ESCALA. The perfect server for secure private clouds in AIX environments

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1 ESCALA The perfect server for secure private clouds in AIX environments

2 le cloud by Bull A pragmatic approach for a smooth transition to the cloud Moving towards cloud computing represents a major transformation project not just for IT Departments, but for any organization that depends on its computing resources. And like any other fundamental evolution, it requires commitment and careful pacing, as well as a staged approach and painstaking attention to change management. To meet this challenge, Bull has developed Le cloud by Bull, an integrated and gradual approach that combines all the Group s areas of expertise to support you as you move at your own pace towards the most appropriate enterprise Cloud for your business, which meets your current and future needs and protects your investments. With Le cloud by Bull, the Group offers a practical approach designed to ensure a smooth transition to the enterprise cloud. By tackling issues of security, service levels and continuity, the control of data and systems, and IS governance very early in the process, Le cloud by Bull addresses all these concerns in a pragmatic, coherent way in order to define the configuration and operational profile of a secure, scalable, made-to-measure cloud that aligns with business need. Bull has over two decades experience in designing, implementing, securing and operating sensitive, centralized information systems. So Le cloud by Bull represents a natural continuum of technologies and services, dedicated to the cloud and its specific characteristics. The Group is one of the few players with experience across all forms of enterprise cloud private, managed, public and scientific so it is in the best position to evaluate the respective benefits of each of these for your business. Combining consultancy, specific technology building blocks, security solutions and hosting options, Le cloud by Bull allows you to move towards the enterprise cloud and enjoy quick wins, without ever losing control over your organization or your information systems. 2

3 Still have some questions about the cloud in AIX environments? Escala gives you the answers. 1. How can I be sure about the integrity and security of my data? Over and above the guarantees you get by using AIX the world s most secure operating system Escala lets you totally isolate virtual machines, keeping your data absolutely watertight, at the opposite of purely software based virtualisation solutions. And the option of encrypting files and data ensures maxium confidentiality. Moreover, AIX has never been successfully attacked by a virus, and enhanced access management eliminates any risk of intrusion. 2. Shall I be able to access the necessary support when moving to an AIX cloud environment? Le cloud by Bull has been designed to offer end-to-end support throughout the journey to the cloud: from upfront consultancy right through to hosting. In particular, Bull can make a unique set of experts and resources, including its Bio Demo Center, available to its Escala customers to help them in their technology choice process and the deployment of all functional modules. 3. Moving to the cloud, while keeping all the benefits of AIX and protecting my investment, is it really possible? Yes, absolutely. Escala is the perfect technological platform for the cloud: highly secure, flexible and powerful. With all the advantages of Escala and the coherent approach represented by Le cloud by Bull, you have total control over the transition of your AIX Power environments to a tailored-made enterprise cloud, whilst protecting your investments. Escala and Le cloud by Bull: The most advanced virtualization on the market Unique expertise in building service-oriented infrastructures A comprehensive set of cloud software stacks A staged approach to change management and support A leading edge approach to security Real answers to environmental issues Servers featuring the most robust technologies: security, disaster recovery, high availability, SAN Europe s most powerful AIX center of expertise. 3

4 Escala, a high-security cloud for AIX environments For IT Departments that want to speed up their IT transition towards a private cloud, there are three essential drivers: speed of implementation; real-time adjustment to changing needs; and cost control. That s what agile infrastructures are all about: a concept at the heart of Le cloud by Bull. The Escala cloud solution provides the cloud computing software stacks needed for cloud computing, which can be rapidly integrated without having to change the existing set-up. With Escala, transforming POWER/AIX environments into agile private and secure clouds is a simple and pragmatic step-by-step process. Step 1 : Virtualization, the first step towards the cloud Thanks to the advanced virtualization capabilities of Power- VM, Escala provides the most scalable and flexible virtual machines on the market today. Their size changes dynamically to anything between 0.1 and 256 cores and 8TB of memory, to tackle any workload. Active Memory Expansion (AME) a unique function extends the installed physical memory to up to twice its size. With its innovative compression technology, AME virtually doubles the speed of transactional applications for minimum cost. Live Partition Mobility (LPM) enables logical partitions between physical servers to be migrated in real time, while Escala inbuilt disaster recovery functions isolate errors in a transparent way and preserve the availability of nodes. In addition, hardware isolation of firmware partitions in the PowerVM hypervisor guarantees the highest levels of security. Step 2 : Monitoring The Escala cloud solution has been designed to gather, record and measure the operation of all systems involved (storage, networks, virtualization and security parameters) in a centralized way, to guarantee the coherence and performance of the system at all times. Administrators have access to all events and parameters via a unique interface in order to apply the right decisions at the right time. Active Energy Manager (AEM) function enables power consumption optimization when servers are not used at their maximum capacity, or when there is a performance peak to handle, by increasing processors clockspeed. Step 3: System management and resource sharing The Escala cloud solution provides a global overview where the infrastructure components are grouped in a logical way, in order to apply common management policies. The administrator may identify and immediately act when rules are not respected. Servers can be regrouped in one or many shared server pools, storage and associated switches being regrouped in one or many related resource pools. It all leads to a centralized resource management, a workload optimization and high availability policies, for when the hardware fails. Step 4 : Provisioning The system administrator can create virtual appliances or logical partitions containing an AIX image and an application stack. These appliances are grouped in a common library and are 4

5 used as references to quickly deploy identical environments, whilst significantly reducing administration costs, complexity and length of deployments. Workloads may be regrouped, so that administrators will just have one dashboard to handle. During implementation phase, the administrator changes CPU memories and disk, as well as network parameters. The VM- Control plug-in, available in the Escala Cloud solution, allows for the creation of an image library, for rapid implementation of virtual machines. Step 5: Automation Administrators may automate all actions to be implemented. For instance, automation plans may consist of s to be sent, or a workload moved from one server to another. Target is to optimize the resource pool performance, but also to anticipate potential hardware failure, ie. by switching off the failing server, or moving one or many workloads. separate invoice and a detailed report. Accounting data can be used to demonstrate the service levels being achieved, and enable billing. These features are available via the Escala cloud solution portal. Step 7 : Portal The Escala cloud solution provides a collaborative and intuitive Web portal, which does not require any particular knowledge of AIX or PowerVM (virtualisation). It considerably reduces implementation timescales, as well as administration and training costs. In just a few clicks, the administrator will request, clone and implement software stacks, very quickly and in a secure way. Using the workflow engine, he will examine, modify and approve requests. On his side, the user chooses pre-configured appliances and workloads from an image repository, and modifies the resource parameters as well as the network configuration, before deploying them. Step 6 : Billing Billing functions provide users with a precise framework, within which the use of individual resources, partitions or groups of partition can be recorded, analyzed and billed. When a user uses services in cloud mode with Escala, the workload is automatically billed to his account. Each charge gives rise to a 5

6 A secure private cloud? A reality, thanks to Escala servers As well as software solutions, Escala enables IT Departments to provide flexible resources whilst guaranteeing that SLAs are maintained and data is secure. In a Unix environment, Escala forms the ideal backbone for a highsecurity private cloud, designed for the most critical applications and databases with intensive inputs/outputs. Le cloud by Bull sets particular store by security: one of the main priorities of IT Departments today. Bull mobilizes all its leading-edge security expertise and solutions to offer unique, unrivalled protection for private clouds based on Escala servers. For example, Web Access Manager from Bull Evidian facilitates Web access while also providing heightened levels of security. Each user has a single password to identify him or herself, and access all the resources in the private cloud, as well as external applications. Isolation of virtual machines: Escala provides secure isolation of partitions based on firmware. Totally isolated from the outside world, the Escala hypervisor is the only one having clearly demonstrated its total lack of vulnerability over the course of the past decade. OS security: AIX offers a range of leading-edge security technologies to protect itself against intrusions. In AIX environments, administrative tasks are simplified by automatically processing over 300 security parameters in line with the organization s needs and verification requirements. The encrypted file system ensures data confidentiality on disks and back-up systems. Proven reliability: over the past 20 years, not a single virus or malware has been detected for AIX. This exceptional level of security has made AIX an extremely difficult platform for hackers to access. AIX offers very powerful audit functions and accounting tools that filter and sound the alarm where attempted break-ins are detected. 6

7 Effective change management on the journey to the Escala-based cloud To ensure that the cloud actively creates value for the business, rather than adding to complexity, tensions or insecurity, IT Departments need to get ready to embrace it. That is why Bull is offering its Escala customers a dual set of expertise focused on the cloud: on the one hand, high-level technical support to tackle the specific issues related to the platform; and on the other hand, the full range of Bull s cloud services, from upfront consultancy right through to hosting. With a constant concern for its Escala customer s needs, Bull helps them evolve their infrastructure and improve its performance, especially thanks to its Bio Demo Center: a unique center of expertise based in France. Here, Escala customers have the chance to evaluate solutions and have in-depth and very productive discussions with Bull s experts, to get practical advice on architectures and implementing effective and secure private clouds. The ability to easily access Bull s expertise is a key success factor in the kinds of secure private cloud projects that our customers want to undertake. More generally, to support IT Departments in their transformation towards the cloud, Bull has set up a specialist consulting team Bull Advisory Services which helps them measure how complex their information system is and evaluate the maturity of their organization. The team supports IT Departments as they move to their new role as suppliers of shared infrastructure services: choosing the most appropriate services to meet business needs; optimizing demand and capacity management; implementing detailed budgetary management. Finally, thanks to its network of industrial-scale cloud centers and its experience of hosting sensitive applications, Bull can provide flexible and secure outsourcing services for its customers Escala-based private clouds. Bull Advisory Services uses a methodology based on industry standards including ITIL, COBIT and escm, and offers : - Audits and analyses (maturity, quick wins, specifications for optimization and transformation solutions) - Analysis of key infrastructure elements (Vision) - Services matrix and catalogue - Target architecture - ROI evaluation. 7

8 Key challenges of the enterprise cloud To make sure that the Cloud is a positive driver for value creation rather than adding complexity, tensions or insecurity IT Departments have to get ready to welcome it. That involves instigating, structuring, planning and securing an enterprise Cloud transformation project, to gradually raise service levels and cut costs, step by step. To become part of the age of industrial-scale, instantly adaptable and business-oriented IT, the cloud needs a flexible and scalable technological platform: One that contributes to simplification and can support different types of architectures on heterogeneous technologies. Only under these conditions can infrastructures offer the highest levels of security and service for critical applications. Whatever the cloud environment public, private or hybrid information is still organizations most important asset, and protecting it is a vital issue. B-ESCALA_le_cLoud_by_Bull-en1 Bull SAS RCS Versailles B Toutes les marques citées dans ce document sont la propriété de leurs titulaires respectifs. Bull se réserve le droit de modifier ce document à tout moment et sans préavis. Certaines offres ou composants d offres décrits dans ce document peuvent ne pas être disponibles localement. Veuillez prendre contact avec votre correspondant Bull local pour prendre connaissance des offres disponibles dans votre pays. Ce document ne saurait faire l objet d un engagement contractuel. Bull rue Jean Jaurès Les Clayes-sous-Bois France So security is a central concern, whether it is approached globally data protection, access control, vulnerability management, service availability or in response to specific organizational, business, operational, geographic or regulatory questions. In a services-oriented organization, new rules are being written to cover the offering, billing, instantiation and supervision of services, resource provisioning and process automation. Defined by SLAs, measured and audited, service levels are at the heart of a new form of governance, aimed at guaranteeing totally transparent management of the cloud. Cette brochure est imprimée sur papier composé de 40 % de fibres éco-certifiées issues d une gestion forestière durable et de 60 % de fibres recyclées, en application des règles environnementales (ISO 14001). Conception et réalisation T2BH / crédits photos : DR Bull / Fotolia.com - MTC Media / istockphoto.com - Calamusdesign - sorendls