A hybrid cloud is an IT architecture that combines a private cloud with at least one public cloud. In hybrid cloud solutions, data and applications are shared between these private and public clouds. Hybrid cloud offers a single, unified, and flexible distributed computing environment, allowing organizations to combine cloud services and functionalities from different cloud vendors. It also enables organizations to move workloads between public and private cloud or choose the ideal cloud computing service for each workload.
How does a hybrid cloud work?
In a hybrid cloud, public clouds and private clouds work as a part of the hybrid cloud. It uses public and private clouds as a single entity that requires virtualizing data and workloads, network functions, and interconnectivity between cloud providers. Resources are allocated into environments via management software solutions. The interconnectivity between private and public clouds within a hybrid cloud is essential for edge computing. The interconnectivity also allows organizations to move workloads between private and public clouds.
Example of a hybrid cloud
Most organizations in the financial services industry adopt the hybrid approach. These organizations use the private cloud to process trade orders and store sensitive data. They combine it with public cloud solutions which are used for hosting less important or less sensitive applications of the business. This approach allows them to gain full control over sensitive data and easily scale the public cloud services to meet their needs.
What is a hybrid cloud used for?
Hybrid cloud has been very popular among large enterprises recently. Most organizations use the hybrid cloud to minimize their expenditures. Instead of investing in a private cloud or their own IT infrastructure, public cloud solutions allow organizations to scale the service based on their needs, making it more affordable. Companies are also using the hybrid cloud to keep their most sensitive data in a private cloud. Hybrid clouds can also be used for mitigating the risk of natural disasters or technical failures.
What is hybrid cloud architecture?
Hybrid cloud architecture comprises private and public cloud solutions combined with tools required for management and orchestration. In hybrid cloud architecture, workloads can be moved between cloud environments seamlessly.
Benefits of a hybrid cloud
The most important benefit of a hybrid cloud is that it allows organizations to migrate workloads between cloud environments. Hybrid cloud solutions also offer most of the benefits of both private and public cloud solutions. It is as safe as a private cloud for sensitive data and s scalable as public cloud services. Another advantage of hybrid cloud is that it allows organizations to create and deploy microservices and container-based applications while operating virtual machine-based workloads. Since hybrid clouds use a single operating model, it also reduces complexity and IT workload.
Advantages and disadvantages of hybrid cloud at a glance
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Hybrid cloud services are one of the most reliable solutions an organization can use on the market. It eliminates the effects of technical failure or natural disasters and reduces possible downtimes | ✘ Hybrid cloud architecture makes it complicated to maintain visibility. | |
| ✔ Although it is not the most affordable solution, it still can be considered reasonable compared to the private cloud | ✘ Since hybrid cloud includes private cloud, it comes with an upfront cost and can be challenging for understaffed IT teams to build the enterprise cloud. | |
| ✔ Hybrid cloud solutions offer scalability, allowing organizations to scale the public cloud services they prefer according to their needs | ✘ Hybrid cloud relies on interconnectivity between private and public clouds. It means network bottlenecks can occur during the data transmission, affecting the performance negatively. | |
| ✔ Hybrid cloud allows organizations to choose the environment for each application or data they prefer |
What is hybrid cloud security?
Hybrid cloud security involves all the methods and technologies used to protect the data, applications, and infrastructure. Although cloud service providers provide security measures, it is a shared responsibility. Cloud providers are focusing on protecting their infrastructure. Organizations should also safeguard their application layer and their sensitive data. It includes implementing policies, using encryption, managing the configuration of cloud services, managing updates and patches, and monitoring.
What is hybrid cloud management?
Hybrid cloud management includes managing the public and private cloud hardware resources. It is a complex process that requires in-depth knowledge of security, governance, and end-user requirements. There are various hybrid cloud management solutions on the market to simplify the process for organizations.
Most hybrid cloud management solutions allow organizations to monitor services and applications running on cloud environments. It also allows administrators to deploy, consume, and terminate workloads, set flexible policies, integrate enterprise systems and development tools, and automate workload migrations.
What is the difference between multi-cloud and hybrid cloud?
The most significant difference between multi-cloud and hybrid cloud is that the organization utilizes multiple public cloud services from different vendors in multi-cloud. However, a hybrid cloud should comprise both private and public cloud services.
What is the difference between private cloud and hybrid cloud?
There is an essential difference between private cloud and hybrid cloud, which is, in the private cloud, the infrastructure is dedicated to a single organization. A private cloud can be hosted at the organization’s own data center, a third-party colocation facility, or via a private cloud provider. A hybrid cloud combines a private cloud and at least one public cloud.
What is the difference between public cloud and hybrid cloud?
The most significant difference between a public cloud and a hybrid cloud is that the vendor manages services and the infrastructure in the public cloud model. Public cloud solutions use the public internet. The stored data can be shared with multiple organizations. A hybrid cloud should utilize a private cloud and public cloud solutions.