Hybrid, Public and Private Clouds, Oh My!

Private clouds, public clouds, and now hybrid clouds?  Growing up I never thought there were more clouds then the typical cumulus, stratus and cirrus clouds. Well in the IT world, cloud computing has become a successful phenomena that many business are turning to and investing in. Everything is moving towards the cloud, but do you actually know the difference between the three and how they can be successfully used within your business? Below we discuss the three different clouds in the cloud computing model and help you decide which option may be the best for your business.

Hybrid Cloud – This is the latest of the three of cloud computing. It includes both public and private cloud components with multiple providers. Your business manages some resources in house and has others provided externally.  It allows businesses to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness. The hybrid is most commonly used when:

• A company wants to use a SaaS application but is concerned about the security. Your provider will give you a VPN for additional security.
• When your business offers services to different verticals. By keeping data secured by a private cloud and using a public cloud to continue interaction.

Private Cloud- A private cloud is when the services and infrastructure are maintained on a private network. It offers the most security out of the three. The setup is implemented within the corporate firewall, and provides more security and control over the company’s data. It is most commonly used if:

• Your business is primarily your data and applications
• Your company requires strict security and privacy
• Your company is large enough to run a cloud data center effectively on its own,

Public Cloud– A public cloud is when the services and infrastructure are provided off-site over the internet.  An example would be the Google app engine.  The public cloud is most commonly used in a business where:

• The standard workload for applications is used by many people within the      business, such as email.
• You have a SaaS provider application from a vendor with a strong security strategy.
• You’re doing collaboration projects.