Reversibility
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:
Reversibility:
- the fact that a piece of clothing, material, etc. can be turned inside out and worn or used with either side showing.
- the fact that a process, an action or a disease can be changed so that something returns to its original state or situation.
Sure, turning a garment inside out sounds convenient, but we’re more interested in the second definition, which is “returning something to its original state/situation”. This is what we’re talking about when referring to your data, and more importantly, the reversibility of your data in the Cloud.
Naturally, before going cloud, you asked yourself two important questions:
- How much is it going to cost?
- How much time and effort is involved in moving my apps and data to the cloud?
The answer to the first question is in our Total Cost of Ownership White Paper, available here. This document helps in determining the actual cost difference between an on-prem platform and a cloud platform. Usually, cloud providers are upfront about their pricing. Well, I can say for sure that we are, based on our Public Cloud, Bare Metal, or Nutanix on OVHcloud pricing.
We’re all about transparency and clear pricing, right from the start. And yes, our prices may seem too good to be true sometimes, but that’s because our focus is on finding the right balance between price and performance. Top-tier performance doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag.
As for the second question, it’s a breeze generally, if you’re a confirmed virtualisation user. It’s tougher for non-virtual workloads, but not impossible—just time-consuming and expensive.
But here’s a question you’ve probably never asked:
What happens to my data if I decide to switch or leave my cloud provider?
What really happens to your data if you decide to leave your cloud provider (and take your data with you)?
Well… it’s easy! All you have to do is download your files and cancel the service(s), right?
No, and brace yourself; this isn’t as straightforward as you’d expect.
First, your cloud provider needs to give you access to your data. Not just your virtual machine or database interface data, but also your raw, underlying data, and the specific drive, folder, repository, or bucket where your data is stored. Just stop and think about it for a sec… when did you last browse your files/blocks/object stored in the cloud?
Can you actually pull it off? Do you have the means to do it, right now?
If yes, congrats, you’ve got the first step down.
But how much will it cost to move data beyond your cloud provider’s infrastructure?
At OVHcloud, you pay 0 for ingress/egress data transfer1, without “free allowance” or throttling.
This means you can take back your data at any time, at no cost. And the data you host in our datacentres is exactly what’s returned to you—unaltered. As a matter of fact, we never use, modify, or resell customer data, a commitment we take very seriously. That’s why keeping your data secure is a big deal for us, and managing our own global network gives us more control to make that happen.
At OVHcloud, your data is always yours, which means you’re responsible for protecting it with through backups, copies, or replication.
But now you’re thinking “well, I’ve got a hybrid cloud setup, so I can access my data whenever I want and my apps still run anyway”. That’s right, but just because you can visualise your data doesn’t mean you can actually access it.
You can access a database, as well as display images or videos stored in Object Storage, or run Virtual Machines in a public cloud. But can you really get your data back?
Accessing data in the cloud is one thing, getting it back is a whole different story—always keep this in mind.
Speaking of hybrid cloud…
Let me tell you about our Nutanix on OVHcloud solution, and how it allows you to make the most of the cloud, while staying in control of your data.
Hybrid cloud opens a world of possibilities:
– if you do not trust us (yet) you can keep your most precious data on-premises while using cloud services for your dev/test environments
– you can take advantage of the network bandwidth and security of cloud provider to host your front-end services in the cloud, while keeping the back-end on premises (securely connected using OVHcloud Connect)
– you can use our international location and local zones to place some of your services exactly where they have to be without having to build and maintain your own infrastructure
The use cases are endless….
So with Nutanix on OVHcloud, you get your Nutanix Cloud Platform running in the cloud, monitored round the clock by OVHcloud’s datacentre teams, in a convenient location of your choosing, and packed with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from your on-prem setup.
Also, it’s super easy to connect this cluster (or these clusters) to the existing Prism Central management interface on your on-prem Nutanix platform, making it a breeze to keep an eye on everything, whether it’s in the cloud or on premises.
And since OVHcloud doesn’t charge for egress/ingress data transfer2, setting up replication won’t cost you extra beyond the licences you need in order to enable the feature.
So, about reversibility, if you ever decide you no longer want to use our services, just move your VMs, containers, and files to your on-prem cluster and cancel your monthly subscription. No need to ask for special admin permissions or jump through hoops. You have the freedom to maintain or cancel your contract(s) with us at anytime (within the limits of our legal binding of course) in a few clicks through OVHcloud control panel. And since your Nutanix on OVHcloud cluster is already linked to your on-prem setup, moving data is straightforward—no special tools required.
That’s our promise, our commitment, and one of our core values.
Your data stays your data!
- (except for CDN, some Object Storage options, and services hosted in our APAC locations, unfortunately, where local rules may apply) ↩︎
- (except for CDN, some Object Storage options, and services hosted in our APAC locations, unfortunately, where local rules may apply) ↩︎
Technical Marketing Specialist @OVHcloud
About 20 years of experience in HW storage/backup/replication.....