Cloud computing infrastructure models
Do you have a drought about which cloud infrastructure model you should use? What is the difference between cloud infrastructure models? In that case, you are reading the written article. At the end of this article, you will be clear about the different models and what is convenient for you to use. There are many considerations for cloud computing architects to make when moving from an in-house application deployment model to a cloud-based deployment model.
There are three types of cloud deployment models public, private, or hybrid clouds, each of which has its trade-offs. You can use more than one cloud solution as per the requirement of your company. If you have, a temporary project then that can be deployed on the public cloud and can be used by the company to minimize the cost. Besides the above mentation three clouds, there is also the community cloud.
When using the cloud infrastructure you have the advantage, your data is stored at a remote location. If any digester occurs, your data is secure because it is at a remote location. This maintains business continuity.
Public clouds
Public cloud allows for scaling and resource sharing that would not otherwise be possible for a single organization to achieve. A third party is responsible to provide you the platform for running your application. Few examples for the public cloud vendors are Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Oracle, and many more. With the help of the public cloud, an organization can host any temporary project so that the cost can be minimized.
The advantage that we get with the public cloud is that it has high scalability, it is convenient to set up, and it is available to everyone in public. The user does not have to worry about maintenance. The other advantage is that it is created at a remote location. Whenever any digester happens at the current location, the data can be retrieved. Public cloud has a pay-as-you-go model i.e. you only pay for the services that you use.
The above diagram (figure 1) is a general overview of the public cloud architecture. All the users who have internet access can access the public cloud. All the data owned by the user is stored in the public cloud-only. When using the public cloud user has the ability to scaling up and down as per the requirement. By using this cloud, one can create a remote replication i.e. you can have an additional backup stored on the cloud, which can be retrieved when any problem occurs. By doing so the business continuity can be maintained. The remote replica can also help for retrieving data, Testing platforms, Data migration, and also for Reporting Activities.
The main disadvantage of the public cloud is that it is less secure than the private cloud. When a company has some legal standard, industrial standard, or government policies that cannot be meet by the public cloud sometimes. While using the public cloud you have restrictions of hardware and severs. The public cloud is available to everyone using the internet, there are chances of getting your application and the application of other companies to be mixed as they are on the internet.
Private clouds
One can create a private cloud environment on-premises or can use private cloud service provided by any cloud provider. While using the private cloud one can meet strict security, compliances, and legal requirements. While using the private cloud the user has full control over the security. The Private cloud environment is exclusively built for a single Enterprise/client/user as per the situation. When using the private cloud you have almost all control over your data, security configuration, and other operation by doing so you can maintain the quality of service.
Private cloud has two types: -
1. On-premises/ in-house private cloud
The data center built by an organization/company/enterprise is known as an on-premise or in-house cloud. Building this type of cloud environment is only possible when it is a large enterprise because doing so costs a lot, you have to think about maintenance and security. In addition, you have to worry about the hardware i.e. scaling of your data center.
2. Virtual private cloud
It is a virtually hosted cloud environment like a public cloud but the difference is that there is a firewall in between enterprise and the cloud. Only the allowed members i.e. allowed internet protocols can access this cloud. This kind of environment can be set up by using VPN.
Figure 2 has the basic overview of the private cloud architecture i.e. enterprise can communicate with the private cloud using a private connection
Community cloud
The community cloud also has the shared resources like a public cloud but the resources are shared within the limited organizations. This type of cloud can be deployed when the organization that is sharing has the same interest. Deploying the community cloud helps in improving security because only limited organizations have access.
Hybrid clouds
The combination of public cloud and private cloud is a hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud provides the services of both public and private cloud.
Let us see the scenario where a hybrid cloud can be used. Suppose a company wants to deploy the website this is how they can manage their resources. The front end of the website that is GUI of the website can be deployed on the public cloud so that the entire users can access the website and the backend of the website that is database can be deployed on the private cloud so that the data that is uploaded on the cloud remains secure. Figure 3 below is how the hybrid cloud architecture can be formed.
As we are setting two environments that are public as well as private the cost can be reduced. Hybrid cloud provides the secured as well as a common interface so that the normal uses can access the product. When using this cloud service you can scale up and down your resources so that the cost can be minimized. By using this cloud solution you can deal with the complexity. It helps the enterprise to hold tight controls over the secured information.
I hope now you are clear with what cloud infrastructure model you want to choose and what is the difference between the different cloud environments.
