With regards to cloud computing, DCN spent 2024 studying from the previous and trying to the long run. We targeted on detailing the historical past of some key developments within the cloud area, together with outages at main public cloud platforms and the origins of the ever-present (and grammatically problematic) time period on-premise.
We additionally targeted on some rising developments which have impacted the cloud and knowledge heart business over the previous 12 months, such because the influence of VMware’s acquisition by Broadcom, cloud sustainability initiatives, and the convergence between AI and the cloud.
Hold studying for a whole take a look at the highest cloud knowledge heart tales we coated this 12 months, in addition to what they reveal in regards to the present and future standing of cloud computing.
1. A Historical past of Google Cloud and Knowledge Middle Outages
Elevated reliability is commonly touted as one of many primary causes to transfer to the cloud – which is cheap as a result of, normally, main public cloud knowledge facilities fail much less incessantly than personal knowledge facilities managed by your typical enterprise.
However as we reminded readers in an article detailing current cloud knowledge heart outage occasions at Google services in Paris, London, Iowa, and past, even hyperscale knowledge facilities can and do go down. Whereas inner points like software program issues and fires have been the commonest causes of Google outages, some incidents stemmed from climate occasions, like floods in France and heatwaves within the UK. Learn extra
2. A Historical past of Microsoft Azure Outages
With regards to cloud knowledge heart outages, Google is in good firm. Microsoft Azure, too, has skilled a number of failures at its knowledge facilities in recent times, together with one which disrupted core Microsoft 365 companies for 3 hours. (In case you’re questioning, Amazon additionally has a historical past of knowledge heart outages, though that article didn’t fairly make our prime 10 record of cloud knowledge heart tales of 2024.) Learn extra
3. The ‘On-Premise’ Debate: How a Knowledge Middle Slang Time period Went Mainstream
If you happen to work within the knowledge heart business, chances are you’ll use time period on-premise (or on-prem) incessantly. However have you ever ever stopped to marvel how the phrase entered the info heart lexicon – or thought-about why on-premise doesn’t make grammatical sense? In a nutshell, the reply is that it ought to be on-premises – word the s on the top – as a result of premise and premises are completely different phrases. If not, you’ll be enlightened by our protection of the historical past of the time period on-prem and why it has lengthy irked sure CIOs. Learn extra
4. Are Public Clouds Extra Sustainable Than Non-public Knowledge Facilities?
A part of the explanation why you may need heard quite a bit this 12 months about on-prem – which typically refers to non-public knowledge facilities, though they’re technically different – is due to debates about knowledge heart sustainability.
In line with analysis launched this 12 months by IDC and Amazon, public clouds are extra sustainable on the entire than personal knowledge facilities, on account of benefits like economies of scale and better charges of renewable power sourcing.
That stated, there’s no assure that working a given workload in a public cloud will end in higher sustainability than working in on-prem or in a personal cloud. It’s vital to analysis the small print of every choice to make sure you get the most effective sustainability bang on your knowledge heart buck. Learn extra
5. The Execs and Cons of Public Cloud Storage for Knowledge Middle Backups
We additionally coated the professionals and cons of public clouds vis-à-vis personal knowledge facilities from the standpoint of storage. The principle premise (see what we did there?) was that public clouds can provide an economical, scalable resolution for backing up knowledge from personal knowledge facilities.
That stated, it’s vital to contemplate potential challenges like slower knowledge restoration as a result of want to maneuver knowledge from the cloud again to your knowledge heart following an outage incident. Learn extra
6. Information to Migrating From VMware to Hyper-V
From a enterprise perspective, one of many largest cloud knowledge heart tales we adopted this 12 months was the influence of Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, which closed in late 2023. Fears about VMware product modifications following the acquisition prompted curiosity in different options – which is why we coated processes like the right way to change from VMware to Hyper-V, an alternate virtualization platform. Learn extra
7. Broadcom Unveils New VMware Non-public Cloud Software program for Knowledge Middle Operators
In different main cloud knowledge heart information this 12 months, we coated efforts by Broadcom to mitigate buyer anxieties following the merger – together with the disclosing of recent personal cloud software program for knowledge facilities. Really, “new” is a little bit of a misnomer as a result of the up to date product was the results of the merging of VMware choices that Broadcom consolidated. Nonetheless, the transfer was arguably a constructive one from the angle of knowledge heart operators as a result of it makes it simpler to construct personal clouds. Learn extra
Learn extra of the newest cloud knowledge heart information
8. Oracle CloudWorld 2024: Embracing Multi-Cloud, Nuclear Vitality, and Different Occasion Highlights
Oracle additionally made some notable product strikes in 2024, which it showcased at CloudWorld in September. For the info heart business, a very powerful announcement was information that Oracle has begun partnering with the most important public clouds – AWS, Azure, and GCP – in a bid to make its options extra simply accessible to clients by way of public cloud platforms.
The transfer gave the impression to be a recognition on Oracle’s half that it will possibly not count on its clients to make use of simply Oracle options alone; it must evolve its product technique for the multi-cloud period. Learn extra
9. Cloud Safety Assurance: Is Automation Altering the Recreation?
The extra advanced your cloud structure turns into, the more durable it’s to determine safety dangers and different misconfigurations. That’s why the power to automate safety assessments is rising more and more vital. However how good are the options that cloud suppliers provide for this function? To seek out out, we took a detailed take a look at compliance reporting instruments from Azure and GCP.
The takeaway was that these options can automate a lot of the work essential to determine misconfigurations that would set off compliance violations, however they’re no substitute for human specialists. Learn extra
10. Edge AI: Why the Way forward for AI Compute is on the Edge
Discuss of AI was a dominant theme throughout discussions of cloud computing this 12 months, which included loads of headlines about how cloud suppliers are investing in AI.
What was much less typically mentioned – however equally vital – is the function of edge infrastructure in AI. That’s what we targeted on in our report about edge AI, that means AI workloads that run on the community edge as a substitute of in conventional cloud knowledge facilities.
Though edge AI shouldn’t be prone to change into the commonest option to deploy AI, it has an vital function in enhancing AI efficiency and sustainability, primarily as a result of it reduces the quantity of knowledge that should transfer throughout lengthy distances to help AI coaching and inference. Learn extra
