Cloud Infrastructure Design for SmartV

41891 42891 CLOUD COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE

ASSIGNMENT 2

1. Introduction

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cloud computing has emerged as a critical technology that allows businesses to scale, innovate, and operate efficiently. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the reliance on cloud services, especially in the entertainment industry, where streaming platforms have become essential for delivering content to millions of users. SmartV, an online video service provider, is experiencing substantial growth in user demand and has decided to migrate its IT infrastructure to the cloud to ensure scalability and performance.

This report focuses on designing a comprehensive cloud infrastructure for SmartV that meets their current business requirements while allowing for future growth. We will address key elements such as cloud architecture design, technology selection, and business requirements and analyse potential challenges. Special attention will be given to addressing scalability, security, and availability, ensuring the infrastructure supports millions of concurrent users.

The report will also explore solutions to critical challenges, including security risks, system availability, and performance issues. By implementing a cloud-based prototype, we aim to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed design. We aim to build a cloud infrastructure that enhances SmartV's service reliability, optimises operational efficiency, and positions the company for long-term success in the highly competitive streaming industry.

2. Business Requirements

2.1 Target Clients and Use Case Scenario

SmartV’s cloud platform's target clients are users globally looking to search, stream, and edit high-quality videos. With the growing demand for video content and user-generated media, SmartV must provide an infrastructure that caters to various user needs. These include uploading videos, editing them, and making them available for public streaming.

SmartV’s users are expected to come from various countries and access the platform from different devices and browsers. The platform. must deliver high-quality streaming services, accommodate large file uploads, and allow users to edit and transcode videos efficiently.

By transitioning to a cloud-based infrastructure, SmartV can provide a scalable, secure, and globally accessible platform. that supports current and future demands. The business case for this migration centres around the need for scalability, cost efficiency, and enhanced user experience  to keep pace with the increasing demand for video services.

2.2 Key Business Case and Requirements

The business case for SmartV’s cloud migration centres around addressing the company’s rapid growth and global expansion. The cloud will provide the following critical benefits:

a. Scalability to Support Growth:

o Current User Demand: SmartV currently supports 50,000 concurrent streams during peak hours and expects this to double to 100,000 within two years.

o Elastic Scaling: Cloud infrastructure will allow SmartV to automatically scale up resources during high-traffic periods, eliminating performance issues with the existing setup.

o Capacity Projections: SmartV must increase its storage capacity to meet

demand, with each user being allocated 100 GB of cloud storage. Given the projected user growth, the platform. must support at least 1 petabyte (PB) of total storage by the end of next year.

b. High Availability and Global Access:

o Latency Improvements: Currently, users in regions such as Asia and South

America experience up to 30% slower load times due to the lack of local servers. With the migration to cloud-based data centres distributed globally, latency will be reduced by 40%, significantly improving streaming performance in these regions.

o Expected Uptime: Cloud providers offer 99.99% availability, which reduces

potential downtime to less than 53 minutes per year. This will prevent the estimated $10,000 per hour loss that SmartV experiences during outages, saving the company AUD 200,000 annually in lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction.

o User Retention: Reducing latency and improving performance is expected to

increase user retention rates by 5%, contributing an additional AUD 500,000 in annual subscription revenue.

c. Cost Efficiency:

o Cost Savings: By transitioning to the pay-as-you-go model, SmartV will reduce capital expenditure on hardware, with projected savings of AUD 500,000 annually. The cloud infrastructure will also reduce operational expenses by 20%, allowing SmartV to avoid the rising costs of maintaining and upgrading on- premises infrastructure.

o Operational Cost Projections: Based on industry reports, organisations that

migrate to the cloud experience up to 30% savings in operational IT costs.

SmartV is expected to achieve similar savings, amounting to AUD 200,000 per year in reduced energy and maintenance costs.

d. Data Security and Compliance:

o Regulatory Compliance: As SmartV expands globally, it must comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California. Cloud providers like AWS or Azure offer built-in compliance tools that ensure data encryption, access control, and audit logging. This reduces the risk of non-compliance fines, reaching up to 4% of annual global turnover under GDPR.

o Security Risk Mitigation: Cloud infrastructure will enhance SmartV's security

posture, reducing the risk of data breaches by 40%. SmartV will employ multi- factor authentication (MFA), encryption, and intrusion detection systems (IDS) to safeguard user data, which is critical given the large volumes of personal and video content handled.

e. Backup and Disaster Recovery:

o Improved Disaster Recovery: Cloud solutions provide real-time replication and automated backups across geographically redundant locations, reducing recovery time from hours to minutes. This minimises the risk of data loss and ensures that SmartV can quickly recover from system failures, preventing losses of up to AUD 500,000 due to potential data loss or extended outages.

o Downtime Reduction: With cloud-based disaster recovery, SmartV will

experience 99.99% uptime, minimising downtime to less than 10 minutes per year in the event ofa significant failure, compared to the 2 hours of downtime it currently risks per year.

2.3 System Requirements & Use Cases

To meet these business objectives, SmartV’s cloud infrastructure must support the following system requirements and use cases:

• Video Uploading: The system must allow users to upload video files of any size. With expected growth, the platform. must handle at least 10,000 concurrent video uploads during peak periods.

• Video Streaming: The platform. must support up to 100,000 concurrent streams, offering adaptive bitrate streaming to ensure smooth playback across various network conditions and devices.

• Data Storage: Each user should have access to 100 GB of cloud storage, with automated backups ensuring that content is never lost.

• Security Requirements: Multi-factor authentication (MFA), firewalls, and data encryption must comply with GDPR and other regional regulations.

• Scalability: The infrastructure should scale on demand, particularly during high-traffic events like new content launches or viral video trends.

• Global Accessibility: Data centres should be strategically located worldwide to reduce latency for users in different regions.

2.4 Cloud Infrastructure Requirements

Cloud computing provides a robust, flexible, and scalable solution to meet SmartV’s business needs, particularly in the rapidly growing video streaming industry. Migrating to the cloud will  allow SmartV to leverage on-demand computing services, including storage, processing power, and network bandwidth, essential for delivering high-quality video services to a global audience.

According to Gartner (2021), organisations can reduce operational costs by up to 30% through cloud migration while gaining the scalability necessary to manage fluctuating demand. SmartV's ability to dynamically allocate resources will enable the company to efficiently handle traffic spikes during peak streaming times while minimising costs during off-peak periods.

SmartV will benefit from the following key cloud infrastructure components:

2.5 Expected Outcomes

SmartV’s migration to cloud computing will deliver several key business benefits, including:

• Global Reach: The platform. will be accessible from any location and supported by distributed data centres that eliminate the need for local physical infrastructure.

• Cost Savings: SmartV is projected to save AUD 500,000 annually on infrastructure costs with pay-as-you-go pricing and reduced hardware maintenance.

• Improved Customer Satisfaction: Reducing latency and improving performance will result in higher customer satisfaction, leading to a 5% improvement in retention and an additional AUD 500,000 in subscription revenue.

• Enhanced Disaster Recovery: The cloud will enable real-time data replication and automated backups, reducing potential data loss and saving up to AUD 500,000 in the event of system failures.

• Minimal Downtime: By achieving 99.99% uptime, SmartV will experience minimal  service interruptions, significantly reducing downtime costs by AUD 200,000 per year.

3. Cloud Architecture and Design

3.1 Proposal Infrastructure and Components

Cloud computing offers a dynamic solution to SmartV’s expanding business needs by providing scalable storage, processing power, and networking resources. The proposed infrastructure includes the following core components to ensure efficient management and delivery of video services worldwide:

a. VMware vCenter (VCSA8)

o IP Address: 192.168.10.6

o Username: [email protected]

o Purpose: Acts as the central management platform. for virtual machines (VMs) across the cloud infrastructure. With vCenter, SmartV can optimise video streaming, transcoding, and editing resources, allowing for smooth scaling as traffic demands increase.

b. Synology NAS iSCSI DataStore

o IP Address: 192.168.0.3/24

Purpose: Provides high-speed, redundant storage for video content. Ensures data integrity and high availability, using replication across geographic regions to prevent data loss and fast access.

c. ESXi Hosts (ESXi-1, ESXi-2, ESXi-3)

o IP Addresses:

ESXi-1: 192.168.10.11/24

ESXi-2: 192.168.10.12/24

ESXi-3: 192.168.10.13/24

Purpose: Physical servers running multiple VMs, handling compute-heavy tasks such as video transcoding, editing, and streaming. These hosts distribute workloads efficiently across the platform.

Figure 1. The diagram illustrates a VMware vSphere infrastructure with vSphere Client managing vCenter Servers, ESXi hosts, and virtual machines, including Enhanced Linked Mode for multiple vCenter Servers (VMWare, n.d.).

3.2 Implementing Platform. Choices

For SmartV, three primary cloud models are considered:

a. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

o IaaS offers on-demand computing resources such as servers, storage, and networking, allowing for maximum control and customisation of the infrastructure. This is ideal for SmartV’s global operations, enabling flexible scaling as user traffic grows.

o Chosen Model: IaaS is the best solution due to its scalability and control over resource allocation. The IaaS model supports video transcoding, global streaming, and security demands for SmartV’s platform.

b. Platform. as a Service (PaaS)

o  PaaS provides a managed platform. for developing and deploying applications.

However, it limits control over the infrastructure, which is unsuitable for SmartV's complex needs, such as real-time video processing and storage.

c. Software as a Service (SaaS)

o  SaaS offers fully managed applications but lacks the control and flexibility required for large-scale services like SmartV.

Why IaaS:

The IaaS model allows SmartV to have complete control over its cloud environment, ensuring efficient handling of high traffic, real-time video processing, and the flexibility to adapt to changing demands in the future.

3.3 Network Topology

SmartV will use vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) to ensure high performance, security, and redundancy to segment and manage network traffic. The network topology is designed to provide reliable data delivery and low-latency streaming.

• Management Network (192.168.10.x): Handles administrative tasks such as monitoring, updates, and resource allocation.

• User Network (10.0.x.x): Manages streaming traffic and user interaction, ensuring low- latency access for millions of concurrent users.

• Storage Network (192.168.0.x): Handles video data flow between VMs and storage systems.

Figure 2. SmartV Network Architecture Diagram