So are you thinking about the various Cloud Computing options for your business. Are you wondering where to start or even what the heck it is. Are you wondering what your exact options are and where you should be looking into.
We’re on the cusp of a technological transformation as well as a significant change in how online services are about to be delivered in the data center, and the umbrella is cloud computing.
Cloud computing although just a term, has been around for a while, carrying along a lot of buzz and hype. But its exact definition and the different ideals which are associated with it means completely different things to various people. So what then exactly is cloud computing and what’s it consolidating towards?
Cloud computing is an approach which leverages all of the resources which are in the data center, this in a completely different way. It’s able to organize resources so that they can be used on-demand and are able to wrap them in a method which can be consumed as a service.
The ultimate goal of cloud computing is to perhaps completely transform IT from being a cost center and more towards being a service provider, much like a web host service. Some would even say that cloud computing is “IT as a Service,” and most will now agree.
Cloud computing requires the organization of processes, people and the technology to be able to deliver standard as well as repeatable services to their customers and the end users. There are three general cloud computing deployment models which are generally agreed upon, and they are:
Public Cloud Computing
Public cloud computing is an infrastructure which is completely operated by an external third-party, fully managed service provider, known as a (MSP). The MSP will usually provide various templates for particular workloads.
This can range from anything like access to a particular application such as “software as a service,” known as (SaaS), from vendors such as AppFirst, SalesForce, or Webmetrics. They’re able to offer complete operating system containers which allows you to install as well as manage your applications.
The public cloud is designed so it can maximize its resources by sharing pools of various resources with multiple enterprises, while dealing with performance peaks in the hopes of providing the best user experience as possible.
Your organization is able to use the workloads along with the services directly, while having no visibility or any understanding of the actual virtual infrastructure which is running those workloads. This can include where on earth the servers which are hosting your workload are located.
A public cloud will usually offer a less expensive platform choice along with the option to scale up or down depending on the resources which are needed. If your company is wanting to use non-strategic workloads with variances in the resources which are needed, then using a public cloud may be just what you’re looking for.
Private Cloud Computing
The private cloud computing model describes a system in which the entire cloud infrastructure is run strictly for your organization, and no one else. But keep in mind that a private cloud can also be a combination of data center resources such as utilizing processes, people and technology, which you may have on-premise or supplied externally. A private cloud can be entirely managed by your organization or also by a 3rd party MSP.
A private cloud will ensure that your organization has complete visibility as well as insight on all levels of the cloud infrastructure along with the services provided. If you happen to have workloads which the data or the strategic applications run on, or if you’re in a heavily regulated private information industry, then adopting a private cloud may be your best option.
Hybrid Cloud Computing
As the name hybrid suggests, hybrid cloud computing is a combination of the public and the private cloud infrastructures. The cloud infrastructures however remain separate on how they operate, by employing a technique which bridges both clouds. The workloads are able to be placed on whichever model currently suits the requirements of the particular workload.
A hybrid cloud allows you to operate workloads directly within your organization during normal workloads, but when the demand and the workloads increase, they can then be launched into the public cloud just to relieve the pressure on the private data center resources.
Once the demand returns back to normal, the workloads can then be removed or reduced from the public cloud. The tech term for this technique is known as “cloud bursting,” which allows for balancing the load between the public and the private clouds.
Hybrid cloud computing will thus give you the best of both cloud worlds. It will allow you to be able to control all your sensitive workloads and data while also having the ability to move your other workloads into the public cloud when required.