Assessing Cloud Infrastructure Resiliency

Measure the performance, security and stability of cloud infrastructures

The challenges of measuring the performance, security and stability of cloud-based environments go well beyond simply the size and complexity of the environment. The constantly evolving characteristics of this adaptive environment create an unlimited number of variables when measuring resiliency. It’s a bit like building a skyscraper on shifting sands. It can be done. You just need the right tools or a whole lot of time and money. When it comes to innovation, both security and load simulation capabilities have lagged behind the hardware and software they were designed to assess. This has stifled the pace of delivering stable and secure cloud services.  

 

Hardening cloud infrastructures to be resilient against attack and high stress load

Due to the dynamic and shared characteristics of cloud infrastructures, the scale of the issue of how to effectively assess the environment is unique. In this real-time, adaptive environment, four factors are paramount: elasticity, realism, scalability, and security.

Elasticity

Cloud infrastructures are very different from traditional environments in which applications make exclusive use of server resources. In the cloud, resources are pooled, access to infrastructure is shared, and resource allocation changes dynamically. The underlying infrastructure is flexible and changes often, and every major revision of hardware or software can result in significant performance impact and, of course, needs to be tested. However, in the case of cloud, the process is so dynamic that discrete testing following major upgrades is simply not sufficient. You need to understand how services behave when deployed together.

Simulations for such a dynamic environment must reflect the elastic nature of usage patterns if you are to determine realistic performance and security measurements. Conditions change frequently, demand is elastic, resources are shared, and more frequent releases require continuous validation. There is little time for cumbersome configurations and scripts. Extensive automation is a must in order to replicate a wide range of usage patterns. What’s more, dynamic resource allocation means that applications cannot be analyzed in isolation from one another. In addition to a high performance, highly scalable simulation platform, vendors also need agile, automated and easier-to-use products designed for a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Realism

Understanding how resilient a cloud infrastructure is to high stress traffic and cyber attack requires the ability to simulate this same traffic mix at incredibly high performance and throughput levels. This is made all the more challenging with the ever-changing mix of applications and services seen on most cloud networks. Old ways of validating performance and security in silos using small simulations with a limited mix of applications and extrapolating the results simply do not provide the insight required today. This is not sufficient to ensure the SLAs that cloud vendors must deliver to business application users.

Scalability

We assume too much when we sign up for cloud computing services. One of the largest and most dangerous assumptions is stability in the face of peak demand. Prior to deployment, vendors must offer assurances that services will perform reliably under a variety of load conditions.

Simulating that load is easier said than done, however. To measure resiliency, it is important to simulate load from thousands of clients and servers, with different IP addresses, to be closer to reality. Imagine the number of servers and the millions in software fees that it would take to run the tests needed to emulate the typical load these infrastructures see on a daily basis, much less under peak conditions. Proper verification of the performance and security of a cloud infrastructure can only be done through the simulation of peak load, but without the need for server farms and application licenses.

Security

Possibly the biggest challenges, when it comes to cloud infrastructures, are in the security arena. This is due in part to the historical practice of conducting security and performance verification in isolation. In traditional hardware/software scenarios, security and performance organizations are typically siloed. However, as security breaches become more frequent and severe, and as network equipment vendors embed more security functionality into their core network products, organizations are integrating their security and performance efforts. But change has not come fast enough for the cloud. In this more open and accessible environment, the stakes are higher.

Security attacks are not just dangerous;  protection against these strikes can have an immense effect on overall performance. Vendors must recognize the impact of security on application performance—specifically, Web services—and assess accordingly by emulating the real world, where hackers are exploiting the cloud to spread viruses and malware and to attack critical network infrastructure.

Measuring cloud infrastructure resiliency with the BreakingPoint Storm CTM™

The unique obstacles presented by the dynamic, shared cloud infrastructure have set the bar and the price tag very high for measuring resiliency. Today, cloud vendors rely on homegrown in-house options that cannot help them identify all of the hidden stress fractures that degrade performance and lead to security breaches. Clearly, these vendors are in need of new and more scalable, flexible, realistic and cost-effective options.

The BreakingPoint Storm CTM provides you with hundreds of performance and security simulation features, including hundreds of real-world application protocols, thousands of the latest security attacks and millions of users. The BreakingPoint Storm CTM allows enterprises, government organizations, service providers and equipment vendors to put any server through the paces of a real-world network and be confident that the device will work when deployed.

Using BreakingPoint Storm CTM for hardening cloud infrastructure resiliency enables you to:

  • Mitigate the risk of network failures and performance bottlenecks.
  • Defend networks, applications and data against cyber assaults.
  • Accelerate the delivery of next generation services.
  • Reduce the costs associated with replicating global network conditions.
  • Ensure compliance with industry and government standards.
  • Make more informed purchasing decisions.
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