What does a Public Cloud mean?
Public Cloud is the most recognized models of cloud computing by the consumers. Here, cloud services are provided in a virtualized environment, applications or storage is made available to the general public and services can be on pay per consume model offered by the service provider.
Private and Hybrid Cloud Vs Public Cloud
Private Cloud – When an organization wishes to go for a private cloud, they get full control over the IT infrastructure which is always maintained on a private network where the hardware and software is solely dedicated to one’s business. Private cloud uses computing resources exclusively for one organization which is flexible and can be customized as per the client’s wish.
Hybrid Cloud – Usually known as ‘Best of both worlds’, hybrid clouds consist of on-premise infrastructure (private cloud) and public cloud. For higher flexibility and deployment options, data and applications can move freely between private and public cloud. In case you have high volume demands, then you can go for Public Cloud or else you can make use of on-premise infrastructure for business critical operations.
Comparable in features
- Scalability
Public Cloud – High scaling of computing resourcesPrivate Cloud – Limited scalability is available due to pre customized hardware for specific clientsHybrid Cloud – Same as public cloud, hybrid cloud also has high scaling capabilities.
- Security
Public Cloud – Your data is safe on public cloud with enterprise class firewall and you are protected from hardware failures.
Private Cloud – When you design the cloud architecture according to your needs you exactly know where your data lives; behind your own locked doors.
Hybrid Cloud – Hybrid cloud offers the same level of security like the public cloud. However, here you can also get integration options to add an extra layer of security.
- Performance
Public Cloud – As the same hardware is shared between different users, performance can go down if another client hosted on the same server experiences a lot of traffic. Thus, performance level may fluctuate based on the server load.
Private Cloud – A private cloud environment allows you to apply optimization technologies that strongly improve your performance.