Building True Cloud Efficiency with Hybrid Cloud Architectures

The shift from single public cloud architectures to hybrid multi-cloud continues at enterprises around the globe, as organizations look for greater control, lower costs, and improved performance. I had the opportunity recently to speak with Vaughn Eisler, director of business development at Equinix, about this massive shift and some of the complex reasons behind them.

Eisler sees several reasons for the movement. He believes organizations are pulling back from going all-in on the public cloud with a single public cloud provider primarily to avoid vendor lock-in, to reduce cloud costs, and to secure data. He added that mergers and acquisitions that have created uncontrolled sprawl have also added to the shift.

For many, they’re turning to hybrid multi-cloud architectures that allows them to keep what is necessary, such as Tier 1 applications, legacy software, highly sensitive data or intellectual property in an on-premises data center. Meanwhile, the more modern and scalable applications can reside and operate within the public cloud, even across multiple public cloud providers.

Hitachi Cloud Connect for Equinix is the perfect solution for these requirements. This program allows organizations to build out the on-premises data center at an Equinix colocation data center (248 data centers in 27 countries on five continents). Data would be stored locally on Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform storage systems, known for 100% data availability guarantee and up to 99.999999% uptime (eight 9’s).

The final component of the architecture, the connections to the public cloud providers, can be realized with the Equinix Fabric. This is a private, software-defined network that is secured, low latency, high speed, and can be provisioned on demand.

But our work with Equinix doesn’t end there. On April 25, Hitachi Limited and Equinix announced a collaborative initiative, part of which said: “Equinix will support Hitachi in leveraging Platform Equinix to deliver high-quality, sustainable hybrid cloud solutions globally as EverFlex from Hitachi, based on environmentally friendly storage solutions. Hitachi will also establish solution validation centers and verify its storage solution on Platform Equinix in hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments.”

This initiative includes the opening of a solutions test center to support customer demands for hybrid and multi-cloud tests, proofs of concept, and demos.

The transition to hybrid multi-cloud can be challenging, but Hitachi Cloud Connect for Equinix can help.

Dang Luong is Hardware Test Engineer and Expert, Global Product & Solutions Enablement, at Hitachi Vantara.