Private Cloud (Internal Cloud or Corporate Cloud)
Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture. Unlike public clouds, which deliver services to multiple organizations, a private cloud is dedicated to the needs and goals of a single organization.
As a result, private cloud is best for businesses with dynamic or unpredictable computing needs that require direct...
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Cloud Orchestration (Cloud Orchestrator)
Cloud Orchestration (Cloud Orchestrator)
Cloud orchestration is the use of programming technology to manage the interconnections and interactions among workloads on public and private cloud infrastructure. It connects automated tasks into a cohesive workflow to accomplish a goal, with permissions oversight and policy enforcement.
Cloud orchestration is typically used to provision, deploy or start servers; acquire and assign storage capacity; manage networking; create VMs; and gain acce...
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IT Automation Definition
IT Automation
IT automation is the use of instructions to create a repeated process that replaces an IT professional's manual work in data centers and cloud deployments. Software tools, frameworks and appliances conduct the tasks with minimum administrator intervention. The scope of IT automation ranges from single actions to discrete sequences and, ultimately, to an autonomous IT deployment that takes actions based on user behavior and other event triggers.
IT automation is differen...
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Backup Definition
Backup Definition
Backup refers to the copying of physical or virtual files or databases to a secondary site for preservation in case of equipment failure or other catastrophe. The process of backing up data is pivotal to a successful disaster recovery (DR) plan.
What is backup and recovery?
Enterprises back up data they deem to be vulnerable in the event of buggy software, data corruption, hardware failure, malicious hacking, user error or other unforeseen events. Backups capture a...
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Hypervisor Definition
Hypervisor Definition
A hypervisor is a function which abstracts -- isolates -- operating systems and applications from the underlying computer hardware. This abstraction allows the underlying host machine hardware to independently operate one or more virtual machines as guests, allowing multiple guest VMs to effectively share the system's physical compute resources, such as processor cycles, memory space, network bandwidth and so on. A hypervisor is sometimes also called a virtual machine ...
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Cloud Service Provider (Cloud Provider)
Cloud Service Provider (Cloud Provider)
A cloud service provider, or CSP, is a company that offers some component of cloud computing -- typically infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS) or platform as a service (PaaS) -- to other businesses or individuals.
Types of cloud service providers
Customers will purchase an increasing variety of services from cloud service providers today. As mentioned above, the most common categories of cloud-based services include IaaS,...
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On-Demand Computing
on-demand computing
On-demand (OD) computing is an increasingly popular enterprise model in which computing resources are made available to the user as needed. The resources may be maintained within the user's enterprise, or made available by a service provider.
The on-demand model was developed to overcome the common challenge to an enterprise of being able to meet fluctuating demands efficiently. Because an enterprise's demand on computing resources can vary drastically from one time t...
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Application Service Provider (ASP)
application service provider (ASP)
An application service provider (ASP) is a company that offers individuals or enterprises access over the Internet to applications and related services that would otherwise have to be located in their own personal or enterprise computers. Sometimes referred to as "apps-on-tap," ASP services are expected to become an important alternative, not only for smaller companies with low budgets for information technology, but also for larger companies as a ...
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Service-Level Agreement (SLA)
Service-Level Agreement (SLA)
A service-level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service provider and its internal or external customers that documents what services the provider will furnish and defines the service standards the provider is obligated to meet.
Why are SLAs important?
Service providers need SLAs to help them manage customer expectations and define the circumstances under which they are not liable for outages or performance issues. Customers can also benefit from S...
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Patch Management Definition
Patch Management Definition
Patch management is an area of systems management that involves acquiring, testing, and installing multiple patches (code changes) to an administered computer system. Patch management tasks include: maintaining current knowledge of available patches, deciding what patches are appropriate for particular systems, ensuring that patches are installed properly, testing systems after installation, and documenting all associated procedures, such as specific configurations...
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