A hybrid cloud is arguably one of the most revolutionary features within the cloud computing environment. At its purest, a hybrid cloud combines community, public, and private clouds to operate as a single service provider solution. Its infrastructure allows the user-managed cloud (private) to function simultaneously with the third-party cloud (public or community), allowing for conveniently transparent accessibility for both platforms.
That being said, there remains a common misunderstanding regarding the right use cases for hybrid cloud solutions. Throughout this article, we’ll take a closer look at everything you need to know about hybrid cloud solutions and why you need to use them.
Table of Contents
What’s A Cloud?
Before we dig further into the hybrid cloud phenomenon, let’s review the basic foundations of what a cloud really is.
A cloud is essentially a network of one or multiple data centers containing vital resources for storage and computing. Cloud computing allows for several different services, such as applications, servers, and storage, to be directly delivered to an organization’s computers via the Internet.
Instead of wasting money with a single app on a single server, you can optimize your cost efficiency by running a variety of different applications within a cloud consisting of several servers.
We do this often when developing custom applications.
The key highlight is that it can quickly adapt to meet new shifts in demand for your service as well as the availability of your network of resources.
Popular Use Cases
Now that you have a general understanding of cloud computing, let’s go ahead and take a look at some of the most popular use cases for hybrid clouds.
Disaster Recovery
More and more businesses are beginning to lean on the capability of a hybrid cloud for disaster recovery as opposed to traditional and costly independent environments. Using a hybrid cloud setup, wherever the on-premises information center fails over to a public cloud service in the case of an emergency, is way more cost-effective. In addition, it will offer enterprises access to those resources in a geographic location far from their primary website so that they’re unlikely to be littered with identical disaster events.
Cloudbursting
Cloudbursting refers to the event in which the workload of a service spills over into an entirely separate cloud environment in order to meet new capacity needs. Generally speaking, this isn’t a long-term situation. It typically occurs when there is an increase in traffic to a specific application for a short period of time.
A hybrid cloud would be the ideal solution. The private cloud can handle the average amount of traffic, while the public cloud can handle the increase in traffic with on-demand resources. In other words, the hybrid cloud kills two birds with one stone. DevOps services help streamline this process with continuous integration and deployment practices.
Start-Up Flexibility
The market for startups tends to be pretty inconsistent. The major decision-makers in any organization, including chief marketing officers and CTO, need to be able to ensure that their startup has sufficient capacity to withstand both low and high demand. However, this can prove to be rather frustrating for startup companies, as there really isn’t any guarantee that it will succeed.
A hybrid cloud provides significant flexibility in this scenario. For one, there’s no need to make a massive investment in on-premise data storage systems right off the bat. Instead, startups can utilize the hybrid cloud solution, securing vital data on-premise while extending external facing resources into the public cloud space.
If all of this is a bit confusing, we can help your startup.
Regulation Restrictions
Depending on the state of your organization, you may need to follow specific requirements that can hinder your overall success and productivity. For instance, you may be required to keep specific on-premise data storage within your country, in which case you would utilize a private cloud. However, there’s typically some leniency with this regulation because you might not be required to keep other, less essential data limited to your country. In this case, you can use the advantage of a hybrid cloud to get the best of both worlds with a public cloud open to the worldwide community.
Why Use Hybrid Clouds?
Aside from the popular usage of hybrid clouds, there’s also a list of common benefits that appeal to large and small businesses. The most prominent of them are listed below.
Security
As the name suggests, public clouds are more accessible to anyone and everyone than a private environment. This makes it somewhat challenging for providers to ensure that customer data is protected and secure. A hybrid cloud allows companies to utilize the security of a private cloud while still retaining the power and services of a public cloud.
Speed
A hybrid cloud allows IT staff to optimize the cloud network to decrease latency and help vital data and information travel to where it needs to be at a quicker pace. It can also enable users to get more work done in a shorter amount of time while simultaneously increasing productivity and results.
Lower IT Costs
A hybrid cloud keeps important and sensitive data stored within the private cloud, which makes it nearly effortless to switch from one public provider to another. The scalability makes it much more ideal than a traditional private cloud on its own, which tends to get pretty expensive when making critical updates for expansion.
Control
Perhaps the most appealing benefit of utilizing a hybrid cloud is the aspect of control. Companies can have complete customization over the private end of their hybrid cloud model to meet their needs. They can also adjust them in whatever way they need in order to maximize their full potential. This is especially ideal for remaining consistent and adaptive to the modern economy with sharp changes in demand at every corner.
Summary
In conclusion, hybrid cloud solutions offer a powerful, flexible approach to modern computing needs, combining the best of private, public, and community cloud infrastructures.
By enabling businesses to efficiently manage fluctuating demands, meet regulatory requirements, and optimize disaster recovery and cost management, hybrid clouds are reshaping the IT landscape.
For organizations of all sizes, the advantages—ranging from enhanced security and speed to greater control and cost savings—make hybrid clouds an invaluable asset.
Adopting a hybrid cloud model not only empowers companies to operate more resiliently and responsively but also positions them to thrive in an increasingly digital and dynamic market.