Amazon Web Services (AWS) Databases Explained

Over the years, we have seen a shift from the concept of traditional IT, where a relational database was used for everything, to the public cloud. As the rate of generation and the demand for data continues to grow at an exponential rate, many businesses now face the challenge of not knowing how to cope with the rapid changes while having so much data at their disposal. Users that once dealt with Gigabytes (GBs) of data find themselves now having to learn how to work with Petabytes (PBs). This goes to show that in order for businesses to continue to excel, they need to remain proactive and evolve along with the ever-changing world of technology.

Since its launch in 2010, Microsoft Azure has gained popularity and trust with customers on a global scale. Azure is a public cloud offering that provides solutions for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). However, as with any cloud provider, there are concerns around security and breach issues (i.e., how safe is my data?), as the solutions are hosted in a cloud service provider (CSP) data center.

The AWS Well-Architected Framework is used by Cloud Architects to plan, migrate, transform, and operate their workloads on AWS. Migrating your applications and servers from Data Centers into the AWS Cloud requires a specific approach and is different for all clients. But thanks to the AWS Well-Architected Framework, here at ConvergeOne we have the necessary tools and knowledge to access your applications/servers’ environments and design solutions that use the Five Pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework. These five pillars should not only be used for cloud migrations. They are crucial points of consideration when designing in the cloud, applications, and even physical Data Centers. Below is a break down of the five pillars and some of the key important points to consider when migrating to the AWS Cloud:

Since the shift from the concept of traditional IT to the public cloud, there have been many new security services and cloud-native tools being implemented across all vertical industries to protect and govern the customer cloud environment. Cloud computing is evolving at an ever-increasing rate of change, but regulations and technology have not been keeping the same pace. Businesses trust the AWS cloud to secure their infrastructure so they can grow and evolve by accelerating innovation.

Recently, I was asked to speak about Public Cloud Services, and specifically, CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) during a training call. It was actually really good timing, because this has been a hot topic with vendors, partners, and customers. In those discussions, I find that there’s a lot of misconceptions about what CPaaS actually is. As mentioned, CPaaS stands for Communication Platform as a Service, but even that term can mislead you into thinking that it’s a much broader and more inclusive thing than it actually is.

As companies look to modernize their IT systems to compete in today’s digital world, cloud is the vehicle of choice to accelerate digital transformation. Just a few years ago, there was an idea that just getting to the cloud would provide all the answers, and we observed a hastened rush to the cloud that didn’t always prove out. The takeaway is that organizations should be taking the time to develop a comprehensive cloud strategy that addresses their specific business needs and ensures they are receiving the greatest possible value from their cloud investments.

Imagine this scenario: A Brazilian new-age clothing designer is looking to open a New York office to complement their São Paulo, Brazil, headquarters. The company has a lean IT staff and little experience supporting multinational locations. Further, the CTO is looking for security, switching, and wireless infrastructure that can be managed via a centralized, cloud-delivered dashboard. Finally, given the vicious and competitive nature of high-end clothing design, the CTO would like a solution that can help maintain the physical security of their environment.

For many years, organizations have taken a traditional approach to buying expensive hardware and storing it in rows of racks in a data center located somewhere in the world. However, in 2006, Amazon launched a subsidiary called Amazon Web Services (AWS), which completely changed the future of IT Infrastructure. It began the transition away from the traditional approach of expensive data centers with high power and cooling, hands and feet, and all the hardware expense, to a cloud-based model where the cloud service provider has multiple data centers in a particular region that offer high availability (HA), with dedicated or non-dedicated servers, storage, networking, and many other services and features.

End-User Computing (EUC) refers to computer systems, platforms, and applications that are delivered via network connectivity (or internet) to an end user. EUC has been around for many years, with the customer usually having to buy expensive hardware like servers and storage to stand up the EUC environment.

Many vendors are pushing customers to move to subscription licensing models, so I thought it would be helpful to explore why subscription licensing is not only inevitable, but also very beneficial for everyone involved.

A lot of it has to do with adopting more of the benefits of cloud—without having to adopt a full cloud infrastructure or prepare for your migration to the cloud. Even the on-premises deployments of modern Unified Communications (UC) or Customer Experience (CX) solutions have already adopted many of the characteristics of cloud, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology: