‘Cloud’ is a term that has made its way into everyday life, yet is
possibly one of the most misappropriated terms in Corporate IT at the
moment. Decisions between Cloud and On Premise solutions
are often being made before properly understanding the differences, or
without knowing the distinctions between Public and Private Cloud
offerings.
Cloud platforms can be considered as a scaled up version of the
Virtualisation Technology that is commonplace within businesses today;
using large scale deployments to service a significant number of Virtual
Servers, in turn enabling the cost be reduced. How these platforms
deliver these services to your business defines the different cloud
models, with the main categories being Public and Private Cloud
offerings.
Thanks to Google Apps, Microsoft’s Azure and 365 products, and Amazon
Web Services working to make ‘cloud’ a household term, Public Cloud has
become the most commonly talked about version of cloud services. Public
Cloud services generally have a set configuration, with scaling based on
predefined options, and accessible only via the internet. These
features work well for organisations whose staff are on the go, or that
are able to adjust their business’ IT requirements to align with the
provider’s offering. However, for businesses with custom applications or
requirements, the ability to leverage these public cloud offerings can
be limited. In addition some Australian businesses may experience
compliance issues as a result of data being stored offshore.
Private Cloud is a way of delivering similar Virtual Servers, though
utilising the networking infrastructure of an ISP or Private Network
service provider to connect directly into the platform core to avoid
data traversing the public internet. In addition to the security and
speed benefits, these products provide dedicated resources for the
client while maintaining a common underlying platform. This means that
customers receive a service specific to their requirements; adding site
and hardware redundancy not experienced with an On Premise model,
without the need to change the business to fit the offering.
With the ability to provide both high speed network connectivity and Private Cloud services on a new locally hosted IaaS platform,
Over the Wire can help you choose the best solution for your business
requirements. To learn more about these and other deployment types, or
to hear our General Manager, Ben Cornish, talk about our IaaS services click here or watch the video below
Public Versus Private Cloud
