Gold Configurations in IBM Managed Hosting in Europe--What do You Get and Why? Joseph G Gulla - Offering Manager, SPL Content Development - Servers and Managed Hosting IBM Global Technology Services Europe Andrew J Legum - Delivery Engagement Manager Americas Delivery Engagement Support IBM Integrated Technology Delivery Americas Abstract In this paper, the authors explain a construct called the IBM Managed Hosting Gold configuration. The Gold configuration was created in IBM Managed Hosting Europe to meet the needs of a customer for a High Availability (HA) Web environment. Discussed in this paper is how the Sales Configurator assists the user, through its Wizard, to automatically select and configure components that work together to meet typical HA needs. The elements that are explained include router and switch, configuration of server cluster using HACMP, off-site data storage, high performance backup and restore, firewalls, Host and Network Intrusion Detection, load balancing, and service-level agreements. These are all elements that factor into a gold or HA managed hosing solution.
2 Table of Contents Introduction 3 What is IBM Managed Hosting? 3 What is the Sales Configurator and how is it used? 4 Bronze and Gold--What are they? 5 Example Gold Configuration 5 Main View 5 Initial Selections 6 Selection of Gold 7 Server Selection 8 Layers and HA Already Selected by Wizard 9 Types of Dedicated Servers 9 HIDs (Host Intrusion Detection Sensors) and NIDs (Network Intrusion Detection Sensors) 10 Storage and Backup 11 Monitoring and Performance 12 Facilities Hosting Services 13 Network Services 14 Server Services 14 Storage and Backup Services 15 Security Services 15 Monitoring Services 16 Performance Services 16 Support Services 17 Professional Services 17 Recap of the Elements Selected by Sales Configurator 18 Summary 19 References 19 About the Authors 20
3 Introduction Managed hosting is unique in Europe in that it has institutionalized the notion of a basic and high-availability configuration called bronze or gold. Institutionalized means that they are made part of the sales configurator and that tool makes automatic selections for the user. They re selections can be adjusted but the sales configurator wizard makes some intelligent choices for the use and makes them part of the customer s configuration. The topic of the Gold configuration is discussed in this paper. What is IBM Managed Hosting? IBM Managed Hosting is a brand from IBM that is known by customers across the world. This brand is used to supply customers with world-class infrastructure upon which to host applications that they use to run their businesses. IBM.com has some good basic material on IBM Managed Hosting (Managed Hosting, n.d.). The Managed Hosting offering provided by IBM contains a myriad of technology capabilities and products. A large portion of the value provided by IBM is not only the world-class infrastructure and facilities offered world-wide, but also the expertise of the IBM staff members who integrate all of the technologies together. For example, in order for customers to have a successful application or e-business, they typically need web services technologies integrated with Middleware, Databases, and other application software. This can be challenging and very complex to manage efficiently and effectively. This is where IBM comes in. Figure 1 below (Pre-priced offerings in IBM--Fresh Look, 2006) depicts the Managed Hosting framework, which provides a base for customer solutions.
4 IBM Global Technology Services Managed Hosting base for customer solutions Possible Services - USF v5 External Components Functional Application Management Technical Application Management Middleware Management Services Infrastructure Management Application management either by the customer, OEM or by IBM global services - Application management services Application Maintenance Customer applications Key-ISV-Applications Middleware - Components Database, WebSphere Suite, WebSphere Portal Server, MQ Series, etc. Operating System SAP R/3 (AIX, Linux, Windows, Solaris) e-business Infrastructure and Basic Services (Facilities, Hardware, Network, Security, Backup/Restore) On Demand Workplace -Lotus Notes - Microsoft Exchange This portion is the focus of IBM Managed Hosting Monitoring / reporting Service Level Agreements Customer Service Centre ebhs Application Hosting Offerings 24 September 2006 Copyright IBM Corporation 2005 Figure 1 Managed Web Hosting Figure 1 above further highlights the complexity of managed hosting components IBM manages for the customer. Some examples of the Middleware software components IBM manages are illustrated in the center of the diagram in the Middleware Components box. As we can see, everything from Database, application software such as WebSphere, MQ Series, etc. fit into this category. In addition, IBM also offers customers the value added service to support the underlying facilities, network, hardware, storage management, and application support. The right side of the diagram depicts the customer service attributes that IBM provides as part of this service such as SLAs, monitoring/reporting and providing customer service for the managed hosting environment. What is the Sales Configurator and how is it used? The sales configurator used in Europe is a Lotus 123 spreadsheet that contains the logic, business rules, and prices needed to configure a customer solution using USF V5. The tool has evolved over many releases to become a useful and reliable asset. The tool contains the flexibility to handle different customer-specific inputs like number of servers and speed of front-end Internet access yet is pre-priced and already quality assumed. No customer-specific pricing or QA activity needs to take place unless it is a local country requirement.
5 Bronze and Gold--What are they? Bronze and gold are easy names for basic and high-availability. By default, bronze configurations do not automatically supply highly available components beyond the redundancy built-into the USF V5 center. For information about the USF V5 center, please see the presentation called e-business Hosting Facilities (e-business Hosting, 2003). You can select a bronze configuration and add-in high-availability components but the wizard defaults do not help in any way with this task. By default, gold configurations supply high availability features and other elements that help ensure the availability of the configuration beyond what is provided with the USF V5 site. Example Gold Configuration The follow configuration will be selected using the sales configurator and a gold configuration. This example includes - 2 xseries Web Servers (Windows) - 3 pseries application HA pairs (AIX) - 2 pseries database pairs (AIX) Here are the Wizard screens with brief explanations. Main View This is the starting point (Figure 2) for use of the configurator. Create New Contract starts the process assuming that you have requirements from the customer.
6 Figure 2. Initial Sales Configurator View As we can see from Figure 2, a Customer Info button and Help Button are also available. Clicking on the Create New Contract Button brings the user to the Sales Configurator Wizard contract dialogue box. Initial Selections A number of initial selections need to be made to continue the process. These include contract duration, offering type, and country where the solution will be hosted. These have been selected and are shown in Figure 3.
7 Figure 3. Basic Contract Information In Figure 3, the Basic Contract Information dialogue box is depicted. Note that the Contract Information field has 2 radio button choices (were formerly 3): 36 months and 60 months. In this example, 60 months was chosen. The Contract Offering field selections offer multiple choices as well under both Managed Infrastructure Solutions and Managed Application Solutions. Managed Hosting Solution has been chosen, and the country selected in our example is France. Selection of Gold The selections of the service level are simple pick Bronze or Gold. We selected Gold.
8 Figure 4. Service Level Selection For this example, Gold has been selected to illustrate the additional choices made by the intelligent Sales Configurator Wizard. As we ll see in the next section, items such as layers and HA switches are affected by this choice. Server Selection In this view (Figure 5), the function and number of the servers are selected. In this example, we selected two web servers, three HA pairs for applications, and 2 HA pairs for database handling. Figure 5. Number and Kind of Server In Figure 5, multiple service support options are offered here for server services. For example, 24 hours a day x 7 days a week can be chosen vs. 8 hours a day x 5 days a week (i.e. primary shift, business hours). Figure 5 also illustrates the multiple server platform choices the user can choose from. Some examples include Intel, Linux, OS/400, and Windows. Later in the Wizard, we will be specific as to which type of server hardware will be used.
9 Layers and HA Already Selected by Wizard Figure 6 shows the selections made by the Sales Configurator for a Gold Configuration. These selections included two layers (Web and Data) and High Availability Firewalls and Switches. Figure 6. Layers and HA Infrastructure Choices In the Server Services II dialogue box, the end user can choose options regarding the number and type of HA LPARs and/or server clones. Note that as a result of the Gold choice, 2 layers are selected (as opposed to a single layer), and High Availability firewalls and switches is automatically selected. Types of Dedicated Servers Figure 7 (below) is where you select the type of dedicated servers to include (and procure) for the customer. The column heading, A through J, correspond to preconfigured servers. For example, selected details about xseries configuration A are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Information About xseries Configuration A (1831 Standard Hardware, 2006) Machine Type Machine model xseries x336 Microsoft 8837- Windows 2RY A Cluster? # of Environment #CPU RAM Int. Net. servers Disk Adap. No 1 MH Basic 1*3.2 Ghz 1 GB 2*73 GB 2 GE internal, 2 GE free SCSI PCI adapt. slots OS Amps U Max at 240 Value Number Volts of Plugs 1 internal W2003 2.44 1 1 Standard Edition
10 Figure 7. Kind of Dedicated Servers In this example dialogue box for dedicated servers, the user selected two X Series servers for the web tier, three pseries server pairs for the application tier, and two pseries server pairs for the database tier. The end user is also presented with other choices such as Linux and Sun server hardware. HIDs (Host Intrusion Detection Sensors) and NIDs (Network Intrusion Detection Sensors) In the past, HIDS and NIDs were automatically selected by the sales configurator. Presently, one must choose what number of HIDs or NIDs devices is required. Because HIDs and NIDs can be costly, the offering modified the design to enable the user the ability to choose how many devices, rather than automatically including them.
11 Figure 8. Network and Security The Network and Security dialogue box above lists multiple configuration choices. Internet bandwidth is the 1 st choice, followed by Security Services. Security Services offers the option of Shared vs. dedicated firewall. The other choices include HIDs, NIDs, and DNS services. Storage and Backup Based on the number of customer servers, multiple storage and backup configuration options exist. The number of customer servers and total number of gigabytes of data drive the decisions the end user makes regarding # of customer servers, GB transferred and stored, etc. High performance backup and restore vs. standard backup and restore option choices affect the performance capabilities of the backup and restore solution.
12 Figure 9. Default Storage and Backup Selections As we can see from Figure 9 above, the Storage and Backup Services dialogue box offers multiple choices. GB allocated, number of shared vs. dedicated access, standard vs. high performance backup and restore, and dedicated backup and restore are fields which can be modified by the end user based on their backup and storage requirements. Monitoring and Performance This page of the wizard pertains to monitoring and performance parameters including URL monitoring, Load Balancing, and SurfAid.
13 Figure 10. Monitoring and Performance Gold Defaults The Monitoring and Performance dialogue box offers the end user a choice of Monitoring Services, Performance Services, and SurfAid. The Monitoring Services field provides a choice on the number of URLs to be monitored. The Performance Services field presents Entry vs. Advanced Load Balanced solution. Finally the SurfAid field requires the user to estimate the number of page hits per month to determine the web reporting requirements. Now that the selections have been made, let s look at the elements that appear in the order form. It is simplest to examine them category by category. The content (in the Figures) is largely self describing. Facilities Hosting Services Facilities Hosting Services 01.001 Hosting Space FAC001.004 OTC Occupied Full Cabinet in shared space 1 FAC001.005 MRC Occupied Full Cabinet in shared space 1 FAC001.010 OTC Occupied Quarter Cabinet in shared space 1 FAC001.011 MRC Occupied Quarter Cabinet in shared space 1 01.003 Facilities Equipment FAC003.525 OTC Cat 5 cable - 2 m 53 FAC003.526 MRC Cat 5 cable - 2 m 53 01.004 Additional Power FAC004.021 OTC Additional 16 amp 230V AC circuit 3 FAC004.022 MRC Additional 16 amp 230V AC circuit 3 Figure 11. Order Form for Facilities Elements
14 Network Services Network Services 02.001 Internet Connectivity NET001.505 OTC 100 Mbs - Single 1 NET001.506 MRC 100 Mbs - Single 1 NET001.536 Usage Bursted per 64K for Internet 4 Mb/s 1 NET001.563 OTC CIR Bandwidth : 4 mbps 1 NET001.564 MRC CIR Bandwidth : 4 mbps 1 02.002 IBM Administrative Access Segment NET002.001 OTC IBM Administrative Access Segment connection 2 NET002.002 MRC IBM Administrative Access Segment management 2 02.005 Router and Switch NET005.505 OTC High available class A router or switch (per pair) 1 NET005.506 MRC High available class A router or switch (per pair) 1 02.006 IP Address Management NET006.503 OTC Public IP addresses (subnet of 8 IP addresses) 1 NET006.504 MRC Public IP addresses (subnet of 8 IP addresses) 1 NET006.507 OTC private IP addresses (subnet of 8 IP addresses) 4 Figure 12. Order Form for Networking Elements Server Services Server Services 03.003. Standard Installation SER003.501 OTC Receive and install server 13 03.004. Operating System Software Installation SER004.503 OTC Install Microsoft Windows operating system 2 SER004.509 OTC Configure two node AIX cluster using HACMP 5 03.017 Fully Managed Server Support SER017.607 MRC Fully Managed Intel Web Server - Cloned OS (24x7) 2 SER017.650 MRC Fully Managed Unix Application Server - Cloned OS & 6 Application (24x7) - HA SER017.653 MRC Fully Managed Unix Database Server - Cloned OS & Application (24x7) - HA 4 Figure 13. Order Form for Server Elements
15 Storage and Backup Services Storage and Backup Services 04.001 SAN Managed Storage STO001.501 MRC Shared Managed Storage System (MSS) access 8 STO001.003 Usage Managed Storage System (MSS) storage (per GB allocated 200 per month) 04.005 Standard Backup and Restore STO005.501 OTC Standard Backup and Restore (per client) 8 STO005.502 MRC Standard Backup and Restore (per client) 8 STO005.504 Usage Storage of backup data - per GB stored 120 STO005.506 Usage Transfer of data via LAN - per GB transferred 330 04.006 Off Site Data Storage STO006.001 OTC Setup Off Site Data Storage (per setup) 12 STO006.002 Usage Off Site Data Storage (per GB stored) 220 04.015 High Performance Backup and Restore STO015.501 OTC Setup High Performance Backup and Restore (per client) 4 STO015.502 MRC Perform High Performance Backup and Restore (per client) 4 STO015.504 Usage Storage of backup data (per GB stored) 100 STO015.506 Usage Transfer of backup data (per GB transferred) 287 Figure 14. Order Form for Storage and Backup Elements Security Services Security Services 05.004 Network Intrusion Detection SEC004.503 OTC IBM provided Cisco Secure IDS sensor 1 SEC004.504 MRC IBM provided Cisco Secure IDS sensor 1 05.005 Managed Firewall SEC005.503 OTC Cisco PIX Firewall - HA (Customer or IBM provided) setup (per 1 pair) SEC005.504 MRC Cisco PIX Firewall - HA (Customer or IBM provided) 1 management (per pair) 05.008 Host Intrusion Detection SEC008.003 OTC Customize IBM provided Host Intrusion Detection Agent 7 software (per customer server) SEC008.004 MRC Manage customized Host Intrusion Detection Agent software 7 (per customer server) SEC008.005 OTC Install Host Intrusion Detection agent software (per customer 7 server) SEC008.501 OTC Set up IBM provided Host Intrusion Detection Services System 1 Manager SEC008.502 MRC Manage IBM provided Host Intrusion Detection Services 1 System Manager 05.024 Managed Security Policy Verification for IBM Managed Servers SEC024.501 OTC Security Policy Verification - per server 12 05.033 Anti-virus support for Windows servers managed by IBM SEC033.001 OTC AntiVirus support for IBM Managed server in customer cage using Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 2 Figure 15. Order Form for Security Elements
16 Monitoring Services Monitoring Services 06.001 Ping Monitoring MON001.001 OTC IP Ping Monitoring - 1 Address 16 MON001.002 MRC IP Ping Monitoring - 1 Address 4 06.002 URL Monitoring MON002.001 OTC URL Monitoring - 1 URL 2 MON002.002 MRC URL Monitoring - 1 URL 2 06.005 Monitoring for Managed Servers MON005.001 OTC BMC OS monitoring (per server) 12 MON005.002 MRC BMC OS monitoring (per server) 12 MON005.003 OTC BMC webserver monitoring (per server) 2 MON005.004 MRC BMC webserver monitoring (per server) 2 MON005.005 OTC BMC database monitoring (per server) 4 MON005.006 MRC BMC database monitoring (per server) 4 MON005.011 OTC BMC WebSphere Application Server monitoring (per server) 6 MON005.012 MRC BMC WebSphere Application Server monitoring (per server) 6 06.013 Server Resource Management MON013.001 OTC SRM (1-100 Servers) 1 MON013.002 MRC SRM Monitoring per server 12 Figure 16. Order Form for Monitoring Elements Performance Services Performance Services 07.003 Local Load Balancing PER003.507 OTC Setup high availability advanced local load balancing (AALLB) solution PER003.508 MRC Manage high availability advance local load balancing (AALLB ) solution 1 1 Figure 17. Order Form for Performance Elements
17 Support Services Support Services 08.001 Standard Hardware Configuration SUP001.504 MRC xseries Microsoft Windows B 2 SUP001.608 MRC pseries D - HA 3 SUP001.610 MRC pseries E - HA 2 SUP001.626 MRC SUN Solaris C 1 SUP001.828 MRC Fibre Adapter - pseries 8 08.004 Transition and Project Management SUP004.501 OTC Customer Boarding Manager - per hour 105 08.005 Steady State Account Support SUP005.008 MRC Steady State Account Support - per hour 15 08.007 Customer Care Call Management SUP007.503 OTC CCCM Enablement for solution with >10 servers 1 SUP007.504 MRC Customer Care Call Management (for subscribed monthly calls) 39 SUP007.506 Usage Customer Care Call Management (single call) 0 SUP007.507 OTC Helpnow user ID 1 SUP007.508 MRC Helpnow user ID 1 08.008 Service Level Agreement Website and Device Availability SUP008.001 OTC Level 1 99.7% Website Availability 1 SUP008.004 OTC Level 1 99.7% Device Availability 21 08.010 e-business Hosting Connection SUP010.001 OTC e-business Hosting Connection 1 08.021 Standard Network Device Hardware Configuration SUP021.508 MRC Cisco switch Medium 2 SUP021.628 MRC Cisco Pix Firewall Medium HA 1 SUP021.642 MRC Cisco IDS Appliance 1 SUP021.674 MRC Cisco Pix four-port 10/100 Fast Ethernet card 4 Figure 18. Order Form for Support Elements Professional Services Professional Services 09.001 Site and Infrastructure Design PRO001.001 OTC Site/Infrastructure design package - per package 1 Figure 19. Order Form for Site Design
18 Recap of the Elements Selected by Sales Configurator Table 2 (below) contains a summary of the elements selected. This is a recap of the elements and rate cards selected both by the Wizard and the used. Table 2. Summary of Gold Configuration Selected Category Service Element Rate Card Source Network Router and Switch High available class A router or switch (OTC and MRC) Wizard Default Server Operating System Software Installation Configure two node AIX cluster using HACMP User selecting HA pair Storage and Backup Security Fully Managed Server Support Off Site Data Storage High Performance Backup and Restore Network Intrusion Detection Managed Firewall Host Intrusion Detection Fully Managed Unix Application Server - Cloned OS & Application (24x7) - HA Fully Managed Unix Database Server - Cloned OS & Application (24x7) - HA Setup Off Site Data Storage (OTC) Off Site Data Storage (per GB stored) USAGE Setup High Performance Backup and Restore (per client) Perform High Performance Backup and Restore (per client) Storage of backup data (per GB stored) Transfer of backup data (per GB transferred) IBM provided Cisco Secure IDS sensor (OTC and MRC) Cisco PIX Firewall HA, Customer or IBM provided (OTC and MRC) Customize IBM provided Host Intrusion Detection Agent software (per customer server) Manage customized Host Intrusion Detection Agent software (per customer server) Install Host Intrusion Detection agent software (per customer server) User selecting HA pair User selecting HA pair Wizard Default Wizard Default Wizard Default Wizard Default Wizard Default Wizard Default User selected Wizard Default User selected User selected User selected
19 Performance Local Load Balancing Set up IBM provided Host Intrusion Detection Services System Manager Manage IBM provided Host Intrusion Detection Services System Manager High availability advanced local load balancing (AALLB) solution (OTC and MRC) User selected User selected Wizard Default Summary This paper discussed how the Gold configuration capability of the Sales Configurator can be used to create an advanced, high-availability customer solution. It clearly is an aid in defining an HA configuration for a customer. In addition, it is easy to enhance the configuration or to take away function as required. For more information of IBM Managed Hosting in Europe, please got to the URL http://w3-5.ibm.com/services/emea/3emgs.nsf/folders/ebhsofferings References 1831 Standard Hardware. (2006). Accessed August 23, 2006 from ebhs Engagement Support Material Team Room on Server D06DBL72 in Database z_dir\ze021617.nsf e-business Hosting - Presentation Centre. (2005). Accessed on August 23, 2006 from http://w3-3.ibm.com/services/salesone/showdoc.wss?docid=s1apflexibleertnecnoitatneserpsecivre SgnitsoHssenisubeebhscustmat&node=txt,USF%20V5&showDetails=true Gulla J. (2006). Pre-priced offerings in IBM--Fresh Look as a Living Case Study. (2006). Accessed August 28 th, 2006 via Lotus Notes. Managed Hosting. (n.d.). Accessed on August 23, 2006 from http://www- 1.ibm.com/services/us/index.wss/offerfamily/ebhs/a1000396
20 About the Authors Joseph Gulla Joseph Gulla is a Senior Consulting IT Specialist for IBM Global Technologies Services. Joe's focus is the development of commercial service products for the European community. Recently, Joe has also been working on global projects in the United States and Asia. His service-product focus is servers and related infrastructure including other hardware, software and services that are needed to provide a total customer infrastructure solution. Joe's research interests include collaboration, systems development process, enterprise architecture, utility computing, applications management, systems and network management, methodologies, management information repositories, and toolsets. Joe has spoken at a number of technology forums including the Technical Leadership Exchange (TLE), the High Availability 'Best Practices' Topical Conference, Internet Society Conference, Professional Leadership Technical Exchange (PLTE), Planet Tivoli, Enterprise Systems Management Share Net, IBM Security Seminars, and the Northeast Information Systems Users Group (NEISUG). Joe is on the Faculty of Nova Southeastern University where he teaches distributed computing, enterprise architecture, and systems development process courses and projects. Dr. Gulla s dissertation, titled Design and Implementation of a Prototype Toolset for Full Life-Cycle Management of Web-Based Applications, was published as an IBM Technical Report in 2003. Joe has published over sixty papers and presentations in a vide variety of forums like conference proceedings, Web conferences, and intellectual capital databases. For more information on Joe s professional activities, please see http://scis.nova.edu/~gulla/
21 Andrew Legum Andrew Legum is an IT Architect for IBM Integrated Technology Delivery. Andrew specializes in providing engagement services for the ADES (Americas Delivery Engagement Services) organization, serving external commercial customers. His interests include distributed computing, managed web hosting, groupware and collaborative technologies, and web services. Andrew has presented as guest speaker at a number of events, including Department overviews of the IT Specialist Profession, Organization overview of engagement services, and Intellectual Capital contribution presentation at the ESD (Enterprise Service Delivery) community forum.