Private Cloud Computing vs Public Cloud Computing
What is the difference between private cloud computing and public cloud computing? Is one better than the other? When a company considers upgrading its technology strategy for the future, consideration should be given to cloud technology since there are so many benefits provided by leveraging cloud technology for your business.
In order to understand the difference between private cloud computing and public cloud computing, we need to be aware that there are some broad definitions about what constitutes cloud computing and the difference between a private cloud and a public cloud. For this discussion, we are addressing the features that would impact business computing.
There are three essential differences between a private cloud and a public cloud, which are all beneficial to a business - especially over time. The influential differences are:
Security - Private cloud security features can be tailored to the needs of a specific business. In a public cloud solution, the security is more of a one size fits all, and the business has to work within the universal security features offered by the public cloud service.
The private cloud host and your administrator design and manage the security side of the solution. There is physical separation between a customer’s assigned hardware at the data center host. (This means you can actually see where your data and system components reside.) In the public cloud solution, a customer’s data does not reside in an assigned server space.
The public cloud solution does not define the actual location of the data center or the actual hardware being used. Your data could be combined with other customers' data at a data center … somewhere. This issue may not meet compliance requirements for some industries. Compliance auditors prefer the security features provided by a private cloud solution in comparison to a public cloud solution.
Access - The private cloud host can grant access to a business and their vendors based on permissions and system architecture. In a private cloud environment, there are specific controls allowed via the firewall, so there is more latitude. There are multiple ways that access can be achieved so that a business may have access to their data, and allow access to others as they deem appropriate. In a public cloud configuration, the access to data is per the universal policy of the public cloud provider.
Therefore, in a public cloud configuration, permissions may be the same for any user granted access. This gives the customer less control over granting access, so there may be a tendency to grant less access due to security concerns on many levels - such as insider threats and unmalicious changes that could severely impact your system. Unforeseen or unintended data manipulations could occur.
Control - The private cloud inherently offers you significant control over your network architecture. A major advantage of the private cloud is that you design and administer your system while leveraging the cloud platform. You and your technical team are in charge of the details. The private cloud provider offers a scalable platform for your network. This means that you can add or subtract users quickly and securely. You can expand and add functionality very quickly and in a cost-controlled manner. This feature of control is different from the public cloud because you are limited by the public cloud service offering. The public cloud does provide the management side of your system, but this is confined by their offerings. Once again, you are in a one size fits all world.
There are many options and advantages to private cloud computing. To see how other successful companies are leveraging the private cloud, visit our case studies on our website.
To further investigate how private cloud computing can enhance your business, please contact info@nthacloud.com for a no obligation assessment, or call 303-565-7261. You can also check us out at nthacloud.com.
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