The majority of companies employed a single vendor in the early days of cloud computing. They obtained services, storage, and computing resources from a solitary cloud service provider (CSP). This was often the only choice an organization had when investigating the power of this new computing paradigm.
Today, companies have a wide variety of choices when constructing a cloud environment.
The Two Basic Types of Cloud Computing Environments
Basic cloud environments are broadly categorized as one of the following two types.
Private clouds
A private cloud provides dedicated computing, storage, and networking resources to a single customer. The private cloud can be implemented using the customer’s data center, hardware, and software. The necessary private environment can also be provided by a CSP through the use of dedicated hardware and infrastructure component.
The fact that the resources are not shared with other customers gives an organization significantly more control over how they are used than in a public cloud setting. In a private cloud, an organization always has access to 100% of the resources used to build the environment. Typically, a solution built using a private cloud is more expensive than one using a public cloud.
Public clouds
A public cloud provides an organization with computing, storage, and networking capabilities drawn from a shared pool of resources offered by a CSP. The public cloud can offer excellent flexibility and scalability by leveraging the extensive data center resources of CSPs. Companies can take advantage of public cloud resources on a subscription basis, only paying for what they need.
Sharing resources with other customers can potentially impact system performance and resource availability in a public cloud solution. There may also be security concerns that arise from storing important information on shared storage devices. Generally, a multi-cloud solution can be more economical than building a hybrid cloud environment.
What is a Hybrid Cloud Solution?
A hybrid cloud solution is a computing environment constructed from both private and public cloud components. A company implementing a hybrid cloud solution makes use of public cloud resources to address a subset of its business requirement. The organization also leverages a private cloud for some of its systems and applications. The private cloud portion of the environment can be hosted at the company’s data center or be provided by a third-party CSP.
Hybrid cloud solutions are proving to be very popular with companies that want to segregate a part of their environment from the public cloud. In many cases, organizations are choosing to house more sensitive systems and data in a Private cloud while employing the public cloud for the bulk of its computing needs. The market for hybrid cloud solutions is expected to triple from 2021 to 2027
What is a Multi-Cloud Solution?
A multi-cloud solution addresses all of a company’s business requirements with public cloud resources obtained from multiple providers. There are no private cloud components involved in a multi-cloud solution. Companies that choose this option obtain different services and resources from a variety of CSPs. This approach avoids the problem of vendor lock-in.
Multi-cloud solutions are gaining in popularity due to the flexibility they afford customers. The adoption of multi-cloud solutions has increased in businesses of all sizes but has had its greatest impact on small and medium-sized companies. Organizations have discovered that a multi-cloud environment can best meet their IT needs, allowing them to be competitive and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction.
Benefits and Potential Drawbacks of Each Type of Cloud Solution
Both hybrid and multi-cloud solutions provide a set of benefits that make them attractive to certain businesses. Each type of solution also has some potential drawbacks that need to be considered when determining which one best suits a particular organization and its unique business objectives and requirements.
Hybrid cloud solutions
The benefits of a hybrid cloud include:
- Segregating sensitive data and systems in a private cloud;
- Exerting more control over the segments of the IT environment housed in the private cloud component;
- Cost savings associated with public cloud components of the environment.
Some of the possible drawbacks of a hybrid cloud are:
- Addressing the complexities of managing a hybrid cloud;
- The expense involved in implementing and maintaining the private cloud;
- Integrating the capabilities and functionalities of the two cloud solutions.
Multi-cloud solutions
The benefits of a multi-cloud solution include:
- Choosing the most cost-efficient solutions available from multiple public cloud providers;
- Selecting cutting-edge technology solutions that may not all be available from a single source;
- Allowing the CSPs involved to manage the environment.
Some potential drawbacks of a multi-cloud solution are:
- Handling the complexity of coordinating computing solutions from multiple CPSs;
- Relying on the cybersecurity measures of the CSPs for processing sensitive and regulated data;
- Complications due to multiple pricing plans.
Choosing the Right Cloud Architecture for Your Business
It can be extremely challenging for a company to decide which type of cloud environment best suits its needs. The number and variety of choices available in both private and public cloud solutions can be overwhelming. Making the wrong choice can wind up being unnecessarily expensive while not fully addressing business requirements.
Companies may want to implement a private cloud to process sensitive or high-value data but be unsure if the best route is to host it themselves or with a reliable CSP. Even when committed to a multi-cloud solution, it can be intimidating for a small company to do the research necessary to optimize its IT budget. Engaging with an experienced and trusted partner is often the best move a business can make.
The cloud experts at VAST IT Services can help your company identify and implement the most efficient cloud architecture to address its business requirements. VAST’s technical team will assess a company’s existing computing environment and recommend a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy to modernize its infrastructure and gain a competitive edge. They can also assist in managing the new environment to help optimize your investment.
Get in touch with VAST’s cloud experts today and find out how they can help you design and manage a cloud solution that addresses all of your business objectives.
