At your job, you have a workload consisting of all the tasks you need to accomplish during the day. However, the term “workload” takes on a completely different meaning when it comes to cloud computing. In this context, a workload is an executable service or collection of code; because the cloud allows several computer assets to run the same tasks, you might think of a workload as the amount of work to be completed by computer resources within a certain period.
Most businesses have a hybrid cloud environment, where software and data are shared amongst devices through on-site, private, and public platforms. If you are eager to boost performance and productivity within your organization, you need to be certain that your hybrid cloud workload is perfect. Here’s a rundown of typical workloads suitable for the hybrid cloud, including who should use them and why.
Batch Workloads
A batch workload processes huge volumes of data, such as information about cellphone bills or the results of thousands of online transactions. Because batch workloads consume a substantial amount of computing and storage resources, most organizations want to find ways to make batch workloads faster and easier to process.
Typically, batch workloads are not time-sensitive and consist of predictable, well-documented methods. As a result, they are excellent candidates for automation within the hybrid cloud. You can schedule batch workloads to execute regularly when more pressing real-time tasks are running, and because the cloud never sleeps, you can make the most of hours in the evening or at night, when your workers will go home, and systems will be free to crunch numbers.
Transactional Workloads
Transactions are necessary for every business, but in recent years, many organizations have found their transactional workloads becoming increasingly complex. E-commerce allows businesses to reach across partners and suppliers, meaning transactional workloads must incorporate these computing environments to reflect ongoing transactions accurately. Though traditionally, transactional workloads were best kept in a single system on a private cloud, you might need to expand your transactional workloads to the hybrid cloud to facilitate its complexity.
Analytic Workloads
As data has proven itself overwhelmingly important to the success of modern business, analytic workloads have consumed more and more computing resources. In many cases, you can reduce the demand for analytics by focusing more intently on the right kinds of data; too often, businesses collect and analyze as much data as they can, regardless of what they might (not) do to improve their performance. However, if analytic workloads continue to take up a significant portion of your resources, you can migrate them to the hybrid cloud. This is because analytics typically relies on various data sources — public websites, private clouds, data warehouses, and more — necessitating a hybrid environment.
High-performance Workloads
The objective of a high-performance workload may vary from another high-performance workload. What defines this category of hybrid cloud workload is that it contains a specialized process with highly scientific or technical requirements. As with other workloads on this list, the complexity of high-performance workloads demands excessive computing capabilities —which means they are well-suited for specialized hybrid clouds optimized for performance.
Database Workloads
The most common type of workload, and thus affecting essentially every environment in a data center or a cloud, database workloads must be fine-tuned and continuously managed to support the service using the data. As you assemble the cloud environment that will handle your database workload, you could consider the database’s size and sophistication. You might need to build an environment suited to huge, high-performance database workloads, in which case, you should be using more than the hardware’s operating system to support its requirements.
Not all workloads are well-suited for the cloud. For instance, if your workload demands high-performance network storage, low latency of legacy applications, or high throughput database clustering, building an on-site data center that can provide you with the storage and speeds you need is better. However, if you find your systems bogged down by any of the workloads listed above, you should get help building a hybrid environment that fits your requirements.