A FASTER PATH TO CLOUD

Table of Contents

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 CHART YOUR COURSE

CHAPTER 2 START WITH STABLE, INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE

CHAPTER 3 MAXIMIZE FLEXIBILITY

CHAPTER 4 TAKE CONTROL

CHAPTER 5 TURN TO THE EXPERTS

ABOUT RED RIVER

Introduction

While Cloud computing offers impressive benefits, transitioning to Cloud infrastructure can seem overwhelmingly complex. It doesn’t have to be.

Let the experts at Red River show you a faster path to Cloud with EMC VSPEX® Cloud architectures and hyper-converged infrastructure. VSPEX takes the complexity out of Cloud by providing a complete Cloud architecture customized to your unique infrastructure and application needs. With VSPEX and Red River, nothing stands in the way of the cost savings, extreme flexibility and opportunities for innovation that Cloud provides.

Read the ebook.

If you want to capture the promises of Cloud computing quickly, you need to chart your course. First and foremost, you’ll have to decide which type of Cloud is best suited for your organization. The three primary Cloud types are:

Public Cloud: Also referred to as multi-tenant Clouds, Public Clouds are shared by multiple customers and can work well for organizations who don’t want to own Cloud infrastructure – and that work with non-sensitive, non-classified data.

Private Cloud: Typically the best choice for public sector agencies or highly-regulated industries, such as healthcare and finance, Private Clouds are dedicated to a single customer and provide a safer environment for sensitive and classified data.

Hybrid Cloud: Combining attributes of Public and Private Clouds, Hybrid Clouds utilize both shared and dedicated technology, making them the right choice for organizations that need to secure classified data and assets, but still require flexibility to share non-sensitive data and applications.

Chapter 1: Chart Your Course

Once you determine which type of Cloud is best suited for your organization, you’ll want to define your requirements, timelines and goals before committing to any equipment purchases. You also need to get buy-in from IT and business decision makers before moving forward. The fastest way to do so is with a proven, straightforward Cloud platform built with best-in-class technology. EMC VSPEX fits the bill.

VSPEX is a flexible, integrated computing platform (ICP) combining the compute, network and storage you need for Cloud into a powerful reference architecture or single appliance.

Chapter 2: Start With Stable, Integrated Infrastructure

Provisioning Cloud typically begins with the build-out of storage, server and networking infrastructure, which, depending on your service requirements and level of IT expertise, can take weeks, months or even years.

VSPEX streamlines and dramatically shortens this process by providing two unique, direct paths to Cloud: VSPEX reference architectures or VSPEX BLUE (hyper-converged infrastructure).

With VSPEX reference architectures (RAs), you get freedom of choice coupled with the assurance of hardware compatibility with a validated integrated computing platform. You’ll work with Red River experts to choose from a portfolio of proven reference architectures anchored by EMC’s best-in-class storage, backup and security technology.

With VSPEX RAs, you design and customize your Cloud stack, selecting the compute, virtualization and networking solutions best suited for your needs – and get the opportunity to leverage existing infrastructure as you implement your VSPEX solution.

Don’t have the time or interest in designing a Cloud stack or customizing an RA? Choose VSPEX BLUE for unprecedented simplicity and speed for Cloud deployments.

VSPEX BLUE delivers hyper-converged infrastructure that combines virtualization, compute, storage, networking and IT management capabilities into a single, all-in-one appliance. Designed for absolute simplicity, VSPEX BLUE is the fastest way to deploy virtualized infrastructure and capture the benefits of Cloud.

As business needs and mission demands shift, so do IT demands. VSPEX maximizes flexibility by providing unparalleled choice with right-sized infrastructure, servers and network from the start.

Both VSPEX RAs and VSPEX BLUE drive strategic agility and competitive business advantage by empowering IT to build, deploy, scale and maintain Cloud infrastructure through an agile operational framework, enabling IT to respond more quickly and efficiently to changing business needs.

Linear scalability with a building-block approach to sizing make it easy to scale VSPEX up or down depending on mission needs and specific environments. (A building block is a set of disk spindles that can support a certain number of virtual servers within VSPEX architectures.)

VSPEX solutions are engineered to provide a variety of sizing configurations, which deliver maximum flexibility for virtualization and Cloud deployments.

Chapter 3: Maximize Flexibility

VSPEX BLUE lets you start small, with one 2U/4-node appliance and add as many as three additional appliances (up to a total of four) effortlessly. VSPEX RAs and Cloud configurations allow you to quickly virtualize up to 1,000 virtual machines for varied use cases. The recent addition of a new pre-validated RA, VSPEX with VMAX 100K, delivers even greater scale and performance, with the ability to host up to 2,800 machines.

Such flexibility greatly reduces time spent on complex, advanced planning, lowers up-front infrastructure investment costs and eliminates the risk of over-purchasing to accommodate future capacity needs.

Chapter 4: Take Control

Management is often a barrier to Cloud entry, particularly when staff resources are already stretched thin. VSPEX automates many storage and Cloud management tasks, freeing staff to focus on other mission-critical demands.

With VSPEX, automating the provisioning of the complete deployment life-cycle enables business agility, operational simplicity and reduces risk. Simple, straightforward architectures and hyper-converged infrastructure make implementation and management easy. There are

more than 20 fully-validated RA configurations to meet specific infrastructure and application needs, with everything pre-tested to ensure success.

As VSPEX RAs allow you to quickly and consistently deploy a virtualized infrastructure to consolidate servers, applications and desktops, the bulk of IT tasks and sprawl are immediately reduced.

Seamless integration with leading hypervisors eliminate a wide range of typical administrator tasks. VSPEX with VMware® vSphere® or

Microsoft® System Center deliver a single point of control to further simplify management of your entire virtualized infrastructure.

Minimal IT experience is required to deploy, configure and manage the VSPEX BLUE appliance, so it can be used where there is limited or even no IT staff on site, and a single, super-intuitive interface lets you manage the appliance, virtual machines (VMs) and clusters with ease.

Automated thin provisioning, deduplication and compression via VSPEX let you capitalize on storage efficiencies and VSPEX empowers fast backups with consistent 10-30 percent time savings.

Moreover, VSPEX plug-ins and application programming interfaces (APIs) let you extend the power of VSPEX to drive application performance, boost collaboration and empower innovation without adding to management complexity.

Chapter 5: Get Help From The Experts

There is no way around it – Cloud Computing and virtualization are complex undertakings. Without a strong understanding of the technologies underlying Cloud, it’s easy to make mistakes, particularly when it comes to right-sizing storage and implementing network and compute infrastructure. Why go it alone when you can get help from experts?

Red River has 20 years of IT expertise, with a strong understanding of storage, data center, networking and Cloud infrastructure best practices. EMC Corporation is a global IT leader dedicated to accelerating the

journey to Cloud computing and helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset – information – in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way.

As a longstanding EMC strategic partner, with the highest levels of technical certifications, Red River is the perfect partner to help you design and support your VSPEX deployment. Our experts are here to help you determine the right type of Cloud for your organization and select Cloud stack components from EMC- and VSPEX-affiliated vendors, who are also members of Red River’s

extended partner community, including Brocade, Cisco Systems, Citrix, Lenovo, Microsoft, Oracle, VMware and more.

Red River delivers complete Managed and Professional Services and support doesn’t stop once your VSPEX is in place. 24/7/365-day user support is available from U.S.-based experts working in our Network Operations Center (NOC) in New Hampshire. We can also train administrators and staff to ensure you get the most from your VSPEX and Cloud solutions. Plus, Red River provides a broad portfolio of purchasing vehicles to lower

costs and streamline procurement, including NASA SEWP V, GSA Federal Supply Schedule, NETCENTS-2, NITAAC CIO-CS and Cisco SMARTnet, among others.

To learn more and find out how VSPEX can transform your infrastructure and get you to Cloud fast, visit www.redriver.com/vspex or call us directly at 800.769.3060.

ABOUT RED RIVERRed River is an IT hardware integrator committed to helping customers optimize business processes and maximize the value of IT investments. Widely regarded for our special focus on the U.S. government, Red River has developed a remarkable reputation for delivering IT products and hardware-related services to military and civilian agencies and the companies that serve them. Our core values of hard work and honesty fuel our central mission to make IT personal.

Visit www.redriver.com to learn more.

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