Private Cloud Versus Public Cloud

With an embryonic technology such as cloud computing, this is inevitable that different people will have a different take on which particular cloud technology is superior. In general terms, the general superiority of cloud computing over traditional computing techniques is not really open to debate. The cloud is already offering companies massive opportunities, and the corporate sector is now embracing the cloud in a big way. The advantages, convenience and technological advancement of the cloud are obvious to anyone with any remote understanding of how it operates.

But we’ve numerous cloud services available, there is still dialogue regarding which is the best, or at least which is the most suited to certain tasks. Before continuing any further with this topic, it is important to outline the three basic types of cloud computing, and how they differ.

Public Cloud

The first, and probably most well known type of cloud service, is the public cloud. This particular service is based on the model which dictates the server provider, supply resources and functionality available to business as well as the general public over the Internet. There are already numerous popular public cloud offerings available in the mainstream, with one of the most successful being Dropbox.

The public cloud is offered fire at one of three different service types – IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service). These three different models essentially centre around ownership of equipment and the way service providers operate.

Private Cloud

The second type of cloud service has already achieved a strong level of popularity in the business community. The private cloud involves the internal IT department of the company really operating as a service provider for the cloud computing provision. Only data backups are really held in the cloud itself, with all the other functions essentially managed, stored and operated in-house. This type of set-up tends to appeal to organisations that want more control over their infrastructure and inherently have trust and confidence in their internal IT departments. It may also suit bigger companies who already have an expensive and powerful IT infrastructure in place.

Hybrid Cloud

To briefly mentioned the third type of cloud provision available, this is the hybrid cloud. This particular cloud service essentially attempts to offer the best of both worlds, and has become popular with companies looking to compromise. It is beyond the scope of this article to look at the hybrid cloud, as it will be a comparison between the public and private cloud, but it is important to be aware of this technology.

What Are The Advantages of The Public Cloud?

Perhaps security provisions related to public cloud have put off some companies from utilising it. However, it also has its fair share of advantages, So here are the most obvious benefits of the public cloud.

• The public cloud enables a reduced reliance on a company’s internal IT departments. This is due to the fact that this particular form of the cloud is managed by an external vendor. This can help greatly reduced the burden on internal IT staff within a business.
• Generally speaking, the public cloud is a particularly economically viable option. This can vary depending on a specific set-up, but when one considers the potential cost of purchasing equipment and software, along with labour costs, the public cloud usually pays off financially. This model based around utility prices offered by public renders almost always offers reduced overheads.
• Testing and development can often be more straightforward under the public cloud. Implementation of testing in development usually takes merely a matter of minutes to implement with the public cloud.
• The public cloud tends to be somewhat more scalable than the private cloud.

What Are The Advantages of The Private Cloud?

• The first and most obvious advantage of the private cloud is its security provisions. Numerous large companies involved in the public clouds have suffered a data security breaches recently. This has damaged the reputation of the public cloud, whereas the private cloud has no such concerns.
• Thus, corporations are paying attention to this nation and increasingly deciding that the private cloud is less risky for the data. The support of big corporations for a technology will almost certainly guarantee its success.
• Through charge-backs, using the private cloud IT can actually charge individual departments based on their usage. This can be an extremely useful source of revenue generation.
• The private cloud also enables users to virtualise services. This can ultimately have a beneficial impact on cost, not to mention the complexity of the system.

There are advantages of both the public and private cloud, and this has been reflected in the fact that the hybrid cloud is becoming increasingly more popular. This technology promises users the functionality and feature set of both the public and private cloud in one package.

But in the battle between the public and private cloud, the latter has noticed ahead recently. Data is among the most important resources of any organisation, and ultimately at this point in time the private cloud offers more security in this department. It therefore make sense for businesses of all sizes to utilise the private cloud’s functionality.