Technology Big Bets:
Cloud-Ready Infrastructure
Making the right infrastructure investments on data center
technology will help ready your data center for the cloud. Evaluate
each of the four technologies in this guide from the perspective
of your current data center capabilities and your future goals for
cloud computing. Then, choose which to utilize in your own data
centers or use them to evaluate vendors from which you plan to
buy. Keep in mind, though, that while individually these technologies
can contribute specific improvements to data center efficiency,
collectively they present new synergies that arise as computing,
networking, and storage converge.
The remainder of this guide provides considerations and
recommendations for the following technologies for
tomorrow’s cloud:
Unified networking
Scale-out storage
Trusted server pools
Policy-based power management
Intel Experience with Cloud-Ready Infrastructure
Intel IT has embarked on a multiyear project to move to a new
enterprise architecture for cloud computing.4 The plan calls for a
highly efficient, automated, and virtualized infrastructure to support
a private enterprise cloud for office and enterprise computing—and
also provide the foundation for further development and innovation.
Underlying Intel’s private cloud strategy is a plan to implement
the right technology to support these efforts. For example, Intel
IT has upgraded network architecture to optimize the data center
infrastructure and be able to respond faster to business needs.5
Another example: Intel IT has built protection into the hardware
in its server clusters to enhance security software solutions and
support compliance.6
4 Chalal, Sudip, et al. An Enterprise Private Cloud Architecture and Implementation Roadmap. IT@Intel (June 2010).
intel.com/content/www/us/en/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-private-cloud-roadmap-paper.html (PDF)
5 Ammann, Matt, et al. Upgrading Data Center Network Architecture to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. IT@Intel (January 2011).
intel.com/content/www/us/en/data-center-efficiency/intel-it-data-center-efficiency-upgrading-data-center-network-architecture-to-10-gigabit-ethernet-practices.html (PDF)
6 Evolution of Integrity Checking with Intel® Trusted Execution Technology: An Intel IT Perspective. IT@Intel (2010).
intel.com/content/www/us/en/pc-security/intel-it-security-trusted-execution-technology-paper.html (PDF)