Internet of Things (IoT) is the process of connecting devices to one another through internet. This technology generates staggering amount of data. Cloud computing allows employees to create, store and update information across devices from anywhere in the world. As IoT becomes a household name in the world of enterprises, concerns of data security have risen. Since cloud-computing is a digitally common continent, the big question is which information should go public, private and hybrid?
The intricacies and complexity of IT architecture makes the task of selection of information for different categories of cloud storage an overwhelming task. Every application needs to be evaluated and placed in category that they should belong: on-premise, public cloud, private cloud or hybrid cloud. In this article, we will consider the major features of each of these categories and go through the best ways to bring together and regulate the complex deployments.
Public Cloud
Today, most of the organizations realize the advantages of IaaS providers (such as Amazon Web Services). These include pocket-friendly terms of ownership and a move from capital expenses to operating expenses. This reduces upfront expenditure of the companies and the continuous cost of technical IT labor. Apart from the economic benefits, the technical features are appealing too. With scalability and higher reliability, companies can also use automatic deployment. Most of the functions that are supported in the traditional resource can be replicated in the public cloud service, like AWS.
Public cloud works well with the following application types: web-tier of application that is seasonal (like EC2, ELBs AND Auto Scaling), long-term storage, data storage of any type, new apps where the demand is not clear and testing of environments (as instances can be easily spun for the load tests).
Once a company has selected public cloud services, it is time to decide if you want to outsource the management to a cloud service provider or follow a self-management procedure. A cloud service provider would keep track of the complete cloud architecture (including the custom failover scripts, web servers, load balancing). You can also find others who can integrate the public-cloud with your private cloud or on premise solutions that would allow a single monitoring platform.
Private Cloud
Even though the public cloud offers many benefits, most companies do not deploy their entire set of applications onto the public platform. It is easier to shift from on-premise platform to the private cloud, than from on-premises to the public cloud. This is possible because the configuration of private cloud platforms can be synced with the application you introduce. If you find that there are applications that do not work smoothly in the public cloud, then private cloud can be a helpful option.
Here are instances when adopting a private cloud is a good option:
(a) You are using Oracle RAC and need a loyal architecture for the compliance
(b) To transfer those apps that are not frequently used or are poorly built; whose migration into pubic cloud would not be worth the resources
(c) You require high-performance access to file systems (for instance, in media companies where large video files are produced)
(d) You have an unstable application in store that witnesses heavy traffic, but the IT team is not acquainted with the application (the company could take up a partial rewrite in the cloud).
While plenty of mid-size and large companies employ a private cloud service provider to maintain their servers, networks, storage and app architectures, your company can adapt an on premise datacenter along with a virtualization layer (like VMware).
On-Premise Servers
Many companies invest copious amount of capital in building their on-premise architecture (like high-quality databases that are configurable for the application they use). In such cases, it is beneficial to leave out the on-cloud options and stick to the on-premise servers for those applications where the enterprise does not see any cost-benefit.
On-premise architecture is suitable for applications that already performs well and encounters high availability through customized infrastructure. In case, your company creates media files that are large, then the on-premise servers are ideal. In addition, on-premise servers are suited for mail platforms that are high in volume, store sensitive content and have to be timed well.
Hybrid Cloud
A majority of companies today go for the hybrid-cloud solution, which means, according to the nature of the solution, they are housed within public, private or on premise servers.
All those large enterprises wanting the scalability and flexibility of public cloud can adopt the hybrid method. They could try a single tier within the public cloud and continue to maintain the key architecture on private cloud or on-premise servers. Hybrid cloud solution is especially useful for those who are anxious about the security of public cloud. It is ideal if companies have an experienced IT team and legacy apps within the propriety architecture and uses the cloud for opening up new forms of businesses.
With hybrid cloud solutions, one has to make sure that the integrations involved are strong. The balance of regular testing, data ingress-egress process and performance monitoring will open ways for evolution.