Since the fire at the National Data Resource Management Center in Daejeon, the alternative proposed, the Daegu Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Cloud, has effectively become a backup zone for Daejeon, leaving many public institutions facing challenges in securing cloud services.
Due to limited available space, only systems classified as high security are allowed to reside in the Daegu PPP zone. Institutions that do not receive this classification are forced to rely on private cloud services, leading to project costs increasing by tens of millions of won.
As of July 22, the Daegu PPP zone only permits systems with a high importance rating for information systems.
The National Data Resource Management Center argues that systems rated medium or low do not need to be housed in the Daegu PPP zone since they can utilize private cloud services. However, industry insiders believe that the restrictions on occupancy in the Daegu PPP zone are aimed at securing disaster recovery (DR) and redundancy space for systems lost in last year's Daejeon fire.
The issue is particularly pressing for institutions that have established Information Strategy Plans (ISP) based on providing public services. High-security systems are, by definition, completely barred from offering services to the public via the internet. If reclassified as high security, the originally planned services become impossible. To move into Daegu, many public institutions must abandon public service offerings, leading them to either build their own clouds or outsource to private providers.
Switching to private clouds does not resolve the issues either. The PPP zone has already attracted investment based on the demand from various public institutions, creating economies of scale. In contrast, the private sector remains hesitant to invest due to the uncertainty surrounding the influx of public institutions.
As a result, some institutions are either directly investing or canceling projects altogether. Institution A had initiated an ISP project based on moving to the Daegu cloud, but after being denied entry, it faced additional costs in the tens of millions of won, leading to the cancellation of the original project. Institution B also decided to invest directly in cloud infrastructure, but it now faces the challenge of needing to revise its budget due to additional server investment costs.
The burden of cloud infrastructure costs is expected to increase further due to rising semiconductor prices. With memory prices climbing, the cost of building server infrastructure is also rising, and expanding in-house server rooms to establish GPU infrastructure presents significant financial challenges.
Many public institutions are struggling to operate GPU servers due to power capacity limitations. Industry insiders note that the cost of three years of cloud usage fees can equal the cost of purchasing GPU equipment, indicating that whether outsourcing or building in-house, avoiding rising costs is difficult.
Network configuration issues also pose challenges. The National Data Resource Management Center operates separate networks for public, administrative, and internet use, while private clouds do not have such distinctions, effectively treating all areas as internet networks.
The National Data Resource Management Center maintains that for medium and low-rated systems, utilizing private cloud systems is more cost-effective and efficient than moving to the Daegu PPP zone. This approach aligns with the current government's policy of expanding private-centered cloud services, according to political insiders.
A representative from the National Data Resource Management Center stated, "In fact, we have opened the door for high-security systems that were previously unable to utilize private cloud services to now do so. The PPP zone was originally intended to facilitate the use of private cloud services for high-security systems."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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