What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

In this blog post, I will be breaking down the difference between the cloud types, explaining their benefits and their disadvantages. 

Public Cloud 

Public clouds are “based on shared physical hardware which is owned and operated by a third-party provider” where the infrastructure is shared by many clients. Some of the most common real-world examples of public cloud services include services like cloud-based server hosting, storage services, webmail, and online office applications.

The main benefits of using a public cloud service are:

• Cost-effectiveness
• Increased Reliability 
• Pay-as-you-go scalability 

Disadvantages of using a public cloud service are:

• Performance can be an issue; spikes in use could affect your data transmission across the internet. 
• Your server could be in a different country, which has an entirely different set of security and privacy regulations.
• You could also run into surprise costs if you need to move large amounts of data in and out, or even within the public cloud.

Examples of public clouds:

• Amazon Web Services
• Google Cloud Platform
• Windows Azure Services

Private Cloud 

Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to the public cloud, including scalability and self-service. Unlike public clouds, which deliver services to multiple organizations, a private cloud is dedicated to a single organization. 

Private cloud is best for businesses with dynamic or unpredictable computing needs that require direct control over their environments.

The main benefits of using a private cloud service are:

• Direct control over data
• Greater level of security 

Disadvantages of private clouds:

• Difficult to access the data from remote locations 
• Vendor Lock-In:  This is a service delivery technique where the client company is forced to continue with the same service provider, preventing the client to migrate to another vendor.
• Cost is substantial when building an on premise private cloud

Examples of private clouds:

•  VMware
• Dell EMC
• IBM
• Microsoft
• Red Hat

Private Hosted Services (private data centers) 

A data center (or datacenter) is a facility or facilities in a specific geographic physical location, composed of networked computers and storage that businesses or other organizations use to organize, store, and disseminate large amounts of data. Private hosted services are services provided by an entity on equipment and software located in a datacenter, which is accessible only to customers of the service provider.

Private hosted services often take the form of a fully hosted server environment, wherein the service provider hosts all Windows servers and line-of-business software, as well as providing a managed end user support environment.

 The main benefits of using private hosted services

• Better support and customer service. Private hosted services providers generally have a more narrow focus on vertical markets that they serve, which often means better support response times and faster issue resolution times.
• Security. Highly regulated industries, such as healthcare and financial services, have the ability to select private hosted services from providers who are also audited and regulated 
•  Flexibility. Many private hosted services providers will customize a hosting solution to the customer’s technology needs and budget considerations.

Disadvantages of private hosted services

• Provisioning and migration time. Customers transitioning to private hosted services may encounter a longer timeframe for implementation if performing a full migration to a remote datacenter.
• Longer due diligence discovery. As many customers of private hosted services are regulated entities, the requirement to perform in-depth vendor due diligence of service providers may delay their vendor selection and migration timeline.

Sources: Rouse, Margaret, and Stephen J. Bigelow. “What is a Cloud Computing?” Tech Target, searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-computing.