Do you ever know more than 80% of IT services in HKUST are powered by virtual servers?  The virtualization is one of the most important infrastructural services that we are relying on every day.  

In computing, server virtualization lets a single physical server appear as multiple logical servers running with different operation system, network and storage.   The benefits of this include lower hardware maintenance cost and energy consumption, more efficient use of hardware resource, increasing agility and easier expandability.

ITSC has been offering the virtualization service since 2010 and now we are managing several hundreds of virtual servers.  Many departments have migrated their physical servers to virtual servers to enjoy the benefits of virtualization. To further improve the service, ITSC is now working on a new private cloud computing initiative based on the VMware vCloud technology. 

So what is cloud computing? According to the definition of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),

"Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction."

ITSC will offer a flexible and low-cost subscription-based private cloud service to departments.  Department administrators can manage all resources allocated to them and provision virtual servers based on their own specific requirement.  This can be done through a user-friendly self-served web portal with minimum interaction with ITSC and therefore ensures fast turnaround setup time.  Behind the scene, this private cloud runs on a premium-grade and highly redundant hardware in ITSC data center with 24 x7 automated monitoring.  Departments are able to save the cost of ownership while enjoying the benefits of increased flexibility and reliability in running their applications and services.

The private cloud will be in pilot later this year.  Departments are welcome to discuss your needs with us.