1

Migrating to

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Cloud computing has lately gainedinterest for the advantages it deliversto performance ratio based on the principles ofmulti-tenancy, distribution and scalabilityforms the core principles of cloud computingSpecifically, companies such as Amazonothers have made cloud computing accessible toa large community of developers by exposingweb services APIs that allow 3rd party companiesto host their applications on the Amazon cloudand take advantage of the robustness of theirlarger network instead of having to incur the costof maintaining one’s own data center.

There is not only a strong commercial aspectsupporting migration of applicationsalso valid technicals reasons to do sobased architectures allow applications to scale tomassive levels dynamically with little tuningleveraging the capabilities of the underlyinginfrastructure.

HSC was recently charted to execute atransformation project forcollaboration platform to a cloud based platform.

In this paper we have captured the strategy,which was adopted for re-engineeringapplication from a shared hosting platform to apopular cloud, based infrastructure anddatabase platform.

2.0 THE CUSTOMER PAIN POINTS

The customer sells a web based hostedconferencing solution. The solution combinescollaboration/communication tools in a friendlyfront-end for easy use by enterprise customersWith the increased acceptance of the platform itthe customer felt that the current architecturewas limited with respect to scaling.customer had an option to upgrade to a muchlarger data-center and high availability solution,but the initial investment (in addition toengineering cost) for the the upgrade

HSC PROPRIETARY

Table of Contents

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.0 THE CUSTOMER PAIN PO2.1 EXISTING ARCHITECTUR

3.0 THE CLOUD BASED SOLU3.1 MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATA LAYER3.2 MULTI-FEATURE SERVERS3.3 DISTRIBUTION BASED O3.4 LOAD BALANCING & SCA3.5 HIGH AVAILABILITY

4.0 SOLUTION KEY WINS

5.0 REFERENCES

Migrating to the Cloud: A Case Study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

gained a lot offor the advantages it delivers from a price

based on the principles of, distribution and scalability that

forms the core principles of cloud computingSpecifically, companies such as Amazon andothers have made cloud computing accessible toa large community of developers by exposing

party companiesto host their applications on the Amazon cloudand take advantage of the robustness of their

tead of having to incur the costown data center.

There is not only a strong commercial aspects to Cloud but

valid technicals reasons to do so. Cloudctures allow applications to scale to

massive levels dynamically with little tuning whileleveraging the capabilities of the underlying

HSC was recently charted to execute aan existing

cloud based platform.

In this paper we have captured the strategy,engineering the existing

from a shared hosting platform to apopular cloud, based infrastructure and

PAIN POINTS

web based hostedThe solution combines

collaboration/communication tools in a friendlyend for easy use by enterprise customers .

With the increased acceptance of the platform itthat the current architecture

was limited with respect to scaling. Thecustomer had an option to upgrade to a much

center and high availability solution,in addition to re-

) for the the upgrade meant the

1

THE CUSTOMER PAIN POINTS 1EXISTING ARCHITECTURE 2

THE CLOUD BASED SOLUTION 3NAL DATA LAYER 3

FEATURE SERVERS 4DISTRIBUTION BASED ON GEOGRAPHY 4LOAD BALANCING & SCALING 4

4

6

6

Case Study

2

customer would have to put up a lot of money upfront without assured returns. Instead, the customer wanteda ‘scale as you grow’ solution that kept the company spending controlled.

Cloud based ‘pay as you go’ approach was the ideal solution for this customer. The cloud solution that wasrecommended by HSC was to use the Amazon cloud infrastructure. In addition to cost savings, the reliabilityof the amazon cloud was of significant benefit

2.1 Existing Architecture

Figure 1-1: Original network deployment architecture of my_web_conference.com

The original collaboration application was architected as an nSaaS platforms and supports multiwas through classical load balancing techniques available today. Downupgrades was another challenge the development and support team was continuously facing. Theirpremium customers were looking at SLAs whichlive) and carrier grade availability. As part of thissolution strategy, which could be employed to take care of availability issues and reduce overall downtimeunder different circumstances. The figure below captures

HSC PROPRIETARY

customer would have to put up a lot of money upfront without assured returns. Instead, the customer wanteda ‘scale as you grow’ solution that kept the company spending controlled.

based ‘pay as you go’ approach was the ideal solution for this customer. The cloud solution that wasrecommended by HSC was to use the Amazon cloud infrastructure. In addition to cost savings, the reliabilityof the amazon cloud was of significant benefit to the customer as well.

network deployment architecture of my_web_conference.com

application was architected as an n-tier solution, which builds on top of variousSaaS platforms and supports multi-tenancy in its northbound interface. The only scalability it achievedwas through classical load balancing techniques available today. Downtime during failovers or plannedupgrades was another challenge the development and support team was continuously facing. Theirpremium customers were looking at SLAs which would allow hot upgrades (upgrade while the system is

ade availability. As part of this project, HSC was additionally tasked at proposing asolution strategy, which could be employed to take care of availability issues and reduce overall downtimeunder different circumstances. The figure below captures the original architecture for the

customer would have to put up a lot of money upfront without assured returns. Instead, the customer wanted

based ‘pay as you go’ approach was the ideal solution for this customer. The cloud solution that wasrecommended by HSC was to use the Amazon cloud infrastructure. In addition to cost savings, the reliability

network deployment architecture of my_web_conference.com

tier solution, which builds on top of varioustenancy in its northbound interface. The only scalability it achieved

time during failovers or plannedupgrades was another challenge the development and support team was continuously facing. Their

(upgrade while the system is, HSC was additionally tasked at proposing a

solution strategy, which could be employed to take care of availability issues and reduce overall downtimethe website.

3

Figure

3.0 THE CLOUD BASED SOLUTION

After studying the existing architecture and the business requirements HSC proposed a cloudarchitecture which leverages the Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloudintroduce dynamic scalability in the platform and at the same time taduring failovers and upgrades.

Key aspects of the proposed solution:

1. Minimum changes to the coremonitoring and scaling was introduced.

2. Multi-dimensional data layer (support for dedicated and multi3. Multi-Feature servers (dedicated and shared hosting instances of the application servers)4. Distribution across region based infrastructure for geography context sensitive load balancing

better throughput and turn-around time for customers5. Software based load monitoring and dynamic solution scaling6. Use of Amazon’s Elastic IP infrastructure and Availability zones for high

and upgrades

The subsequent sections of the document explain the key architectural changes that HSCsolution and how they were deploying on the Amazon cloud infrastructure.

3.1 Multi-dimensional data layer

The data layer of the original solution was monolithic and had a complex architecture to support multitenancy. While the solution served the requirements, it featured a lot of complexbusiness logic. Additionally, there werecustomers who were heavy users, while maintaining acceptable performance for other users

HSC proposed a multi-dimensional data architecture, which could supportmode.

1. The new architecture had each dedicated server instance complemented with a private MySQLdatabase instance.

HSC PROPRIETARY

Figure 1-2: Solution Architecture

SOLUTION

the existing architecture and the business requirements HSC proposed a cloudarchitecture which leverages the Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and other associated services tointroduce dynamic scalability in the platform and at the same time takes care of issues related to availability

Key aspects of the proposed solution:

core code. Only the data layer was changed and a new module for systemmonitoring and scaling was introduced.

ensional data layer (support for dedicated and multi -tenancy hosting)Feature servers (dedicated and shared hosting instances of the application servers)

egion based infrastructure for geography context sensitive load balancingaround time for customers

Software based load monitoring and dynamic solution scalinglastic IP infrastructure and Availability zones for high-availability during failovers

The subsequent sections of the document explain the key architectural changes that HSCploying on the Amazon cloud infrastructure.

ta layer

The data layer of the original solution was monolithic and had a complex architecture to support multitenancy. While the solution served the requirements, it featured a lot of complex overhead

. Additionally, there were limitations in the system for it to be deployed in a dedicated mode for, while maintaining acceptable performance for other users

dimensional data architecture, which could support both dedicated and a multi

The new architecture had each dedicated server instance complemented with a private MySQL

the existing architecture and the business requirements HSC proposed a cloud -basedand other associated services to

kes care of issues related to availability

code. Only the data layer was changed and a new module for system

Feature servers (dedicated and shared hosting instances of the application servers)egion based infrastructure for geography context sensitive load balancing and

availability during failovers

The subsequent sections of the document explain the key architectural changes that HSC made to the

The data layer of the original solution was monolithic and had a complex architecture to support multi -overhead code for the

limitations in the system for it to be deployed in a dedicated mode for, while maintaining acceptable performance for other users of the service.

both dedicated and a multi-tenancy

The new architecture had each dedicated server instance complemented with a private MySQL

4

2. The shared servers on the other hand used a shared database instance, which used MySQL andAmazon Simple DB in complementary fashion.

3. Simple DB was primarily used for storing and fast retrieval of LOBs

3.2 Multi-Feature Servers

The customer had different userDuring our technical evaluation of the system, it was felt that theimposed an uncalled for overhead on the platform which in turn lead to the underperformance of thesolution even when deployed in a dedicated mode. However, such overheads were unsubscribers who were occasional uscheaper utility-based service offering.

Keeping these aspects in mind, HSC introduced a multiinstances, without a multi-tenancy framework, cohigher service usage and stringent SLA requirements.

These servers could either be instantiated dynamically or could be provisioned statically using a webbased control panel, which consumes APIs exposed by Amazon Elastic compute cloud infrastructure.The web based control panel itself was built on top of HSC’s reusable components for EMS/NMSdevelopment.

3.3 Distribution based on Geography

To reduce the turnaround time and introduce distrcenters of Amazon with location selection, instance count being a function of customers and associatedSLAs in those regions. This approach to distribution also introduced the much needed redwould prevent the system from a complete failure, and hence if the servers in onereachable or loaded, the system wouldFurthermore all data servers were replicated automaticallwhen instructed by the operator across the regions.

3.4 Load Balancing & Scaling

Distribution based on geography and solution scaling was built into the system using Amazon’s Loadbalancing and Auto scaling APIs.

3.5 High Availability

High availability was one of key concerns addressed by the cloudsolution description high-availability has been introduced in the system at multiple layers. The key strategy forintroduction of redundancy was based on utilization of Amazon’s infrastructure and isolating server instancesfrom total infrastructure failure. This was achieved in the proposed solution through:

1. Redundant deployment across availability zones in the same geographical region2. Deployment of a shared standby instance which can take over either as a dedicated or shared

server3. Instance monitoring and re4. Load balancing and auto scaling

The figure below describes the network layout architecture of the new cloud hosted solution developed byHSC.

HSC PROPRIETARY

The shared servers on the other hand used a shared database instance, which used MySQL andAmazon Simple DB in complementary fashion.

Simple DB was primarily used for storing and fast retrieval of LOBs (Large Objects)

user profiles with different usage requirements and accompanied SLAs.During our technical evaluation of the system, it was felt that the existing multi-tenanted architectureimposed an uncalled for overhead on the platform which in turn lead to the underperformance of thesolution even when deployed in a dedicated mode. However, such overheads were unsubscribers who were occasional users of the system and had SLAs, which were compensated by a

based service offering.

Keeping these aspects in mind, HSC introduced a multi -feature server approach wheretenancy framework, could be deployed dynamically to cater for subscribers with

higher service usage and stringent SLA requirements.

could either be instantiated dynamically or could be provisioned statically using a webumes APIs exposed by Amazon Elastic compute cloud infrastructure.

The web based control panel itself was built on top of HSC’s reusable components for EMS/NMS

Distribution based on Geography

To reduce the turnaround time and introduce distr ibution, the solution was deployed across variouswith location selection, instance count being a function of customers and associated

SLAs in those regions. This approach to distribution also introduced the much needed redwould prevent the system from a complete failure, and hence if the servers in one

would still be able to re-route and serve requests from other regions.ll data servers were replicated automatically at pre-determined time intervals or manually

when instructed by the operator across the regions.

Distribution based on geography and solution scaling was built into the system using Amazon’s Load

High availability was one of key concerns addressed by the cloud-based architecture. As is evident fromavailability has been introduced in the system at multiple layers. The key strategy for

introduction of redundancy was based on utilization of Amazon’s infrastructure and isolating server instancesailure. This was achieved in the proposed solution through: -

Redundant deployment across availability zones in the same geographical regionDeployment of a shared standby instance which can take over either as a dedicated or shared

ing and re-deploymentLoad balancing and auto scaling

The figure below describes the network layout architecture of the new cloud hosted solution developed by

The shared servers on the other hand used a shared database instance, which used MySQL and

(Large Objects)

and accompanied SLAs.tenanted architecture

imposed an uncalled for overhead on the platform which in turn lead to the underperformance of thesolution even when deployed in a dedicated mode. However, such overheads were un -avoidable for

ers of the system and had SLAs, which were compensated by a

feature server approach where dedicated serveruld be deployed dynamically to cater for subscribers with

could either be instantiated dynamically or could be provisioned statically using a webumes APIs exposed by Amazon Elastic compute cloud infrastructure.

The web based control panel itself was built on top of HSC’s reusable components for EMS/NMS

ibution, the solution was deployed across various datawith location selection, instance count being a function of customers and associated

SLAs in those regions. This approach to distribution also introduced the much needed red undancy whichwould prevent the system from a complete failure, and hence if the servers in one -region were not

serve requests from other regions.determined time intervals or manually

Distribution based on geography and solution scaling was built into the system using Amazon’s Load

based architecture. As is evident from theavailability has been introduced in the system at multiple layers. The key strategy for

introduction of redundancy was based on utilization of Amazon’s infrastructure and isolating server instances

Redundant deployment across availability zones in the same geographical regionDeployment of a shared standby instance which can take over either as a dedicated or shared

The figure below describes the network layout architecture of the new cloud hosted solution developed by

5

Figure 1-3: Network deployment architect

Figure 1-4: Solution Architecture of the Cloud hosted solution

HSC PROPRIETARY

Network deployment architecture of HSC’s proposed solution

Solution Architecture of the Cloud hosted solution

ure of HSC’s proposed solution

6

Figure 1-4, showcases the solution architecture of the pilot solution, which was deployed for

4.0 SOLUTION KEY WINS

The key wins of the solution were:

1. A dynamically scalable solution with small operational overheads2. Solution scalable across geographies3. Solution supports scaling as a dedicated hosted server platform and a shared server platform4. Leverages the proven Amazon’s infrastructure and builds around available solutions thereby reducing

investment and maintenance

5.0 REFERENCES

a. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, User Guide(http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/

b. Amazon Cloud Watch, Developer Guide(http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/DeveloperGuide

c. Auto Scaling, Developer Guide(http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AutoScaling/latest/DeveloperGuide

d. Load balancing, Developer Guide(http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/ElasticLoad

e. Amazon SimpleDB, Getting Started Guide(http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonSimpleDB/latest/GettingStartedGuide/

PROPRIETARY NOTICE

All rights reserved. This publication and its contents are proprietary to Hughes Systique Corporation. No partof this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of HughesSystique Corporation, 15245 Shady Grove Road, Suite 330

Copyright © 2009 Hughes Systique Corporation

HSC PROPRIETARY

4, showcases the solution architecture of the pilot solution, which was deployed for

A dynamically scalable solution with small operational overheadsacross geographies

Solution supports scaling as a dedicated hosted server platform and a shared server platformLeverages the proven Amazon’s infrastructure and builds around available solutions thereby reducing

intenance costs.

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, User Guidehttp://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ )

Amazon Cloud Watch, Developer Guidehttp://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/DeveloperGuide

Auto Scaling, Developer Guidehttp://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AutoScaling/latest/DeveloperGuide )

Load balancing, Developer Guidehttp://docs.amazonwebservices.com/ElasticLoad Balancing/latest/DeveloperGuide

Amazon SimpleDB, Getting Started Guidehttp://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonSimpleDB/latest/GettingStartedGuide/

All rights reserved. This publication and its contents are proprietary to Hughes Systique Corporation. No partof this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Hughes

15245 Shady Grove Road, Suite 330 , Rockville, MD 20850.

Hughes Systique Corporation

CONTACT

Phone: +1.301.527.1629fax: +1.301.527.1690email: whitepaper@hsc.comWeb: www.hsc.com

4, showcases the solution architecture of the pilot solution, which was deployed for the customer.

Solution supports scaling as a dedicated hosted server platform and a shared server platformLeverages the proven Amazon’s infrastructure and builds around available solutions thereby reducing

http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/DeveloperGuide )

Balancing/latest/DeveloperGuide)

http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonSimpleDB/latest/GettingStartedGuide/ )

All rights reserved. This publication and its contents are proprietary to Hughes Systique Corporation. No partof this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Hughes

.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

+1.301.527.1629+1.301.527.1690

whitepaper@hsc.comWeb: www.hsc.com

7

APPENDIX A ABOUT HUGHES SYSTIQU

HUGHES Mystique Corporation (HSC), part of the HUGHES group of companies, is a leading Consultingand Software company focused on Communications and Automotive Telematicsin Rockville, Maryland USA with its development centre in Gurgaon, India.

SERVICES OFFERED:

Technology Consulting& Architecture:experts to define product requirements, validate technology plans, and provide networkservices and deployment of several successful products from conceptualization to market delivery.

Development & Maintenance Services:diverse areas in the communication industry. Wcomprising of complete SDLC from requirement analysis to the deployment and post production support.

Testing : We have extensive experience in testing methodologies and processes and offerPerformancetesting (with bench marking metrics)and black-box testing, Regression testing

System Integration : As system integrators of choice HSC works with global names to architect,integrate, deploy and manage their suite of OSS, BSS, VAS and IN in wireless (VoIP & IMS), wireline andhybrid networks.: NMS, Service Management & P

DOMAIN EXPERTISE:

Terminals Terminal Platforms : iPhone, Andr Middleware Experience& Applications :

Access Wired Access : PON & DSL, Wireless Access : WLAN/WiMAX / LTE

Core Network IMS/3GPP , IPTV , SBC, Interworking ,

Applications Technologies : C, Java/J2ME, C++, Flash/lite Middleware: GlassFish, BEA, JBOSS, WebSphere, Tomcat, Apach

Management & Back Office: Billing & OSS , Knowledge of COTS products , Mediation, CRM Network Management : NM Protocols

FCAPS, Security & AuthenticationPlatforms

Embedded: Design, Development andSwitching devices, Infrastructure components

FPGA & DSP: Design, System Prototyping.Automotive Telematics

In Car unit (ECU) software design with CAN B & CAN C Telematics Network Design (CDMA, GSM, GPRS/UMTS)

BENEFITS:

Reduced Time to market :deployment in complex communication systems

Stretch your R&D dollarsfrom resource fluctuations

HSC PROPRIETARY

ABOUT HUGHES SYSTIQUE CORPORATION

HUGHES Mystique Corporation (HSC), part of the HUGHES group of companies, is a leading Consultingfocused on Communications and Automotive Telematics. HSC is headquartered

USA with its development centre in Gurgaon, India.

& Architecture: Leverage extensive knowledge and experience of our domainexperts to define product requirements, validate technology plans, and provide networkservices and deployment of several successful products from conceptualization to market delivery.

Services: We can help you design, develop and maintain software fordiverse areas in the communication industry. We have a well-defined software development process,comprising of complete SDLC from requirement analysis to the deployment and post production support.

have extensive experience in testing methodologies and processes and offerPerformanceting (with bench marking metrics) , Protocol testing, Conformance testing, Stress testing

Regression testing and Interoperability testingto our clients

As system integrators of choice HSC works with global names to architect,integrate, deploy and manage their suite of OSS, BSS, VAS and IN in wireless (VoIP & IMS), wireline and

: NMS, Service Management & Provisioning .

iPhone, Android, Symbian, Windows CE/Mobile, BREW, PalmOS& Applications : J2ME , IMS Client & OMA PoC,

Wired Access : PON & DSL, IP-DSLAM,WLAN/WiMAX / LTE, UMTS, 2.5G, 2G ,Satellite Communication

Interworking , Switching solutions, VoIP

C, Java/J2ME, C++, Flash/lite ,SIP, Presence, Location , AJAX/Mash, BEA, JBOSS, WebSphere, Tomcat, Apache etc.

Billing & OSS , Knowledge of COTS products , Mediation, CRMNM Protocols, Java technologies,, Knowledge of COTS NM products

Security & Authentication

Embedded: Design, Development and Porting - RTOS, Device Drivers, CommunicationInfrastructure components. Usage and Understanding of Debugging tools.

FPGA & DSP: Design, System Prototyping. Re-engineering, System Verification, Testing

t (ECU) software design with CAN B & CAN CTelematics Network Design (CDMA, GSM, GPRS/UMTS)

: Complement your existing skills, Experience in developmentdeployment in complex communication systems , with key resources available at all times

: Best Shore” strategy to outsourcing , World class processes,

HUGHES Mystique Corporation (HSC), part of the HUGHES group of companies, is a leading Consulting. HSC is headquartered

Leverage extensive knowledge and experience of our domainexperts to define product requirements, validate technology plans, and provide network level consultingservices and deployment of several successful products from conceptualization to market delivery.

We can help you design, develop and maintain software fordefined software development process,

comprising of complete SDLC from requirement analysis to the deployment and post production support.

have extensive experience in testing methodologies and processes and offerPerformanceStress testing, White-box

As system integrators of choice HSC works with global names to architect,integrate, deploy and manage their suite of OSS, BSS, VAS and IN in wireless (VoIP & IMS), wireline and

Mobile, BREW, PalmOS

Satellite Communication

AJAX/Mash

Knowledge of COTS NM products ,

Device Drivers, Communications /Usage and Understanding of Debugging tools.engineering, System Verification, Testing

development-to-key resources available at all times

World class processes, Insulate