multi-cloud-architecture

SKILL.md

Multi-Cloud Architecture

Decision framework and patterns for architecting applications across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI.

Purpose

Design cloud-agnostic architectures and make informed decisions about service selection across cloud providers.

When to Use

Design multi-cloud strategies

Migrate between cloud providers

Select cloud services for specific workloads

Implement cloud-agnostic architectures

Optimize costs across providers

Cloud Service Comparison

Compute Services

AWS
Azure
GCP
OCI
Use Case

EC2
Virtual Machines
Compute Engine
Compute
IaaS VMs

ECS
Container Instances
Cloud Run
Container Instances
Containers

EKS
AKS
GKE
OKE
Kubernetes

Lambda
Functions
Cloud Functions
Functions
Serverless

Fargate
Container Apps
Cloud Run
Container Instances
Managed containers

Storage Services

AWS
Azure
GCP
OCI
Use Case

S3
Blob Storage
Cloud Storage
Object Storage
Object storage

EBS
Managed Disks
Persistent Disk
Block Volumes
Block storage

EFS
Azure Files
Filestore
File Storage
File storage

Glacier
Archive Storage
Archive Storage
Archive Storage
Cold storage

Database Services

AWS
Azure
GCP
OCI
Use Case

RDS
SQL Database
Cloud SQL
MySQL HeatWave
Managed SQL

DynamoDB
Cosmos DB
Firestore
NoSQL Database
NoSQL

Aurora
PostgreSQL/MySQL
Cloud Spanner
Autonomous Database
Distributed SQL

ElastiCache
Cache for Redis
Memorystore
OCI Cache
Caching

Reference: See references/service-comparison.md for complete comparison

Multi-Cloud Patterns

Pattern 1: Single Provider with DR

Primary workload in one cloud

Disaster recovery in another

Database replication across clouds

Automated failover

Pattern 2: Best-of-Breed

Use best service from each provider

AI/ML on GCP

Enterprise apps on Azure

Regulated data platforms on OCI

General compute on AWS

Pattern 3: Geographic Distribution

Serve users from nearest cloud region

Data sovereignty compliance

Global load balancing

Regional failover

Pattern 4: Cloud-Agnostic Abstraction

Kubernetes for compute

PostgreSQL for database

S3-compatible storage (MinIO)

Open source tools

Cloud-Agnostic Architecture

Use Cloud-Native Alternatives

Compute: Kubernetes (EKS/AKS/GKE/OKE)

Database: PostgreSQL/MySQL (RDS/SQL Database/Cloud SQL/MySQL HeatWave)

Message Queue: Apache Kafka or managed streaming (MSK/Event Hubs/Confluent/OCI Streaming)

Cache: Redis (ElastiCache/Azure Cache/Memorystore/OCI Cache)

Object Storage: S3-compatible API

Monitoring: Prometheus/Grafana

Service Mesh: Istio/Linkerd

Abstraction Layers

Application Layer
    ↓
Infrastructure Abstraction (Terraform)
    ↓
Cloud Provider APIs
    ↓
AWS / Azure / GCP / OCI

Cost Comparison

Compute Pricing Factors

AWS: On-demand, Reserved, Spot, Savings Plans

Azure: Pay-as-you-go, Reserved, Spot

GCP: On-demand, Committed use, Preemptible

OCI: Pay-as-you-go, annual commitments, burstable/flexible shapes, preemptible instances

Cost Optimization Strategies

Use reserved/committed capacity (30-70% savings)

Leverage spot/preemptible instances

Right-size resources

Use serverless for variable workloads

Optimize data transfer costs

Implement lifecycle policies

Use cost allocation tags

Monitor with cloud cost tools

Reference: See references/multi-cloud-patterns.md

Migration Strategy

Phase 1: Assessment

Inventory current infrastructure

Identify dependencies

Assess cloud compatibility

Estimate costs

Phase 2: Pilot

Select pilot workload

Implement in target cloud

Test thoroughly

Document learnings

Phase 3: Migration

Migrate workloads incrementally

Maintain dual-run period

Monitor performance

Validate functionality

Phase 4: Optimization

Right-size resources

Implement cloud-native services

Optimize costs

Enhance security

Best Practices

Use infrastructure as code (Terraform/OpenTofu)

Implement CI/CD pipelines for deployments

Design for failure across clouds

Use managed services when possible

Implement comprehensive monitoring

Automate cost optimization

Follow security best practices

Document cloud-specific configurations

Test disaster recovery procedures

Train teams on multiple clouds

Related Skills

terraform-module-library - For IaC implementation

cost-optimization - For cost management

hybrid-cloud-networking - For connectivity

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