Underlying technology is essentially transparent to the end user in the cloud computing model. The selection of components is left to the cloud service provider and largely depends on functionality, service levels, and costs. For an enterprise service, it is also imperative to address the key concerns of security and availability.
To best meet those requirements, the IBM Smart Analytics Cloud is built upon two key building blocks:
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence software (IBM Cognos 8 BI)
IBM System z platform
IBM Cognos 8 BI is a proven and powerful product that provides a complete range of business intelligence and analytics capabilities, including reporting, analysis, scorecards, and dashboards. As shown in Figure 2-1 on page 14, IBM Cognos 8 BI services can be accessed through various ways, including Web 2.0 interfaces, a desktop office product, and smart mobile devices. System z provides industry-leading virtualization, disaster recovery, security, resiliency, and scalability. These are the same building blocks that are used in the IBM internal Blue Insight private cloud. Blue Insight runs on a System z and uses cryptographic hardware accelerators to handle up to 10,000 secure transactions per second.
Figure 2-1 Core components of the Smart Analytics Cloud
2.1 Why System z
Cloud computing might be a relatively recent term, but key elements, such as the concept of virtualization and timesharing, have been around for decades. Developed and enhanced over many years, System z showcases the industry's most robust and mature virtualization environment. In addition, many of System z's core strengths are now finding direct application to a private cloud
environment. Availability, scalability, and security are key technologies in a private cloud and are also strengths of the System z platform.
In addition to increased capabilities, another key reason for selecting System z is decreased cost. If it seems paradoxical to associate System z with lower cost, take a step back and consider the larger total cost of ownership perspective. System z environments have the potential to consume less energy than distributed environments, decrease software license costs, lower network equipment costs, reduce real estate requirements, and require fewer
administrators. The economic downturn fueled a wave of consolidation and, of multiple consolidation alternatives, the combination of Linux and System z is one of the most compelling. The primary reason System z is a strong consolidation
IBM Cognos 8 BI
A broad range of BI capabilities
Search
Web Mobile Office
Reporting Analysis Dashboards
IBM System z
Centralize, Virtualize & Simplify the BI infrastructure Open, enterprise-class BI platform
platform is that its processor is architected to run effectively at near 100% utilization. Distributed architectures operate more effectively at lower utilization rates. Therefore, System z processors can fundamentally handle more workload per core, even at equal or lower clock frequencies than other processors. Platform selection is important. The Smart Analytics Cloud leverages System z as an underlying hardware technology to provide a private cloud service that is resilient, scalable, and secure.
See sections 5.3.2, “Description of the building blocks” on page 56 and 5.4, “Operational overview” on page 59, for an in depth discussion about the System z platform.
2.2 Cloud management
While the Smart Analytics Cloud is built using two core components, IBM Cognos 8 BI and System z, these pieces must be tied together and presented as a fluid and responsive computing service. Management functionality, which we refer to as cloud management in this book, is the glue that binds the cloud components together. Cloud management encompasses a set of tools, processes, and capabilities that provides services, for example, business intelligence and analytics services, to an end user.
The goal of cloud management is to reduce complexity through automation, business workflow, and resource abstraction, for example, a user wants an analytics environment to test a marketing model. The user, also known as the service requester, browses through an IT service catalog and submits a request for a test environment. A service manager approves and the cloud administrator sets up the remaining tasks. The steps can be completed in minutes instead of months and, just as important, are transparent to the end user. Cloud
management streamlines processes and can save weeks or months of time that it often takes to procure and configure hardware, operating systems,
applications, networks, and storage.
Multiple components and challenges must be considered when deciding to proceed with a Smart Analytics or other cloud solution. The key aspects include automation, provisioning, monitoring, security, capacity planning, and
onboarding. Onboarding is the process of installing and configuring the operating system and additional software on servers to meet end user requirements. Manual onboarding is a time and labor consuming and error-prone process. Automation of such processes presents an opportunity to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and get more value from a private cloud deployment.
Management tools and processes are vital to operating more complex virtualized cloud environments. Virtual resources must be managed so that virtual sprawl does not occur. You do not want to invest in virtualization only to learn that the management overhead offsets the savings. Proper architecture and
implementation of cloud management is critical for the success of a private cloud.
Actual architecture and implementation of cloud management is flexible and can be built to fit specific needs. Cloud management typically begins with
centralization and standardization tools and processes and progresses from there. The objective is to get people the information that they need to learn, react, and make better decisions. The evolution to cloud computing is just a start. The build out of services, such as Smart Analytics, better equips a business and creates more opportunities for revolutionary innovation.
Onboarding: Onboarding is the process of installing and configuring the operating system and additional software on servers to meet end user requirements.