Editor’s Note: Clouds on the horizon

There are many aspects to arriving at the ultimate cloud solution, including the hardware that supports it and the data and applications that reside there.

Lafe Low

There’s more to moving to the cloud than just handing off your data and application stack. You need to take a long, hard look at your infrastructure and your organization’s needs to determine the best approach. You need the right mix of security and access. And part of the access equation is not only access control, but also continued uptime and access to all your data and applications whenever you need them.

The first major decision is the type of cloud you’ll need for your infrastructure. The basic obvious choices are the public cloud, private cloud or a hybrid. If your organization operates in a regulated industry such as health care, insurance or government, than a private cloud is most likely the best choice.

In determining the best approach for your cloud infrastructure, it could be beneficial to consider such factors as cloud acceleration. In this month’s feature, “Cloud acceleration,” Dan Sullivan takes you through some hardware configuration and clustering considerations like scaling up your server farm and fine-tuning I/O operations to improve throughput and eliminate bottlenecks. He also covers improving application performance and tweaking application code for greater expediency.

There are many aspects to the decision to move all or some of your infrastructure to the cloud. Make those considerations carefully, and you’ll likely ensure a successful transition for yourself and your organization. Don’t leave anything to chance or assume someone else will handle the task or make the decisions.

Cloud formations

Has your organization moved any of its data storage or applications to the cloud? What led you to that decision? What did you determine was the best approach for your enterprise and why? If you’ve already moved to the cloud, how is it working for you? Let us know, and let us know what aspects of cloud computing you want to read about here. Drop me a line by signing up for the TechNet LinkedIn group, sending an e-mail to <tnmag.microsoft.com> or e-mailing me directly.

Lafe Low

Lafe Low is the editor in chief of TechNet Magazine. A veteran technology journalist, he’s also the former executive editor of 1105 Media’s Redmond magazine.