For many of organizations, a server room is simply unnecessary. Thanks to the advent of Cloud Computing, all of your computational and storage needs can be reliably offloaded to safe, secure and resilient data center networks like Microsoft Azure. Even in cases where some on-premise computers are needed, a hybrid system can easily be developed where some servers are offloaded to the Cloud, while others stay on-premise.
At Advantage Technology, we’re experts in Cloud migration. We’ve been working with servers since the time they were all physical, and we’ve stayed in the know as the industry has shifted to virtualization and now to the Cloud. Migrating to the Cloud offers some incredible benefits, but you need to undertake it with great care, experience, and planning.
With that said, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of migrating to the Cloud.
Imagine paying for your computing needs the same way you pay for tap water. Turn on the faucet and you pay for the water you use. Turn it off, and you stop paying.
With on-premise servers, storage and switches, you pay for everything, including the electricity, whether you’re using the equipment or not. Compare that to a Cloud server, where you only pay as you need it. If you only need a server for eight hours a day, then you pay for eight hours of computing time.
Scale on demand
When you build a church, you build it for Christmas and Easter, not the other 50 Sundays out of the year. The same is true with your IT Infrastructure; it has to be built to handle capacity at the times of highest demand. Unfortunately, that means that the rest of the time, it’s just wasted.
Just as with pay as you go, you can scale as needed. Need more storage, bandwidth or CPU power for a day or two, just increase those resources for that short time, then go back to where you were when the increased demand is gone.
Increase Reliability
Even with all the technologies that have been invented to keep hardware running in catastrophic circumstances – like natural disaster or vandalism – the worst case scenario still happens. A simple hardware failure on a CPU fan can bring down your whole network.
A cloud server exists on a decentralized datacenter array that’s redundant and reliable. Even if there were something as catastrophic as an earthquake or volcanic eruption at one data center in the Cloud, your server would fail over to a different datacenter and never miss a beat.
When your server is in the basement, a busted water line could destroy everything.
Improve Security
Assuming your Cloud service provider is HIPAA compliant, a Cloud server offers more security than an on-premise server simply because there is no physical way to access it. Even if you are following good cybersecurity practices with the server, there is always the potential for a criminal to break a window access a physical server, something impossible with a Cloud server.
All of the standard cybersecurity practices that are associated with an on-premise server to prevent hackers also apply to a Cloud server. With the Cloud server’s configuration, you can do things like block ports, encrypt data and restrict access from specific regions or IP addresses.
Why Microsoft Azure?
Advantage Technology is a Microsoft Azure partner, and we stand behind their technology for a few key reasons. First, Azure is HIPAA compliant and will sign a Business Associate Agreement – a key requirement for healthcare institutions. Second, Azure has more global regions than any other cloud provider; there are more than 140 data centers located around the world which provides unprecedented capacity and security. And finally, Microsoft Azure has the best and most seamless hybrid experience that allows you to take advantage of the investments you’ve already made to unite your on-premise and cloud based applications and services.
If you’re looking to replace or upgrade a server, this is an excellent opportunity to look into migrating to the Cloud. Save money, improve security and rest easy knowing your server is backed by Microsoft technology. You can rely on Advantage Technology to help you with the transition. We can even do a free cost analysis based on your current server operations. Contact us today to get started.
For many of organizations, a server room is simply unnecessary. Thanks to the advent of Cloud Computing, all of your computational and storage needs can be reliably offloaded to safe, secure and resilient data center networks like Microsoft Azure. Even in cases where some on-premise computers are needed, a hybrid system can easily be developed where some servers are offloaded to the Cloud, while others stay on-premise.
At Advantage Technology, we’re experts in Cloud migration. We’ve been working with servers since the time they were all physical, and we’ve stayed in the know as the industry has shifted to virtualization and now to the Cloud. Migrating to the Cloud offers some incredible benefits, but you need to undertake it with great care, experience, and planning.
With that said, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of migrating to the Cloud.
Save money with pay-as-you-go IT Infrastructure
Imagine paying for your computing needs the same way you pay for tap water. Turn on the faucet and you pay for the water you use. Turn it off, and you stop paying.
With on-premise servers, storage and switches, you pay for everything, including the electricity, whether you’re using the equipment or not. Compare that to a Cloud server, where you only pay as you need it. If you only need a server for eight hours a day, then you pay for eight hours of computing time.
Scale on demand
When you build a church, you build it for Christmas and Easter, not the other 50 Sundays out of the year. The same is true with your IT Infrastructure; it has to be built to handle capacity at the times of highest demand. Unfortunately, that means that the rest of the time, it’s just wasted.
Just as with pay as you go, you can scale as needed. Need more storage, bandwidth or CPU power for a day or two, just increase those resources for that short time, then go back to where you were when the increased demand is gone.
Increase Reliability
Even with all the technologies that have been invented to keep hardware running in catastrophic circumstances – like natural disaster or vandalism – the worst case scenario still happens. A simple hardware failure on a CPU fan can bring down your whole network.
A cloud server exists on a decentralized datacenter array that’s redundant and reliable. Even if there were something as catastrophic as an earthquake or volcanic eruption at one data center in the Cloud, your server would fail over to a different datacenter and never miss a beat.
When your server is in the basement, a busted water line could destroy everything.
Improve Security
Assuming your Cloud service provider is HIPAA compliant, a Cloud server offers more security than an on-premise server simply because there is no physical way to access it. Even if you are following good cybersecurity practices with the server, there is always the potential for a criminal to break a window access a physical server, something impossible with a Cloud server.
All of the standard cybersecurity practices that are associated with an on-premise server to prevent hackers also apply to a Cloud server. With the Cloud server’s configuration, you can do things like block ports, encrypt data and restrict access from specific regions or IP addresses.
Why Microsoft Azure?
Advantage Technology is a Microsoft Azure partner, and we stand behind their technology for a few key reasons. First, Azure is HIPAA compliant and will sign a Business Associate Agreement – a key requirement for healthcare institutions. Second, Azure has more global regions than any other cloud provider; there are more than 140 data centers located around the world which provides unprecedented capacity and security. And finally, Microsoft Azure has the best and most seamless hybrid experience that allows you to take advantage of the investments you’ve already made to unite your on-premise and cloud based applications and services.
If you’re looking to replace or upgrade a server, this is an excellent opportunity to look into migrating to the Cloud. Save money, improve security and rest easy knowing your server is backed by Microsoft technology. You can rely on Advantage Technology to help you with the transition. We can even do a free cost analysis based on your current server operations. Contact us today to get started.