Think back to your elementary school science class and the discussion surrounding the different types of clouds—cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. Now apply that to today’s computer technology, where “cloud” is short for “cloud computing” and the three types are public, private, and hybrid.
Public Cloud
A public cloud is a subscription service (offered to multiple customers) that relies on shared infrastructure. Your organization’s data, projects, etc. are protected from other subscribers, but the server you access is still being used in conjunction with other subscribers.
One benefit of public clouds is that infrastructure management responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the provider (Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, etc.) In other words, an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) public cloud means enterprise data resides on the provider’s (CSP) servers, typically shared in a multi-user environment with the IT resources of other organizations. Although the security offered by major cloud providers is outstanding, cloud service subscribers are also responsible for ensuring their network and applications stay secure.
Private Cloud
The name says it all. Unlike public cloud, a private cloud uses your organization’s infrastructure, so it’s controlled by you and not accessible by anyone else. Private clouds reside on your company’s own data center infrastructure. Because of that, there’s no infrastructure sharing, no multitenancy issues, and zero latency for users and their local applications. So, if you’re a larger, well-established company, odds are you have substantial on-premises infrastructure extensive enough to create your own private cloud. This can benefit your organization financially, however, keep in mind that a private cloud still must be managed, supported, and upgraded when necessary. In addition, private cloud security is the sole responsibility of the organization (physical security, encryption, network, cybersecurity, you name it).
Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud combines an organization’s private cloud (on prem data center) with a public cloud, enabling data and applications to be shared between them. Although it’s a hybrid, don’t let the name fool you. The hybrid cloud is a single, unified, and flexible environment, allowing you to run and scale traditional or cloud-native workloads on the appropriate computing model.
When computing demand exceeds your on-prem datacenter capabilities, you can adjust, using the cloud to scale capacity up to handle it. You can also scale down if necessary. The hybrid model also alleviates the time and cost of purchasing, installing, and maintaining additional data servers you may not need.
As for security, organizations that rely on a hybrid cloud can use many of the same security measures they use in their existing on-prem infrastructure, including security information and event management capabilities. Often times, cloud hybrid security can be superior to an organization’s on-premises datacenter because it’s always current with automated data redundancy, high availability, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity features. In short, a hybrid cloud can help your company reach technical and business goals more effectively (and cost-efficiently) than a public cloud or private cloud alone.
Cloud computing and how to use it can be very complex. Whether you require a fully bare metal solution or a complete cloud implementation, BOXX has the right solution with best- in-class hardware solutions, BOXX Cloud, or a hybrid. To learn more about simple, seamless, secure cloud computing, visit BOXX Cloud, watch the video, and download the free eBook. In addition, one of our solutions experts at 877.877.BOXX can put in place the best solution (or combination of solutions) to meet your performance and budgetary requirements.