Thank you for your reflections, Troy. What about pricing? The last time I checked it out, ATS had sort of priced itself out of the market; my boss just laughed and shook his head. But perhaps that has been rethought.
Kim Geiger
Broadcasting/College of Communication Arts & Sciences
>>> On 3/26/2012 at 9:55 AM, Troy D Murray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Al,
>
> I'm not using the co-location services of AIS, I mean IT Services, but I'm
> using the self-hosted virtualization offering. I would imagine that you work
> through a similar process with using both service offerings, although in the
> end you're moving physical hardware instead of moving or creating virtual
> hardware like I did.
>
> Initially I wanted to know how using their virtualization servers and
> network would work and perform. I contacted the department and was able to
> have a short meeting with them to discuss this. The next day Ed Z created a
> virtual server so I could test things out. I used that for some testing over
> a month or so while I made sure that this was the direction I wanted to go.
>
> Next, I contacted IT Services to discuss moving my systems over. They
> arranged a meeting with people from the networking, network security,
> virtualization, backup teams/groups and a few others. I explained to them
> what I need (servers, network, firewalls, configuration, etc), they asked
> questions, we had a discussion, we made some decisions, and I walked out with
> a timeline of when I could start.
>
> To answer your specific questions, our network performance has been very
> good. Our web applications are running faster on their virtual hardware then
> the physical hardware we had locally in the labs. The network team carved
> out some IP address that are public facing, but also a few other "private"
> addresses for using their backup services or just my server to my server
> communication. They made use of the virtual switch and some VLAN's to tag my
> traffic as well, and we were able to use two virtual firewalls.
>
> To be honest, at first it was somewhat intimidating to me to work with the
> network security guys. Their technical knowledge in this area exceeds my
> own. However we were able to accomplish what we needed and have a working
> solution. I had to remind myself a few times that their questions weren't
> meant to be intrusive or questioning my technical knowledge or even the
> validity of the needs, but trying to ascertain what they needed to accomplish
> in their work so that I had what I needed. Truth be told, afterward I felt
> this was beneficial as it helped me to reaffirm the decisions and final
> design of things.
>
> Finally, I was a little nervous about moving my servers over as I felt like
> I was "giving up" a measure of control and a little "job security" by doing
> so. However I knew trying to re-create what they already had in place wasn't
> economically feasible nor could I have access to it as quickly. In the end,
> I find I have more time to work on other projects that I find more
> interesting then having to manage hardware and networking.
>
> Maybe this helps answer some of your questions. If not, the delete button
> is right there. :)
>
> Troy Murray
> Michigan State University
> College of Medicine
> Life Science
> 1355 Bogue St, B-136D
> East Lansing, MI 48824
> E: [log in to unmask]
> P: 517-432-2760
> F: 517-355-7254
> RedHat 5 Certified Technician
> RedHat 5 Certified Systems Administrator
> HL7 V2.6/2.5 Certified Control Specialist
>
>
>
> On Mar 26, 2012, at 8:30 AM, Al Puzzuoli wrote:
>
>> I am curious as to experiences folks have had using this service. How is the
> network performance? What happens in terms of network / firewall
> configuration? Is that managed by AIS as well? Also, I assume We could put
> the bulk of our servers at AIS, but also maintain a NAS and backup PC to run
> virtual machines from our office In case of AIS downtime?
>> Are there any aspects of the service you have found inconvenient or
> limiting?
>> Thanks for any info,
>>
>> Al Puzzuoli
>> Michigan State University
>> Information Technologist
> http://www.rcpd.msu.edu
>> Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities 517-884-1915 120 Bessey Hall
> East Lansing, MI 48824-1033
>>
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