Public Cloud or Private Cloud: Which One is Best?

Today a large number of businesses have started leveraging Cloud computing owing to a large number of underlying benefits. Cloud hosting finds its most common use in the form of data storage and running business applications by eliminating the need for building and maintaining an on-premise setup. Based on the deployment model, the Cloud can be broadly classified as Public and Private Clouds.

As a business owner, you can opt for a private Cloud-based deployment if you are looking to use your computing resources only through the means of dedicated hardware, software as well as network. Else, you can go for public Cloud hosting if you want to share your resources with others present on the hosted Cloud server. A trusted Public Cloud hosting provider will offer you hardware, software along with all the required infrastructure for your business.

Thus, as a business owner, you should have a clear understanding of what type of Cloud deployment is best to address your business needs. Also, you must be able to clearly understand the differences that exist between these Cloud deployment models.

So, to answer your queries, in this article, we shall see the primary differences between these Cloud models.

Defining Public Cloud

In a public Cloud-based deployment model, the hosted server is shared amongst several independent users. Usually, public Cloud hosting is present at an off-site location that will be maintained by your Cloud service provider. In this Cloud model, the users present on the server are not responsible for incurring any CAPEX-related costs. With a public Cloud, the Cloud service provider is responsible for backing up your data on a regular basis and maintaining the security of the hosted data.

Advantages of Public Cloud

When you opt for public cloud hosting, you get the following benefits for your business-

1. Reduced Hardware Costs With a public Cloud deployment, it helps you in cutting down your CAPEX. As stated before, a public Cloud is more of a “pay-per-use” model, and you just need to pay for the resources that you have utilized, without incurring any additional costs.
2. Reduced Maintenance Costs As the public Clouds are hosted and provided by a third party, this eliminates your need to invest in a dedicated in-house IT Team. With the elimination of a dedicated IT team, you can cut down costs related to the maintenance and security of your system.
3. On-demand Scalability Another key advantage that you get with a public Cloud is on-demand scalability and flexibility. A public Cloud offers you the desired scalability if you wish to add/remove any of your resources without incurring any downtime to your business.

Disadvantages of Public Cloud

Despite several benefits, there are a couple of downsides to public Cloud Hosting. These include-

1. Poor Security Weak security measures are sometimes apprehended as the significant downside of a public Cloud hosting by its users. However, owing to the importance of data security, public Cloud hosting providers like bodHOST ensure that there are robust security mechanisms deployed at all times. The industry verticals and customers that have sensitive information hosted, often face trust issues with the third-party provider.
2. Lack of Controls Users present on a public Cloud hosting setup shared the same server besides all the infrastructure. The public Cloud is wholly managed and owned by the Cloud provider. This, in turn, gives the hosted users a lack of control along with certain limitations related to controlling personal data.

Defining Private Cloud

A private Cloud hosting solution hosts data over a dedicated server along with access and management that is limited to a user only. This network is protected through various means like firewalls by offering high performance as only one user is hosted on the server. With private Cloud hosting, customers get the customizability of control as well as maintenance of their services. This means one can modify the Cloud infrastructure as per his business needs and enhance the security requirements.

Advantages of Private Cloud

When you opt for Private Cloud hosting, you get the following benefits –

1. Enhanced Security With private Cloud hosting, the services are meant only for a single user. All the resources, including hardware, data storage, and connection, are designed for an individual user to ensure maximum security.
2. Better Performance Private Cloud hosting resides inside a Company’s Intranet secured behind a firewall. However, the resources granted is similar to public Cloud hosting services, though with a lower vulnerability and exposure to Internet-based risks.
3. Enhanced Configuration Controls A private Cloud is designed to offer enhanced scalability-related storage and computing power. The server resources are not shared with anyone with the configuration being maintained by the Internal team.

Disadvantages of Private Cloud

Despite various benefits, private Cloud hosting does have certain disadvantages as well-

1. An Expensive Option With a private Cloud, one needs to have a physical space along with regular hardware and software-related costs. Due to all these contributing factors, this Cloud model turns out to be an expensive option that can be utilized only by larger enterprises.
2. Maintenance Issues Deploying an infrastructure is always a higher-end project as well as a time-consuming process when compared to a public Cloud. To achieve the desired scalability levels, businesses are forced to opt for a hybrid Cloud solution.
3. Deployment-Related Issues Private Cloud hosting can only be extended within the internal resources present inside a business organization. To maintain deployment uniformly in the organization, the business organization needs to have an expert team.  Lastly, deployment of private Clouds can prove to be a real challenge when it comes to deploying on a global level.

Concluding Remarks

Needless to say, Cloud technology has brought remarkable disruptions for businesses due to various factors when compared to on-premise. However, based on deployment, Cloud is broadly segmented as Public and Private Cloud. Each of these Cloud deployments offers its own set of advantages and disadvantages that have been discussed above. Being a business owner, you need to have a crystal-clear understanding of your business needs and then deploy the right Cloud model.

If you’re looking for a trusted Cloud hosting provider, then feel free to reach out to Team bodHOST to address all your growing business needs.