最近，在 The Uptime 机构的一个专题报告会上，McKinsey & Company 发表了一篇关于云计算的研究。该机构一直致力于为企业数据中心工业提供支持。我们跟 McKinsey 在帮助 IT 产业深入理解云计算上可以说是志同道合。所以我们希望加入 Appiro 及其他公司发起的关于大企业在云计算中扮演何种角色的讨论中去。
业内有许多关于大公司依据虚拟化之类的概念建造一个“私有云”的说法，而且如此做法大有裨益。不过如果客户转而使用 Google、Amazon、Salesfarce.com 或很快，Microsoft 提供的可拓展数据中心上的应用程序的话，前面提到的所谓优势将大大放大。以此模式，客户能够在硬件技术支持、分布式软件技术和为云而造、让云为你而跑的应用程序三者之间找到平衡点。这能提供更便宜的应用程序，避免让许多组织抓狂的 IT 维护负担。它还允许客户更快地服务于他们的用户。
我们以为我们可以提供一些见解，当我们说“云计算”的时候我们到底指的是什么、为啥它能凭借它在耗费与创新等优势勾引到成千上万的大大小小的公司 ——从 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment to Genentech. 我们从头到脚打造了一个经过优化的系统：从廉价硬件着手、加上可靠的可拓展的软件技术、提供富有革命性的应用程序、然后每天都试着让整个更好。虽然 McKinsey 只从硬件上节约云的耗费的角度着手研究，但是在前面提到的所有技术里头，都有客户能够获利的空间。
硬件结构
从零部件开始。我们为千万计的用户提供服务，所以我们打造过可拓展的、跑的灰常有效的硬件结构。从以下三个方面考虑数据中心的设计：服务器设计、能源效率、操作的拓展能力。
在基于虚拟化的内部数据中心中，一个公司拿到一个服务器、把它分成几个服务来提供效率。我们做的事情恰恰相反，我们将大量的鹾机搞到一起弄成一台超级计算机。我们只摘取必须的部分，因此不必为不需要的东西买单。比如，我们的服务器不需要显卡。
另外，企业硬件组件需要被设计得可靠，但是不可能100%可靠，所以企业花掉大量的时间和金钱来维护。于此相反，我们接受硬件要挂的事实，并在软件中进行设计来寻求可靠性。当硬件确实挂掉的时候，客户们就被转到另一台服务器上去。这让我们能够在使用龊机、内置存储之余，还能再省一笔。我们将系统设计得易于修理，一旦挂掉，包扎一下就能重回战场。
一般而言，公司们过去都专注于使用大型、高度可靠的硬件来跑数据库和大型的后台系统。但是该策略有显著的消耗。例如，一个 4核、600GB 告诉 SCSI 硬盘、16GB 内存的机器是一台比它便宜些的 SATA 硬盘、是它四分之一大小的系统的价格的 8倍。因为零部件的价格随着它的型别与可靠程度爆炸性增长。将可靠性放到软件中考量，我们能够使用一个便宜的多的硬件平台并且还能有同样的可靠性。
服务器设计之余，在能源与冷却的角度我们也做了所有可能让服务器和数据中心更有效的事情。看看我们如何设计我们的数据中心以求能源效率的吧。电力使用效率（Power Usage Effectiveness, PUE）是个度量数据中心有效性的业界标准参数。我们最近了解到我们的数据中心的平均能效比 EPA 预测的最先进的 2011 年的数据中心的能效还要牛掰。换句话说，我们提早三年打败了 EPA 的最佳情况，并且没有使用 EPA 报告中认为必要的什么精良的硬件架构。我们从服务的每一层，从服务优化到网络，进行考量，从而取得了这一成就。
最后，我们可拓展地操作，从而驱动可拓展的经济。仅凭管理上千台服务器、让它们形同一体，我们就能够大大节约管理开支、共用许多类型的资源。用户们也能在我们提供的低价格上得到好处。
但是，最重要的是对我们客户，整个架构是由我们管理，因为他们不再需要去做同样的事情。根据 Gartner，一个典型的 IT 部门将他们 80% 的预算都放到电力上。这妨碍了他们为自己的业务带来变化和增长。现实是，绝大多数生意人并不能通过维护自己的数据中心以取得富有竞争力的优势。我们担起这一重任并将它作为自己的核心业务，进而让客户们解放出来。
不翻了，干活去了。
Software Infrastructure
While most discussions of cloud computing and data center design take place at the hardware level, we offer a set of scalable services that customers would otherwise have to maintain themselves in a virtualization model. For example, if a company wanted to implement a typical three tier system in the cloud using virtualization, they would have to build, install, and maintain software to run the database, app server, and web server. This would require them to spend time and money to acquire the licenses, maintain system uptime, and implement patches.
In contrast, with a service like Google App Engine, customers get access to the same scalable application server and database that Google uses for its own applications. This means customers don’t have to worry about purchasing, installing, maintaining, and scaling their own databases and app servers. All a customer has to do is deploy code, and we take care of the rest. You only pay for what you need, and, with App Engine’s free quota, you often don’t pay anything at all.
A great example of software infrastructure that scales is the recent online town hall meeting held by President Obama. The White House was able to instantly scale its database to support more than 100,000 questions and in excess of 3.5 million votes, without worrying about usage spikes that typically would be tough to manage. Because of the cloud, there was no need to provision extra servers to handle the increased demand or forecast demand ahead of time.
Applications
Beyond the underlying hardware and software design, what attracts many customers to the cloud is application outsourcing.
There is limited value to running an Exchange Server in a virtual machine in the cloud. That server was never designed for the cloud, so you don’t get additional scale. You’d also need to continue to maintain and monitor the mail server yourself, so the labor savings are marginal. But with cloud-based applications like Gmail, we take care of all of the hassle for you. We keep the application up and running, and have designed it to scale easily. All of this provides an application that is roughly less than 1/3 the cost of a privately hosted mail system, has 100x the typical storage, and innovates much faster.
Innovation
While the cost advantages of cloud computing can be great, there’s another advantage that in many ways is more important: the rapid pace of innovation. IT systems are typically slow to evolve. In the virtualization model, businesses still need to run packaged software and endure the associated burden. They only receive major feature enhancements every 2-3 years, and in the meantime they have to endure the monthly patch cycle and painful system-wide upgrades. In our model, we can deliver innovation quickly without IT admins needing to manage upgrades themselves. For example, with Google Apps, we delivered more than 60 new features over the last year with only optional admin intervention.
The era of delayed gratification is over – the Internet allows innovations to be delivered as a constant flow that incorporates user needs, offers faster cycles for IT, and enables integration with systems that were not previously possible. This makes major upgrades a thing of the past, and gives the customer greater and greater value for their money.
As companies weigh private data centers vs. scalable clouds, they should ask a simple question: can I find the same economics, ease of maintenance, and pace of innovation that is inherent in the cloud?
Posted by Rajen Sheth, Senior Product Manager, Google Apps