A private cloud is a cloud computing cluster that is used by one client only, rather than like the public cloud where the hosting environment is shared with other users. A private cloud can remove any concerns that you may have surrounding security as the client has the power to put their own security policies into place to protect their data. The efficiency of the private cloud is dependent on the software or hypervisor that is used on the hosting nodes to create the cloud hosting environment. For private cloud hosting, eUKhost offers a choice between its own eNlight platform and the VMWare platform so that clients can choose between a custom solution that can be adapted by eUKhost to meet a customer individual needs and an established solution that is used by large enterprises worldwide.
Features of the VMWare Platform
The VMWare Cloud is designed to deliver IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), so that additional modules can be provisioned as per the customer requirements to improve the functionality of the cloud. VMWare vCloud Director delivers cloud computing by combining virtual infrastructure resources into virtual data centres so that users can access them as a catalogue-based service. Virtualisation is provided by vSphere, with Operations and Management provided by vCenter, vShield offers Security and Compliance features, Chargeback takes control of resource reporting and billing, and vCloud monitors cloud consumption; all of these modules work together to deliver an integrated cloud environment that has had every aspect considered to deliver the highest levels of performance attainable.
Clients are able to control their VMWare private cloud using either the desktop vCloud application or through a web browser. This enables them to keep control of all VMs and resources no matter where they are so that capacity can be expanded even if they are not at the office. If the private cloud environment is running low on resources then arrangements can be made by eUKhost to introduce additional hardware to increase the capacity of your platform.
Features of the eNlight Platform
In comparison with the VMWare cloud, an eNlight private cloud is much more customisable and flexible with the client’s requirements. With the eNlight cloud there is an understanding that different businesses are going to have different hardware and software requirements and the components of the platform have been designed to reflect this. Creating virtual machines (VMs) that are running different operating systems is likely to be a need of all clients at some point and to make this process much more streamlined, the eNlight cloud supports multiple OS templates so that you can create VMs using a range of Linux distributions or Windows as the need arises.
If you rely on your website to provide you with a substantial percentage of your overall business then investing in a private cloud to support your crucial business applications could reap benefits in the long-term as the overall uptime of your website is improved as is the efficiency of your web operations. The client’s private eNlight cluster can be controlled from a single web-based control panel that clients can use to monitor their resource usage and allocate additional resource to VMs as the load on these increases. As the eNlight cloud has been developed in-house by eUKhost, it presents an affordable option for small businesses and is backed by full support from the team who designed the system.
eNlight is a very affordable cloud platform that allows for complete customisation of the underlying hardware as well as the software itself. Whereas with the VMWare cloud you are restricted with the hardware that you can use with the platform, eNlight allows for the whole solution to be tailored to the client’s needs. The VMWare platform offers a more reliable alternative and for larger companies that have big budgets, is going to be the preferred option as it is a proven and tested platform. eUKhost offers private clouds based on either VMWare or eNlight in reflection of varied customer requirements.