Cloud computing has transformed the way business operates. As the space matures and evolves, more services become available to the end user. Many critics have brought up the issue of security. Cloud service web hosting providers have always been aware of possible security issues and have continued to develop infrastructure with an eye towards securing data as well as limiting downtime.
One trend among the larger providers is the establishment of “ cloud availability zones” within their own networks. These geographically diverse server networks have low latency network connectivity along with a physically distinct independent infrastructure including independent power, cooling, networking and security.
Because they are physically separate, this zone infrastructure offers protection from even extreme, uncommon events such as fires, tornados or flooding. Any such catastrophic event would only impact a single availability zone or region, leaving the rest of the network intact.
The Benefits of Cloud Availability Zones to The End User
One major player offering availability zones is Amazon. They have designed their network as a series of completely isolated data center facilities. This infrastructure design offers the greatest possible failure independence and stability.
Because of their wide range of availability zones, it’s possible to completely duplicate your web hosting account on several different physical availability zones. This redundancy offers the end-user complete protection in the event of a server failure. By hosting on several zones in geographically diverse locations, in the event of failure, your users would be automatically routed to a secondary location, seamlessly and with no apparent slowdown in service.
This means as an end user, your data is always available with virtually no downtime. If you’re running a web-based business, cloud availability zones ensure you’re operational 24/7/365.
Another key benefit offered to the end-user by the architecture, is the delivery of lower latency and higher throughput. This means if most of your business takes place in the eastern United States and France, you can have an identical web hosting presence in both locations allowing customers to be routed to the closest physical location. If your site features graphically intensive content, like video or audio, your customers can experience a peak performance every time they visit your site.
For businesses migrating to the cloud, using a provider that offers multiple availability zones is an excellent strategy to ensure high availability. By keeping data on several availability zones in a single geographic area, you are ensuring maximum availability of digital assets. By expanding or adding a secondary location in a distant geographic zone, you can create true disaster recovery protection.
Even if a major event disrupted service for a larger area, say the entire east coast, having a secondary mirror location in California, for example, means that your service would automatically be switched to the west coast ensuring no disruption in your business.
Using multiple availability zones is a smart business decision. It not only ensures that your web hosting remains intact and accessible for your customers, it also means lower latency and higher throughput, increased security, and built in disaster recovery. Click here to learn more about Togglebox cloud servers.