UITS Makes Cloud Easy

Server infrastructure comes with costs—system patching, software licensing, upgrades, hardware environment upkeep and security, and eventual replacement. Cloud infrastructure has its own big learning curve, its own cost model, plus the same system and software issues.

University Information Technology Services (UITS) is taking the guesswork—and much of the cost—out of cloud with Managed Cloud Services (MCS). With pre-configured software environments in Amazon Web Services (AWS), campus units can transition from local servers to cloud environments that are already preconfigured with best practice security, up-to-date systems, and licensed, maintained software for numerous SQL database and web hosting solutions. In addition, MCS covers the licensing costs and the cloud compute costs. In addition, MCS covers all the costs: software licensing and cloud compute and storage.

By using AWS cloud hosting, colleges and business units can enjoy significant cost savings on server infrastructure and say goodbye to the hassle of server management. MCS’s network security, data encryption, automated patching, backups, and monitoring services also strengthen the University's security measures, aligning with the ASITS program and Arizona's Cloud First policy, which encourages the adoption of cloud technologies whenever possible.

"The big advantage of using MCS is that it's free," remarked Mandi Cross, Lead Engineer of Cloud Computing in Infrastructure Services. Many units across campus are already using MCS for their research, such as Biosphere 2. 

With Managed Cloud Services, deploying resources like web servers, database instances, and static websites in AWS cloud becomes a breeze. UITS takes care of the nitty-gritty aspects like security, maintenance, and operational stability of the MCS AWS accounts, while you retain full control over your data and configurations. This means you can tap into the vast resources of AWS without needing specialized AWS knowledge or direct account access.

UITS also shoulders the responsibility of risk management across the University's network and server infrastructure, handling automated backups, patching, and scanning for network vulnerabilities, ensuring that your data remains secure and your systems stay up-to-date.

MCS Services

Through MCS, UITS offers a range of services in the AWS cloud. Managed Cloud Database Service provisions secure instances of MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and MS SQL Server databases, that comply with regulations like FERPA.

MCS recently introduced Aurora Serverless, which dynamically scales database capacity for peak performance and cost efficiency, monitoring CPU, memory, and network resources for database operations, background processing, and administrative tasks.

MCS also offers web services. If you're looking to host static websites, Managed Cloud StaticWebsite service on the AWS S3 platform is a great choice. It offers a cost-effective solution by utilizing S3's buckets. You can simply upload your files and make them instantly accessible on the web. With static websites hosted through MCS, you can enjoy reliability, scalability, and minimal administration.

Another valuable offering is Managed Cloud Nginx-PHP. It simplifies the deployment of Nginx-PHP web servers in the AWS cloud. This service provides resources like an EC2 compute instance with NGINX-PHP preinstalled, an EFS storage volume for configurations and site contents, and an Application Load Balancer for efficient traffic management.

Managed Cloud Redirect is a new service that uses Amazon CloudFront to improve how web content is delivered. With CloudFront Functions, you can customize HTTP requests and responses. This service sets up a CloudFront distribution that efficiently redirects incoming client requests to different target URLs, ensuring seamless routing of the requested content.

With the introduction of Managed Cloud Services, UITS aims to make life easier and more efficient. These comprehensive solutions alleviate the burden of managing server infrastructure on your own. Academic and business units will be able to focus on productivity, rather than hardware or cloud management.