Hybrid Cloud Definition and What Makes It Special

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by

Daniel Iversen

is licensed under

CC BY 2.0

There is no doubt that cloud computing has made the lives of countless people easier. It allowed anyone with an Internet connection to ‘Google’ something and have results in an instant, instead of needing to head to a library and search through countless books.

However, although many see the benefits of it, most do not know what exactly it is or how it works. To put it simply, cloud computing refers to the storing and accessing of data through the Internet. Once a connection is made with the ‘cloud’, even the processing of said data can be done remotely. Doing so removes the need for consumers to carry around devices with immensely high storage capacity and ridiculously powerful processors.

“3D Cloud Computing” by Chris Potter is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Even with the advent of the cloud computing, there are some concerns with its deployment models. When it comes to the “public” cloud model, where the public can freely access its services, security is a big concern. One big reason would be that communication with the public cloud is made through an untrusted network. To solve this, business started to rely on their own cloud infrastructure, also known as the “private” cloud model. Despite the improved security, it was not cost-effective when dealing with the volatility of users’ needs.

That is when “hybrid” cloud was born to meet the needs of businesses. Hybrid cloud is the result of the amalgamation of various types of cloud deployment models. It allows businesses to take advantage of private cloud’s secure data storage and significantly lower latency. This is done through storing sensitive data, or data that are often accessed, locally. It also allows organizations to quickly leverage the public cloud whenever the workload occasionally exceeds the capability of their on-premise infrastructure. Doing so would be much more economical than to scale up their on-premise infrastructure, as the company only pays for the resources it uses.

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Moreover, having a mix of private and public cloud reduces the over-reliance on a single infrastructure. This removes the single point of failure that would be devastating to an entire company. With the hybrid cloud model, businesses could have the flexibility to cherry-pick the various advantages from each cloud deployment model.

As of now, there are several Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers available to choose from. However, not all of them are able to provide a comprehensive coverage of the services that are required for hybrid cloud to be effective, save LeaseWeb. For starters, LeaseWeb is able to accommodate businesses with the basics, such as on-premise infrastructure and access to virtual cloud servers. Furthermore, the connection to the virtual cloud servers can also be sped up through its Content Delivery Network (CDN) service. An additional layer of security that they offer is simply the cherry on the cake.

Summary

With the ever-changing needs of businesses and their clients, the path to the hybrid cloud is certain. By housing services that are considered to be paramount for the hybrid cloud model to be practical, providers such as LeaseWeb has managed to differentiate themselves from the competition.