Architectural

Layers

Layer Summary

Customer Service

Problem
Management

These are the technical

Operations is running, monitoring, Service Monitoring and Control is
components for each of the five and maintaining a service.
the real-time monitoring of how
layers.
healthy an IT system is, and the
real-time alerting when a system is
not healthy.

Customer Service focuses on

meeting the needs of users
who want a new IT service,
have questions about a
service, or are having trouble
with a service.

Problem Management is
an effort to reduce the
occurrence of failures with
IT services by looking for
common, underlying
issues.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance

helps senior executives establish IT
governance, assess, monitor, and
control risk, and comply with
directives.

The primary goal of Change

and Configuration
management is to create an
environment where changes
are made with the least risk
and impact to the
organization.

Team management defines who is Management reviews are internal controls

responsible for delivering IT
that ensure goals are met to achieve
services and making sure they are business value.
delivered.

Allows private cloud tenants or

authorized users to request, manage,
and access services, such as virtual
machines, that are provided by the
cloud architecture.

Microsoft System Center

Run and maintain the private
Ensure that the reliability of the
2012 - Virtual Machine
cloud self-service interface so that private cloud self-service interface
Manager (VMM) Self-Service tenants or authorized users can
remains healthy by defining what
Portal. Provides an interface for request, manage, and access
healthy is, and then by identifying
private cloud tenants or
services without IT staff
what to monitor and maintain to
authorized users to request,
involvement, with a minimum of keep it healthy.
manage, and access the
disruptions.
services, such as virtual
machines, provided by the
private cloud architecture.

Ensure private cloud tenants

or authorized users are able
to request, manage, and
access services, such as
virtual machines; answer
questions; manage incidents.

Find patterns, resolve root

causes to fix current
problems, and prevent
future ones with the SelfService Layer so that
private cloud tenants or
authorized users are able
to request, manage, and
access services, such as
virtual machines.

Ensure that the Self-Service Layer is in

compliance with and supports
organizational goals and policies in
how it allows private cloud tenants or
authorized users to request, manage,
and access services, such as virtual
machines.

Ensure that changes to the

Self-Service Layer are
authorized and agile so that
tenants or authorized users
can request, manage, and
access services without IT
staff involvement, with a
minimum of disruptions.

Ensure that someone is ultimately

accountable for operating and
maintaining the private cloud selfservice interface so that tenants or
authorized users can request,
manage, and access services
without IT staff involvement, with a
minimum of disruptions.

Orchestration

The interface between the IT

organization and its infrastructure. It is
the engine for IT-process automation
and workflow. It should provide the
ability to design, test, implement, and
monitor these IT workflows.

Microsoft System Center

Run and maintain the
2012 - Orchestrator
Orchestration Layer so that it can
(formerly known as Opalis). effectively provide the IT-process
Through its workflow designer, it automation and workflow needed
automatically shares data and
for the cloud, without IT staff
initiates tasks in System Center involvement.
2012 - Operations Manager,
System Center 2012
Configuration Manager, System
Center 2012 - Service Manager,
System Center 2012 - Virtual
Machine Manager, Active
Directory, and third-party tools.

Ensure the reliability of the

Orchestration Layer so that it can
effectively provide the IT-process
automation and workflow needed
for the cloud, without IT staff
involvement.

Ensure private cloud tenants

or authorized users are able
to request, manage, and
access services, such as
virtual machines, as well as
get service-related questions
answered and incidents
managed.

Find patterns, resolve root

causes to fix current
problems, and prevent
future ones with the
Orchestration Layer so
that it can provide the ITprocess automation and
workflow needed for the
cloud, without IT staff
involvement.

Ensure that the Orchestration Layer is

in compliance with and supports
organizational goals and policies in
how it provides the IT-process
automation and workflow needed for
the cloud, without IT staff involvement.

Ensure that changes to the

Ensure that someone is ultimately
Orchestration Layer are
accountable for operating and
authorized and agile so that it maintaining the Orchestration
can effectively provide the IT- Layer so that it can effectively
process automation and
provide the IT-process automation
workflow needed for the
and workflow needed for the cloud,
cloud, without IT staff
without IT staff involvement.
involvement.

Management

The tools and systems that deploy,

operate, maintain, and monitor the
infrastructure; for the most part those
are the toolsets for managing
hardware, software, and applications.

Run and maintain the

Management Layer so that it can
effectively provide centralized
administration and management
of a virtual environment, without
IT staff involvement.

Ensure the reliability of the

Management Layer so that it can
effectively provide centralized
administration and management of
a virtual environment, without IT
staff involvement.

Ensure requests relating to

the Management Layer, or
reporting issues with it, are
resolved so that it can
provide centralized
administration and
management of a virtual
environment, without IT staff
involvement.

Run and maintain the Automation

Layer so that it can provide a
series of single-purpose
commands and scripts that
perform such operations as
starting or stopping a virtual
machine, restarting a server, and
applying a software update,
without IT staff involvement.

Ensure the reliability of the

Ensure requests relating to
Automation Layer so that it can
the Automation Layer, or
provide a series of single-purpose reporting issues with it, are
commands and scripts that perform resolved so that it can
such operations as starting or
provide a series of singlestopping a virtual machine,
purpose commands and
restarting a server, and applying a scripts that perform such
software update, without IT staff
operations as starting or
involvement.
stopping a virtual machine,
restarting a server, and
applying a software update,
without IT staff involvement.

Find patterns, resolve root Ensure that the Management Layer is Ensure that changes to the
Ensure that someone is ultimately Ensure that business objectives are being
causes to fix current
in compliance with and supports
Management Layer are
accountable for operating and
met for the private cloud Management
problems, and prevent
organizational goals and policies in
authorized and agile so that it maintaining the Management Layer Layer so that it can effectively provide
future ones with the
how it provides centralized
can effectively provide
so that it can effectively provide
centralized administration and
Management Layer so that administration and management of a centralized administration
centralized administration and
management of a virtual environment,
it can effectively provide virtual environment, without IT staff
and management of a virtual management of a virtual
without IT staff involvement.
centralized administration involvement.
environment, without IT staff environment, without IT staff
and management of a
involvement.
involvement.
virtual environment,
without IT staff
involvement.
Find patterns, resolve root Ensure that the Automation Layer is in Ensure that changes to the
Ensure that someone is ultimately Ensure that business objectives are being
causes to fix current
compliance with and supports
Automation Layer are
accountable for operating and
met for the private cloud Automation
problems, and prevent
organizational goals and policies in
authorized and agile so that it maintaining the Automation Layer Layer so that it can provide a series of
future ones with the
how it provides a series of singlecan provide a series of single- so that it can provide a series of
single-purpose commands and scripts that
Automation Layer so that purpose commands and scripts that
purpose commands and
single-purpose commands and
perform such operations as starting or
it can provide a series of perform such operations as starting or scripts that perform such
scripts that perform such
stopping a virtual machine, restarting a
single-purpose commands stopping a virtual machine, restarting a operations as starting or
operations as starting or stopping a server, and applying a software update,
and scripts that perform
server, and applying a software
stopping a virtual machine,
virtual machine, restarting a
without IT staff involvement.
such operations as
update, without IT staff involvement.
restarting a server, and
server, and applying a software
starting or stopping a
applying a software update, update, without IT staff
virtual machine, restarting
without IT staff involvement. involvement.
a server, and applying a
software update, without
IT staff involvement.

These are the layers of These are quick summaries of the

the Microsoft private purpose or role of the five layers.
cloud conceptual
architecture.
Virtualization is listed
because it underpins
the architecture.
Services Management
is not listed because it
is represented by the
MOF SMFs.

Self-Service

Automation

Layer Technical
Components

Microsoft System Center

2012 - Virtual Machine
Manager. Enables the
centralized management of
physical and virtual IT
infrastructure, increased server
utilization, and dynamic
resource optimization across
multiple virtualization platforms.
Microsoft System Center
2012 - Operations Manager.
Automates basic operations over the
Windows PowerShell,
VMM uses Operations Manager
lifetime of a hardware or software
Windows Management
to monitor the health and
component; consists of foundational
Instrumentation (WMI), and
availability of the virtual
automation technologies plus a series Web Services for
machines and virtual machine
of single-purpose commands and
Management (WShosts it is managing.
scripts that perform operations such as Management). Provide a
Microsoft System Center
starting or stopping a virtual machine, single automation framework
2012 Configuration Manager.
restarting a server, and applying a
and scripting language to be
Its agents are deployed to the
software update.
used across the entire
fabric management hosts and
infrastructure.
virtual machines and to scale
unit hosts and virtual machines,
to provide performance and
health of the operating system
only.

Operations

Service Monitoring and

Control

Governance, Risk, and

Compliance

Change and
Configuration

Team

Management Reviews, Metrics

Ensure that business objectives are being

met for the private cloud self-service
interface so that tenants or authorized
users can request, manage, and access
services without IT staff involvement, with
a minimum of disruptions.

Ensure that business objectives are being

met for the Orchestration Layer so that it
can effectively provide the IT-process
automation and workflow needed for the
cloud, without IT staff involvement.

Architectural
Layers
Virtualization

Layer Summary
Abstraction of computer resources for
storage, network, and server.

Layer Technical
Components
Microsoft Hyper-V Server
2008 R2. Enables creating a
virtualized server computing
environment.
Microsoft System Center
2012 - Virtual Machine
Manager. Provides centralized
administration of virtual
machine infrastructure.

Operations
Run and maintain the
Virtualization Layer that
effectively abstracts computer
resources for storage, network,
and server, without IT staff
involvement.

Service Monitoring and

Control

Customer Service

Ensure reliability of the

Ensure requests relating to
Virtualization Layer so that it
the Virtualization Layer, or
effectively abstracts computer
reporting issues with it, are
resources for storage, network, and resolved so that it can
server, without IT staff
effectively abstract computer
involvement.
resources for storage,
network, and server, without
IT staff involvement.

Problem
Management

Governance, Risk, and

Compliance

Find patterns, resolve root Ensure that the Virtualization Layer is

causes to fix current
in compliance with and supports
problems and prevent
organizational goals and policies in
future ones with the
how it abstracts computer resources
Virtualization Layer so that for storage, network, and server,
it can effectively abstract without IT staff involvement.
computer resources for
storage, network, and
server, without IT staff
involvement.

Change and
Configuration
Ensure that changes to the
Virtualization Layer are
authorized and agile so that
tenants or authorized users
can request, manage, and
access services without IT
staff involvement, with a
minimum of disruptions.

Team

Management Reviews, Metrics

Ensure that someone is ultimately Ensure that business objectives are being
accountable for operating and
met for the private cloud Virtualization
maintaining the Virtualization Layer Layer that effectively abstracts computer
that effectively abstracts computer resources for storage, network, and
resources for storage, network, and server, without IT staff involvement.
server, without IT staff
involvement.