Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user
In today’s highly competitive business environment, cloud can bring the speed, flexibility and cost savings you are seeking. You can translate abstract information based on surveys and assessments into more tangible concrete metrics. These assessments help you make strategic decisions on whether to replace or upgrade applications.
With cloud computing, you don’t need to make large upfront investments in hardware and spend a lot of time on the heavy lifting of managing that hardware. Instead, you can provision exactly the right type and size of computing resources you need to power your newest idea or operate your IT department.
The public cloud is defined as computing services offered by third-party providers over the public Internet, making them available to anyone who wants to use or purchase them.
A public cloud is a platform that uses the standard cloud computing model to make resources, such as virtual machines (VMs), applications or storage, available to users remotely. Public cloud services may be free or offered through a variety of subscription or on-demand pricing schemes, including a pay-per-usage model.
Private cloud refers to a model of cloud computing where IT services are provisioned over private IT infrastructure for the dedicated use of a single organization. A private cloud is usually managed via internal resources.
The terms private cloud and virtual private cloud (VPC) are often used interchangeably. Technically speaking, a VPC is a private cloud using a third-party cloud provider's infrastructure, while a private cloud is implemented over internal infrastructure.
By utilizing cloud vendors, an organization should lower costs while receiving services and applications that are on par or better than what could be done in-house. Given this, a private cloud would seem to be going backwards.
An organization would still need to build out and manage the private cloud infrastructure and not get any benefits from the economies of scale that should come with cloud computing.
Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms. By allowing workloads to move between private and public clouds as computing needs and costs change, hybrid cloud gives businesses greater flexibility and more data deployment options.
The key to create a successful hybrid cloud is to select hypervisor and cloud software layers that are compatible with the desired public cloud, ensuring proper interoperability with that public cloud's application programming interfaces (APIs) and services.
The implementation of compatible software and services also enables instances to migrate seamlessly between private and public clouds. A developer can also create advanced applications using a mix of services and resources across the public and private platforms.