I uploaded the assignment for the discussion, no particular format. She's really particular but she wants us to post before we can respond.
Sakai : INSS 300.WB2 Sp19 : Discussion Forums (PER SCHEDULE) This discussion topic counts for 15 points -- three times the usual number of points for other single discussion topics. The expectation from you, therefore, is that you will put in three times the effort for this discussion topic relative to other discussion topics. You will need to provide a thoughtful, high quality submission -- the grading of your post will reflect this expectation. For this discussion topic, you will explore two alternative infrastructure options for running your organization’s business applications, and post a discussion comment comparing and contrasting three-year total costs of ownership (TCO) under both options. The two options you will compare are – (a) a traditional, on-premises (in- house) or colocated applications environment, versus (b) a newer, vendor- hosted (i.e., cloud computing) applications environment. Assume that your organization has always operated under option ‘a’ and that it is now considering switching to option ‘b’ by looking into Amazon Web Services (AWS), a leading cloud vendor. Currently, under option ‘a,’ your organization is responsible for acquiring, configuring, installing, operating, as well as maintaining any and all infrastructure resources required to run its applications on a day-to-day basis. Such infrastructure components may include physical premises, servers, server racks/cabinets, network/cabling, databases, storage memory, redundant power sources (if any), cooling mechanisms, etc. Your organization is also responsible for any IT personnel costs incurred in doing all this. https://searchmicroservices.techtarget.com/definition/colocation-colo On the other hand, by switching to the hosted ‘cloud’ under option ‘b,’ your organization would still own and maintain its own applications, but the day- to-day running of these applications would now be accomplished on the premises and infrastructure belonging to Amazon Web Services, i.e., the vendor. In other words, your organization would no longer need to own any of the physical infrastructure components described in the previous paragraph, or need to retain nearly as many IT personnel. Instead, it would access its vendor-hosted applications over the Internet, and be periodically billed for amounts corresponding only to its actual usage of each vendor- owned infrastructure resource. To compare the on-premises applications vs. cloud applications options, you will utilize Amazon’s tool called “AWS Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator,” available at the following URL – http://aws.amazon.com/tco-calculator/ After reading the brief introduction to the calculator, click the yellow ‘Launch the Calculator’ located below and to the right of the screenshots on that page. On the resulting screen, enter some hypothetical (fictitious) details pertaining to your current ‘on-premises’ or ‘colocation’ applications configuration, either of which is an example of option ‘a.’ Attached is a screenshot of one such configuration – feel free to explore and play with your own configurations. After you are done describing your current applications configuration, click the yellow ‘Calculate TCO’ button at the bottom right to view the three-year TCO comparison for option ‘a’ vs. option ‘b.' Finally, make a posting under this Forum topic, discussing your experience with the calculator. What assumptions did you make while entering your current applications configuration? Did you feel comfortable making these http://aws.amazon.com/tco-calculator/ assumptions? Did your assumptions affect the results of the TCO comparison? What was your overall impression of the two options, before and after viewing these results? Do you have any new questions/concerns/objections regarding option ‘b?’ What would be your advice as a dispassionate observer to any organization other than your own that may be considering switching from option ‘a’ to option ‘b?’ You must post your own observations first before reading anybody else's comments.