What is cloud bursting? In the current digital era, business scope and requirements are changing rapidly. Technology is also constantly improving to adapt to this change. Cloud computing is one such technology that has opened a new horizon in the business world. One advanced technique in cloud computing is cloud bursting.
What is cloud bursting?
Cloud bursting is a hybrid cloud model in which an application initially runs in a private cloud or on-premises data center. When the demand for computing power suddenly increases, it uses the resources of the public cloud to handle the additional workload. That is, when the capacity of the private cloud is exhausted, the public cloud is automatically used. When the demand decreases, it returns to the previous state.
Let’s understand this with the example of a shop. Suppose you have a small shop where many customers come daily. But suddenly, the number of customers has increased significantly due to festivals or special offers. Now, it is impossible to provide space to many customers in your small shop or meet their needs. In this situation, if you rent a large space next door for some time, increase your shop’s efficiency, and return to your shop when the crowd decreases, then that strategy is like cloud bursting.
Here, your own shop is the private cloud, and the rented large space is the public cloud. In this model, you use the public cloud’s resources only for the time of additional demand and pay for them.
How does cloud bursting work?
The cloud bursting process is completed in several steps and has a specific architecture behind it.
Working process:
1. Initial setup: Applications and data are initially hosted in a private cloud or the organization’s data center. This environment is designed to handle the daily workload of the organization.
2. Resource monitoring: An automated monitoring tool continuously monitors the application’s performance and resource usage (e.g., CPU, memory, and network traffic).
3. Trigger setting: A specific threshold or limit is set in advance. For example, if the CPU usage exceeds 90%, the cloud bursting process will start.
4. Bursting: When the monitoring tool detects resource usage has exceeded a specified threshold, it automatically launches additional computing resources (e.g., virtual machines, containers) in the public cloud.
5. Load Balancing: A load balancer divides incoming traffic between the private and public clouds so that no one environment is overloaded and users receive uninterrupted service.
6. Fallback: When the application load decreases and resource usage drops below the normal threshold, the additional resources used in the public cloud are automatically shut down, eliminating unnecessary costs.
Architectural Components:
- Private Cloud/On-Premises Data Center: This is the core infrastructure where the application runs normally.
- Public Cloud: This is the supporting infrastructure to meet the additional demand. (Examples: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
- Cloud bursting software/tool manages the connection, resource monitoring, and automatic scaling process between private and public clouds.
- Load balancer: It distributes traffic evenly between the two environments.
- High-speed network connection: A stable and high-speed network connection is essential for fast data exchange between private and public clouds.
Benefits of Cloud Bursting
The cloud bursting model is becoming popular with businesses worldwide for several reasons. Its main benefits are:
Cost savings
This is the biggest benefit of cloud bursting. Organizations do not have to build expensive infrastructure, constantly considering peak demand all the time. They maintain the infrastructure only for their average demand and use the ‘Pay-as-you-go’ public cloud model during peak demand. This results in a significant reduction in Capital Expenditure (CapEx).
Flexibility and Scalability
Business demands can increase or decrease at any time. Cloud bursting provides tremendous flexibility to adapt to these changes. It gives organizations access to almost unlimited computing resources, which helps them grow quickly and cope with any situation.
Uninterrupted Service
When a web application or service goes down, a sudden spike in traffic can be a huge loss for a business. Cloud Bursting automatically handles the additional workload so users can continue receiving services without any issues. This helps maintain business reputation and customer satisfaction.
Data Security and Control
Security and privacy are paramount for organizations that work with sensitive data. In the cloud bursting model, sensitive data and core applications can be securely stored in a private cloud. Only less sensitive tasks are sent to the public cloud when necessary, ensuring that security is not compromised.
Disaster Recovery
Cloud Bursting can also be used as an effective disaster recovery strategy. If a problem occurs in the private cloud, the application can be quickly migrated to the public cloud and maintained as business continuity.
Cloud Bursting Usage Areas
Cloud bursting is very useful in various industries and for multiple types of applications. Some notable areas are:
- E-commerce and Retail: Traffic on e-commerce sites increases during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or festivals. Cloud bursting can easily handle this additional traffic.
- Media and Entertainment: Movie rendering, live streaming, or online gaming platforms suddenly require high computing power. Cloud bursting is an ideal solution in all these cases.
- Healthcare: Healthcare organizations may experience a sudden increase in demand for patient data analysis or telemedicine services, as seen during the pandemic. Cloud bursting helps meet this additional demand.
- Research and Data Analysis: Tasks such as scientific research, genomic sequencing, or big data analytics require a lot of computing power that may be needed for a short period. Cloud bursting makes it accessible to researchers.
- Software development and testing: Developers often need to run multiple virtual machines for short periods during software testing. Using cloud bursting, they can easily do this and shut down the resources when they are done.
Challenges and Solutions of Cloud Bursting
While cloud bursting offers many benefits, there are also some challenges in its implementation.
- Security Risks: Security can be a major concern when transferring data to the public cloud. Data encryption, virtual private networks (VPNs), and strong access control policies can mitigate this risk.
- Network Latency: Delays or latency in data exchange between private and public clouds can impact application performance. Latency can be reduced by using geographically close data centers and establishing high-speed connections.
- Complex Management: Managing two environments (private and public clouds) together can be quite complex. However, using a cloud management platform (CMP) and automation tools can greatly reduce this complexity.
- Data Synchronization: Keeping data consistent across both environments is a major challenge. Data replication and synchronization techniques should be used to ensure that the latest data version is available in both clouds.
- Unexpected Costs: If not properly monitored, public cloud usage can spiral out of control and lead to unforeseen cost increases. Setting budget alerts and keeping a close eye on resource usage are essential.
The Future of Cloud Bursting
As technology advances, cloud bursting is becoming more sophisticated and accessible. Some of its future trends include:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): AI and ML algorithms will make it possible to predict demand more accurately. This will result in more efficient resource allocation and lower costs.
Serverless Computing: Combining cloud bursting with serverless architecture will enable more dynamic and automated scaling, where developers do not have to worry about infrastructure.
Edge Computing: Cloud bursting combined with edge computing will enable data processing closer to the user, reducing latency and increasing the performance of real-time applications.
Multi-cloud bursting: In the future, organizations can burst across multiple public cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) rather than just one public cloud. This will reduce their dependency on a specific vendor and allow them to choose the best service.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Question 1: What is the difference between cloud bursting and cloud scaling?
Answer: Cloud scaling generally refers to increasing or decreasing resources in a specific cloud environment (public or private) as needed. Cloud bursting, on the other hand, is a hybrid model where workloads are moved from one environment (private cloud) to another (public cloud). Scaling occurs within the same environment, while bursting occurs between two different environments.
Question 2: Is cloud bursting suitable for small businesses?
Answer: Yes. Cloud bursting can be a very cost-effective solution for small businesses that have limited capacity to invest in infrastructure but whose websites occasionally experience high traffic (e.g., due to a campaign or viral content).
Question 3: What types of applications are cloud bursting not suitable for?
Answer: Applications that deal with highly sensitive data and are subject to strict regulatory restrictions or that are heavily dependent on the specific hardware of the private cloud may not be suitable for cloud burst.
Question 4: What are the requirements for implementing cloud bursting?
Answer: It requires a private cloud or on-premises infrastructure, a public cloud account, a secure and fast network connection between the two environments, and a cloud management platform or automation tool.
Question 5: Is cloud bursting fully automated?
Answer: It can be either manual or automated. However, automatic monitoring and scaling are configured to get their real benefits, which work on demand without human intervention.
Conclusion
Cloud bursting is a powerful and effective strategy for modern businesses. It offers an excellent balance between cost control, flexibility, and performance. Although its implementation has some challenges, they can be overcome with the right planning and technology. Cloud burst will undoubtedly play a crucial role in staying competitive in the digital world and providing the best customer experience. This technology opens up endless possibilities for businesses of any size.
Hi, I’m M Saif, a digital marketer with a strong focus on SEO and content writing. I help businesses improve their online visibility, drive organic traffic, and create engaging content that converts. With a results-driven approach, I work on strategies that not only boost rankings but also deliver real value to audiences.