Abstract
The rapid expansion and demand for quick provisioning, scaling, and deletion of resources through self-service cloud portals or Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have significantly transformed how Evolution of IBM and the broader industry approach agility in information technology (IT) resources. This paper explores the development and evolution of the IBM Research Cloud Integration Solution, offering an in-depth analysis of the history of cloud deployment and automation readiness. By examining the progression of IBM’s cloud capabilities, this essay highlights the importance of cloud automation in modern IT environments and how IBM has adapted to meet the growing demands of businesses and researchers.
I. Introduction
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, cloud automation with a high degree of agility is essential for businesses to succeed. Advanced cloud-based workloads require rapid deployment of IT resources, and organizations must adapt quickly to remain competitive. Several years ago, IBM researchers and developers recognized the need for private clouds to support their growing business demands. The goal was to provide IT resources in minutes rather than months, enabling researchers to deliver innovative solutions quickly. This shift also required seamless integration of data, regardless of its location, fundamentally changing how IBM approached IT integration.
To address these challenges, IBM developed a comprehensive solution that combines technology, people, and ideas to maximize the potential of their IT environment. Today, IBM Cloud and automation are integral to all new research projects and solutions. Emerging technologies, development models, and operational frameworks are continuously integrated into the IBM Cloud at an accelerated pace. IBM Research not only drives many of these innovations but also benefits from increased efficiencies, including rapid scalability, high availability, enhanced security, and reduced costs compared to traditional IT infrastructures.
IBM Cloud offers a wide range of components and capabilities, including public, private, and hybrid deployment models. IBM Bluemix, a key component of the IBM Cloud, integrates platform and infrastructure services, providing a rich assortment of infrastructure, cognitive, software, and service offerings. According to a recent survey, 93% of organizations are now using some form of cloud service, and public cloud services are increasingly trusted, with twice as many people trusting them as those who do not. IBM Research leverages both public and private cloud capabilities within its IT environment, ensuring flexibility and efficiency in its operations.
II. History
In 2007, IBM Research recognized the necessity of investing in a general cloud solution to support its research projects. By 2008, the first version of the IBM Research Compute Cloud was introduced, marking the beginning of a transformative journey in cloud computing. Over the past decade, cloud technology has had a profound impact on the IT industry, including IBM Research. Various cloud deployment models have emerged, each with its own advantages and use cases.
A private cloud is a deployment model where an organization or a third party owns and maintains dedicated infrastructure and platforms exclusively for the organization’s use. This model is typically located behind a corporate firewall and can be either on-premise or off-premise at a cloud provider’s data center. In contrast, a public cloud offers cloud resources to individual consumers or businesses from a shared pool of resources. Public clouds leverage economies of scale to reduce costs, and providers typically offer some level of security and resource isolation while sharing network, storage, compute, and application components. Hybrid cloud, as the name suggests, combines private and public cloud models, offering organizations the flexibility to optimize efficiency, cost, security, compliance, and agility.
Initially, IBM Research Cloud offerings were based on internal private clouds. While these provided greater efficiency compared to traditional dedicated physical servers, IBM Research realized the need to further optimize IT utilization, including cost and capital investments. In 2013, IBM conducted a study to explore the potential of leveraging public cloud services and their expected impact. The study considered factors such as features, cost, and security. Based on the findings, IBM Research introduced a hybrid cloud offering in 2014, which has since evolved into the IBM Research Cloud Integration Solution.
The IBM Research Cloud Integration Solution enables individual researchers to access IBM Cloud resources through an internal self-service portal, offering various configurations and solutions. The intuitive interface allows researchers to manage and utilize cloud resources efficiently for their projects. Additionally, the service provides seamless access to cloud resources from the internal IBM network. A significant advancement in recent years has been the integration of Platform as a Service (PaaS) through IBM Bluemix, complementing the existing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) capabilities. These integrations have enhanced the agility and features available to IBM Research, enabling faster innovation and deployment.
III. Cloud Capabilities
The IBM Research Cloud Integration Solution is built on a foundation of full automation and APIs. Each component of the solution has a set of APIs that facilitate existing automation and enable the development of new solutions. This flexibility allows the environment to adapt to changing needs. For example, if network intelligence tools detect abnormal traffic flow from an IP address in the Bluemix infrastructure to the IBM internal network, potentially impacting service quality or indicating a denial-of-service attack, the tools can use APIs to block the traffic or shut down the offending device.
The recent introduction of the IBM Bluemix Container service, built on Kubernetes, has revolutionized development and operational models. The use of portable, self-contained application images has increased deployment agility and operational efficiency. The platform offers an extensive collection of APIs, logs, and declarative metadata, which can be used to drive continuous improvements. Features such as autoscaling, automatic vulnerability detection, and remediation without impacting availability are now standard. IBM has been a leading force in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), a community dedicated to advancing cloud-native technologies. Kubernetes, CNCF’s flagship orchestration engine, has gained widespread adoption, with even Amazon Web Services (AWS) joining the community due to its potential to disrupt proprietary container-based services.
IBM’s Container service simplifies adoption by automating cluster provisioning and enabling dynamic scaling. The cluster nodes are managed by IBM Cloud, while the network is controlled by the IBM Research integration team. Multi-tenant clusters have been implemented to optimize resource utilization and reduce costs, allowing research DevOps teams to focus on application development rather than infrastructure management. Additional tools are being developed to analyze resource utilization and identify idle resources for decommissioning, further optimizing costs and reducing security risks.
IV. Securing the Cloud
Security remains a top concern for organizations adopting cloud technologies. With the increasing number and severity of data breaches, ensuring the security and compliance of cloud environments is paramount. The IBM Research Cloud Integration Solution addresses these concerns by providing numerous data points and APIs throughout the environment, which are used by security management tools to assess and mitigate risks.
Each data source within the infrastructure, including Operational Support Systems (OSS), Business Support Systems (BSS), network filtering, categorization, vulnerability information, and device logs, is utilized by IT security tools to monitor and respond to potential threats. These tools conduct real-time and long-term assessments to identify trends and anomalies, enabling proactive security measures. The hybrid cloud APIs allow the environment to be dynamically adjusted based on security assessments, ensuring continuous protection.
IBM Bluemix offers a built-in security service called Vulnerability Advisor, which identifies vulnerabilities in Docker images hosted in the IBM Bluemix Container service. This service, combined with Kubernetes and the container service, enables DevOps teams to build automated operational pipelines that can patch vulnerabilities immediately upon detection, without disrupting application availability. This capability is a key differentiator for IBM, providing a significant advantage in managing security risks.
In summary, the IBM Research Cloud Integration Solution demonstrates how to effectively leverage IBM Cloud services, including Bluemix, to meet business and technical requirements. These requirements encompass cost optimization, security, regulatory compliance, and agility. As the demand for new services and platforms continues to grow, IBM Research remains committed to improving access to virtually unlimited IT resources, supported by advanced automation and security measures. This approach not only benefits IBM but also serves as a model for other organizations seeking to optimize their cloud integration and innovation capabilities.
References
- Building Trust in a Cloudy Sky, The state of cloud adoption and security, https://www.mcafee.com/us/solutions/lp/cloud-securityreport.html
- Thoughts on Cloud, http://www.thoughtsoncloud.com/2014/02/cloudcomputing
- IBM Bluemix Containers, https://www.ibm.com/cloudcomputing/bluemix/containers
- Kubernetes, https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/what-iskubernetes/
- Cloud Native Computing Foundation, https://www.cncf.io
- Amazon Web Services, https://aws.amazon.com/
- CNCF Welcomes Amazon, and so does IBM, https://www.ibm.com/blogs/cloud-computing/2017/08/cncfwelcomesamazon-ibm/
- DevOps, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps
- IBM Vulnerability Advisor, https://www.ibm.com/blogs/bluemix/2017/01/vulnerabilityadvisor-appsecurity/
- Docker, https://www.docker.com/what-docker
- Docker Image Vulnerability Research, https://www.federacy.com/docker_image_vulnerabilities
- OSS and BSS Definitions, http://www.ossline.com/2010/12/definition-oss-bss.html