Private Vs Public Vs Hybrid Clouds: What's the Difference?

Organizations big and small are now using cloud services to facilitate their operations. According to RightScale's State of the Cloud Report, 95% of Information Technology (IT) professionals use some type of cloud service, up from 93% in 2015. As cloud technology improves by becoming faster and more secure, this number will likely grow even higher in the years to come.

But if you're thinking of adopting cloud services in your organization, you should familiarize yourself with the three different deployment models, including private, public and hybrid clouds. While all cloud services are characterized by the use of remote servers to process and store data, there are nuances between the different deployment models.

Public Clouds

A public cloud is a cloud service that's available to the public. Some public clouds are free, while others use a traditional pay-as-you-go format. The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) hosts and maintains the server and other associated hardware, which the customer accesses over the internet.

The public cloud's defining characteristics are public availability and multi-user environment. Any person or organization can access and use a public cloud. As a result, each public cloud typically has multiple users.

Some of the benefits of public clouds include:

•   No local hardware to maintain

•   No long-term commitment (pay as you go)

•   Easy to scale

•   Effective testing environment

•   Reliable

On the other hand, public clouds limit customization and configuration while also posing a higher risk of cyber intrusion.

Private Clouds

Also known as an internal cloud, a private cloud differs in the sense that it's operated by a single organization or entity. While public clouds are available to everyone -- and many organizations use the same public cloud -- a private cloud is only available to one organization.

Private clouds perform the same basic functions as public clouds, allowing users to process and store data remotely.

Private clouds can be managed either internally within an organization or externally by a third-party CSP. Because they are restricted to a single organization, however, private clouds tend to offer greater security than their private counterpart.

Some of the benefits of private clouds include:

•   No long-term commitment (pay as you go)

•   Lower risk of cyber intrusion

•   More customization and configuration options

•   Supports virtually any application

•   Easy to scale

•   Reliable

The only real downsides to a private cloud are its high cost and complexity. For many organizations, however, the unlimited freedom to configure their cloud according to their needs is well worth the investment.

Hybrid Clouds

The third type of cloud-computing infrastructure is the hybrid cloud. As the name suggests, this includes two or more separate clouds that are bound and deployed together. An organization, for instance, may use a hybrid cloud to automatically shift processing demands from a private to a public cloud during hours of peak usage. In doing so, the organization avoids overages with its private cloud without any interruption of service.

Another example of a hybrid cloud application is when an organization uses a private cloud to host sensitive data and a public cloud to host less sensitive data. Being that private clouds are more secure, this protects the organization's sensitive data from cyber threats.

Some of the benefits of hybrid clouds include:

•   No long-term commitment (pay as you go)

•   More secure than a standalone public cloud

•   Low cost of set up

•   Greater flexibility of IT architecture

To recap, the three primary cloud deployment models are public, private and hybrid. Public clouds are available to the public; private clouds are restricted to a single organization; and hybrid clouds use both public and private clouds.

For more information about this or other Bit by Bit solutions you can contact us at 877.860.5831

Robert Blake

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How Managed Security Services Can Help Protect Your Business

As cyber attacks continue to rise worldwide and become more brazen in their scope, there are few industries left that can claim to not have been subject to some sort of security breach. Many companies continue to put their faith in security software suites that have continuously shown to be compromised or ineffective in preventing cyber attacks, leading to travesties such as what was recently seen in the Equifax breach. If your company is in this same boat and you are worried about the security of your data, you may want to consider a Managed Security Service as a method of protecting your network.

What are Managed Security Services (MSS) 

Managed security services (MSS) is an approach to security that creates a security system tailored to the individual needs of the company, as different organizations can have drastically different security requirements. While this is sometimes done in-house with employees that the organization has hired, it is more common to outsource this function to companies that are dedicated to MSS. In either case, his security element oversees all security functions including constant monitoring and diagnostics of intrusion detection systems and firewalls.

What Does an MSS Do For Its Client Company?

Perhaps the most important function of MSS is ensuring that all software on all systems is fully updated and patched, as this failure to update is what directly lead to the Equifax breach. Security professionals working for the MSS are responsible for the integrity of the network and in addition to upgrading software and equipment to the highest standards they also perform security audits and respond to any emergencies or anomalies that are detected on the network. This gives users of the network and the network administrators the considerable freedom to focus on their individual jobs rather than worrying about network security.

Managed Security Services Layered Security Model

An MSS as a dedicated security element has the ability to bring a much more complex security methodology to a company's security posture. This is often called the layered security model and does not rely on any one method of security to be impenetrable. In fact, the best quality of managed security services is their realization that statistically speaking some sort of security breach is virtually inevitable and that multiple systems need to be in place as contingencies for when this failure in security is realized. The four layers of security are:

•  Protection

•  Detection

•  Recovery/Encryption

•  Analysis/Management

Each security layer buttresses the others as a cycle to prevent any potential intruders into the network with a hard target that may not be worth their time or the danger of discovery.

Is a Managed Security Service Right For You?

The consequences of a data breach can go far beyond the immediate consequences of an initial breach to erode client and employee confidence in you and lead to a permanently compromised relationship with the people who your company depends on the most. If you handle any sort of sensitive data, ranging from the personal information of employees or proprietary data that is subject to theft, considering a managed security service may be the right move for your company.

Contact us about obtaining a comprehensive Cyber Threat Assessment. 

Robert Blake
Bit by Bit Computer Consultants
721 N Fielder Rd. #B
Arlington, Texas 76012 
Direct 817.505.1257
Mobile 972.365.7010

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