Tag: hybrid cloud

Cloud computing has unleashed a whole host of innovation, on-demand usage and collaboration options that companies are looking to take advantage of. However, ‘cloud’ is not a one-click panacea.

The second annual Global Interconnection Index (the GXI), a market study published by Equinix, projects Interconnection Bandwidth will grow at a 98% CAGR between 2017 and 2021.[ii]  One of the key factors driving this bandwidth increase is the rise of multicloud and hybrid cloud infrastructures, which spur a greater demand for private interconnection between businesses and the Cloud and IT Provider ecosystem.

Individually connecting multiple clouds over traditional wide area networking (WAN) infrastructures is operationally complex and costly, resulting in unreliable cross-cloud application interaction and performance, as well as poor scalability, visibility and control. Also, managing increasing data volumes from the cloud can’t be solved by public internet offloading, since doing so increases latency and risk.

We are enabling private and secure hybrid cloud interconnection to VMware Cloud on AWS via Platform Equinix®. Users can establish multiple virtual private connections between on-premises vSphere environments and VMware Cloud on AWS using AWS Direct Connect and the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ (ECX Fabric™).

Cloud-based infrastructures and tools at your digital edge, along with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, augment what you need to scale IT resources and deliver applications and services to a distributed user base. Proximate interconnection to rich cloud ecosystems saves development and infrastructure costs and improves your product and service time to market.

When we talk to companies around the world, a common topic of discussion is the transformational nature of cloud technologies. In a very short time, the cloud has disrupted every aspect of how IT infrastructure, resources and software are deployed and managed. While there’s near-universal agreement on the economic benefits of this, it’s not all good news: In these discussions, the conversation invariably turns toward the growing challenges of cloud security management - in particular, the management of the encryption keys that are fundamental to cloud security.

The enterprise faces evolving challenges as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and tightening regulatory compliance continuously alter the digital landscape. The Equinix and Microsoft Azure Alliance has identified Azure hybrid and public cloud use cases that are in high demand by enterprise customers.

The cloud strategy you adopt—private, hybrid, public or multicloud—is a key factor in the decision as to which encryption key management strategy will work best for your enterprise. For best results, your key strategy should fit your long-term cloud strategy and should be applied consistently across your enterprise.

Enterprises should consider a vendor-neutral HSM-as-a-Service that provides the protection and a service level agreement (SLA) to effectively support the “shared-responsibility” model between cloud providers and their customers.

As you transition from on-premise computing to cloud computing, securing your data in the cloud is paramount. Since encryption is a preferred way to secure data, encryption key management is a critical concern. Cloud providers have responded to this need with two options: a hardware security module (HSM) or a key management service (KMS). Each approach features benefits and drawbacks.