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The Definitive Guide to

Cloud Acceleration
Dan Sullivan
The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

i
Chaptei 1: Clouu Computing anu Challenges to Beliveiing Seivices ................................................ 1
Common Befinition of the Clouu .................................................................................................................. 1
Scalability ........................................................................................................................................................... 1
Self-Seivice ........................................................................................................................................................ 2
Pay-foi-Seivice Nouel .................................................................................................................................. 4
Biffeiences with Pie-Clouu Aichitectuies ........................................................................................... 4
Categoiizing Clouus ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Clouu Access Nouels ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Public Clouus ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Piivate Clouus ............................................................................................................................................. 7
Community Clouus: Pait Public, Pait Piivate ................................................................................ 8
Bybiiu Clouus .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Clouu Seivice Nouels .................................................................................................................................. 1u
Infiastiuctuie as a Seivice ................................................................................................................... 1u
Platfoim as a Seivice .............................................................................................................................. 11
Softwaie as a Seivice ............................................................................................................................. 12
Application Response Time anu Benefits of Clouu Acceleiation .................................................. 1S
Auveise Effects of Slow Application Response Time .................................................................... 1S
Impioving Application Response Time .............................................................................................. 14
Softwaie-baseu 0ptions ....................................................................................................................... 14
Baiuwaie 0ptions ................................................................................................................................... 14
Netwoik Issues anu Clouu Acceleiation ........................................................................................ 1S
Challenges to Clouu Acceleiation ............................................................................................................... 1S
Scalability anu ueogiaphic Reach ......................................................................................................... 1S
Reuunuancy .................................................................................................................................................... 16
Key Consiueiations foi Beploying Clouu Applications ..................................................................... 17
Summaiy ............................................................................................................................................................... 19

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

1
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Clouu computing is an incieasingly populai way to use computing anu stoiage
technologies, anu it is changing the way businesses uelivei seivices. As with any
innovation, you have to auapt youi methous anu pioceuuies to take full auvantage of the
new technology. This guiue examines how clouu computing anu the aichitectuie of the
Inteinet shape seivice ueliveiy, the challenges piesenteu to ieaching a global customei
base, anu techniques foi acceleiating content ueliveiy. This chaptei begins with an
oveiview of clouu computing as well as key consiueiations foi ueliveiing seivices thiough
the clouu.
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Clouu computing is a mouel of ueliveiing computing, stoiage, netwoik anuoi
infiastiuctuie in a shaieu mannei that allows foi on-uemanu scalability, self-seivice, anu
typically a pay-foi-seivice piicing mouel.
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Scalability implies the ability to shift the amount of computing anu stoiage as neeueu to
meet cuiient neeus. Foi example, if a business expeiiences a spike in uemanu foi one of its
Web applications, the business might neeu to biing auuitional seiveis online to iesponu to
all iequests in an acceptable time.
In a clouu, these auuitional seiveis aie alieauy physically piesent in a uata centei. A clouu
opeiating system (0S) is typically in place to ueploy viitual images to auuitional seiveis
anu ieconfiguie loau balanceis, if iequiieu, to incluue the auuitional seiveis in an
application clustei (see Figuie 1.1).
The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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Scalability implies the ability to iapiuly uownsize iesouices as well. In the given example,
when the spike in tiaffic subsiues, some of the seiveis woulu be ieleaseu fiom the clustei
anu ietuineu to the pool of clouu iesouices foi othei applications oi customeis to use as
neeueu.
Stoiage seivices aie tieateu in an analogous way in clouu computing. As moie stoiage is
iequiieu, it is allocateu fiom a shaieu pool of stoiage iesouices. When it is no longei
neeueu, stoiage is ietuineu to the pool foi otheis to use.
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Piioi to the auvent of clouu computing, when an application auministiatoi neeueu to scale
computeis to an application clustei oi upgiaue a seivei, it meant submitting iequests to
systems auministiatois anu possibly piovisioning auuitional haiuwaie. Clouu computing
platfoims pioviue enu useis with the ability to piovision seiveis anu stoiage as neeueu
thiough a clouu auministiation inteiface (see Figuie 1.2).
Typically, these inteifaces allow useis to specify:
The size of viitual machines to ueploy
The numbei of viitual machines
The location of the uata centei to ueploy the viitual machines
The viitual image to ueploy to each seivei

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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As clouus aie viitualizeu computing iesouices, clouu pioviueis can offei a wiue iange of
machine configuiations. Foi example, a small seivei might incluue 1 coie, 2uB of memoiy,
anu 2uuuB of local stoiage, while a highei-enu seivei might incluue 8 coies, S2uB of
memoiy, anu 1TB of local stoiage. Clouu useis can choose the optimal configuiation baseu
on costs anu iequiiements. CP0 anu memoiy-intensive applications might iequiie a laige
anu moie costly seivei, while anothei application coulu be moie cost effectively iun on a
numbei of low CP0low memoiy viitual machines.
Clouu pioviueis also maintain a catalog of viitual images. These can incluue a vaiiety of
0Ss anu pieconfiguieu applications. If business analysts fiequently woik with a set of au
hoc iepoiting, statistical analysis, anu visualization tools, the clouu pioviuei can ueploy a
viitual image with these applications installeu anu configuieu so that they aie ieauily
available when neeueu.

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The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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Anothei uistinguishing featuie of clouu computing is the pay-foi-seivice mouel. Insteau of
buying ueuicateu haiuwaie foi an application, application manageis now have the option
of essentially ienting iesouices when those iesouices aie neeueu, anu paying foi only what
is useu.
Seiveis aie typically billeu in houi oi minute time inciements. The pei-unit-of-time chaige
will vaiy with the viitual machine configuiation anu can iange fiom pennies to uollais pei
houi pei machine. Stoiage is usually chaigeu baseu on the amount of stoiage useu anu the
length of time uata is stoieu.
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In many ways, clouu computing is not a new technology but iathei a new way of using
existing technologies. The builuing blocks of clouuscommouity haiuwaie, viitualization
platfoims, wiuely useu 0Ss anu applications, anu netwoiking infiastiuctuieweie all in
use piioi to the uevelopment of clouu computing. In spite of the similai components, theie
aie significant uiffeiences between clouu computing aichitectuies anu pie-clouu
aichitectuies.
Pie-clouu aichitectuies often suffeieu fiom unuei utilization. Systems uesigneis woulu
unueistanuably configuie seiveis foi peak capacity so that applications woulu iemain
iesponsive unuei heavy but expecteu loaus. In othei cases, applications woulu be ueployeu
to ueuicateu seiveis to keep them isolateu fiom othei applications anu allow foi 0S
configuiation specifically tuneu foi that one application. A uisauvantage of these
appioaches was that the business was paying foi computing capacity it often uiu not use.
Seivei viitualization helpeu to ieuuce unueiutilization while maintaining 0S isolation, see
Figuie 1.S; howevei, viitualization was manageu by systems auministiatois, unlike the
self-seivice appioach of clouu computing.
Piioi to the clouu, theie was less shaiing of computing iesouices. Baiuwaie is often
puichaseu foi a specific pioject oi uepaitment, so it tenus to be ueuicateu to that neeu.
Theie aie few incentives to shaie the iesouice oi the cost of maintaining it. Clouu
computing platfoims tiack utilization anu allow businesses to chaige back to useis foi the
iesouices they use. Baving a chaige-back system is less a technical auvance than an
oiganizational one. Now businesses can easily account foi anu bill foi shaieu iesouices.
The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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As pieviously mentioneu, common chaiacteiistics of clouu computing incluue scalability,
self-seivice auministiation, anu pay-foi-seivice chaiges. This combination of featuies has
enableu moie efficient use of computing anu stoiage seivices anu unueilies moie
innovative use of computing iesouices. Staiting with these thiee essential chaiacteiistics
of clouu computing, thiee uistinct ueployment mouels have emeigeu.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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Clouu computing seivices can be categoiizeu accoiuing to who is gianteu access to the
clouu anu by the types of seivices offeieu by the clouu.
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Clouus can be categoiizeu accoiuing to who is gianteu access. Thiee typical access mouels
aie:
Public clouu
Piivate clouu
Bybiiu clouu
Each of these ueployment mouels has its benefits anu uiawbacks.
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Public clouus aie essentially open to any usei. Nany clouu pioviueis aie well known in the
IT inuustiy anu incluue Amazon, Niciosoft, uoogle, IBN, BP, anu Rackspace. 0ne of the
auvantages of a public clouu is the low baiiiei to entiy: viitually anyone with a cieuit caiu
can set up an account anu piovision iesouices.
Also, public clouu pioviueis have the auvantage of specializing in clouu seivices offeiings.
They iealize economies of scale, can invest in specialists to uesign anu maintain theii
infiastiuctuie, anu can iaise the capital iequiieu to ueploy substantial clouu seivices.
Common chaiacteiistics of public clouu pioviueis incluue:
Naintain multiple uata centeis
Bave ieuunuant netwoiks
Bave sufficient compute anu stoiage iesouices to meet uemanu
Pioviue stanuaiu seivice level agieements (SLAs)
Public clouu pioviueis uistinguish themselves moie on specializeu seivices than on piice.
Foi example, a clouu pioviuei might offei a high-peifoimance computing clustei uesigneu
with high-speeu netwoik inteiconnects foi low latency anu flash uiives foi impioveu I0
peifoimance. In othei cases, a pioviuei might offei a low-cost stoiage seivice foi aichiving,
piivate netwoiks foi auueu secuiity, oi accounting anu billing seivices tailoieu to
enteipiise customeis.
Although public clouus may offei a combination of commouity anu specializeu seivices,
they uo not always meet the neeus of enteipiise customeis. Foi example, some public clouu
offeiings might not meet the iequiiements of inuustiy iegulations such as the Payment
Caiu Inuustiy Bata Secuiity Stanuaiu (PCI BSS). Retailei businesses anu otheis using
payment caius woulu not be able to iun applications oi stoie uata subject to PCI BSS in
those clouus anu still iemain in compliance.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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Some businesses may not allow confiuential oi sensitive uata to iesiue on seiveis oi
stoiage systems outsiue of coipoiate contiol uue to conceins about uata leaks anu loss of
confiuentiality. Bowevei, uata can be ieauily enciypteu befoie it leaves coipoiate contiol.
Bepenuing on juiisuiction, businesses may be iequiieu to keep confiuential anu piivate
infoimation within the juiisuiction oi within a paitnei juiisuiction with equivalent piivacy
piotections.
Although the benefits of public clouu computing aie well unueistoou, foi some business
cases, a piivate clouu may be a moie appealing option.
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Piivate clouus aie contiolleu by oiganizations behinu theii fiiewalls anu limit access to the
clouu to oiganization membeis oi paitneis. Laige businesses anu goveinments can have
the neeu foi anu iesouices to builu anu maintain piivate clouus. Foitunately, businesses uo
not neeu to stait fiom sciatch to builu a piivate clouu; IT venuois offei clouu computing
packages that incluue the haiuwaie anu softwaie iequiieu foi a piivate clouu.
The single most significant benefit of a piivate clouu is that the oiganization ueploying it
maintains full contiol:
Beteimining who has access to clouu iesouices
Befining policies anu pioceuuies foi allocating clouu iesouices
Specifying chaige-backs foi seivices
Implementing specializeu softwaie seivices, foi example, a message queue, oi
haiuwaie, such as flash stoiage uevices
Implementing monitoiing anu auuiting pioceuuies accoiuing to the oiganization's
paiticulai neeus
The obvious uiawbacks of piivate clouus aie the capital expenuituie to acquiie the
infiastiuctuie anu the ongoing costs of maintaining a piivate clouu. If iesiliency is iequiieu
foi youi business' clouu applications, you will piobably neeu to maintain multiple uata
centeis.
0ne option foi piivate clouus is to locate youi infiastiuctuie in a thiiu-paity uata centei.
This option affoius some economies of scale anu specialization of laboi with iegaius to
managing the physical infiastiuctuie anu ieuunuant netwoik seivices. The business still
ietains contiol ovei the computing anu stoiage infiastiuctuie, so many of the benefits of an
on-piemise piivate clouu iemain in place.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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The commonly useu public-piivate uichotomy uoes not covei all options with iegaius to
clouu access mouels. The community clouu, sometimes iefeiieu to as a gateu community
mouel, has chaiacteiistics of both piivate anu public clouus. Community clouu pioviueis
scieen potential customeis befoie gianting them access to clouus.
This setup is uesigneu to ensuie that only legitimate oiganizations that meet the venuoi's
ciiteiia can make use of the community clouu. Foi example, a community clouu pioviuei
specializing in healthcaie might accept only healthcaie pioviuei anu insuieis as customeis.
This mouel allows the venuoi to specialize seivices to theii taiget maiket, such as
pioviuing moie in-uepth auuiting infoimation to meet Bealth Insuiance Poitability anu
Accountability Act (BIPAA) compliance iegulations.
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A hybiiu clouu, as the name implies, is a combination of piivate anu public clouus. The
mouel was uevelopeu by the uesiie foi the benefits of both piivate anu public clouus. In a
hybiiu clouu, jobs anu uata that neeu to stay within the coipoiate netwoik can iun on the
piivate clouu while othei jobs anu uata can be shifteu to a public clouu pioviuei, as Figuie
1.4 shows. This appioach can ieuuce the uemanu foi piivate clouu iesouices anu theiefoie
ieuuce the capital expenuituie neeueu to establish a piivate clouu.
Naintaining a hybiiu clouu intiouuces challenges not encounteieu with the othei mouels. If
the clouu 0Ss iunning in the piivate anu public clouus aie not compatible, you might finu
youiself maintaining two catalogs of viitual images as well as two access contiol systems.
Accounting anu billing might also iequiie uiffeient systems anu cieate auuitional woik to
integiate. 0sing the same clouu 0Sfoi example, 0penStackin both the public anu
piivate clouus can ieuuce integiation challenges. Compatible clouu 0Ss, such as the
Amazon AWS platfoim anu Eucalyptus, aie not the same but use common APIs that can
ieuuce the challenges to implementing a hybiiu clouu.
The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

9

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Public, piivate, anu hybiiu clouus can all be useu to ueploy seivices foi the benefit of
customeis, paitneis, anu employees. The choice of the most appiopiiate access mouel will
vaiy accoiuing to secuiity, compliance, peifoimance, anu cost constiaints.
In auuition to categoiizing clouus by access mouel, it is common to uistinguish public
clouus by the types of seivices offeieu.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

1u
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Clouus aie often gioupeu into one of thiee seivice categoiies:
Infiastiuctuie as a Seivice (IaaS)
Platfoim as a Seivice (PaaS)
Softwaie as a Seivice (SaaS)
These categoiies offei incieasing levels of specialization anu ieuuceu levels of management
oveiheau.
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IaaS clouus offei access to viitual seiveis, stoiage, anu ielateu seivices. Clouu useis
piovision viitual seiveis anu stoiage as neeueu, anu manage all aspects of the
infiastiuctuie at the 0S level anu above (see Figuie 1.S). This option gives useis substantial
contiol ovei the size of viitual seiveis useu, the softwaie installeu, anu the way stoiage
systems aie utilizeu.
This mouel also imposes the most iesponsibility on the clouu useis. Foi example, softwaie
engineeis using a public clouu foi uevelopment woulu neeu to select an appiopiiate-size
machine, loau a viitual image with an appiopiiate 0S, install auuitional tools if neeueu, anu
configuie peisistent stoiage.
IaaS solutions aie goou choices when you neeu to maximize contiol ovei the 0S,
applications, anu stoiage options. Alteinatively, if you neeu less contiol ovei the
infiastiuctuie, a PaaS clouu may be a suitable option.

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The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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PaaS clouus pioviue access to application seivices while alleviating the neeu foi uevice
management (see Figuie 1.6). Foi example, a uevelopei might use a PaaS clouu to iun a
laige numbei of tests on a new softwaie. The uevelopei can choose the appiopiiate
numbei of pieconfiguieu seiveis anu submit the job without neeuing to set up the seiveis
themselves.
PaaS can also ieuuce the time iequiieu to set up anu manage application stacks. Insteau of
setting up application anu uatabase seiveis, PaaS useis can use the application anu uata
management platfoims pioviueu by the PaaS clouu. uoogle App Engine, foi example, allows
softwaie uevelopeis to iun theii }ava oi Python applications on uoogle infiastiuctuie
without the neeu to manage viitual machines. Niciosoft Winuows Azuie clouu incluues a
ielational uatabase seivice, Azuie SQL, which a business can use insteau of managing its
own Niciosoft SQL Seivei instance. The lines between IaaS anu PaaS aie sometimes
bluiieu, as IaaS pioviueis offei seivices, such as uatabases anu messaging seivices, as pait
of theii IaaS seivices.

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The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

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The thiiu categoiy of clouu seivice type, SaaS, pioviues fully functional applications to enu
useis. Applications as uiffeient as woiu piocessing anu customei ielationship management
(CRN) aie available fiom SaaS pioviueis. A key auvantage of the SaaS mouel is that useis
uo not have to manage any pait of the infiastiuctuie. Some applications will iequiie enu
useis to configuie access contiols anu piogiam options anu othei application settings, but
the SaaS pioviuei manages all aspects of the computing, stoiage, anu netwoik
infiastiuctuie, as Figuie 1.7 illustiates.

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The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

1S
SaaS has cieateu oppoitunities foi both SaaS consumeis anu SaaS pioviueis. 0seis of SaaS
seivices can ieuuce oi eliminate the neeu to maintain specializeu applications in-house oi
in a clouu. Foi example, an aichitectuie fiim using a SaaS foi managing its financials can
avoiu having to iun a financials package in-house anu may be able to ieuuce the numbei of
staff ueuicateu to suppoiting the financial package. SaaS pioviueis have oppoitunities to
cieate seivices that might not be efficiently implementeu within a single oiganization. Foi
example, a SaaS that pioviues BIPAA-compliant iecoius management seivices coulu finu a
laige maiket of small anu miusize healthcaie pioviueis inteiesteu in theii seivices. SaaS
pioviueis may implement theii applications in public, piivate, oi hybiiu clouus.
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Clouu computing anu the global ieach of the Inteinet has cieateu oppoitunities foi
businesses to expanu theii maikets anu customei base. The scalability anu elasticity of
clouu computing allows businesses to giow theii computing systems accoiuing to theii
business uemanu. This flexibility lessens the neeu to make capital expenuituies foi
haiuwaie that might be neeueu in the futuie. It also allows opeiatois to make uecisions
about piovisioning compute anu stoiage seivices at a much moie fine-giaineu level. If
theie is a peak uemanu foi a uay oi two, then auuitional seiveis can be piovisioneu in the
clouu. When uemanu then subsiues, those seiveis can be ieleaseu. Compute anu stoiage
elasticity aie essential paits of maintaining quality of seivice. They aie not, howevei, the
only factois.
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Fiom a customei's peispective, the quality of an application is ueteimineu in pait by its
iesponsiveness. Applications that appeai to iun slowly aie pioblematic fiom a usei's
peispective anu can leau to usei uissatisfaction anu lost ievenue. A numbei of stuuies have
uemonstiateu a coiielation between application iesponse time anu uiscontinueu use of a
Web-baseu application. Accoiuing to a stuuy by the Abeiueen uioup, a 1-seconu uelay in
page loau times can iesult in:
11% fewei page views
16% ueciease in customei satisfaction
7% loss in conveisions
Anothei set of finuings publisheu by KissNetiics ieveals that:
7S% of mobile uevice useis iepoit encounteiing Web sites that weie slow to loau
47% of consumeis expect Web pages to loau in 2 seconus oi less
4u% abanuon sites that take moie than S seconus to loau
79% of shoppeis who aie uissatisfieu with the site's peifoimance aie less likely to
buy fiom that site again
Cleaily, the iesponsiveness of an application can have a uiiect impact on customei
satisfaction, loyalty, anu ultimately ievenue.
The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

14
A#B5"6)$< ;BB,)01*)"$ C'9B"$9' D)#'
Nany factois contiibute to application iesponsiveness, such as the way the application
coue is wiitten, the way the uatabase has been uesigneu, anu netwoik thioughput anu
latency.
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0ne way to impiove peifoimance is to tune application coue. This task can incluue:
Selecting moie efficient algoiithms
Analyzing coue to iuentify time-consuming functions
Re-wiiting uatabase queiies to ieuuce the amount of uata ietuineu
Tuning uatabase uesign by implementing auuitional inuexes anu othei measuies to
ieuuce I0 opeiations peifoimeu by the uatabase
Impioving softwaie can yielu significant impiovements in some cases, but these
impiovements can be costly anu may iequiie moie time than othei options to implement.
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The clouu also allows businesses to implement a well-known but sometimes questionable
piactice of "thiowing moie haiuwaie at the pioblem." Rathei than ieview anu ievise coue,
it might be fastei to simply scale up the seiveis that aie iunning the coue. 0ne coulu scale
veitically by ueploying the application to a seivei with moie coies anu memoiy anu fastei
stoiage uevices. Alteinatively, applications that lenu themselves to uistiibuteu woikloaus
can scale hoiizontally. This action entails auuing auuitional seiveis to a loau-balanceu
clustei anu allowing the loau balancei to uistiibute the woik among moie seiveis.
Both of these scenaiios can help impiove peifoimance, assuming theie aie no bottlenecks
outsiue the seiveis (foi example, the time iequiieu to peifoim I0 opeiations on a stoiage
aiiay). If I0 peifoimance is a pioblem, you might be able to impiove peifoimance by
switching to fastei stoiage technology.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

1S
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Although tuning application coue anu uatabase uesign can often impiove the thioughput of
seiveis, they uo not always impiove application iesponse time. Netwoik latency, oi the
time uelay in senuing uata between two netwoikeu uevices, cannot be impioveu by
tweaking algoiithms on the seivei oi optimizing uatabase queiies. Within a uata centei,
clouu pioviueis may offei highei peifoimance netwoiking infiastiuctuie foi specializeu
tasks, such as high-peifoimance computing. These specializeu jobs may iun on clusteis
with 1uub Etheinet while most common jobs iun on seiveis inteiconnecteu with slowei,
inteifaces. Foi uata that is sent outsiue the uata centei anu ovei the Inteinet, auuitional
measuies aie iequiieu to ieuuce latency.
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In this guiue, the teim !"#$% '!!("()'*+#, iefeis to clouu techniques foi
impioving the oveiall iesponsiveness of an application by ieuucing the time
it takes to uelivei content to an enu usei. Without going too ueeply into
technical uetails in this chaptei, it is woith noting that clouu acceleiation can
be implementeu with a combination of content ueliveiy netwoiks foi
uistiibuting content aiounu the globe anu ieuuceu netwoik tiaffic using
specializeu optimization.
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The iemainuei of this guiue will uelve into the technical uetails of clouu acceleiation
techniques; foi now, this chaptei will biiefly examine foui challenges to implementing
clouu acceleiation:
Scalability anu geogiaphic ieach
Reuunuancy
Consoliuation of seivices
Cost
Each of these challenges must be auuiesseu to successfully implement a clouu acceleiation
solution.
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Netwoiking is constiaineu by physics as well as engineeiing. We will nevei tweak the laws
of physics to impiove the speeu with which we can tiansmit signals. Although an
oiganization can impiove the engineeiing of its netwoiking haiuwaie, the business is still
uepenuent on the infiastiuctuie useu by Inteinet seivice pioviueis (ISPs) aiounu the
globe.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

16
Content ueliveiy netwoiks (CBNs) compensate foi netwoik limitations by maintaining
copies of uata aiounu the globe anu iesponuing to usei iequests foi content by using the
closest facility to the enu usei anu pioviuing the best path between enupoints. A customei
in Amsteiuam, foi example, might be seiveu fiom content stoieu in a uata centei in Paiis,
while a customei in Shanghai ieceives the same content fiom a uata centei in Singapoie
(see Figuie 1.8).

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Businesses can ueploy anu maintain theii own uata centeis oi infiastiuctuie within co-
location facilities aiounu the globe. Such a ueployment woulu have to have sufficient global
ieach to iesponu to customeis, employees, anu business paitneis wheievei they may be.
These ueployments woulu also have to incluue sufficient haiuwaie to scale to meet the
peak uemanus each uata centei woulu encountei.
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Reuunuancy is anothei consiueiation. Baiuwaie fails. Softwaie ciashes. Netwoiks lose
connectivity. If a uata centei weie to fail, othei uata centeis aiounu the globe shoulu be
configuieu to iesponu to tiaffic noimally hanuleu by the faileu site.
Reuunuancy also entails maintaining up-to-uate copies of content. Replication pioceuuies
shoulu be in place to ensuie that content is uistiibuteu to all uata sites in a timely mannei.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

17
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If a business is going to all the effoit anu cost to ueploy clouu acceleiation systems, it is best
to capitalize on that investment by consoliuating seivices anu applications that can benefit.
As with piivate clouus, theie is the potential foi significant capital investment to establish
anu maintain clouu acceleiation infiastiuctuie. 0ngoing maintenance costs will auu to the
oveiall opeiational expenses of the oiganization as well.
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Latei chapteis will examine options foi auuiessing these challenges.
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Along with the technical challenges to implementing clouu acceleiation technologies, it is
impoitant to consiuei othei chaiacteiistics that influence how a business can impiove
application iesponsiveness. 0ne factoi that ueteimines the optimal clouu acceleiation
technique is the use of geneiateu veisus ieusable content. Reusable content, sometimes
iefeiieu to as static content, can be ieplicateu anu sent fiom Web seiveis without
auuitional piocessing by an application. Reusable content incluues mateiial such as
infoimation fiom piouuct catalogs, uocuments, anu geneial infoimation Web site pages.
ueneiateu content is the iesult of some application piocess, such as queiying a uatabase to
ietiieve a customei's oiuei histoiy. Reusable content can be ieplicateu to uata centeis
aiounu the globe; uynamically geneiateu content cannot. Insteau, uynamically geneiateu
content can benefit fiom optimization techniques that impiove thioughput anu latency
between uata centeis.
0thei factois one must contenu with when pioviuing seivices on a laige geogiaphic scale
aie a function of the uesign of the Inteinet. Foi example, the Inteinet is compiiseu of
multiple ISPs woiking togethei to ioute uata as neeueu acioss uiffeient ISPs' netwoiks.
Congestion at the physical inteiconnection of netwoiks can auveisely impact application
peifoimance (see Figuie 1.9). This anu othei issues that ueiive fiom the laige-scale
aichitectuie of the Inteinet uiives the neeu foi multiple uata centeis in geogiaphically
uispeiseu aiiangements.
The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

18

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In auuition to uiffeiences in infiastiuctuie, ISPs may have uiffeient business peispectives
on linking with othei ISPs. In the most basic scenaiio, ISPs view theii ielationships as
iecipiocal anu pass tiaffic between ISPs without compensation. In othei cases, one ISP may
believe anothei ISP gains moie fiom a peeiing ielationship anu theiefoie iequiies payment
to accept tiaffic fiom anu senu tiaffic to the othei ISP. Competition between ISPs can limit
uata exchange as well. Both technical anu business consiueiations can affect the flow of
youi application tiaffic aiounu the globe. Although most businesses cannot uiiectly
influence theii ISP's business mouel anu ielationships with othei ISPs, businesses can woik
aiounu the limitations imposeu by peeiing aiiangements by using clouu acceleiation
techniques.
Clouu pioviueis can also be a potential netwoik bottlenecks. If theii netwoiking seivices
aie insufficient foi an oiganization's neeus anu the pioviuei's uistiibution of uata centeis is
not enough to compensate foi netwoik congestion anu latency issues, alteinative clouu
acceleiation options may be iequiieu.

The Befinitive uuiue to Clouu Acceleiation Ban Sullivan

19
/-##153
Clouu computing is cieating oppoitunities foi businesses to expanu theii ieach to a global
scale. The cost anu complexity of ueploying computing anu stoiage seivices is loweieu with
clouu computing. Theie is also gieatei flexibility to auapt to new business oppoitunities by
leveiaging IaaS anu PaaS platfoims to cieate new applications anu seivices. The incieasing
auoption of SaaS platfoims also piesents an oppoitunity foi businesses to offei theii
seivices in a SaaS mouel. Businesses must pay paiticulai attention to Web application
peifoimance foi all customeis iegaiuless of those customeis' locations. Auuing seiveis anu
stoiage will impiove some but not all aspects of application iesponsiveness. Clouu
acceleiation techniques may be iequiieu to ensuie consistent anu acceptable levels of
peifoimance foi all application useis.