Amazon had recently launched the Spot Instances functionality to its EC2 Public Cloud. This allows Amazon to auction the unused compute capacity in its Datacenter. Just got a chance to dig a bit deeper (thanks to our IT Admin) into the Spot Instances Model. Whenever you instantiate a Spot Instance, you can specify the following parameters:
1. The max price for the instance
2. The duration in which to keep the instance running
3. Persistance - Will restart the instance even if it was terminated because of a lesser bid price.
Based on the Supply and Demand (not sure how the algo functions though), Amazon calculates the Spot Price at regular intervals and as long as my quoted max price is more than the spot price, my instance keeps running - and I get billed only for the Spot Price. Based on current price history, the spot price is usually 2-3 times cheaper than the normal instances - the only catch being that the uptime of you VMs is not guaranteed - can be terminated if the bid price is lesser.
On the surface this sounds like a cool billing model from Amazon - specially suited for compute intensive number crunching workloads. But on digging a bit deeper, if I can set a REALLY HIGH max price, say $1 per hour, then my VM is guaranteed to run always, and I get billed only for the spot price - ie 2 to 3 times lesser. Would that encourage everyone (ppl using the normal instances too) to move to spot instances, thereby reducing the revenue for Amazon?
I guess, as more ppl migrate to spot instances, that would increase the spot instance price to go greater than the normal instance price. But yet, I believe that atleast in the mid term, if more ppl realize the benefits of spot instance and migrate to it, Amazon's Smart move to rent out its unused compute capacity can backfire!!!
Your thoughts???
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Enabling the Dynamic Datacenter - Virtualization, Automation and Orchestration
Dynamic Datacenter technologies have shown significant improvement in maturity and adoption levels over the years. With the screws tightened on the IT budgets, CIOs are looking for ways to optimize their existing resource usage to meet their growing customer needs - in short they are looking for dynamic datacenter technologies (or building a private cloud). The three main pillars for building any dyanmic datacenter include - Virtualization, Auomation and Orchestration. In this post, we will discuss how the top software vendors have built solutions around the three pillars to enable the dynamic datacenter vision.
VMware:
VMware has been the undisputed leader in the virtualization space and is keen on expanding that to the Private/Public Cloud space too. So far VMware has got the most comprehensive vision to start with Dynamic Datacenter (Private Cloud) and gradually transition to Public Clouds as they start maturing. The slew of Products/partnerships that VMware has released include:
Infrastructure Virtualization : vCenter Server, vCenter CapacityIQ for fine tuning, VCE VBlocks (in partnership with Cisco and EMC)
Automation : vCenter LabManager, vCenter Lifecycle Manager
Orchestration : vCenter Orchestrator
VMware also offers Professional Services around Cloudifying your on-premise datacenter and designing strategies to adopt the Public Clouds.
Microsoft:
Microsoft, as usual, has been a late entrant to the Virtualization space and it's Hyper-V platform doesn't seem to have picked up yet - even after the R2 release. However MS has been quick to show how Hyper-V along with its rich System Center Suite can be leveraged to build your Dynamic Datacenter. The Dynamic Datacenter toolkit has the best practices to achieve this.
For MS, a lot is going to depend on the success of its Azure platform . If MS can deliver a stable and scalable Azure platform, that would speak volumes about the maturity and stability and scalability of the MS solutions. Till then - it's just Wait and Watch.
Citrix:
Citrix has gained traction over the past year with the free XenServer release and the Citrix Essentials Suite providing the automation (LabManager OEM'd from VMLogix) and orchestration ( Workflow Studio ) tools on top of the Virtualization layer. Citrix has also open sourced XenServer to attract the Cloud Service Providers. But the key area of Citrix's dominance has been Application Delivery. The Citrix Delivery Centre comprising of XenDesktop, XenApp, XenServer and Netscaler can securely and optimally deliver both Web and Desktop based applications. Citrix has also launched Virtual Appliances for its Application Delivery Controllers - Netscaler VPX - to enable flexible and automated provisioning. Will be good to see if Citrix can extend its dominance in the Application Delivery market to the Server Virtualization space too - with the Free, OpenSource XenServer.
That adds the fourth pillar to the Dynamic Datacenter story - which is Application Delivery.
The Verdict:
Based on various factors, here's the leader in each of the Dynamic Datacenter technology pieces:
Virtualization - VMware vSphere and Citrix XenServer
Though VMware would win hands down based on technology, the cost factor weights heavily in favor of XenServer. A mix of both is going to be a reality in the future.
Automation - VMLogix LabManager
The winner in this space primarily because it supports both VMware and Citrix Virtualization technologies (and MS Hyper-V too). Also has a bit of Orchestration built in it too.
Orchestration - ????
No clear winner here. Still a nascent technology and hoping some Startup can delivery some really interesting products here.
Application Delivery - Citrix Delivery Center
Citrix wins this category hands down. However some credit also goes to the F5 BIG-IP Product specifically in delivering Web Applications. But F5 still doesn't have a Virtual Appliance version of its product.
Of course, this space is set to dramatically change when VMware launches the much awaited vCloud platform. Interesting year ahead!!!
PS: All info in this post are totally my personal views only and have no bindings on my employer whoever that may be!!!
VMware:
VMware has been the undisputed leader in the virtualization space and is keen on expanding that to the Private/Public Cloud space too. So far VMware has got the most comprehensive vision to start with Dynamic Datacenter (Private Cloud) and gradually transition to Public Clouds as they start maturing. The slew of Products/partnerships that VMware has released include:
Infrastructure Virtualization : vCenter Server, vCenter CapacityIQ for fine tuning, VCE VBlocks (in partnership with Cisco and EMC)
Automation : vCenter LabManager, vCenter Lifecycle Manager
Orchestration : vCenter Orchestrator
VMware also offers Professional Services around Cloudifying your on-premise datacenter and designing strategies to adopt the Public Clouds.
Microsoft:
Microsoft, as usual, has been a late entrant to the Virtualization space and it's Hyper-V platform doesn't seem to have picked up yet - even after the R2 release. However MS has been quick to show how Hyper-V along with its rich System Center Suite can be leveraged to build your Dynamic Datacenter. The Dynamic Datacenter toolkit has the best practices to achieve this.
For MS, a lot is going to depend on the success of its Azure platform . If MS can deliver a stable and scalable Azure platform, that would speak volumes about the maturity and stability and scalability of the MS solutions. Till then - it's just Wait and Watch.
Citrix:
Citrix has gained traction over the past year with the free XenServer release and the Citrix Essentials Suite providing the automation (LabManager OEM'd from VMLogix) and orchestration ( Workflow Studio ) tools on top of the Virtualization layer. Citrix has also open sourced XenServer to attract the Cloud Service Providers. But the key area of Citrix's dominance has been Application Delivery. The Citrix Delivery Centre comprising of XenDesktop, XenApp, XenServer and Netscaler can securely and optimally deliver both Web and Desktop based applications. Citrix has also launched Virtual Appliances for its Application Delivery Controllers - Netscaler VPX - to enable flexible and automated provisioning. Will be good to see if Citrix can extend its dominance in the Application Delivery market to the Server Virtualization space too - with the Free, OpenSource XenServer.
That adds the fourth pillar to the Dynamic Datacenter story - which is Application Delivery.
The Verdict:
Based on various factors, here's the leader in each of the Dynamic Datacenter technology pieces:
Virtualization - VMware vSphere and Citrix XenServer
Though VMware would win hands down based on technology, the cost factor weights heavily in favor of XenServer. A mix of both is going to be a reality in the future.
Automation - VMLogix LabManager
The winner in this space primarily because it supports both VMware and Citrix Virtualization technologies (and MS Hyper-V too). Also has a bit of Orchestration built in it too.
Orchestration - ????
No clear winner here. Still a nascent technology and hoping some Startup can delivery some really interesting products here.
Application Delivery - Citrix Delivery Center
Citrix wins this category hands down. However some credit also goes to the F5 BIG-IP Product specifically in delivering Web Applications. But F5 still doesn't have a Virtual Appliance version of its product.
Of course, this space is set to dramatically change when VMware launches the much awaited vCloud platform. Interesting year ahead!!!
PS: All info in this post are totally my personal views only and have no bindings on my employer whoever that may be!!!
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