Hybrid cloud is very promising for companies that want to get the best, because they not only get modern cloud technology, but also save their investment in old infrastructure and operations. Similar to the standard cloud in general, network monitoring is also required in a hybrid cloud environment. Discover the best practices below!
What is a Hybrid Cloud Environment?
Hybrid cloud is blended computing where applications run using a combination of computing, services across multiple environments, both public cloud and private cloud, including local data centers or edge locations and storage. This approach is widespread because today hardly anyone is completely dependent on just one public cloud.
Hybrid cloud solutions allow users to migrate and manage workloads between various cloud environments, allowing users to create more versatile settings based on specific business needs. Many companies choose to adopt Hybrid Cloud to save costs, minimize risk and expand their capabilities to support digital transformation efforts.
The hybrid cloud environment approach is one of the most common infrastructure arrangements today. Cloud migrations often lead to hybrid cloud implementations because companies often have to move applications and data slowly and systematically.
Network Monitoring Best Practices in Hybrid Cloud Environments
In an effort to switch from one cloud to another, many companies find that their cloud monitoring tools are only compatible with one cloud vendor or several public cloud vendors, but cannot handle private clouds. Of course this creates a big problem for companies who want to gain comprehensive visibility of the system.
The following are best practices for hybrid cloud monitoring to get comprehensive visibility:
1. Separate and Monitor with Micro Services
To make the most of hybrid cloud, the applications that companies use must be agile enough to allow services to be moved between clouds. In terms of monitoring, microservices bring more detailed and in-depth visibility to each application layer.
Microservices allow companies to view services independently and their relationships with other services. Microservices separate applications from infrastructure and networks, and so on. Once an issue is identified, microservices make it easy to determine the root cause and even fix it.
For example, if there is an issue affecting users in one particular region. Then microservices can resolve that issue without affecting users in other regions.
2. Continuously Monitor across Public and Private Clouds
Hybrid cloud benefits workloads that require the security and exclusivity of a private cloud and that are best run in a public cloud. The key is knowing what to run where. Private clouds are ideal for applications that have specific requirements for compliance, performance, and security (or security that the public cloud cannot meet).
On the other hand, public clouds are perfect for applications built from scratch and for applications that require cloud burst capabilities. Some applications can be run on a combination of public and private cloud infrastructure. For example, a public cloud can be used to run applications because they are easily scalable to meet demand, and use a private cloud for data storage for an extra layer of security.
3. Unifying Infrastructure
Although hybrid clouds are inherently distributed, how distributed they are depends on the business requirements and preferred architecture. This affects how many cloud vendors make up the distribution of the hybrid cloud environment.
A company may prefer to use a mix of many cloud vendors and services. This is the best approach because companies will stop at nothing to get the perfect cloud experience. Network monitoring tools can help as companies become more adaptable to changing infrastructure requirements that change when changing clouds.
Another approach is to focus on one cloud vendor. The big three cloud vendors such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are ideal choices for this arrangement. All three have gone to great lengths to strengthen hybrid cloud offerings with their services called AWS Outposts, Azure Arc, and Google Anthos.
The above three services enable the creation and management of resources across cloud platforms. However, these services only provide basic monitoring. For the rest, it is necessary to use more robust network monitoring tools, especially those that provide in-depth and advanced monitoring capabilities.
4. Integrate Monitoring Tools
The hybrid cloud model consists of a mix of containers, virtual machines (VMs), and physical servers. There is a mix of traditional IT components and modern cloud native networking and storage to be monitored simultaneously. These components are best managed through policies rather than manual configuration.
The key to implementing and maintaining policies at all layers is monitoring. Robust monitoring tools are needed to collect all meaningful monitoring data from different sources, synthesize it, and extract meaningful insights.
By integrating monitoring tools, ad-hoc analysis is simplified for troubleshooting and day-to-day monitoring operations. Practically speaking, this integration allows users to input various metrics and view them within the same dashboard.
Most importantly, users should be able to do this within seconds, or at most within minutes. This speed is critical when an incident occurs. Having the right monitoring data and the ability to analyze it to identify the root cause is critical. Excellent monitoring tools are able to separate signals from actual disturbances and dampen false alerts.
5. Use Consistent Metrics Across Platforms
To effectively monitor hybrid cloud environments, focus on the following important metrics:
| Metrics | Description | Benefits |
| Latency | The time it takes for data to move between on-premises and the cloud | Identify connectivity issues |
| Availability | Application uptime across different environments | Ensuring Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance |
| Cost Efficiency | Resource usage costs across all infrastructure | Helps optimize spending |
| Resource Utilization | CPU, memory. and storage utilization across platforms | Assist in capacity planning |
Ensure consistent metrics by standardizing them across platforms. The trick is as follows:
- Define a common set of metrics for all systems
- Use the same unique measurements (e.g. GB for storage)
- Review and adjust metrics regularly as the environment changes.
Careful monitoring of hybrid cloud environment settings is helpful in detecting problems early and using resources wisely. It takes a reliable monitoring tool like Netmonk which has been trusted by more than 1000 companies in Indonesia. Find complete info on the Netmonk web now to get the best service!
