Hosting local servers and running a serverless school might sound like a contradiction but it isn't because every site needs local compute to provide edge security, wireless access and move data packets around the network.
It’s not the tin-box itself that’s the problem but the way it’s managed and maintained.
Take for instance your firewall, content filter or core switch. You turn it on and it just works. It has a web-interface that’s easy to access and update. It’s possible that the device is taking software updates directly from the internet and sending status updates back to base to be proactively managed. An annual subscription fee ensures that if it goes wrong the supplier will replace it with the same or improved model.
At this point it’s no longer a server but an appliance. It’s simple to manage and not your problem if it goes wrong.
What if your remaining on-premise server estate could work in the same way and could be managed and financed the same way as your cloud resources. What would a Hybrid IT appliance actually look like?
First, like all SaaS subscription services there is little or no up front costs. The school doesn’t own the hardware, that would remain the property of the supplier and the school just pays for the service. Basic functions such as Active Directory and file and print are built in, along with network services such as DNS and DHCP. It also has extended facilities such as edge security and content filtering, all managed through a simple to use web console without any visibility of an underlying operating system.
The school has the ability to configure each service but the management of the device remains solely the responsibility of the supplier. They have control of resource allocation, security, OS patching, backup and recovery. Backup images and configurations are streamed to the cloud as a background process without any user interaction. Loss of the device due to a local disaster simply triggers a replacement device and a recovery from cloud storage under an SLA agreement.
This new type of hybrid device is designed to work alongside SaaS and to complement its function. The school is likely to be running Microsoft Office365 or Google G Suite for Education so most of the heavy lifting of email and shared storage is already in the cloud. The appliance will take advantage of this and be pre-configured to link the onsite and cloud directories and use cloud storage as a backup repository.
The school never has to invest in underutilised capacity because the cloud service absorbs any immediate growth and since the school doesn’t own the device there is no replacement cycle to plan for. Over time the the role of the device many change, requiring smaller or larger capacities. In this case it’s a simple case of arranging a swap out and an update to the subscription terms.
The appliance has enough spare capacity to host a dedicated virtual server if you need to run a print management system, SIS or VLE making it adaptable to specific requirements.
Is any of this realistic ?
The Linux Schools Project has a well established offering that covers some of these areas. The server distribution is known as Karoshi and can be installed on most hardware platforms but it’s still locally managed.
Recently a fully featured commercial offering has emerged from Zynstra that embraces the subscription model. At a technical level the offering works pretty much as described above.
While the device itself delivers an comparable service to local server farm the school does not own the hardware and has no visibility of the underlying operating system - delivering an on premise service without the hassle of maintaining on-premise hardware.
In this way schools can remove the roadblocks that often stand in the way of full cloud migrations by keeping some workloads local while funding and managing the service in same way as SaaS, with many of the same advantages.
A marriage made in the clouds in fact.
It’s not the tin-box itself that’s the problem but the way it’s managed and maintained.
Take for instance your firewall, content filter or core switch. You turn it on and it just works. It has a web-interface that’s easy to access and update. It’s possible that the device is taking software updates directly from the internet and sending status updates back to base to be proactively managed. An annual subscription fee ensures that if it goes wrong the supplier will replace it with the same or improved model.
At this point it’s no longer a server but an appliance. It’s simple to manage and not your problem if it goes wrong.
What if your remaining on-premise server estate could work in the same way and could be managed and financed the same way as your cloud resources. What would a Hybrid IT appliance actually look like?
First, like all SaaS subscription services there is little or no up front costs. The school doesn’t own the hardware, that would remain the property of the supplier and the school just pays for the service. Basic functions such as Active Directory and file and print are built in, along with network services such as DNS and DHCP. It also has extended facilities such as edge security and content filtering, all managed through a simple to use web console without any visibility of an underlying operating system.
The school has the ability to configure each service but the management of the device remains solely the responsibility of the supplier. They have control of resource allocation, security, OS patching, backup and recovery. Backup images and configurations are streamed to the cloud as a background process without any user interaction. Loss of the device due to a local disaster simply triggers a replacement device and a recovery from cloud storage under an SLA agreement.
This new type of hybrid device is designed to work alongside SaaS and to complement its function. The school is likely to be running Microsoft Office365 or Google G Suite for Education so most of the heavy lifting of email and shared storage is already in the cloud. The appliance will take advantage of this and be pre-configured to link the onsite and cloud directories and use cloud storage as a backup repository.
The school never has to invest in underutilised capacity because the cloud service absorbs any immediate growth and since the school doesn’t own the device there is no replacement cycle to plan for. Over time the the role of the device many change, requiring smaller or larger capacities. In this case it’s a simple case of arranging a swap out and an update to the subscription terms.
The appliance has enough spare capacity to host a dedicated virtual server if you need to run a print management system, SIS or VLE making it adaptable to specific requirements.
In this case the responsibility for patching and maintaining the image returns to the local IT support team who really should be planning for SaaS alternatives rather messing about with local operating systems !
Is any of this realistic ?
The Linux Schools Project has a well established offering that covers some of these areas. The server distribution is known as Karoshi and can be installed on most hardware platforms but it’s still locally managed.
Recently a fully featured commercial offering has emerged from Zynstra that embraces the subscription model. At a technical level the offering works pretty much as described above.
In this way schools can remove the roadblocks that often stand in the way of full cloud migrations by keeping some workloads local while funding and managing the service in same way as SaaS, with many of the same advantages.
A marriage made in the clouds in fact.
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