Just like real clouds, cloud computing comes in many shapes and sizes to suit the different needs of different organisations. These variations in cloud computing mean that organisations are able to optimise their services to get exactly what they need. If you’re planning to move to cloud technology, understanding the various types of cloud hosting available is important. So let’s look at the differences in more detail.
Depending upon the needs and requirements of your enterprise, you can choose from public, private, hybrid, or community cloud computing services.
There are many leading public cloud providers that own and operate their own infrastructure and offer access through the Internet. Customers benefit from economies of scale with this model, because all users effectively share infrastructure costs. The public cloud generally offers greater infrastructure capabilities compared with in-house cloud hosting services. One limitation of public hosting is you don’t have any physical control over the infrastructure since it is located in the premises of the cloud service provider.
Best suited to large organisations, private cloud services offer seamless and scalable solutions to companies on-demand and they can be located within the site premises. The most costly form of cloud hosting, the private cloud is highly secure for managing data and safeguarding vital business information.
Private cloud is not shared with other organisations and can either be managed internally or using the services of a third party. On-premise private clouds are most likely to be used by companies that require complete freedom and control to manage their own infrastructure.
Of the different types of cloud computing, hybrid is one that is growing increasingly popular as a hosting option for many companies. In a hybrid cloud, you can choose a combination of two or more clouds (public, private, or community). Operating as unique entities, they are integrated to get the best features of multi-deployment. Hybrid cloud is ideal for companies using SaaS (software as a service) applications that require additional data security. Using hybrid cloud means you can communicate with your clients in the public cloud, while keeping your data secure in a private cloud.
Community cloud solutions are mostly suitable for government agencies, groups of hospitals or public agencies, and can be located both on and off premises. They allow multiple organisations to manage and control their own services or use third party service providers. This form of cloud service is mainly targeted towards specific groups that need to achieve common goals together.
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