Hybrid Hosting Strategies - Where Prioritizing Tech, Compliance and Business Needs Matters

 Hybrid Hosting Strategies - Where Prioritizing Tech, Compliance and Business Needs Matters

January 2025 - Author:Robert Zullo Jr. 

Before we begin, let's dive into the concept of hybrid hosting models. What does 'hybrid' even mean in the context of hosting? It's essentially blending internal and external resources for managing software applications.

First, let's define what we're working with:

- Internal Hosting: You own the hardware, manage the software, keep everything in-house.

- External Hosting: Cloud services or third-party data centers handle your infrastructure.

Now, how do we mix these? Let's explore:

1. Basic Hybrid Model:

The simplest form might be where you host your core, sensitive data on-premises but use cloud services for less critical applications or for scaling during peak times. 

- But wait, how do we define 'sensitive'? Is it just about legal standards or also about business strategy?

- If you're storing customer data internally for privacy reasons, but your application logic runs in the cloud, how secure is the connection between these two environments? 

- What happens when there's a surge in traffic? Will the cloud part scale seamlessly, or will there be a bottleneck at the integration point?

2. Multi-Cloud Hybrid:

Here, you're not just mixing internal with one cloud but potentially several cloud services.

- This could be for redundancy or to leverage specific services from different providers.

- But, oh my, the complexity! Managing consistency across multiple platforms? How do you ensure data integrity?

- What about latency? If one service is in one geographic region and another in a different one, how does that affect performance?

3. Edge Computing Hybrid:

This involves pushing some of your data processing closer to where the data is generated or where it's needed most, reducing latency.

- You could keep the bulk of your computing in the cloud or on-premise but use edge nodes for real-time processing.

- But, hold on... How secure are these edge nodes? They're more distributed, hence potentially more vulnerable.

- What's the maintenance like? Can you manage updates and patches across all these nodes without issues?

4. Disaster Recovery Hybrid:

This isn't about daily operations but ensuring continuity.

- You might keep your primary data center internally but have a cloud setup ready for failover.

- But what if the disaster affects both simultaneously? How do you ensure true redundancy?

- There's also the cost aspect - maintaining a second, fully operational environment isn't cheap.

5. Application-Specific Hybrid:

Here, different applications or even different parts of the same application might be hosted differently based on their specific needs.

- Maybe your frontend is in the cloud for global reach, but the backend with all the business logic stays internal.

- How do you manage this split? What about API management, data flow security?

6. Data Sovereignty Hybrid:

For companies operating across borders, this might involve hosting data in regions where it's legally required.

- You could use a cloud for international operations but keep local data in-country.

- But, compliance... How do you ensure you're meeting all local laws while maintaining a cohesive IT strategy?

Revisiting and Doubting:

- Every model seems to offer benefits but at the cost of increased complexity. 

- Is the complexity justified by the benefits? Or are we just adding layers of potential failure?

- What about the human factor? Training, managing teams across these environments can be daunting.

Towards Resolution:

The natural resolution seems to be that hybrid hosting isn't about choosing one model but picking elements from various models to fit your specific context:

- Security might dictate keeping sensitive operations in-house.

- Scalability might push you towards cloud for non-sensitive, scalable components.

- Latency could be managed by edge computing where response time is critical.

- Compliance might require a geographically distributed model.

The final design of a hybrid hosting model would be a bespoke solution, constantly evolving as needs change, threats evolve, and technology advances. 

In Conclusion 

Hybrid hosting model designs vary from basic integrations of on-premise and cloud resources to complex systems involving multiple clouds, edge computing, and strategic disaster recovery. Each design must be tailored to the organization's specific needs, balancing security, compliance, performance, and cost. The key is not to adopt one model but to adapt and evolve a combination of models that fit the ongoing strategic and operational requirements.

Certianty

Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end. 'Eli Eli, lama sabachtani?' He cried out in His agony at the ninth hour on the cross. 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and if there was no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith.”

Excuse is the last Refugee

 "The last refugee of a loser is excuses" 

https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1716979045663899944?s=46&t=IC8_-KPFiwViTWBaq1GyAg

The art of struggle

Truly fascinating read into the ethos of struggle

The human (overly male focused by this author) need to survive

The impact of modern post industrial evolution on the struggle

Hope and the new struggle..

If you appreciate Dylan Thomas and " do not go gentle into that goodnight" this read is for you


http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/12/21/call-new-strenuous-age/

#GeoGaming - Welcome

Our new hastag #GeoGaming welcome to the world.  With the palette of Gaming, Mobility and a little inspiration from Geo-Cacheing-Fencing, Pokeman Go has just changed the mobile market for gaming.

 An industry waiting to be found has just been let out of it's cage.

Great Article

http://mashable.com/2016/07/10/john-hanke-pokemon-go/#W2tYi1BhHmqk


-Robert Zullo
ZuCom

Deregister an old Mac from getting iMessages forwarded to it

Tricky situation SOLVED.

iPhone was setup to have iMessages and SMS forwarded to the Messages app on a MBP  

MBP goes away for some reason (longer in your possession)

On the iPhone under General>Messages>Text Message Forwarding the old MBP name shows up on the iPhone still.  (ok not so great)

NOW WHAT?  Who wants that key floating around out there waiting for someone to login and start getting your personal texts.  Yeah I know that's a little paranoid to think of the hoops that need to be jumped through to get there, nonetheless, it's a genuine security concern.  An encryption key is an encryption key after all.

SOLUTION: Head over to https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/us/en.  This will un-register the phone from ALL devices, be they in your possession or not.   Wait a few hours and re-register only on the machines you want it registered on.

Nifty trick with lots of good use cases

The Evolution of Social Media and Connected Conscience

Powerful insight from Sherry Turkle

#turkle #tedtalks

http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together#t-1168269

Nifty iOS 8 third party keyboard trick

Custom Third Party Keyboards in iOS..

Read The Verge article

Lead Positive - Kathryn Cramer

Compelling article on the power of leading positive.



http://changethis.com/manifesto/115.04.LeadPositive/pdf/115.04.LeadPositive.pdf

Instant Replay and Character

Growing up baseball was my game. I never played a game where instant replay was used and it's likely that I never will. Had I grown up with that ultimate decider of right and wrong I'm sure things would have been much different, maybe I'd be retiring from the Yankees with Mariano this year (we are about the same age) or..... maybe not. When there's no "instant replay" as a child you learn that bad calls and errors by those stewards of the game are an inherent part and success depends on how you recover, learn and move on. Herein lies the crux of this editorial. Through that process of recovering and learning one builds character and it's that character that more often than not brings someone success.

  Baseball isn't just a metaphor
In the game of professional baseball they have started to use "instant replay" at the major league level. This is a professional game with a lot at stake and let's face it you don't get to the majors without learning a thing or two about how to handle bad calls even though sometimes the behavior of players and coaches may not present that way. Society is changing and we have the capability and I say let's get it right for America's favorite past-time. Sure games will be longer, some teams will benefit from re-designed ballparks that are more camera friendly but in the long run it's going to be better for fans and the game (or so we think). One could say we've become a society of "instant replay", look at Football, or the local department store you walk into....think your not on camera there? How about police cars...could you imagine if dashboard cameras were not in squad cars....what would news stations run at 6pm were it not for these snippets of life. So it's not just baseball, it's just that baseball was staying true to it's history and code of honor longer than most.
  Adapt and overcome
Society has become one where what you do it captured electronically just about everywhere you go. It was not like this back in the 80's. George Orwell's 1984 was fiction and you didn't have a camera in the classroom to prove that Johnny threw the spitball at the chalkboard (old school I know). As in the game of baseball you learn to adapt to these things and overcome them. Perhaps the next time you sit down in a classroom it's nowhere near Johnny and perhaps you aren't going to hang out with Johnny after class. For most this is an instinctive reaction and it's a survival component of ones character. The way we adapt and overcome adversity is changing. Today we have the ability in most cases to go check video to see that Johnny threw the spitball thereby convicting Johnny and vindicating the innocent. With the ability to bring the third party perspective into the equation egregious errors are all but eliminated, but the question is... is that a good thing or not. Much in our society has been gained from the struggle against oppressive odds and "bad calls". Similarly even when there is that third party component, take the Zapruder film for example, the definitive answer isn't always evident.
  Character in the Changing Landscape
The struggle against adversity and inherent ability of one to adapt and overcome is changing. Baseball is an example of this. While we are more like 1984 than ever before we're far from Minority Report (obligatory movie reference). The society of "instant replay" is here and we are all effected by it in both positive and negative ways. Character above all else remains the important component. How we build and maintain that character has changed and will continue to change as we become a more connected society. Our "Instant Replay" society will not always bring about the clarity we all seek it will simply add a new perspective that was not available before.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 Z

The Evolution of "Real"

Learned a bit about life from my teenage son recently.  On our way home in the car he told me about how he was complimented for being " real ". Naturally I queried about the vernacular of the term and as expected I got the typical teenage response. Simply put kids see it the way they see it. They call it when they see it and anyone who holds back from openly firing out these sentiments anywhere at anytime does not hold membership in or the credentials to be designated as "real" (I'm sure to be corrected on this interpretation). What follows is an analysis of the evolution of being "Real" and how it's changed today. 

 "Real" 

 Admittedly I'm from the last generation (so called Gen X) that was born into a world that was not predicated on building virtual lives. Up till the most recent generation, a majority of people worked at physical jobs that required you to actually go to a work location and physically work. Pure intellectual jobs were far and few between, life was lived "in person" and the notion of virtualizing a life "online" in an online world was but a distant thought on a white board, ok chalk board. Video games were crude blocks on a television screen, imitating little of the reality based games we know of today. Dating was done in person, relationships took place at a physical location. People connected through physical interactions, the web barely existed and was limited to the few of us who could afford a modem. I could go on forever or so it seems on how things were different back then but I already am starting to sound a bit like an old curmudgeon. "Real" back then had a smell, a taste, and you came to cherish the "real" as yours and something you wanted to physically share with others.  

"Real Beta" 

As the 80's gave way to the 90's, access to computers and the web became more prevlant. Games started to mimic things we saw in life. Work started to transform from the physical to the intellectual and more often where you worked started to become where you were at the moment not where the office was. Social aspects of a connected world started to become more prevlant. You could now share communications across the world with just about anyone in just a few seconds. People you'll never meet became regular participants in communications. As the 00's and 10's blossomed the explosion of mobile, social media and gaming interactions changed the face of human interaction forever. The reality of an online persona that was born in the 90's and matured into a fully fledged integrated part of an individual.

"Real Conscience"

As social media became more prevalent the idea of creating an online persona or "conscience" became a prerequisite for being "real".  A plethora of virtual sharing sites emerged. Facebook Twitter Instagram SnapChat YikYak and many more took steps to become part of this "real conscience".  These sites manage to entice people (myself included) to share bits of their "real" lives but in a very new way.  In these sites "real" can be edited, deleted and often used to communicate to the masses like never before.  

"The Real Generation"

Now let's return to that conversation with my teenage son. His vernacular for "real" is defined by how similar his real life and online real life are to one another. Any discrepancy between the two would make him less "real".  Most parents will shutter at the thought of their child's every thought being online.  The belief that even the most temporary feeling must be shared is one that is strong in my sons generation and one they will seek out ways to accomplish.  Sites like Snapchat and YikYak have capitalized on this model by enabling the sharing of these "real "experiences something that isn't permanently connected to the "real" world user.  

As "The Real Generation" matures it will be interesting to see how the evolution of "Real" continues.  Will there be even further integration between their lives and technology? Will there be a rebellion against sharing and a return to physical social interactions? Or a blend somewhere in between?

Only time will tell.

Solve Mountain Lion Contacts Sync after Upgrade

1. De-duplicate Mac contacts

2. Export all contacts as vCard

3. Go to System Preferences on my Mac and uncheck Contacts

4. Answer dialogue to delete from my Mac.

5. Verify that all contacts on Mac deleted.

6. Go to System Preferences on Mac and check Contacts.

7. Wait a minute for the Contacts to be imported from iCloud.

8. Verify that Mac is syncing

9. Import vCard from step 2.

10. Keep old contacts and apply to all.

Graci to jeb

Paul Harvey on Success

Someday I hope to enjoy enough of what the world calls success so that someone will ask me, What's the secret of it? I shall say simply this: I get up when I fall down. - Paul Harvey

Eisenhower on Planning.....

"No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one.”

–Dwight D. Eisenhower

Schweitzer on Happiness

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.


- Albert Schweitzer

Simon Sinek - repost on Inspiration

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html Do you understand the "WHY"

Memories

Every memory we add shapes us.

It defines forever how we see the world and imagine within it.

Choose your experiences well, cultivate your mind through this knowledge.

Bring enlightenment to corners not explored and craft your dreams from these experiences.

-ZuCom

http://zucom.blogspot.com

Heart of the Matter

Life is the search for things you can't Google. A collection of experiences as they exist. Indexed by the senses they bring alive. Creating things that will forever be unique within those whom have had the pleasure to experience them first hand.

-ZuCom

Waitley-Quote

The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do.




- Denis Waitley


- Posted from the iPhone

Be a Do'er - Nolan Bushnell

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer.




- Nolan Bushnell