Cloud4Y: reliable cloud services turn around DWH from NetApp

Nikolay Fokin: We are pioneers in the Russian cloud market as began to provide by some of the first cloud services for corporate clients. The offered services can be separated into two views: lease of IT of infrastructure – IaaS (Infrastructure as a service) and lease of software – SaaS (software as a service). If to speak about financial performance, then total revenue from services of IaaS and SaaS in 2013 made more than 86 million rubles. Average growth of the customer base is 40-50%.

TAdviser: How IT infrastructure of the company is organized? On what DPC you are based? How did Cloud4Y IT infrastructure as cloud provider historically form?

Nikolay Fokin: Initially IT infrastructure was projected taking into account high requirements to availability of the provided services. Therefore each of nodes in our infrastructure is duplicated, and in case of one exit of a bottom out of operation any service continues to work. We use the following equipment of the corporate level: blade servers of IBM, NEC, HP and also network equipment of Cisco, Extreme. The Storage System (SS) is constructed on solutions of Netapp. It means for clients that they can rely on the high level of availability which we declare, and the services ordered by them will work 24/7 without any failures.

In 2010 we put into operation a so-called optical ring of high availability in Moscow which integrated data centers of "Nord" on Korovinskoye Highway and DPC of M8 on the street on March 8, data center of MMTS-9 and MMTS-10. In 2011 we expanded the list of data centers and began to provide cloud services for business in the Netherlands. It was connected with the fact that clients had a need for placement of their infrastructure in the territory of Europe. First, it is convenient if clients have a branch network abroad and in the territory of the Russian Federation, secondly, data storage is performed according to regulations of the European Union.

TAdviser: As far as we know, you are present not only at the Netherlands, but also other European countries?

Nikolay Fokin: Yes, in 2013 we started cloud services based on data center in Germany and then integrated all data centers in a uniform ring. In the same 2013 the new data center in St. Petersburg was announced.

One more important point on which I would like to focus attention: in 2014 the Cloud4Y company signed the agreement with the world leader in providing communication channels of Voxility worldwide. The solutions Voxillity allows to resist to DDoS attacks by redistribution of traffic on additional channels, as a result services of clients even in case of the attacks continue to operate normally.

TAdviser: Regarding software - on what solutions of vendors you rely what interesting projects on development of own IT infrastructure you keep now?

Nikolay Fokin: From the first days of a company performance to this day we rely only on requirements of business to solve relevant problems of corporate customers. For this reason we are Microsoft partners, 1C, VMware, Veeam.

TAdviser: Tell, please, in more detail about a storage system and cooperation with NetApp?

Nikolay Fokin: We work with NetApp since 2006. From the first days to this day we use solutions of Netapp in all projects. Beginning from providing different customers with virtual IT infrastructure, whether it be network of clinics, the state corporation or the company of the financial sector, the sphere retail, the logistic company and finishing with backup of infrastructure of small and medium business. We selected NetApp because these solutions completely meet our main requirements: have flexibility and reliability at the same time with an adequate ratio price/quality.

TAdviser: What loading lies on the system of DWH? What data of applications are stored in it? Whether the potential for growth of data is put? Whether you will develop DWH the project?

Nikolay Fokin: In a nutshell that all services turn only on DWH from NetApp. We are especially attracted that DWH is easily scaled by Netapp. Extremely important for cloud provider to have a sufficient stock of resources, in particular, of disk space. NetApp allows to solve this problem with ease.

TAdviser: What difficulties regarding development of IT in you as at cloud provider arise? How do you solve them?

Nikolay Fokin: At the moment there is no provider who would have no difficulties with availability. We publish similar incidents on our website, displaying them on the diagram of the SLA monitor and we announce the reasons and the taken measures in the future not to have similar difficulties. At the same time, we keep within within the guaranteed level of availability of SLA of 99.9%.

Generally difficulties sometimes arise with a software part of a switching equipment, for example, there are so-called "glitches" in firmwares about which we wrote on our website not so long ago. At NetApp of similar problems did not observe. Also periodically it is necessary to reflect DDoS attacks against which we learned to fight successfully.

TAdviser: With what you see the future of the Russian market of private cloud services?

Nikolay Fokin: The future of the Russian market – is cloud, in good sense. Our forecast can be formulated as follows: active junction on cloud (service) model of the companies both SMB sector, and large business.

Clouds ceased to have 'a fashionable color', now it is the working tool for business. Growth of number of clients from the different fields of business confirms this trend. Besides, it is pleasant to see. the active movement of the State towards formalization of cloud services what the expert advice approved this year on cloud computing at the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation which included Cloud4Y company testifies to.