Open Source Security Certificates – Let’s Encrypt Finally Here!
6 April 2016Can Cloud Infrastructure Reduce Costs?
18 April 2016The demand for a hybrid cloud system has continued to increase as more companies realize that a hybrid cloud system gives you the best of both worlds. Orchestration between private and public cloud ensures that all your cloud needs are met and they both interact to create value. Decision makers have realized that each of the two platforms functioning on its own does not always produce the best results and there are grey areas that need to be addressed. A proper hybrid system requires API compatibility in order for workloads from both platforms to interact effectively.
The need to adopt a hybrid system is often steered by the certain inefficiencies that can only be fully addressed once the organization is able to synchronize a public and private cloud system. Each organization has different reasons for adopting hybrid cloud, whether it is the need to address security lapses, more storage space, scaling upwards and so on. The thing about hybrid cloud is that it gives you more operational options. Most organizations usually start with either an on-premise cloud system or a third party cloud but with time the need to have a piece from both worlds arises and they are left with no other option but to adjust according to their needs.
The Most Critical outcomes you can expect when you adopt hybrid cloud
Performance
Every organization desires to have a system that meets all the employees demands at all times. This means that the entire organization will be able to rely on it at all times without issues such as downtime which may cause delays and ultimately affect the overall performance of the organization. When you adopt hybrid cloud, you ease demand on the private cloud by ensuring that only critical company files are hosted there, thus boosting its overall output. Less critical files will be transferred to the public cloud where there is more storage space and you are also backed up by powerful servers thus improving the company`s performance.
Employees will have access to a wide variety of applications on the public cloud service and can use them in their daily operations to improve speed of delivery and quality of the final product.
Security
The fact critical files are stored on the private cloud gives you more control over your own data security. It means that you can implement strategies to ensure that your data is not easily compromised, such as:
- Regular upgrades of security firewalls
- Periodic system security updates
- Use of data encryption- this will ensure that just in case your on-premise cloud is breached, your stored data will not be easily accessible and interpretable to outsiders.
- Passwords- Critical data will be limited to only the top organization executives who are also top decision makers. To access such files, they will be given passwords in order to keep the files safe from junior employees.
The above security measures may be difficult to implement on a public cloud because you have less control. This is not to say that public clouds are always easy to breach, it just means that you have more control over the security of critical files when they are on a private cloud. Sometimes damage control may be a bit hard to implement on a public cloud.
When you transfer less critical files to the public cloud your on-premise servers will not be overworked, which is yet another huge advantage. Thus, hybrid cloud ensures you not only have enhanced security, but ultimate control as well.
Capacity Expansion
Having a hybrid cloud system gives you more options in the sense that when you need more resources you can always make an arrangement with your public cloud provider. Thus, when you need more servers while developing and testing a new product, you will not be required to invest in new hardware. All you need is additional resources on the virtual machines at a small fee. This is one of the best business outcomes that people using hybrid cloud are able to enjoy and we all know that for any ambitious organization, capacity expansion is always inevitable. If you need to expand on the long term, all you need is to increase your subscription package with your provider without any additional hardware requirements on your part. This will also ensure smooth running of affairs because there will be no interruptions in case you also need to increase the capacity of your private cloud. All you`ll be required to do is transfer files from the private to the public cloud and once you have completed upgrading the private cloud, you can easily transfer the files back to their original location.
Pay As You Go (PAYG) Scalability
It is one of the biggest benefits of operating in a hybrid cloud environment. It is very cost effective, since it ensures that you only pay for extra resources when you are in need. For instance if you want to scale up for a certain period of time, you will do so very easily and only pay for the additional resources during that time frame. If you want to scale down after that, you will no longer have to pay any extra fees. Pay as you go scalability ensures that you only pay for resources on the cloud when you need them.
Operating in a hybrid cloud environment is usually a bit more expensive than having each of the two operating as a single unit, but in the end it`s worth every bit of the investment. If a hybrid system is well implemented, the end user will ultimately have no idea whether an application is in the private or public cloud because of the perfectly executed synchronization.