Answering 5 Questions On Cloud Connectivity Together With Creanord

Originally published in ficolo.com in 2021.

The growth of cloud computing for the last 5- 10 years has been exponential and enterprises are rushing to host their data on cloud instead of private servers. 2020 marked the jump in demand for moving into virtualization. Now, when people are working remotely more and more, IT is looking for migrating into cloud faster. Here is where connectivity becomes highly important.

It is understandable that cloud computing is flexible and scalable. It gives enterprises freedom in adjusting requirements of cloud space based on the level of usage. Same adjustments are really difficult perform with physical servers. Apart from scalability, there are cost benefits of subscription-based pricing, so cloud computing heavily reduced IT costs by eliminating need to buy hardware infrastructure. All mentioned makes cloud services an excellent solution for start-ups. With better performance and scalability the speed of application service development improved rapidly.

Creanord webinar

We are always on top of trends and could not miss the chance to discuss cloud connectivity trends with the true expert in the field – Creanord. You can watch full recording of the related webinar here:

Nowadays, cloud connectivity is going hybrid and as a result becomes more complex. But why do you need it to be hybrid? You might need extra high-security for an app you are running (even by the law). You also might run video streaming with continuous and busy outgoing data flow. Imagine if you are using public cloud – it will surely consume a lot of money, since getting data out of the cloud is more expensive than placing it initially.

Achieving great connectivity and having optimal cloud for each case is ideal goal but there is a problem on how to manage everything at the same time. How do you find the issue if the user experiences problems? How do you manage connectivity? The answer to these questions: cloud management platform and monitoring solution with build-in reporting.

How will 5G deployments will impact the importance of connectivity for cloud services?

Obviously, 5G will be used for cloud services. Mobile broadband services are already used for certain cloud services. Today many of these cloud services provided from the centralized location like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Central Location through the core network. However, especially cloud computing of edge computing will become really popular mainly because 5G will introduce ultra-reliable, low-latency services. This means cloud computing instance needs to be really close to the customers, and these applications will be business-critical. Low-latency, high-reliability and the highest possible quality will increase the importance of connectivity going forward.

What are the top 3 DC selection considerations when developing technical services provided as cloud services from a data center?

In Cloud Management Platform, what are meaningful KPIs to commit to Client?

The KPI which is used would be highly dependent on which application(s) the connection is used for. However, generally speaking, latency and packet loss likely would be the most important KPIs. This would apply for normal business applications, whereas if you are providing for instance a voice service, jitter would also be very much in focus. For TCP based application: latency and packet loss, for voice: latency and packet loss and for video – jitter and packet loss are the most important KPI’s. As an example, 2% packet loss for TCP based application will double the latency.

What is the Megaport and how does it work?

Megaport is a solution which provides on-demand connectivity to other data centers. Megaport is hosted in several hundreds of data centers, 600+ around the world. Ficolo-IX connectivity hub in Helsinki allows access Megaport’s global network of cloud platforms. Once you have the Megaport, you can connect to any of 600 data centers no matter of the location just by “point and click” interface. Not only that, you can connect to different clouds. Megaport supports AWS, Azure, SAP Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, OVH cloud and a broad range of others. Once the solution is up and running and you want to set up an instance in a cloud you can immediately have the connection to it. So, networking as a service basically can and should be through the cloud.

Read more about Megaport

What kind of measurement probes are typically used in the data centers / customer virtualization platforms?

Typically, data center /cloud providers have to use virtual probes. For example, as a part of Microsoft Azure, there has to be a virtual probe. Creanord has a full portfolio of different virtual probes, and as of today, they have 3 different virtual probes available. All of the probes can support same capabilities and features but what makes them differ is scalability. The scalability varies from PULSensor 200 to PULSensor 3000 by how much disk space and memory they require and how well do they scale in number of circuits that can be monitored. All of the probes can be used in different cloud platforms such as IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure.  All hypervisors and commonly used cloud providers are supported.

About Creanord:

Specialists in active network service measurements / active network service assurance. Based in Helsinki, Finland with 20 + years of experience in developing solutions for network service providers and cloud providers. Creanord active network assurance solutions are enabling accurately and actively track network performance and quality, and support customers in building outperforming networks. Creanord’s technology was implemented in over 30 countries and more than 50 networks globally. Key customers: Tier-1, Tier -2 and Tier-3 service providers, wholesalers, cloud and critical communication providers.

Creanord can offer:

Learn more about Creanord on their website: Creanord