As organizations begin their journey toward modernizing their infrastructure, they often face challenges adapting their existing operational models to ensure a smooth transition. One significant consideration during infrastructure modernization is the reliability of applications. Understanding the fundamental design differences between traditional a data center and multi-cloud is critical to meeting and/or exceeding the business’s need for application reliability.
While the goal of providing highly reliable infrastructure for applications is identical to both traditional data centers and modern infrastructure, the approaches used can be vastly different. Where architects of traditional data centers have a workload-centric view of the world, owners of modern infrastructure see the world through application-colored lenses. These opposing viewpoints mark a fundamental shift from conventional single-site designs to those that are multi-site and multi-cloud.
![](https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud/files/2022/05/trad-vs-mod-blog-1.png)
The combination of modern infrastructure + modern application design requires a new take on the relationship between cloud architects and application owners. To assist cloud architects through these changes, we are proud to announce the release of the Hosting Reliable Applications on VMware Cloud whitepaper. This whitepaper is another addition to the VMware Cloud Ready Framework and covers application reliability within the context of modern infrastructure across all VMware-based clouds. It provides an overview of the most fundamental differences between traditional data centers and modern infrastructure to guide cloud architects through the foundational philosophies behind the evolution of modern architectures.
As modern infrastructure, architectures, and operational practices evolve, VMware will continue to provide updated guidelines to cloud architects and application owners that reflect the most common patterns observed within our largest and most complex customer installations. If you are interested in providing feedback or participating as a design partner, please reach out by emailing [email protected].