Cloud Computing – Public Cloud versus Private Cloud

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Cloud computing involves the provision of 3 chief computing resources including the software, infrastructure and platform. Since it works like a rental model, you need not indulge in expensive and time consuming stages such as planning, procurement, setup and maintenance. You pay a subscription fee and that’s all.

Cloud Computing Solutions

Cloud computing is classified as – Private and Public clouds. Here’s a brief comparison between the two:

  1. Private clouds are maintained for individual clients or a cluster of dedicated customers. In case of a Public cloud, service providers share the available infrastructure among different clients.
  2. Private cloud users can independently take all steps necessary to ensure maximum security but there’re fewer visualization benefits. Public cloud computing solutions such as Microsoft Windows Azure cannot be customized the same way but they are much cheaper in comparison to Private cloud computing solutions.
  3. While Private cloud computing solutions support connectivity over the Internet, fiber or a private data transfer network, public clouds primarily use the Internet for connectivity. The former ensures data transfers via highly secure front-end/back-end networks. Shared networks, on the other hand, are less secure.
  4. Both Private and Public clouds ensure benefits such as elasticity, on-demand self-service, metered usage, resource pooling and manageability. But, Private clouds are more suited for clients who need to store or process highly confidential information.
  5. Private cloud services are backed by dedicated proactive monitoring unlike in case of public cloud services.
  6. The total cost in case of Private cloud is fixed. The total cost of ownership in case of Public crowd, although much less in comparison, is variable and a function of the resources and features needed.
  7. Maintaining private servers is highly time consuming and expensive. Public cloud services on the other hand, are way more flexible in this respect. There’re fewer downtime and even when there’re problems, you can always hope that someone will fix it within minutes.
  8. There are no long-term contracts in case of Public cloud services.

Both Public and Private cloud services have their own pros and cons. It is up to you decide on the kind of service you need. If you represent an SMB, Public cloud is likely to be the best option for you.