How do you know what type of cloud service you need? And how do you deploy the data into the cloud? Whether you are an independent IT or a company seeking to optimize and upgrade its operations, we listed below the main types of cloud deployment and the types of cloud services.
For example, before you choose the services and types of transactions a bank will operate on your behalf, you want to know what type of accounts they have. You want to know where the money goes before you know how it will be transferred.
Similarly, there are several types of cloud deployment. You can decide where the infrastructure of your system / product resides and who has control over it.
Types of cloud
Public cloud
A public cloud is owned and managed by a third-party cloud service provider. The main characteristic of a public cloud is that you share it with other users or companies. In an open computing environment, anyone from anywhere can buy (and pay as they go for what they use) a small “slice” of storage in that cloud. You access the services instantly, which adapts on the go, based on your changing needs.
Private cloud
Compared to a public cloud, the private cloud is meant exclusively for a single business or organization. You don’t share a “slice” anymore, your organization owns the entire cloud. The infrastructure and services function on a private network. The main benefits of a private cloud are:
- Costs: the private cloud can be a cheaper option, as a recent study from 451 Research Within the research, 150 IT decision-makers revealed that 41% of them operate their private clouds at lower unit costs than public cloud, citing capacity planning, automation, and costing technologies.
- Security: when you manage your systems in-house, it means that a dedicated internal IT team is in charge. They run the maintenance through a secure network and no other company has access to your servers.
- Performance and scalability: there is no one-size-fits-all measure. You can scale up the resources as needed, as virtualization means that you no longer depend on a physical machine to perform every operation. If a server is down, the cloud automatically assigns the tasks to a viable one. This way, it ensures business continuity, improving performance.
Hybrid cloud
A hybrid cloud is the place where the public and private cloud merge, allowing users to share data and applications between clouds. A hybrid cloud brings more flexibility and deployment options by allowing data to move between private and public environments. With a hybrid approach you have common data management for your workloads, while still tapping the sensitive data that might not be suited for a public cloud.
Cloud services
SaaS – System as a software
– basically, SaaS represents all the applications that are managed by a third-party and work based on a subscription. The users are not responsible for any maintenance or management of that software. Some examples of SaaS include Microsoft Office 365, Google Apps, Dropbox, SAP, Netflix, etc.
PaaS – Platform as a software
– the difference between Saas and PaaS is that with Paas the users already have the framework they can build upon to develop or customize applications, but they are not responsible for managing the server or infrastructure. For example, if you would like to develop your own app, a PaaS product could represent the platform to run the app onto. Some examples of PaaS are AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine, Red Hat OpenShift, etc.
IaaS – Infrastructure as a service
– the most flexible category of cloud services. Instead of buying hardware, with IaaS, you rent it. You have complete control over the hardware that runs your application: servers and virtual machines (VMs), storage, networks, and operating systems. Some examples of IaaS are Amazon EC2, Windows Azure, Rackspace, Google Compute Engine, etc. Basically, IaaS offers ready-made infrastructure on which users can still visualize, access, install, configure and manage their software.
If you need further guidance and clarity about the right move for your business in terms of cloud deployment or services, our consultants are ready to listen to your needs. We offer a full stack of capabilities for a solid cloud migration journey, considering our expertise and strong software development experience.
Contact us today if you want time-proven expertise to handle your digital transformation! Write us at marketing@eu.rsystems.com.