Interesting info

1. CLOUD COMPUTING FOR
U.S. GOVERNMENT PROFESSIONALS
CLOUD
BASICS
CHAPTER 7
JOURNEY TO THE
PRIVATE CLOUD
http://www.microsoft.com/govcloud

2. PRIVATE CLOUD:
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
GREAT BENEFITS
ON YOUR TERMS
Cloud computing offers attractive economies of scale, provides on-demand
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services just in time, gives you an infrastructure that supports telework and
continuity of operations (COOP) plans, and helps green up your data center. Even
so, questions about security and privacy keep some public sector organizations
from realizing the benefits of this computing model. To harness the power of the
cloud on your terms, consider the private cloud.
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3. CHOICES IN The ABCs of the cloud
THE CLOUD:
A IS FOR…
Access. In the cloud, workers have access to
GOING PRIVATE
applications, such as email and shared work-
spaces, from virtually anywhere on almost any
device, helping you meet COOP and telework
requirements.
If you think of cloud computing only as services you share with strangers, Agility. Cloud technology empowers your IT
hosted in somebody else’s data center, think again. With a private cloud— team to respond quickly to changing needs
and to provide computing scale and efficiency
a cloud computing infrastructure dedicated to your organization—you can whenever you need it.
have the cloud on your terms.
B IS FOR…
The cloud offers pay-as-you-go services, such as software, infrastructure, or Business model. By obtaining services in the
platform resources, and enables you to rapidly and cost-effectively provision cloud, you can replace capital expenditures with
just what you need. You simply sign up for a service. In a public cloud, software more predictable monthly service fees.
and services are hosted in a data center shared by many subscribers and oper- Budget. Cloud models can help you reduce
ated by a commercial entity. capital and operational expenses associated
with equipping and managing data centers
Like public clouds, private clouds pool resources to provide self-service access to serve peak capacity periods. A public cloud
to applications, elasticity that accommodates peaks and valleys in demand, offloads operational maintenance of the services,
and cost-saving economies of scale. However, private clouds also provide: and a private cloud automates management.
Either way, your administrative overhead can
• DEDICATED RESOURCES. A private cloud delivers cloud services on be reduced.
resources dedicated to you, either on-premises, such as within your own
data center, or in a partner’s hosting facility. C IS FOR…
Consistency. Cloud infrastructures provide
• CONTROL AND CUSTOMIZATION. Dedicated resources offer you more a unified platform that can replace mixed IT
control over the level of security, privacy, customization, and governance environments and legacy systems, which often
operate as inefficient data silos.
of your software and services than does a public cloud.
Control. IT gets end-to-end management
• A ROAD MAP TO DATA CENTER EFFICIENCY. A private cloud can help across physical and virtual, on-premises and
launch your organization’s journey to the cloud. Private cloud architectures off-premises cloud environments, and into
can guide you to more cost-effective data center operations using your the applications—all from a central command
existing investments in people and equipment. interface.

4. WHEN IS A PRIVATE
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
CLOUD FOR YOU?
YOU NEED DATA SOVEREIGNTY BUT WANT CLOUD EFFICIENCIES. Some federal
regulations require that certain types of data be hosted within government-operated infra-
structures. For example, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) private cloud offers
computing resources to defense organizations but operates solely on the Department of
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Defense internal network.
YOU WANT CONSISTENCY ACROSS SERVICES. A private cloud hosted by a third
party can deliver a consistent service level agreement (SLA) that helps you meet your users’
requirements across the organization. Private clouds offer benefits that traditional data
centers can’t match, including, for example, the capacity for live migration across a range
of servers.
YOU HAVE MORE SERVER CAPACITY THAN YOUR ORGANIZATION CAN USE.
By pooling infrastructure resources, you can optimize your existing server capacity. For
example, if you have Windows Server 2008 R2, you can use the built-in Hyper-V technology
to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization. Pooled resources are easier and more
cost-effective to manage than individual machines spread across an organization.
YOUR DATA CENTER MUST BECOME MORE EFFICIENT. The more you can consolidate
your operating systems, physical and virtual environments, and server management tools, the
more your operations become like a private cloud and the greater the efficiencies. A Microsoft
virtualization solution offers a platform to do that.
YOU WANT TO PROVIDE PRIVATE CLOUD SERVICES. You may be able to turn your
existing servers into a private cloud—and possibly a revenue center. Renting storage or
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infrastructure as a service can help you recoup your private cloud investment over time.

5. COMPARING PRIVATE
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
CLOUD PROVIDERS
A partner can provide a private cloud to host your applications and services—a solution that
gives you a high degree of operations control, enhanced security, and data sovereignty.
In comparing services, consider which key attributes are most important to you—security,
management, storage, services, and support. Here are some questions to ask:
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• Does the vendor offer application virtualization in addition to desktop virtualization and the
tools to manage everything, such as hybrid implementations that combine on-premises and
cloud computing or public cloud offerings?
• Can the vendor help you minimize costs by making use of your existing technology?
• Does the vendor give you a road map, including architectural assistance, deployment
guidance, and best practices? Look for familiar tools that are compatible with existing
applications.
• How flexible and extensible is a vendor’s solution? If you start with a public cloud service but
later need to go private, can your vendor help?
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6. JOURNEY INTO
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
A PRIVATE CLOUD
With Cloud First and other mandates, government agencies look to the cloud to lower IT costs,
help with data center consolidation efforts, support teleworkers, and deliver greener comput-
ing resources. Private cloud computing can be a step forward in your journey from traditional,
on-premises IT models to more cost-effective delivery mechanisms.
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Keep in mind that your solutions can span on-premises and cloud environments. That way, you
can preserve your current IT assets while investing for future needs. That’s what DISA did when
it built a private cloud to host Microsoft Office applications and other services. The U.S. Army is
one of DISA’s tenants.1
Non-public choices for enterprise IT include private cloud options, both on-premises and off.
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7. GO PRIVATE, AND
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
GET MORE EFFICIENT
If your organization requires direct control over its physical assets and operational personnel, a private
cloud on your premises may work better for you than one hosted by a partner. For example, using
virtualization technologies, you can streamline your existing server operations and management
today—a step toward a private cloud and the more agile, responsive world of cloud computing. But
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make sure to weigh all the costs, including systems management.
Here’s how to get started:
1 OPTIMIZE
Start optimizing your server capacity. By pooling existing resources through virtualization technologies
like Windows Server Hyper-V, you reduce server sprawl and associated costs. You also gain greater flex-
ibility to deploy applications and workloads throughout your organization.
2 STANDARDIZE
See how many of your IT processes you can standardize. The cloud model is service oriented, and
providers must deliver a consistent SLA. As you move forward, keep refining your IT model with an eye
toward simplifying the processes you use to deliver, manage, secure, and audit services. By standardizing
wherever possible within your environment, you can reach greater economies of scale.
3 AUTOMATE
Find ways to automate your manual processes so you can orchestrate workflows and make the best
use of your existing resources. For example, in a private cloud, key processes like change management
and provisioning are automated. You can get help from a systems management solution. A qualified
provider with management tools that span on-premises and off-premises infrastructures can help you
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keep costs down.

8. HOW TO EASE INTO
A PRIVATE CLOUD
Getting into the cloud on your terms has never been easier, whether you want to go public or stay private, deploy on-premises or
host in a provider’s data center.
TRY IT FOR TEST AND DEVELOPMENT
One of the best workloads to use in a private cloud environment is application development. Teams can quickly provision virtual
environments and then easily develop and test against a predictable base state in a low-risk way. Many organizations use private
clouds for this reason, because they can respond to demand faster by rolling out applications more quickly.
OFFLOAD SELECT FUNCTIONS TO A PRIVATE CLOUD PROVIDER
You can work with a trusted partner to meet your security needs within its dedicated, private cloud environment. For example,
the USDA provides email, document-sharing, and other collaboration tools housed on separate, dedicated infrastructures provided
by Microsoft and designed to meet its enhanced security needs.ii The State of Minnesota also uses a version of Microsoft Business
Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) to provide communication and collaboration services.
GO HYBRID
Like cars with more than one power source, your infrastructure can combine models with workloads that run both on traditional
servers and in a private cloud. Lockheed Martin, the largest IT provider to the U.S. government, created a hybrid solution in
Thundercloud.iii It combines on-premises hosting with applications on demand. Implementers use it to build solutions that keep
federal agency data behind their firewall but that also allow access to computing, storage, and application services via the cloud.
OR GO ALL IN: PRIVATE CLOUD DIY
For the do-it-yourself (DIY) crowd, Microsoft offers two private cloud options. Today you can build private cloud elements on top of
Windows Server Hyper-V and manage them using Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self Service Portal 2.0. Or you can
obtain key communications and productivity services from Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite-Dedicated (BPOS-D).
Key services in the cloud
To address specific government or business requirements, Microsoft offers several versions of the integrated suite of communication and
collaboration services, Business Productivity Online Services, including BPOS-Federal, BPOS-Dedicated, and BPOS-Standard, as well as our next
generation of Microsoft Online Services, Office 365.

9. HOW MICROSOFT
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
CAN HELP
Whether you choose to create your own private cloud on-premises or have a partner
host your private cloud, Microsoft can help. Microsoft provides a familiar and consis-
tent platform across physical, virtual, private, and public cloud environments so you
can use the investments and skill sets you already have while taking advantage of the
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new value the cloud offers.
Your agency may already have a number of the technologies you need to get started.
Contact us to learn how our cloud services assessment can help you identify cloud
workloads and start planning on a private cloud.
LEARN MORE: www.microsoft.com/govcloud
Microsoft in the cloud
Microsoft solutions for private cloud computing, built on Windows Server, Hyper-V, and
System Center, are a key part of our approach to cloud computing, enabling you to build
out a dedicated cloud environment to transform the way your team delivers IT services to
the organization.
Our extensive network of service provider partners is also available to help you move to a
cloud model. Today more than 70 providers offer both private and public cloud services
based on our platform.
Find a partner
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http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/en/us/partners.aspx

10. FOR MORE
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
• See Cloud computing for government at www.microsoft.com/govcloud.
• Visit the Microsoft Office 365 website at www.microsoft.com/government/office365.
• See the Online Security webpage, including the white paper Securing Microsoft’s
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Cloud Infrastructure, at www.globalfoundationservices.com/security/.
• Get security guidance for government at www.microsoft.com/govsecurity.
• Set up a pilot program to test Microsoft Online Services in your organization
at www.microsoft.com/online.
• See the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite for government webpage
at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/products/bpos/default.aspx.
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11. FOOTNOTES
CLOUD BASICS: CHAPTER SEVEN
MICROSOFT U.S. GOVERNMENT
i
Kenyon, Henry. “DISA to offer storage, Office apps via its private cloud.” Private Cloud. June 17, 2010.
http://www.privatecloud.com/2010/06/25/disa-to-offer-storage-office-apps-via-its-private-
cloud/?fbid=lBe1rvf29oY
ii
“USDA moves 120,000 users to Microsoft’s cloud.” Microsoft press release. December 8, 2010.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2010/dec10/12-08usda.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Windows-Azure/Lockheed-Martin/Lockheed-Martin-
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iii
Merges-Cloud-Agility-with-Premises-Control-to-Meet-Customer-Needs/4000007971
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12. http://www.microsoft.com/govcloud
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