The Cloud on Your Terms Part 15 of 30 Hybrid for Private Cloud

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If you remember back to part 2 of this 30 part series, we defined Hybrid Cloud as just about anything you want it to do, it’s really a combination of Public, Private, or Traditional IT.

When we think about Private Cloud and combined with Traditional IT it makes logical combination.  Many IT shops have embraced Virtualization as their current IT solution.  Private Cloud is new compared to Public Cloud. But in most cases Private Cloud means taking that internal IT infrastructure to the next level, both in self service, and flexibility and automation.  Very few companies are ready to go 100% Private Cloud.  The question is how do you combine your traditional IT infrastructure with your new Private Cloud.

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With this in mind, you need to think about Security and authentication as you move from traditional IT to the Cloud.  If you aren’t already using Active Directory, now would be the time to deploy it across your networks so you are ready to manage access across your systems.  You can extend your Active Directory with ADFS (Active Directory Federated Services) to allow you to work with partners and vendors that you want to share your security with.

In our ebook Cloud Power, they talk about Hybrid, as a great entry point for you to work with the cloud.  It’s about deciding what part of your infrastructure you want to start with and make it work with Private Cloud and integrate with the rest of your network.This is a great proof of concept before deciding to move more things into the Cloud.

Another area of Hybrid to discuss in this space is working with public solutions like Windows Azure.  There is a new feature coming with Azure called “Connect”. This will be part of the Azure Virtual Network, More information at https://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/features/virtualnetwork/  This product isn’t available yet, we are testing it with many customers in our CTP program.

Yet more things to think about when considering Hybrid, Management of both parts of your solution, our System Center Application controller has a new download for Monitoring pack for Windows Azure applications. That download is available here: https://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11324