Once you understand the basic premise of cloud computing, which in simple words is the delivery of computer services over the Internet, you will notice that there are different ways to implement cloud resources. Some options for implementation are the public, private and hybrid cloud. These three scenarios provide similar advantages, such as profitability, performance, reliability, and scaling, but the method of implementation you choose will depend on your business needs.
Public Clouds
Public clouds are the most common way to implement cloud computing. Cloud resources (such as servers and storage) are owned by another cloud service provider, which manages and offers them over the Internet. With a public cloud, all the hardware, software and other components of the underlying infrastructure are owned by the cloud provider, who also manages them. In a public cloud, it shares the same hardware, storage, and network devices with other organizations in the cloud. You access the services and manage your account through a web browser. Frequently, public cloud deployments are used to provide web emails, online Office applications, storage, and development and test environments. Advantages of public clouds are: lower costs (you do not need to purchase hardware or software, you only pay for the service you use), no maintenance (your service provider takes care of it), almost unlimited scalability and great reliability.
Private Cloud
A private cloud is composed of computer resources used exclusively by a company or organization. The private cloud can be physically located in the local data center of your organization or hosted by an external service provider. However, in a private cloud, services and infrastructure are always maintained in a private network, and hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organization. In this way, a private cloud can enable an organization to more easily customize its resources to meet specific IT requirements. Private clouds are often used by government agencies, financial institutions and any medium or large organization that performs essential operations for the company and seeks to increase control over their environment. This type of cloud is more flexible, have better security and greater scalability.
Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid clouds, often called “the best of both worlds” combine local infrastructure with public clouds, so that organizations can benefit from the advantages of both. In a hybrid cloud, data and applications can move between private and public clouds for more flexibility and deployment options. For example, you can use the public cloud to meet high-volume needs with less security, such as a web email, and the private cloud (or other local infrastructure) for sensitive operations essential to the business, such as financial reports.
In a hybrid cloud, “expanding in the cloud” is also an option. This refers to when an application or resource runs in the private cloud until there is a rise in demand (for example, a seasonal event such as online sales or sending tax forms). At this point, the organization can “expand” to the public cloud to take advantage of more computing resources.
These are just basic concepts of this topic, and you can learn more about it by visiting Aviatrix.
