As new data storage technologies emerge, business owners often have a difficult time keeping up-to-speed with the latest developments. Questions surrounding cloud storage confuse IT Managers and IT Directors alike. More specifically, there has been a good deal of confusion telling the difference between the public and private cloud.
Broadly, cloud computing is defined as the on-demand availability of computer resources. This may be managed by a cloud service provider, in-house, or on a public cloud, and aren’t under direct active management by the user. Operations are attracted to cloud computing for reasons such as broad network access, resource pooling, and rapid scalability.
There is no denying that cloud-based technology is here to stay. However, to best utilize this new technology, you must decide whether public or private clouds are best suited for your computing needs.
In this article, Sanity Solutions will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of public, private, and hybrid clouds.
What is Public Cloud Computing?
Public cloud computing is the most popular type of cloud-based IT service for small operations. With public clouds, cloud-computing infrastructure is provided by independent businesses over the internet. In fact, companies like Sanity Solutions specialize in public cloud data storage offerings.
Generally speaking, public cloud service providers are characterized as infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), or software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses. Popular public cloud providers include Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
A wide variety of operations utilize public cloud computing, however public clouds are particularly useful for small businesses. These types of operations value public cloud services for their affordability, scalability, and ease of use. Because public clouds don’t require on-premise data centers, they may save you significant money on facilities, hardware, and labor.
Due to the fact you can simply increase your services with a provider as your business grows, public cloud deployments are also extremely scalable.
What are Private Clouds?
Private clouds are popular among certain types of organizations, but they are not as widely used as public clouds. With private clouds, cloud computing is powered by an operation’s own internal infrastructure. As such, private clouds are exclusively accessed by the organizations that host them.
Private clouds are operated by on-premise data centers or dedicated third-party service providers. The Microsoft Azure website explains it like this, “the services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network and the hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organization.”
Because access to private clouds can be heavily controlled, they are often used by large organizations that deal with highly sensitive data or have strict compliance standards. Examples of these organizations include government agencies and financial institutions.
Operations value private clouds because they offer more control over the way data is stored, accessed, and protected. Private clouds also offer more customizations than public clouds. As such, private clouds are particularly useful for large organizations that have their own software and mobile apps.
What About Hybrid Clouds?
Hybrid clouds are the most popular type of cloud computing for enterprises. In fact, studies show that nearly 70% of enterprise-sized organizations use the hybrid cloud approach for their computing needs.
As the IBM website explains, the “Hybrid cloud integrates public cloud services, private cloud services, and on-premises infrastructure and provides orchestration, management and application portability across all three. The result is a single, unified, and flexible distributed computing environment where an organization can run and scale its traditional or cloud-native workloads on the most appropriate computing model.”
As can be gleaned from the above quote from IBM, the primary selling point of hybrid clouds is their flexibility. For example, many businesses utilize the public cloud for certain tasks, while also relying on their private infrastructure for more sensitive work. Also, since the hybrid model is more robust than either private or public clouds, it offers more protection in the event of a system crash.
While hybrid clouds work great for enterprise-sized organizations, they require a lot of planning and significant overhead. Namely because hybrid clouds require both in-house hardware and active IT service subscriptions.
Public Cloud vs Private Cloud Services: What’s Best for Me?
While public, private, and hybrid clouds each offer their own benefits, your cloud-computing needs are unique to your own operation. By analyzing your workloads, you can better understand what type of cloud computing system will best serve your organization.
If you are a small business that values ease of use, scalability, and automation options, then athe public cloud provider is likely best for you. Also looking at data usage, if you’re running at 5% 350 days a year and burst 20X for the remaining 15 days, then public cloud probably makes much more sense. Namely because, you will likely always stay within the parameters of your data subscription.
If your organization works with sensitive information and you have a large budget for internal data storage systems, a private cloud is a great option. Concerning data usage, if your workload runs 24/7/365 and looks consistent from day to day, then private might make the most sense.
In the end, choosing the right cloud solution is where a trusted IT consultant and partner can have a huge impact. Importantly, it can be very expensive to leave a cloud infrastructure and set up a new one. As such, talking to a company like Sanity Solutions will help you plan your exit and make the right choices.
Talk to Sanity Solutions About Cloud Computing
No matter what type of organization you have, developing a functional cloud strategy is a complex undertaking that requires a careful assessment of several factors. Luckily, Sanity Solutions has the expertise to advise you on what type of cloud computing service is best suited for your needs – public, private, or hybrid.
Sanity Solutions offers Enterprise Cloud Solutions for just about any computing or data storage need. If you opt for the public cloud, Sanity Solutions will help match you with the best infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) or software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider.
If you feel that private cloud computing is the best match for your operation, Sanity Solutions will design your on-premise infrastructure. Sanity Capital can also provide funding for hardware if needs be. The team at Sanity Solutions is here to help you better understand your options for cloud storage. Please Contact Us with additional questions.
