Let’s talk Cloud computing, more precisely the types of cloud you can use for your business. But what are Clouds exactly? and… What makes them better than computing BC (before Cloud)? What are the major types of Cloud? And how might you best use each type based on your needs? Let’s start with what Cloud actually is.
All Clouds are data centres, or multiple data centres, made up of computer and storage resources connected by a network. But what makes a data centre a Cloud is that all of those resources are virtualised into one big giant shared pool of resources, which can be intelligently and automatically orchestrated. That means it can adapt to meet the ever-changing needs of your Applications, and the ever changing utilisation and availability of each resources. That’s why Clouds are great.
Today’s Clouds are smart, automated, and adaptive. Applications can be deployed far more quickly without custom provisioning boxes. And once deployed, those Applications can dynamically scale on demand. Resource issues like congestion or failure can be resolved automatically. As a result, Clouds can be more efficient and cost effective than traditional data centres.
So, let’s take a closer look at each type of Cloud, and which type might be the best for your needs. We’ll start with public Clouds. They’re what most people think of when they talk about the Cloud. What makes them public is that they’re hosted by a Cloud service provider, who rents space on the Cloud to their many customers. Those customers generally only pay for services they actually use, much like how we consume electricity.
Public Clouds let you off lead management where you don’t mind giving up some control. That’s why they’re a popular choice for hosting everyday applications, like email, customer relationship management, HR, and many other business support applications.
Private Clouds are well, private, because they only have one customer. You get all the goodness of a Cloud, but you can control and customise it to fit your needs. And that control is why many companies are migrating their data centres to private Clouds, to run core business applications that provide unique competitive advantages, like research, manufacturing, supply chain management and more.
Then, there are hybrid Cloud environments. They’re hybrid because they’re a combination of both public and private Clouds. You get all the benefits of both, and more, like the ability to create new, innovative applications. Applications you can deploy on your private Cloud, which get burst to the public Cloud during demand spikes.
Businesses tend to use each type of Cloud based on their service delivery needs. But we’ve obviously only scratched the surface here. Everyone’s needs are different and therefore a custom approach is required where systems are set-up to benefit your type of company with your kind of structure and needs.