Types of Cloud Hosting and How to Choose the Right One for your Business
By Dan Radak
The advantages of moving your business operations to the cloud are multiple. It offers multiple scalability opportunities, helps you reduce costs, and provides you with greater data security.
Namely, statistics say that 77% of companies are running their workloads in the cloud, while more than 80% of organizations use more than 5 clouds on average.
However, before investing in cloud hosting, you need to know what types of cloud hosting there are.
The Public Cloud
These are computing services offered by the third-party cloud service provider that, in this case, owns all cloud resources. One of the major benefits of the public cloud lies in the fact that it is accessible over the internet and, as such, is available to almost anyone.
What makes the public cloud infrastructure attractive to small and mid-sized businesses is the fact that it requires minimum investments, as you won’t need to invest in on-premises cloud components. Above all, the public cloud service provider is responsible for the management and maintenance of the system, which may also help you cut costs.
Another great benefit of the public cloud is fast deployment and easier scalability. Namely, your employees will need only a stable internet connection to access their data on the cloud, using their device of choice.
One of the major problems businesses face when investing in the public cloud is, unsurprisingly, security issues. If a public cloud provider suffers from a data breach or any similar cybersecurity threat, your data will be compromised, as well. However, when implemented properly, public clouds can be as safe as other cloud solutions. You just need to check what security options the third-party provider offers, such as intrusion detection, prevention systems, encryption, etc.
The Private Cloud
Also called the corporate or internal cloud, these are cloud computing services that are provided either over the internet or a private network. In both cases, only the members of your organization will have access to the network.
The private cloud has a plethora of advantages, such as scalability, customization, flexibility, and self-service. You can control and manage your cloud environments and scale them up or down based on your organization’s specific needs.
One of the major benefits of the private cloud is security, as your company’s firewalls and internal hosting ensure that your sensitive data is not available to the third-party provider.
The major problem with this option, on the other hand, is that your IT team is responsible for the maintenance of the cloud infrastructure, which may result in higher costs. Similarly to building traditional on-premise data centers, the private cloud requires building a solid IT department, educating staff, and the implementation and maintenance of the cloud components.
There are two basic types of private cloud infrastructures.
The Hybrid Cloud
Private clouds can be combined with the features of the public cloud to create hybrid cloud infrastructures.
One of the greatest advantages of this option is its flexibility and reliability, as you will be able to combine these two types of cloud infrastructures to free up more space and increase data storing options during the spikes in your computing demands.
The hybrid cloud provides advanced security options for your business, as the storage services are offered across multiple public and private data centers.
The greatest problem with this type of cloud hosting is the way it’s used. It’s more complex, meaning that it may take more time for your employees to get used to it.
The Hyperconverged Enterprise Cloud
Managing your cloud infrastructure, especially the multi-cloud one, can be complex and expensive. To simplify their migration to the cloud, many businesses choose to move to the enterprise cloud built on HCI. Stats say that 70% of businesses are planning to invest in hyperconverged cloud infrastructures.
Unlike traditional cloud computing solutions, hyper-converged infrastructures are simplified and far more flexible. These technologies provide complete IT infrastructure and maintenance services, making it easier for your business to move its operations to the cloud. Above all, they let you build cloud computing data centers fast, no matter if you’re using the public, private, or hybrid cloud.
Over to You
Choosing the right cloud hosting for your business depends on multiple factors.
For example, if you’re a small business that is just starting off, then the affordable and scalable public cloud is the most affordable solution for you.
If you’re storing lots of sensitive data, then invest in the private cloud.
Hybrid cloud solutions let you combine the best of public and private cloud services.
Finally, hyperconverged structures are perfect for you if you want to simplify your cloud infrastructure and build your cloud data center faster.
Which cloud option is the right for you?
Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is currently working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies. He is also a coauthor on several technology websites and regular contributor to Technivorz.