Cloud Appliance

The Intalio|Cloud Appliance puts in a single rack all the hardware and software required to build a true enterprise-class cloud computing platform. Intalio certifies hardware from multiple vendors, including Cisco, Dell, HP, IBM, and Oracle.

Computing

The Intalio|Cloud Appliance uses blade servers in order to maximum CPU and memory density per rack. This form factor improves real-estate utilization within cramped data-centers. The backplane usually found in blade enclosures also reduces the amount of cabling required for networking and storage, thereby reducing setup and maintenance cost, while improving system's reliability by reducing the number of components that could be subject to failure (cables and connectors).

In order to further maximize memory density (Cf. Cloud Computing is Memory Bound), the Intalio|Cloud Appliance makes use of the latest Intel CPUs. It currently uses the hexa core Intel Xeon X5670 2.93GHz (Nehalem), but will eventually be upgraded to the octo core Intel Xeon X7560 2.26GHz (Nehalem-EX).

Furthermore, massively multi-core CPUs are preferred over single-core or dual-core models in order to increase the number of virtual machines that can be deployed on a single server. High CPU core density helps increase server utilization rates when using CPU virtualization for the purpose of multi-tenancy (Cf. On Multi-Tenancy).

Networking

A key design element for the Intalio|Cloud Appliance is the use of a single networking fabric for both networking and storage. InfiniBand (preferred for its low latency) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (acceptable alternative, available upon request) are both supported, while regular 1 Gigabit Ethernet is not recommend, since it does not provide the amount of bandwidth necessary for supporting live Virtual Machine migration within acceptable timeframes.

A unified networking fabric essentially cuts networking hardware costs in half, while reducing setup and maintenance costs, simplifying network administration, and eliminating many components that could be subject to failure (cables and switches). This architecture also provides more flexibility in the deployment of a distributed Direct Attached Storage infrastructure.

Storage

Thanks to its unified networking fabric, the Intalio|Cloud Appliance can provide a distributed Direct Attached Storage infrastructure that combines the benefits of Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS), with virtually none of the drawbacks. In a nutshell, drive enclosures are directly attached to blade servers and their respective storage capacities are pooled by a cluster file-system deployed on top of every blade server.

The Intalio|Cloud Appliance supports two kinds of drives: Solid State Drives (SSD), which are used preferably for storing structured data (databases), and regular Hard Disk Drives (HDD), which are used preferably for storing unstructured data (documents and files) and for the backup of Solid State Drives. Both are managed by blade enclosures that offer hardware-based RAID services (RAID 10 mode is preferred), while the cluster file-system adds an extra layer of software-based RAID (optional).

This architecture maximizes the amount of storage available (up to several Petabytes), while offering the highest possible levels of fault-tolerance and availability. The tiering of storage across structured and unstructured data also ensures that expensive Solid State Drives are used only for applications that demand the fastest data access and highest bandwidth, while large files such as images and videos are stored using low-cost Hard Disk Drives.

Power

Since the Intalio|Cloud Appliance can be deployed in any data-center, it assumes the availability of a reliable power source, hence does not include any Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), power controller, or built-in batteries. Nevertheless, all active components (blade enclosures, networking switches, and drive enclosures) include redundant power supplies.

Redundancy

The Intalio|Cloud Appliance is designed to eliminate every single point of failure. All applications deployed on Intalio|Cloud benefit from dynamic failover offered by Intalio|Elastic Compute, which relies on redundant servers. Similarly, all database servers benefit from dynamic failover offered by Intalio|Elastic Database. Additionally, the Intalio|Cloud Appliance makes use of redundant switches and cables for networking, and redundant power supplies for all active components.

Administration

The Intalio|Cloud Appliance integrates tools for remote systems administration from any Web browser. Additionally, on-premises administration is facilitated by a rackmount keyboard and monitor included in every rack and connected to every blade enclosures in the rack. All features offered by the on-premises administration tools are available online as well.