12-27-21 | Blog Post
Cloud technology can be difficult to understand. Being fairly abstract in meaning, it’s easy to forget that there isn’t just one deployment that’s compatible with cloud computing. In fact, not every cloud computing solution is right for every type of company.
There are three main types of cloud computing solutions, of which public cloud solutions are the most common. This entails a third-party cloud service provider who owns all the system’s hardware and software, allowing multiple clients to share these resources as opposed to managing them themselves. The primary benefits of a public cloud system include no maintenance of your own cloud facilities (thus no cost to build them in the first place), and high scalability of service according to business need.
A private cloud is a system of cloud computing resources that only one organization makes use of. A third-party provider can host this data for you, however with a private cloud solution, your data will not be kept on the same server as that of another organization. Alternatively, your business can host its own private cloud; while costs for a private cloud may be higher overall, be them upfront costs or costs paid periodically to a service provider, private clouds add an additional layer of security for entities that need additional safeguards.
While hybrid clouds can vary in terms of their configuration, at its core, a hybrid cloud blends both a public cloud and private cloud solution, allowing you to achieve the benefits of both.
Hybrid cloud platforms are well suited to organizations that have operations requiring different levels of security for different operations. Operations or data that don’t require the highest level of security can be housed in the public cloud environment. Any data that does require a higher level of security, or data that the business wants to keep in-house, can be contained in the private cloud.
Hybrid clouds allow dynamic use of either the public or private resources available to an organization; for example, a certain application can be set to run primarily on private servers until certain parameters, such as an increase in the volume of requests, are met. At that point, the application could switch to accessing the organization’s resources from the public cloud system.
A business may choose to keep some client data or tax documents on their own servers, while hosting email on a public cloud provider’s platform. Hybrid clouds are common in industries and sectors that commonly handle sensitive data, such as financial services or government contractors, but can be implemented by any business that wants to obtain the advantages of a public cloud while still having exclusive access to some resources.
Whether you’re only just beginning to scratch the surface of cloud computing, or you’re actively looking at switching to a cloud infrastructure for your business, Otava is available to help create a custom cloud solution that fits your needs.
