Public vs. Private cloud - A Comparative Study
A Comparison Between Public and Private Cloud
Digital transformation is the central theme for businesses across sectors and cloud computing, a transformative technology, is facilitating this change. Cloud computing provides on-demand scalable and flexible resources and this has enabled organizations to transform their operations completely.
In this article, I will define public and private cloud services and their respective advantages and disadvantages. We will also explore how they relate vis-e-vis the hybrid cloud and finally evaluate which cloud service offers more value to the business.
What Is A Public Cloud?
A public cloud model provides on-demand computing services and infrastructure, managed by third-party providers. While a public cloud model shares its services across multiple organizations, the data and applications remain private and are not shared. It offers services like Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to customers on pay-per-use charges. Examples of public cloud platforms are IBM’s Blue Cloud, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Microsoft Azure and Sun Cloud.
Advantages Of A Public Cloud
- Shared Expenses, and Reduced Costs: The most visible benefit of cloud computing is the ease of adaptability as per the needs of the user. Since the public cloud resources are spread across multiple users, the cloud provider can maximize the use of infrastructure. By moving to a public cloud, users can cut down on capital costs by outsourcing them to a third party, using and paying only for the resources they use.
- Scalability: Public cloud services can be scaled easily to accommodate the infrastructure needs of users. Server capabilities can be scaled as per requirements, including computing power, storage, and bandwidth. Users can benefit from this flexibility to scale the cloud infrastructure based on their specific needs.
- Security: Public cloud providers offer a broad range of policies, technologies, and controls that strengthen the overall security of the data, apps and infrastructure against potential threats. They adopt stringent compliance measures and provide multi-layer defense against data breaches, hacking, and other attacks.
- Reliability: Public cloud services offer robust backup and disaster recovery facilities, by mirroring data at multiple data centers making it a more reliable option.
Disadvantages Of A Public Cloud
- Vendor lock-in: Public cloud providers employ different architectures, which makes the process of switching vendors a complex and costly affair because of these inherent issues.
- Compliance issues: For businesses that are required to follow strict regulatory compliance standards, a public cloud can pose a risk of data leakage. While the risk of data leakage is negligible, as most of the public cloud providers maintain very high-security standards, it can still pose a challenge for specialized companies who have to follow very strict policies. Finally, balancing internal security policies for internal resources and the public cloud can prove to be challenging for many businesses.
What Is A Private Cloud?
A private cloud offers a cloud computing environment that is dedicated to a single user or customer. It offers many benefits of cloud computing, in which all the software and hardware resources are accessible by and committed exclusively to a single user. Examples of private cloud providers are IBM Bluemix Cloud, Cisco Systems, Red Hat Cloud, and VMware.
Advantages Of A Private Cloud
- Control Over Hardware And Software: While the user is restricted in using the hardware and software provided by the public cloud provider, private cloud customers can purchase the hardware and software that they prefer.
- Complete Visibility In Security And Access Controls: Private cloud offers greater visibility and control over data and security, making the private cloud more suitable for companies handling sensitive data, by ensuring that the workloads are behind their firewalls.
- Customization: Private clouds can be customized as per the needs and requirements of an organization.
Disadvantages Of A Private Cloud
- Costs: There is a significant upfront investment and recurring maintenance costs attached to private clouds.
- Scalability: When compared to public clouds, scaling of resources in a private cloud can prove to be more complex, time-consuming and expensive.
- Resource management: One of the key disadvantages of a private cloud is that it can be challenging to find skilled personnel to manage the service, which can delay achieving its full potential and capabilities.
What Is A Hybrid Cloud?
A hybrid cloud is a combination of both the public and private cloud infrastructures. This cloud computing model offers best-of-both-worlds by offering a single, flexible infrastructure that allows enterprises to choose between the environments for individual workloads or applications, depending on specific requirements. It also allows data and applications to be shared between the two infrastructures, providing greater flexibility and deployment choices.
Final Words
The choice between public and private cloud infrastructure depends on many factors including budget, specific requirements, and technical expertise. There is no universal or standardized approach to cloud computing, and the private vs. public cloud comparison reveals their unique pros and cons. However, since private cloud offers companies a better way to ensure compliance and deal with sensitive data, choosing private cloud can be a better option. Ultimately, the optimal solution involves a tailored approach that aligns with the unique requirements and priorities of each business. However, leveraging hybrid cloud solutions also seems to be a more viable option, enabling businesses to maximize value and drive innovation.
About the Creator
Ryan Williamson
A professional & security-oriented programmer having more than 6 years of experience in designing, implementing, testing & supporting mobile apps developed. Being techno geek, I love to read & share about the latest updates in technology.
Keep reading
More stories from Ryan Williamson and writers in The Swamp and other communities.
Front-End Development: Tech and Trends You Need to Keep an Eye on in 2024
It is no mystery that front-end development is fundamentally the venturing stone to digital encounters that attract users. Presently, as the world and market keep advancing at a staggering speed and user expectations too, front-end development has become hugely centered around building points of interaction that can unite aesthetics with usefulness flawlessly. Furthermore, this quest for upgrading user experiences has prompted a similarly sharp spotlight on emerging new trends and technologies. Why? Well, that is because these patterns and innovations are changing how users perceive and interact with the digital world.
By Ryan Williamson5 months ago in The Swamp
Well-Intentioned Whistleblower or Opportunist?
“I want to believe that you're telling the truth But something tells me don't trust you” – Agnostic Front When a family enrolls a child in a school, the district immediately starts incurring expenses. Space must be reserved for each student and teachers assigned to those classrooms. The district must ensure that textbooks and other supplies are available. These costs are constant and do not change when a child misses a day of school.
By Carl J. Petersen4 days ago in The Swamp
Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
By cacloaidongvat6 days ago in The Swamp
The Business of Nature
Dew drops reflected the light of the sun. The inhabitants of Whispering Woods woke up to the golden droplets of water on the leaves of the flora. The oaks particularly enjoyed the light and the maples did, too. Happiness enveloped all who lived there, even the rocks that cried out in the night delighted in the morning.
By Skyler Saunders4 days ago in Fiction
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.