American University High Availability Cloud Computing Discussion

Over the last few weeks, we have discussed the importance of following the principles of high availability when architecting a cloud system.

For this discussion, I would like you to elaborate on why these principles are so important, and what could happen if they are not followed.

Please pick any company or organization, big or small, and describe why they need to ensure their applications and services are deployed in a highly-available construct. Please then also describe what would happen if they either deployed into the cloud without using high availability principles, and what the real-world cost (money, lost customers, even lives lost) could be as a result of any application downtime.

Please then respond to one of your fellow classmates with a question about their post in an attempt to further the discussion. Replies of “I agree with you” or “I found that interesting” do not count!

Hey there, a paragraph needed it for the discussion, and please choose one of these posts to reply with short sentences.

1-CVS Health Inc. needs to ensure that their applications and services are deployed in a highly-available construct because they deal with a lot of different types of data as a convenience store and a pharmacy. More specifically if PII (Personally Identifiable Information) gets leaked it could cause major issues for a corporation or organization of their size. If they deployed into the cloud without using high availability principles, it could potentially lead to essential components failing and the entire cloud not working as it should. While this could cause an interruption or drop in service, this could also cause the organization to potentially lose customers, revenue / profit, and brand loyalty.

2- Following the principles of high availability when architecting a cloud system is very important for many reasons. I will use the company Uber. Uber following the principles of high availability is what makes them amazing and what makes them the #1 transportation service app, millions of people use this app in a day and in a minute, most likely depending on big situations by using it, because I can be ordering an Uber to get to the airport and if I miss this trip I can lose my job and that reflects on losing money and thats why Uber needs to be using high availability because millions of people use it and one small mistake of not using high availability which makes the app get overused and damaged can damage the system and affect my car ride. Another situation is me as a driver for Uber after every ride i’m waiting on my money to be received and that money is what I rely on so such damage on an app can result in chaos of data and information and can lead to me losing what I made this whole week driving people. and that expensive data cant be recovered in a short time.

3- According to the definition posted on AVI networks “High Availability (HA) is defined as systems that are dependable enough to operate continuously without fail. They are well-tested and sometimes equipped with redundant components.”

Looking at the present situation of capital one bank, in my point of view Capital one bank needs the high availability because they are continuously closing their bank branches one by one. So far, they have closed 100 branches within a year. The primary reason they are closing their banks is they are switching from traditional banking methods to electronic banking methods. In this scenario, as capital one has 62.5 million customers worldwide, and Capital one is encouraging their customers to do online banking, they will need high availability in their business so that they will not lose customers. If they fail to include high availability in their banking business, within less period they will lose thousands of customers. As matter of fact in process of saving from traditional banking, they will end up losing money if they fail to provide quick and reliable service to customers. Similarly, Capital One bank has also started online shopping this year. With such major changes in banking industries, they must have “ High Availability” in their business for its growth and to prevent future loss.

4- The principles of high availability are integral when architecting a cloud system as well as determining the resources needed to maintain the system once it is deployed. High availability is widely expected in our current technological society and businesses across the United States are implementing method to provide virtually eternal uptime and low latency.

A company that would require a high level of availability is a banking company, for example Bank of America. All banking companies need high availability as their resources are always being accessed by both clients as well as companies taking money from their client’s accounts. If a banking company was to not use high availability principles, there would be times where people could not access their accounts and perform transactions when needed. This would lose customers, as they would move to another bank with more availability, and they would also lost money as customers leave their business. Having low availability could also be a security risk as if someone loses their card or notices a problem with their account, there is no way to access to system and mitigate the problem before something gets worse. When dealing with sensitive information and money of customers, high availability becomes extremely important for the company itself as well as the customers using their service