Being in charge of your company’s data infrastructure means you have to find the right balance between a number of considerations. You want a solution that’s secure, offers the flexibility to scale up or down, and fits into your budget. By now you’re aware of everything the cloud has to offer in terms of providing access to your network, but you may not know that there’s no one single “cloud.” Rather, cloud computing can take a variety of forms that may or may not be right for your particular circumstances.
There are three basic variations available today: public, private and hybrid. Public cloud servers are operated entirely off-site by third-parties for multiple users, private clouds are dedicated to a single organization, and hybrid clouds offer a mixture of both models. Knowing which type is the best for you means understanding the pros and cons of each model.
For example, public clouds tend to be the least expensive option, with high scalability but very little else in terms of control or customization. Under the private model, you gain the highest level of security and flexibility, but pay a premium for the privilege. Finally, the hybrid cloud delivers more reliability and is more flexible than the other options, but also requires a significant investment and advanced know-how to utilize properly.
Before you jump headfirst into migrating your organization’s data over to the cloud, take the time to do your research and learn about your choices. For more details about what each of these models can do for you, take a look at the accompanying resource.
Infographic created by HotWire Networks, a web hosting company
