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
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
Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities 517-884-1915 120 Bessey Hall East Lansing, MI 48824-1033
