Can You Host a Private Cloud in the Cloud?
Many businesses have turned to the cloud for their next big technology rollout, but there’s much more that goes into this choice than giving the green light to whoever is implementing it. First, you’ll need to make a choice; do you implement a public cloud, private cloud, or a combination of the two?
If you understand the differences between the various types of cloud solutions, you’ll be able to make the best decision regarding the future of your business.
Public Cloud
The public cloud includes any services that use cloud technology and hosting to provide some sort of utility. By definition, this includes solutions like Dropbox, Google Drive, Office 365, Amazon Web Services, and plenty more. The public cloud could also, by definition, include services like Netflix, as well as any solution delivered through shared hosted resources. This includes data, applications, and other services being offered.
One of the biggest features of the public cloud is also its largest drawback. Businesses that leverage the public cloud are trusting the provider to keep the storage infrastructure secure. While this might cut costs and remove responsibility for maintaining the infrastructure, it takes one of the most important pieces out of your hands. You also need to consider that to a big provider like Dropbox or AWS, you’re probably a very small fish in their big pond. In the event of an issue, how quickly will they respond and resolve? How urgently will they react to your request for help when you can no longer access the 100GB of data that they host for you?
Private Cloud
In comparison to the public cloud, a private cloud is one that is hosted on-premise or on an external provider’s hardware resources, often in an off-site location. Therefore, you have full control over it, or at least the control to make changes as needed. If it’s hosted off-site, you have the option to give employees remote access, making it easy for them to go about their day-to-day duties without the need for on-site maintenance and management. With a private cloud hosted off-site, you can implement additional services such as application hosting, data storage, data backup and disaster recovery, and more.
Hybrid Cloud
Some organizations decide that a combination of the two types of cloud solutions is ideal for their particular model. They might find that certain information is acceptable to be hosted in a public environment, whereas other proprietary information is limited to a private infrastructure. They might also come to understand what we’ve known for so long- the cloud isn’t the best solution for every business. While Office 365 is an outstanding solution for email and applications, trying to host AutoCAD in the cloud can be an absolute disaster for a construction or engineering firm, due to the enormous file size that is common. In those cases, it’s best to host the application onsite.
For information on how (or if) to implement your very own cloud solution, reach out to us at 216 397-4080.
