and benchmark them on a project by project basis
- Large computing resources can be brought online for short periods of stress testing and scalability testing
- Project resources are tracked by assigning virtual servers into different server groups
- Upon completion, the test server becomes the live server without any need for migration
- The company continues to manage the client’s hosting going forward and react to their changing computing resource needs in a manual or automated way using our cloud
The result is a website tested in more environments, optimised better, more resilient to high loads and with a known scalability path. On-going performance is achieved through active management and monitoring via our API and web platform.
Key advantages of the Cloud Solution
A web design agency has a need for very reactive and adaptable computing resources and environments. It likewise experiences large jumps up and down in its computing needs as projects come on stream and are completed. By using the CloudSigma solution the company has benefited from:
- Increased service for clients and reduced computing costs to the company
- A wider choice of test environments specifically tailored to each project
- Complete control of optimisation and testing right down to the kernel level
- Unlimited scalability and stress testing without large additional computing resource expenditures
- Easy project by project resource usage and management, ideal for internal costing
- No client migration needed on project completion
- Ability to service much larger clients without cash flow worries caused by upfront hardware costs
By adopting the CloudSigma platform a web design agency can therefore more readily address the exact client need deliver a project that is tailored made. Additionally, by removing the issues of migration and adding in flexibility and scalability, the web design agency has a much greater chance of retaining that client in the future and winning their on-going hosting business if it so desires.
- Start-Up
The Need
This new company lacks large amounts of financial resources at this point yet still needs to provide both robust internal infrastructure (such as a PBX and shared storage) plus a reliable and most importantly scalable external solution for its website, blog and services. Its staff are both full time and part time and don’t all work from the same location which is also a challenge. Such a company has the following key computing resource needs:
- Low cost solution is required avoiding up-front costs where possible
- Non-location specific internal infrastructure
- Scalable external infrastructure which is ‘growth ready’
Traditional Solution
The company purchases an office server and telephone exchange located in their main premises. This allows a shared drive, email, telephone etc. and serves their internal computing resource needs. For external services they use a virtual private server arrangement or make an initial outlay on servers if a larger capacity is needed. There are a number of disadvantages associated with this for a start-up company:
- Significant up-front costs are unavoidable when purchasing dedicated hardware
- Long-term contracts need to be signed for shared web hosting and/or managed dedicated servers
- There is limited effective access to internal infrastructure without significant software expenditure and maintenance efforts
- There is little or no flexibility of approach or scalability in the solution.
Out of the many customer groups we have, start-up company fair worse under the traditional solution simply because it doesn’t offer what they require, reduced up-front costs and a high degree of flexibility and scalability.
The CloudSigma Solution
- The company creates a file server and PBX server using virtual servers in our cloud from our free public drive image library.
- Workers at the company login from their various locations directly to the virtual servers in a seamless way. For example a worker can log into the PBX (telephone) server from their VOIP phone at home and be on the same switchboard with their own extension as the full-time workers in the office, even if they are in a totally different country.
- The company creates a virtual web server, database server (if needed) and other external infrastructure in the cloud.
By simply moving the internal and external infrastructure they need to the cloud the result for the start-up company is that it has not had to pay in advance for capacity it might need in the future yet has retained the ability to react quickly and effectively to changing demand for its products. Likewise it can create a network of employees and third parties in a seamless way for better collaboration and integration.
Key advantages of the Cloud Solution
Every start-up company needs to control costs and maximise the impact of its resources. Start-ups need to provide professional service to clients even if they lack the big resources and solutions that larger companies may possess. By adopting the Cloudsigma solution the start-up company is benefiting from:
- Only paying for computing resources it needs right now, even if in the future it will need more
- No large upfront investment costs and no long term contractual commitments
- Professional integration of multiple locations without expensive software and hardware solutions
- Ability to meet rapid growth as it becomes successful
By adopting the CloudSigma platform a start-up company can minimise and/or eliminate the vast majority of up-front costs associated with setting up both its internal and external infrastructure. Not only that but it can achieve a level of integration and sophistication simply not affordable or achievable using traditional solutions. The cloud based solution also benefits from ‘baked-in’ flexibility and scalability allowing the company to grow fast without debilitating up-front hardware costs and to keep its competitive advantage over larger competitors, namely speed. Rapidly deploying new solutions and scaling them as and when required is one of the key advantages that a small nimble start-up has and should look to retain.
- SaaS/Publisher
The Need
This company provides its product via the internet as a service to its customer (for example a Software-as-a-Service provider, a news company or an investment site with streaming prices). Its site receives significant traffic during office hours but very little traffic outside of this time. Such a company has the following key computing resource needs:
- A high availability/high reliability platform to ensure its service is always online to its clients 24/7
- A platform that is able to deal with the high demand peaks during the busiest parts of the day
- A reliable backend database server to complement its front end web servers
Traditional Solution
The company hosts an array of servers in a hosting facility on dedicated hardware. The capacity of these servers is based on the peak demands it experiences during the busiest parts of the day. It manages these servers including making repairs and upgrading them as and when required. There are a number of disadvantages associated with this traditional solution:
- The company must purchase its peak demand capacity even though it needs it for only part of the day
- The company has to upgrade servers regularly and after each upgrade has excess capacity even at peak load
- It is difficult for the company to tune its server array if it sees an increase in database load over front end load etc. etc.
The CloudSigma Solution
- The company deploys an array of front-end and back-end servers with load balancing.
- Servers are brought online and shut down as and when needed throughout the day in order to manage both back-end or front-end server load.
- The company employs a part subscribed part burst pricing purchasing strategy to achieve the optimal minimum cost level.
The result is a platform better able to adapt to changing usage patterns and able to maintain performance for clients, even unexpected demand peaks can easily be dealt with without performance degradation.
Key advantages of the Cloud Solution
By using its varying consumption need over time the company has been able to reduce its cost and actually increase its service performance. By adopting the Cloudsigma solution the company is benefiting from:
- A more robust platform that can be finely tuned to address each component of computing resources
- A platform that can scale beyond usual peak demand loads if necessary
- Reduced computing resource consumption by shutting down servers when not required
- Significantly reduced computing resource costs by eliminating excess capacity and using an optimal mix of subscribed for and burst computing resource purchasing
Companies facing varying computing resource needs during the day, particularly those with large peaks in demand, are able to eliminate costs through matching computer resource purchasing to use on a minute by minute basis throughout the day. Cloud computing can reduce the overall amount of computing resource being purchased by as much as 50% for such companies. By combining this with an intelligent purchasing strategy of subscribing for an optimal capacity and burst purchasing the rest, the company is able to achieve the minimal cost level in addition to existing excess capacity savings. - 3D Rendering
The Need
The company creates 3D renderings both still and animated of a high quality for its clients. This requires large amounts of computing to accomplish the renderings within an acceptable time frame. During development a job may go through a number of iterations before it is approved and signed-off by the client. Each iteration requires a full or at least partial re-rendering of the image/animation. Such a company has the following key computing resource needs:
- Large computer processing jobs of a defined size
- Jobs which have known deadlines but the exact timing of processing is not critical (i.e. they can for example be done overnight)
- Potential for significant savings as computing resources are a large part of their cost base
Traditional Solution
The company maintains a number of relatively large dedicated servers either in their offices or in a dedicated hosting centre on which the rendering calculations are undertaken. The company has a direct time/capacity trade-off as it is purchasing the capacity outright. In reality it is likely to purchase the minimum capacity that will allow it to run its calculations 24/7 within the deadlines it has for its clients. There are a number of disadvantages associated with this traditional solution:
- The company needs to purchase a significant amount of computing resources outright
- The company needs to maintain a large array of powerful servers and replace them over time
- The company either purchases a lower amount and runs them at high utilisation (wastes time) or purchases a larger amount but their utilisation drops (wastes money)
- At busy times it may not have enough computing resources
- At quiet times its servers’ computing resources are wasted even though the company has paid for them i.e. they are sat idle depreciating
The CloudSigma Solution
- The company deploys an array of large powerful virtual servers on which its rendering calculations are processed.
- A much larger computing capacity than the typical traditional solution is used.
- Calculations are done in shorter bursts but using a much larger capacity.
- Servers by job are allocated into different server groups making internal costing much more efficient and future price quotations that much more accurate.
- The company manages its computing based on the dynamic burst pricing on the CloudSigma platform, time shifting its calculations wherever possible to quiet times of the day/week when computing resources can be purchased at a significantly lower rate.
The result is faster iterations of various rendering jobs reducing turnaround times and increasing the responsiveness of the company to client requests. Rendering projects can be delivered faster and more effectively. By taking advantage of quiet times on the CloudSigma cloud, the company is purchasing its computing resources at a much lower rate saving significantly on its previous computing resources budget.
Key advantages of the Cloud Solution
By recognising the nature of its computing as being a series of discrete defined jobs of a fixed size, the company has revolutionised the way it uses computing resources. By adopting the Cloudsigma solution the 3d rendering company is benefiting from:
- Significantly reduced turnaround times on rendering cycles without a cost penalty (the cost is the same for taking twice the capacity for half as long as it is for taking the smaller capacity for twice as long with the cloud!)
- More accurate cost allocation and better price quotations in the future
- Intelligent computer purchasing that takes advantage of cheaper times to do computing to reduce costs
A shift to cloud computing for this 3d rendering company is able to change the business dynamics and customer service levels for this business. By eliminating the time/cost trade-off it faced with a traditional dedicated hardware solution (of fixed capacity) it is able to dramatically scale up for short periods to compute jobs more quickly then scale down afterwards with no cost penalty. Not only this but CloudSigma’s innovative dynamic burst pricing model means it can choose when it does that computing to minimise its costs. - Academic
The Need
For research a platform is needed which does not place restrictions at all on the software layer and which is flexible and customisable. Performance is also important as is the ability to perform automated tasks. Working from a fixed budget means it is imperative to purchase computing resources efficiently. Such an institution has the following key computing resource needs:
- An agnostic platform at the software level
- Flexibility to perform different computing tasks over time
- Cost effectiveness
Traditional Solution
Traditionally academic research projects needing computing resources would be handled by academic institutions’ in-house computing resources. The researcher will install the necessary software onto the existing hardware platform and often be allocated a fixed time period for use of the resource. There are a number of disadvantages associated with this traditional solution:
- The existing hardware platform may not be ideally suited to the research project needed
- The capacity available may not be ideal nor large enough
- Capacity allocation becomes a political issue internally
The CloudSigma Solution
- The academic researcher sets up a custom tailored environment on the CloudSigma platform.
- Server template images are uploaded to populate the new platform with the necessary servers.
- The new platform is automated to scale and go live at the desired times or after the necessary calculations and testing have been completed. This eliminates paying for unused capacity.
- A larger capacity can be purchased for calculations but for a shorter time period.
- Servers can be grouped by project to track resource use and allocation across multiple projects.
- The company manages its computing based on the dynamic burst pricing on the CloudSigma platform, time shifting its calculations wherever possible to quiet times of the day/week when computing resources can be purchased at a significantly lower rate.
The result is a platform that is tailored to the needs of that particular academic researcher with the exact capacity required for the time period desired. Efficient use of purchasing and scaling allows for maximum efficient use of the budget.
Key advantages of the Cloud Solution
By tailoring the platform to the exact needs of the research being undertaken, a more efficient use of computing resources is likely. By adopting the Cloudsigma solution the academic researcher is benefiting from:
- A tailored environment controlled by them
- Total flexibility in scale and execution time
- Greater scale if desirable allowing quicker iterations and testing without cost penalisations
- Lower computing resource purchase costs through intelligent automated purchasing and time shifting
By gaining access to much greater scale and by moving to a pay for use model, academic research can increase the efficiency of its computing resource purchasing, make quicker iterations but keep costs under control. By building intelligent pricing agents and shifting computing to cheaper less busy times, the same research calculations can be achieved for a significantly reduced price without sacrificing performance.
Cloud Computing 
Usage Centric