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Play 09: Deploy in a flexible hosting environment
Resources are provisioned on demand
The Bluemix/Softlayer automated provisioning system will deploy virtual servers within 5 to 15 minutes. Virtual servers ordered with monthly billing also include 250GB of outbound public bandwidth at no additional cost.
Resources scale based on real-time user demand
Bluemix/Softlayer environments have an “Auto-scale” capability that adds or subtracts deployed resources based upon real-time user demand.
Resources are provisioned through an API
Every offering on the Bluemix/Softlayer platform—from servers and storage to firewalls, load balancers, and even the accounting system—is controlled by a single management system with its own API which features more than 3,000 documented methods and 180 distinct services. It’s the foundation for the internal management systems, customer portal and mobile management apps.
Resources are available in multiple regions
Bluemix is available across more than 25 IBM data centers around the world and in any data center of yours. Pick and choose any combination of deployment models to optimize your apps and services for performance, regulatory considerations, cost, and scale.
Bluemix/SoftLayer has two data centers reserved for government workloads. These facilities are isolated from SoftLayer’s general data centers and connected by an independent high-speed private network.
SoftLayer data centers are built to meet the privacy and security controls required in the FedRAMP and FISMA standards (certification pending for data centers reserved for government workloads). Additionally, we provide SOC 2, Type II reports for all customers who need detail about our controls for other certifications, such as PCI-DSS and HIPAA compliance.
We only pay for resources we use
Billing for resources used on Bluemix/Softlayer is on an hourly or monthly basis, based on usage.
Static assets are served through a content delivery network
Bluemix/Softlayer uses a separate content delivery network to distribute content in 24 geographically diverse nodes and shorten the distance it has to travel to get to your end user. This network avoid network traffic jams, decrease latency, and optimize the performance of your overall cloud solution. See the IBM Softlayer Edgecast content delivery network website for more information.
Application is hosted on commodity hardware
The IBM Bluemix Platform is built upon IBM's Softlayer Cloud IaaS which offers both bare-metal (Intel Xeon and IBM POWER 8) and virtual (Intel Xeon) servers.
Where is your service hosted?
In 25 data centers around the world.
What hardware does your service use to run?
Intel Xeon and IBM Power 8 Servers. Block, Object and Archive storage. Triple networks: Public, private and management with separate content delivery network.
What is the demand or usage pattern for your service? Worldwide demand. Usage patterns vary.
What happens to your service when it experiences a surge in traffic or load?
The service auto-scales to meet demand.
How much capacity is available in your hosting environment?
It varies by location - from over 5,500 servers (smallest) to over 40,000 servers (largest).
How long does it take you to provision a new resource, like an application server?
Approximately 5 to 15 minutes.
How have you designed your service to scale based on demand?
The auto-scale capability is designed to use usage-based or schedule-based metrics to automatically add or subtract resources.
How are you paying for your hosting infrastructure (e.g., by the minute, hourly, daily, monthly, fixed)?
Services and resources are pricing on a monthly and hourly basis.
Is your service hosted in multiple regions, availability zones, or data centers?
Yes. Availability zones can be implemented across data centers in multiple regions around the world.
In the event of a catastrophic disaster to a datacenter, how long will it take to have the service operational?
It depends on the nature of the disaster and if availability zones are being used. Minimal, if any, disruption may be achieved.
What would be the impact of a prolonged downtime window?
The impact would be minimal to non-existent if the available appropriate deployment options are implemented.
What data redundancy do you have built into the system, and what would be the impact of a catastrophic data loss?
Various types of data redundancy are offered across the block and object storage environments. A catastrophic data loss is a very unlikely event if the proper services and capabilities are utilized.
How often do you need to contact a person from your hosting provider to get resources or to fix an issue?
Support is available via chat and telephone 24x365.