Cloud Computing
How satellites benefit Cloud-Hosted applications
by Sunil Gupta, Senior Director, Hughes Network Systems
The Cloud offers many opportunities to reduce costs and grow a business. Cloud-based
services often present a more economical and simplified solution to the user, but consequently
make a highly reliable and robust connection to the Internet that much more critical. Satellite
broadband offers a truly unique connectivity solution in many AME regions where terrestrial
bandwidth may be sparse or unavailable.
Therefore, moving to the cloud is the logical and inevitable step for most businesses and
organizations. Cloud connectivity requires robust and high throughput bandwidth in order to
provide users with the most satisfying experience. In the case of Africa and the Middle East,
terrestrial connectivity may not be available or may be very costly to deploy. ‘Always-on’
satellite-based connectivity proves to be the logical, and sometimes, only, choice.
Sunil Gupta is currently a Senior Director with a focus on Product Development and Marketing in the International Division of Hughes
Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. Mr. Gupta has been with Hughes for over
eighteen years. For the past ten years, Mr. Gupta had managed the technical support, training and new customer network integration
for the AIReach Point-to-Multipoint radio system. Prior to that, Mr. Gupta led the engineering teams for various network management
platforms offered with Hughes products.
Previously, Mr. Gupta worked for Westinghouse Defense and Electronics (now Northrop Grumman) for over eight years. While at
Westinghouse Defense and Electronics he worked on programs ranging from electronic content delivery to satellite ground systems. He
has a broad technical background in communications and spent more than fifteen years in the design and development of hardware and
software systems.
Mr. Gupta holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Introduction
The ‘Cloud’ is a nebulous term referring
to the universe of services and solutions
available on the Internet or within distributed
private networks. As illustrated in Figure
1, consumers, government agencies and
businesses of all sizes are increasingly
accessing an ever-expanding range of
applications and data hosted and managed
in the Cloud-everything from family photos
to corporate databases and applications.
Cloud-based services often present a more
economical and simplified solution to the
user, but consequently make a highly reliable
Figure 1. Cloud-Based Services and Solutions
AME 2014
n
21
Cloud Computing
the people to support them, a business can
focus on their business and use the bandwidth
provided by broadband satellite connections
to leverage this capability in the Cloud.
Figure 2. Accessing Cloud-based XaaS via Satellite Broadband
and robust connection to the Internet that
much more critical.
connectivity proves to be the logical, and
sometimes, only, choice.
Some estimates say that by the end of this
year, 2014, over 50 percent of all workload
will occur in the Cloud (the balance
remaining in traditional data centers) and
over 80 percent of new applications will be
developed in the Cloud1.
Broadband access and connectivity facilitated
by very small aperture terminal (VSAT)
satellite networks in the Middle East and
African regions have already delivered many
benefits such as:
Cloud-based services cover a wide range of
applications in three major categories:
•
Software/Apps
as
a
Service
(SaaS): • Office Suites, CRM, Collaboration,
Financial, Gaming, Email, etc.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): • Servers, Platforms, Virtualization, Storage
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): • Raw Compute Power, Web Servers,
Database Servers
For
example,
Customer
Resource
Management (CRM) that was typically
handled
in-house
with
custom-built
solutions is now available in the Cloud
as a customizable ‘Software as a Service’
solution. In fact, thousands of companies
are today offering cloud-based ‘XaaS’
models with potential cost savings in frontend development, computer infrastructure,
maintenance, and training. The cost savings
offered by Cloud-based services directly
contributes to the growth and economic
development in regions by freeing users of
the services from the cost and complexity of
setting up this capability in-house.
Going for a ride on the Cloud
Moving to the cloud is a logical and
inevitable step for most businesses and
organizations. Cloud connectivity requires
robust and high throughput bandwidth
in order to provide users with the most
satisfying experience. In the case of Africa
and the Middle East, terrestrial connectivity
may not be available or may be very costly
to deploy. ‘Always-on’ satellite-based
1
22
Caravelle Group
n
AME 2014
•Economic Development: nationwide
access to broadband Internet contributes to
the economic development of a country/
region by enhancing job creation and
providing new trade opportunities.
• Education (Distance Learning): education
is, of course, the foundation of economic
growth. Satellite provides the unique ability
to reach virtually every school and institution.
For example, the Ethiopian Government
has deployed VSATs in a large scale effort
to bring Ethiopia into the technology-based
world economy.
•Banking:
satellite
links
provide
connectivity to rural and underserved
communities giving citizens the ability to
send and receive money along with the
obvious economic benefits that follow. For
example, the Senegalese Government uses
VSAT broadband links in Post Offices to offer
services such as Money Orders, ATM (cash),
Telephony, and FAX services.
• Universal Service Obligation (USO): The
requirement to provide telephony services
to a nation’s citizens can often times be
economically feasible only by using VSATbased telephone services. Telma Madagascar
has successfully met its USO requirement, in
part, with satellite broadband.
•
Commerce:
Cloud-based
services
are rapidly becoming the foundation for
business. In many areas, reaching users in
branch offices and small businesses can
only be cost-effectively accomplished using
satellite broadband. Rather than investing in
potentially thousands or tens of thousands
of dollars’ worth of software, hardware and
• Cross National Connectivity: In many
cases, satellite-based connectivity may
provide the only means for a service
provider to cross national boundaries in
order to provide services to consumers
and businesses. This capability frees them
from the incumbent carriers, their coverage
limitations, and higher costs.
Satellite-based
communications
have
been in operation for decades, providing
reliable primary and backup services for a
range of industries. In the financial sector,
a number of banks, brokerage houses, and
financial services companies have been
using broadband satellite communications
for their primary service, or as an emergency
backup to their landline network. Many
leading companies in the retail, hospitality,
and numerous other industries have been
using broadband satellite-based networks
to connect their remote locations. In fact,
the turnkey managed networks for many
such enterprises that have been provided by
companies like Hughes certainly qualify as
Cloud services, with stringent contractual
commitments calling for the highest levels of
performance, security, and reliability.
Satellite as a Cloud Connectivity Solution
Reliability of any link comes down to the
design of the network and satellite networks
are no different. Most consumer or small
enterprise-type networks operate in the
99.9 percent availability range. However,
enterprise applications require up to 99.99
percent or higher annual availability (less
than one hour of outage per year) because
any outage means that access to Cloud-based
applications is interrupted resulting in large
revenue or operational losses.
A satellite system must therefore be selected
and planned properly in order to provide
a high level of reliability and ultimately
customer satisfaction. The key aspects of this
planning are:
1) Satellite Link Analysis. The link analysis
(i.e. link budget) is ultimately what decides
the availability of the link. In order to achieve
high levels of availability, the link budget
may show that, for example, a larger antenna
is required. Careful upfront link budget
planning will result in far fewer outages due
to weather.
Cloud Computing
TCP spoofing, header
compression,
HTTP
compression, and prefetch, to name just a
few, which reduce the
actual number of bytes
being transmitted.
6) S e c u r i t y .
Any system which
is selected to be
backbone
of
a
corporate, government,
Figure 3. Satellite Hub RFT Redundancy
or any other secure
application must, of
2) System Equipment Redundancy. The course, include built-in encryption. Secure
selected system must offer redundancy of all encryption such as bi-directional 256-bit AES
equipment critical in the operations of the should be available.
network. For example, within the gateway
rack itself, this means that all routers, servers, 7)Scalability. Any system which is
and common equipment must have either a selected to provide access for Cloud services
‘hot’ standby or be able to take over the full should be scalable to allow the business or
organization to grow. The system must allow
load if a secondary unit fails.
for both capacity expansion at the hub and
3)
Central
Communication
Diversity. expansion of the remotes from hundreds to
The hub’s uplink/downlink can be affected thousands to tens of thousands. Further, with
both by atmospheric conditions which the advent of High Throughput Satellites
reduce link reliability below acceptable (HTS) and the bandwidth thirst of XaaS
levels or hardware failures. The selected Cloud-based services, consideration should
satellite system must be able to provide RFT be given to high-density satellite hubs which
redundancy such that the two RFT sites can can be expanded to handle on the order of
be located far enough apart so that weather 1Gbps in a small footprint.
affecting one will not affect the other.
Typically, connectivity from the hub location 8) Virtual Network Operations (VNO).For
to the redundant RFT would be via fiber. data and applications based in a private cloud,
VNO capability gives the satellite operator
Figure 3 illustrates RFT redundancy.
the ability to provide a private network to
4) Redundant Hubs and Terminal Path an organization. This seamless method of
Diversity. With the use of two hubs in operations allows the organization to monitor
different locations, the network can be their private network and provide firsthand
protected, for example, from a natural disaster response to their end-users similar to a public
which disables a primary hub. The satellite Cloud-based service provider.
terminals must be able to detect the primary
carrier outage and automatically switch to In summary, because the satellite system
the backup hub location. Figure 4 illustrates will form the backbone of the XaaS being
satellite hub diversity.
accessed in the Cloud, the selected system
must be an enterprise-class system with a
proven track record.
Additional Benefits of
Terrestrial Connectivity
n
AME 2014
over
Satellite connectivity solutions bring many
additional benefits beyond basic connectivity
alone, including:
• Robust connectivity which is far less
vulnerable to terrestrial disasters such as
cable cuts and natural disasters.
•Multi-cast and broadcast capability.
Satellite provides the most economical and
efficient means to deliver identical content
such as digital signage, distance education,
etc. anywhere, whether regional, nationwide,
or across the continent.
• Very fast deployment for new branch
offices. The satellite link can be operational
and online far faster than a terrestrial
connection which means that a business can
be online much more quickly.
In each case, the satellite links provide a
unique capability beyond what terrestrial
links can offer.
Conclusion
The Cloud offers many opportunities to
reduce costs and grow a business. As
outlined above, Cloud-based services often
present a more economical and simplified
solution to the user, but consequently make
a highly reliable and robust connection to
the Internet that much more critical. Satellite
broadband offers a truly unique connectivity
solution in many regions of Africa and the
Middle East where terrestrial bandwidth
may be sparse or unavailable. l
5) Efficiency. With the advent of High
Throughput Satellites (HTS), space segment
prices are dropping significantly. However,
the cost of satellite bandwidth remains a
significant portion of the operational expense
for a satellite-based network. Therefore,
the selected system should offer the most
efficient use of space segment bandwidth
by using Adaptive Coding and Modulation
(ACM), advanced coding such as LDPC,
Dynamic Uplink Power Control, and other
features which maximize the throughput of
a link for any given weather condition. In
addition, the selected system should offer
enhancements to the data layers such as
24
Satellite
Figure 4. True Path Diversity with Satellite