How to Harness the Power of DBaaS and the Cloud to Achieve Superior Application Performance

To run large data set applications in the cloud, and run them well,

businesses and other organizations have embraced the concept and

practice of Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS). All too often, however,

these organizations have found that even as DBaaS helps to address some

challenges, it exacerbates others, increasing complexity and unpredict-

ability and jeopardizing performance. To address this dilemma, Clustrix,

the scale-out SQL database engineered for the cloud, and GoGrid, a lead-

ing cloud infrastructure provider, have introduced a hybrid solution that

combines the power of high-end appliance architecture and the elasticity of

a proven cloud environment.

© 2012 Clustrix, Inc. All Right Reserved

Lisciumexceped

Of all the promises of cloud computing, DBaaS has been one of the most

challenging to fill. Many businesses and other organizations that run

applications in the cloud also run their databases there, but struggle to

take advantage of the DBaaS model and, as a result, face ongoing problems with

sprawl, cost, complexity, and scalability.

An Enduring Challenge

Of all the promises of cloud computing, DBaaS has been one of the most challenging to fill. Many businesses and other organizations that run applications in the cloud also run their da-tabases there, but struggle to take advantage of the DBaaS model and, as a result, face ongoing problems with sprawl, cost, complexity, and scalability.

Consider the common practice of retrofitting legacy, single-instance RDBMS architectures to modern cloud services, which simply shifts the complexity and cost issues of legacy RDBMS to the cloud. Or consider data-volume limits of a terabyte or even less, all too common in the cloud, that force customers to spend precious resources on custom sharding projects or application rewrites, hardwiring mission-critical solutions to a limited-function NoSQL technology. Then consider that even after doing all this, customers still face the challenges of an environ-ment that is traditionally less than hospitable to applications that depend heavily on large data sets.

For example, in a typical cloud environment database network latency can be highly vari-able. This can dramatically impede performance in highly distributed databases, especially when instances are shared among different applica-tions or different customers, or use high latency connections. I/O performance can also be highly variable because of the common practice of requiring that block-store accesses share network bandwidth with TCP/IP. This also can impede da-tabase performance because the stateful nature

of databases makes them particularly sensitive to fluctuations in I/O performance. The stateful nature of databases also complicates the pro-cess of creating new instances in response to hardware failure, which can be common in cloud environments because of their frequent practice of relying on low-cost commodity hardware.

How, then, can DBaaS customers ensure that transaction performance is consistent even as compute and data requirements grow, that the infrastructure is resilient to inevitable failures, and that expert assistance will be there when it is needed?

A Unique Hybrid Solution

Clustrix addresses these concerns with a DBaaS solution that differs starkly from the retrofitted-RDBMS-in-a-virtualized-stack that constitutes the mainstay of DBaaS cloud offerings. That DBaaS solution is now available in offerings that include a partnership with GoGrid, a leading cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider. Through this partnership Clustrix offers a DBaaS solution in a complete, turnkey package ideal for customers of all sizes that need a dynamic and innovative approach to running large data set applications in the cloud.

The Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution is based on the Clustrix shared-nothing distributed database architecture that includes Flash-based SSD storage and ultralow-latency InfiniBand switches. The architecture is inherently fault tolerant and self-healing and scales linearly for performance and capacity, eliminating the need for database sharding. The architecture is also

© 2012 Clustrix, Inc. All Right Reserved

integrated into the GoGrid cloud infrastructure such that applications enjoy secure, seamless, low-latency access to private, dedicated MySQL-compliant database clusters (see Figure 1). In addition, because Clustrix complies strongly with

the ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability) database transaction model, the Clus-trix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution is particularly well-suited for applications and environments characterized by high I/O variability.

Figure 1: The Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution is one of the first in the cloud to pro-

vide an architecture that keep customers’ databases on fully separate physical servers. This

vastly simplifies compliance with service level agreement (SLA) issues surrounding security,

control, and compliance.

© 2012 Clustrix, Inc. All Right Reserved

Figure 2: Customers can provision and manage their entire data-center infrastructure through the

GoGrid web-based management console. For more programmatic control, GoGrid also offers a REST-

like API.

The resulting hybrid solution gives customers the performance of the Clustrix high-end appli-ance architecture and the flexibility of the estab-lished GoGrid cloud services for point-and-click horizontal scaling that is linear. Customers can perform their own incremental scaling, provi-sioning, deployment, and other tasks through the GoGrid web-based console (see Figure 2) and, for programmatic deployment and control, through a REST-like API. GoGrid also offers cus-tomers a wide range of infrastructure options to include virtual, dedicated and private cloud implementations that often can be deployed on a month-to-month basis. This combination allows customers to create the ultimate hybrid experience, with virtual and dedicated servers all having secure, seamless, low-latency access to the Clustrix DBaaS. They also enjoy access to

24/7 DBA-on-demand for comprehensive and cost effective support, and a simplified pricing structure, with no limits on transactions, data size, or number of users, to ease the challenges of rapid growth.

Global Operations

The Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution is ideal for customers with an existing or antici-pated global presence. For operations in North and South America, GoGrid runs its own colo-cation and managed-services facilities in San Francisco, and in partnership with Equinix, a carrier-peering and data center provider, it runs a data center in Washington, D.C. For operations in other parts of the world, GoGrid runs a data center in Amsterdam, also in partnership with

© 2012 Clustrix, Inc. All Right Reserved

Lisciumexceped

Equinix. Equinix, which is also a Clustrix part-ner, provides industry coverage that is among the broadest and deepest in the world. To sup-port customers on the Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution, it provides access to more than 900 carriers worldwide. Its services include 24/7 onsite security, a 24/7 global portal with built-in granularity for permission assignment, and multiple logical and physical security measures. Equinix facilities are compliant with multiple ISO standards, including ISO9001, for customer satisfaction; ISO27001, for security; ISO50001, for environmental stewardship, and ISO16001, for energy efficiency. Equinix also meets PCI DSS Level 1 provider certification and holds SAS70 and SSAE16 control certifications.

Conclusion

Thousands of businesses and other organizations have deployed large data set applications to the cloud, but with sometimes less than favorable results. Often, these organizations find them-selves battling the same challenges surrounding sprawl, cost, complexity, and availability that they faced in the on-premise environment, putting application performance at risk.

To help customers surmount these challenges, Clustrix has partnered with GoGrid, a leading provider of cloud infrastructure services. Through this partnership the companies are providing an efficient hybrid model for DBaaS that enables the deployment and delivery of transactional web-scale applications and Big Data solutions in the cloud.

Based on dedicated hardware clusters from Clustrix and a dynamic, pay-as-you-go cloud ser-vice from GoGrid, the solution enables customers to enhance application performance, scalability, and fault tolerance; control database sprawl and costs; free up database administration/maintenance resources for business innovation; minimize up-front capital expenditures and gain operational efficiencies; and expedite the devel-opment, testing, and deployment of applications into multiple database environments.

The Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution is available immediately on a monthly subscription basis with DBA-on-demand support from Clustrix including database backup service. To learn more about how the Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solu-tion can help businesses and other organizations benefit from running large data set applications in the cloud, visit www.clustrix.com.

Additional Information

THE BASICSWherever customers are located, their Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solutions run on the same powerful appliance technology available for on-premise solutions:

• Self-healing architecture with high availability and fault tolerance.

• No downtime due to server component failure.

• Scalability for all kinds of workloads, including OLTP and OLAP.

• Flash-based SSD storage for high-perfor-mance read and write.

• Real-time insight into performance and status with the Clustrix web UI.

• Health status across all dimensions of the database leveraging 2,500+ built-in metrics.

• Real-time and historical insight into query performance to aid in database tuning.

Customers also enjoy the support and service essential for keeping their Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solutions running at peak performance:

• Help with database setup, configuration, and tuning.

• 24x7 support via web, e-mail, and phone, with a guaranteed response time of 60 minutes or under for urgent issues.

• Software and hardware maintenance, including patching and component replace-ment.

• Hot backup scheduled at the customer’s choosing.

• Storage and performance expansion with no downtime.

© 2012 Clustrix, Inc. All Right Reserved

• Ability to move the database back on-prem-ise while keeping the data.

• Migration assistance from MySQL (included with 12-month term).

• Second disaster recovery site (optional).

USE CASESFollowing are some common use cases for a Clustrix/GoGrid DBaaS cloud solution:

• Agile development that involves large data sets and needs support for native JSON and for pauseless online schema changes.

• Large-scale commercial or research website whose database must easily scale up and down to address seasonal or intermittent demands.

• Cost efficient real-time analytics. • On-premise MySQL or Clustrix deployment

that needs a cloud-based database for backup or disaster recovery.

• MySQL database that needs cost-effective scalability for performance.

• Complex and expensive MySQL deployment that is difficult to manage.

• Mirrored database for scaling reads (slave configuration).

© 2012 Clustrix, Inc. All Right Reserved

about clustrix, inc.Clustrix is the scale-out SQL database solution for Big Data applications, with a radically simple SQL data-base that enables applications to scale to unlimited users, transactions, and data while automating fault tolerance and eliminating the need for database sharding. More than 125 Clustrix nodes are in production in web applications around the globe, with more than 500 billion transactions per month running through Clustrix databases. Customers include Symantec, AOL, MakeMyTrip, Photobox, and Massive Media.

Clustrix is headquartered in San Francisco and has branch offices in Seattle and London. It was founded and is led by executives from companies such as Isilon, AOL, HP, Mercury Interactive and VERITAS, and it is backed by Sequoia Capital, U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), and ATA Ventures. To learn more about Clustrix, visit www.clustrix.com.

about gogridGoGrid is a leading infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider specializing in public and private cloud in-frastructure solutions. Taking advantage of templatized server images, GoGrid customers can deploy and begin managing applications and workloads on a proven, secure, and reliable public cloud platform within minutes. With the GoGrid private cloud, customers enjoy a private, hosted and managed, single-tenant envi-ronment with zero capital expenditure. Sysadmins, developers, and IT professionals can create, deploy, and control cloud environments and complex virtual and physical server networks with full administrative con-trol. To make the most of the GoGrid cloud, the GoGrid Exchange provides users with an evolving ecosystem of cloud solutions from the GoGrid partner community.

GoGrid has have been recognized as a “Visionary” two years in a row by Gartner and as a “Champion” by Info-Tech Research Group in 2011 and 2012. To learn more about GoGrid, visit www.gogrid.com.