What is Hybrid Cloud?
In recent years, cloud computing services have become essential IT services, providing computing power and data storage for professionals and private individuals alike. While it was long necessary to choose between a private cloud and a public cloud, today, hybrid cloud means combining the security and data management benefits of the first with the flexibility of the second. Find out more about how hybrid cloud works and the benefits it brings below.
Private cloud and public cloud: what’s the difference?
Cloud computing provides easy access to IT services via the internet. A range of infrastructure types are available, which determine the cost, flexibility, and level of data access security.
The principle of the cloud
The cloud is a virtualised storage or computing infrastructure – or both – that can take two possible forms:
- A physical server split into several virtual servers;
- Multiple physical servers combined into a single virtual server.
This computing or storage solution allows data to be stored or manipulated on a remote internet-accessible server without having to have your own servers. This means that the cloud brings flexibility in IT infrastructure management.
Private cloud and public cloud: the differences
In cloud computing, there are two storage options:
- Private clouds, also called dedicated clouds, are the most common type. This infrastructure is used only by its owner (in this case, the equipment and the data it manages belong exclusively to the owner), or is designed for a single client (in this case, an integrator develops an infrastructure that is dedicated exclusively to its client). A private cloud can be hosted internally or in a datacenter.
- A public cloud is an infrastructure that serves several clients. The data is hosted on multiple servers, which can be accessed by multiple users, but their data isn’t necessarily visible to all users. The best-known public clouds are Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, SalesForce, and the majority of email servers used for personal email addresses.
What is hybrid cloud?
Hybrid cloud is a clever mix of private and public cloud solutions, interconnected by a system that offers data portability and app portability. In other words, a hybrid cloud is like a puzzle whose pieces are private and public clouds. This solution is often used by businesses that share their IT infrastructure between both types of cloud to get the best of both worlds.
What do people use hybrid cloud for?
Hybrid cloud has many uses and offers benefits to a wide range of professionals.
- Tiered hybrid: this involves dividing an app or web server in two, with the back-end part in a private cloud while the front-end remains in a public one.
- Partitioned multi-cloud: this involves simultaneously using two public clouds to make the most of the benefits of each one (such as cost or flexibility) and to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.
- Analytics hybrid: this cloud solution allows transactional aspects (where information is entered) to be kept separate from analytics aspects (where information is stored and processed). Analytics hybrid clouds are used for business applications, such as ERPs and CRMs.
They can also be used to separate development from execution, particularly when developing apps (DevOps).
Why choose hybrid cloud?
There are many reasons for choosing a hybrid cloud solution instead of deciding between a private or public cloud.
- Security: storing data and performing processing and computing tasks in the public cloud prevents a cloud provider from accessing the Data Lake.
- Resilience: having two public clouds working with a private cloud that is used for storing information is beneficial, particularly in the event of an incident.
- Flexibility: a public cloud offers flexibility, which allows the client to take advantage of variable computing capacity that can be billed based on actual usage.
- Cost savings: being able to change public cloud provider means companies can take advantage of price competition.
- Performance: having edge hybrid clouds improves latency and reduces transit.
DATA4 and hybrid cloud
Many corporate clients host their private cloud with DATA4, and lots of Cloud Provider clients also use DATA4 to run their public cloud. Businesses appreciate being able to connect to a nearby public cloud from their private cloud. This results in a low transit time, also called latency, which is a real advantage for latency-sensitive applications. In addition, the reduced distance between the equipment used for both clouds limits single points of failure, and thus improves the uptime of the entire application.
For these reasons and more besides, many DATA4 clients choose hybrid cloud.
Hybrid cloud is a good compromise between privatising and pooling resources. However, it is important to accurately determine and calculate the storage space required to suit the scalability of your needs, and to choose cloud hosting for a successful hybrid virtualisation.
