As organizations show a substantial inclination toward cloud technology, they have the option of choosing from a public cloud, private cloud, or a combination of both models to run their workloads. Public clouds deliver higher scalability features, while private clouds provide enhanced security and complete control over data governance and privacy. This article discusses both cloud models in-depth and provides key comparisons between the two environments.
Table of Contents
- Private vs. Public Cloud
- 10 Key Comparisons: Similarities and Differences
Private vs. Public Cloud
Cloud technology has seen an immense boom in recent times owing to growing data storage and security needs and has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic continues raging across the world, all types of cloud technologies and models (i.e., public, private, or hybrid) are becoming more popular, bigger, and essential day by day. According to a recent report by MarketsandMarkets, the global cloud computing market is expected to increase from $371.4 billion in 2020 to $832.1 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 17.5%.
Cloud is diverse in its own way, as it offers the option of private as well as public cloud. Each cloud infrastructure is designed for a specific purpose that offers substantial benefits to businesses. Industries are taking advantage of this disruptive technology and choosing a cloud model that fulfills their requirements. For organizations to select the right cloud model, it is first important to understand the fundamentals of these two cloud types.
Also Read: What Is Cloud Computing? Definition, Benefits, Types, and Trends
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Public vs. Private Cloud
Public cloud
The public cloud model is owned and managed by a third-party vendor. Users access the services of this model via the internet. In simple terms, users can share storage, devices, or hardware with all the participating tenants without any upfront cost.
In some cases, vendors employ subscription-based facilities, where users pay based on their specific cloud usage. Public cloud is best suited for startups where the real requirements are efficiency and scalability. Hence, ventures targeting performance and flexible scalability can work with public cloud vendors and have a tangible ROI for it. This would be similar to plug-and-play technology.
Also Read: What Is Public Cloud Storage? Definition, Examples, Types, and Best Practices
| Advantages of Public Cloud | Disadvantages of Public Cloud |
| Less monetary burden: As public clouds can be scaled at length, this model is inexpensive. Vendors can charge lower rates as a single public cloud infrastructure serves multiple users. Tenants benefit from this type of architecture as there are lesser overheads related to hardware operations and IT support. Additionally, the pay-per-use business model of a public cloud provides users an affordable option while using this cloud. | Dynamic cost: Although public cloud is inexpensive, the ownership cost can rise sharply if the public cloud is scaled for extensive usage. Mid-sized to large enterprises are more susceptible to this challenge as their operations can increase rapidly as per demand. |
| Zero maintenance: In a public cloud infrastructure, vendors take complete responsibility to maintain the servers. This reduces the burden on in-house IT professionals as they can commit themselves to other core duties and responsibilities that require attention. | Less technical control: Public cloud offers minimal technical control over the infrastructure. This leads to low visibility and causes serious issues when compliance requirements come into the picture. |
| Easy scalability: With public cloud infrastructure, organizations can instantly scale their storage up or down depending on the demand. This scalability factor promotes faster deployment of organizational products and services. | Lack of visibility into data: Public cloud vendors generally do not inform users where their data is stored. Users are also unaware of who can access their data. |
| Robust security: In public cloud architectures, the servers offered by vendors are set up at different geographic locations than the client organization’s on-site data center. This arrangement provides an extra security layer for the organization— they can protect user data by implementing failover strategies on-site in situations where there are unexpected outages or downtimes. | Limited customization: Since public cloud follows a multi-tenant approach, it offers limited or no customization to users. This is especially unfavorable to companies with complicated network architecture. |
Also Read: What Is Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)? Definition, Key Components, Best Practices, and Providers
Private cloud
A private cloud is a single-tenant architecture with dedicated hardware infrastructure. This arrangement can be deployed at an on-site data center of an enterprise or the third-party service provider hosting it. Here, the service provider is responsible for taking care of the underlying infrastructure. The servers are isolated from other components and accessed via a private network (rather than shared between users as in public clouds).
The private cloud model is best suited for highly regulated businesses such as healthcare or finance. These industries manage a high quantum of sensitive data, including personal information of customers, business plans, and confidential data requiring additional security measures to prevent leaks or attacks by cybercriminals.
Additionally, tech giants and government institutions are required to have complete control over their infrastructure. Hence, private clouds are best suited for such organizations as they can scale up instantly whenever needed.
Also Read: What Is Private Cloud Storage? Definition, Types, Examples, and Best Practices
| Advantages of Private Cloud | Disadvantages of Private Cloud |
| Compliance customization: A private cloud allows organizations to take control over the customization of the compliance protocols necessary to run their business. This model is suitable for organizations and enterprises that operate in geographies where region-specific privacy regulations, such as GDPR or CCPA, need to be followed. This also applies to industry-specific regulations such as HIPAA or Sarbanes Oxley. | High cost: The private cloud model is expensive in the context of the total cost of ownership compared to that of a public cloud. This is even more so in short-term use cases. |
| Better infrastructure control: As private clouds do not support multi-tenancy, enterprises gain better control over their cloud infrastructure. This adds to the security of the cloud model. As the organization is the owner of the private cloud, it can customize the infrastructure to meet the changing business spectrum. | Limited access for mobile users: With plenty of security layers in place, mobile users tend to have limited access to the private cloud environment. |
| Easy scalability: Just like a public cloud, a private infrastructure enables IT teams to size up their storage based on the tenant’s needs. It also allows businesses to execute mission-critical applications efficiently, where the dedicated server acts as a virtual server (i.e., hybrid deployment). | Unable to keep up with unpredictable demand: Private cloud infrastructure is incapable of handling unpredictable demands if the cloud data center is restricted to only on-premise computing resources. |
Also Read: Top 10 Hybrid Cloud Security Solution Companies in 2021
10 Key Comparisons: Similarities and Differences
Similarities between private and public cloud
Let’s look at the similarities between private and public cloud to understand how the caveats of each cloud computing model and its services might impact your business.
1. Scalable computing resources
Both public and private clouds abstract and share scalable computing resources across their respective networks. Configurable computing resources include hardware, software, networks, servers, storage applications, and services. In both computing models, the shared pool of resources is provided, used, and released with minimal effort required from
users or service providers. Cloud services in both cases provide on-demand access to a shared pool of resources that help in seamless provisioning and release.
2. Workload placement
For better workload placement in private and public clouds, various decision factors common to both models are considered. These include business, technical, and ecosystem considerations. Business considerations include parameters such as global reach, service level agreements, regulatory
or compliance aspects, and business asset control.
Technical considerations for both models include security, performance, workload elasticity, backend integration, and capacity to handle specific data volumes. Similarly, ecosystem considerations include various SaaS offerings and cloud expertise accessibility. Other prominent considerations for optimal workload placement in both environments include application licensing practices, business continuity, and disaster recovery strategies.
3. Blend of technologies
Public and private clouds constitute a unique blend of technologies. This includes the operating system, a management platform of some type, and APIs. APIs allow seamless interaction between applications, external software components, and operating systems or microservices irrespective of the underlying hosting infrastructure, i.e., public or private. Both models exploit these cloud technologies to reap benefits through automated orchestration,
autoscaling, improved backup systems, and fault resiliency.
4. Additional capabilities
Both public and private cloud models can leverage add-on features by employing virtualization and automation software. Virtualization expands the quantum of resources as it abstracts IT resources from the underlying physical hardware. These resources are then distributed across virtualized IT elements such as VMs or containers.
Virtualization thereby enables optimal utilization of the available hardware. Automation, on the other hand, speeds up tasks that are generally managed manually. This may include server provisioning or any service integrations. Automation allows infrastructure to operate without human intervention. Such supplementary capabilities enhance the overall efficiency and productivity of the underlying cloud computing model, be it public or private.
Differences between private and public cloud
Public and private cloud deployments offer great hosting solutions. However, both models vary greatly in performance, efficiency, security control, and technical aspects. Organizations need to choose either a public cloud or a private cloud depending on their specific needs, priorities, size, and business goals. Let’s look at 10 key comparisons between public and private clouds.
| Key Parameters | Public Cloud | Private Cloud |
| 1. Infrastructure | A public cloud is a multi-tenant architecture where the network is shared between multiple users. Here, the service provider hosts the network off-site and manages the infrastructure. | A private cloud is a single-tenant system with dedicated hardware. Here, the organization’s business network is solely managed by an in-house technical team instead of third-party vendors. The infrastructure, including hardware, storage, and networking facilities, is entirely procured by the tenant and set up and operated either off-site or on-site. |
| 2. Security | Public clouds have a security compliance model in place offered by third-party service providers. Also, vendors of public clouds give additional protection by providing add-on security options to tackle security shortfalls. | Private clouds offer an isolated environment that provides different levels of security through private servers. Considering the various compliance requirements of different data protection laws, a private cloud provides enhanced security in such use cases. |
| 3. Scalability and Reliability | A public cloud almost guarantees near-unlimited scalability. This ensures that the organization has ample resources to carry out its cloud operations. Also, public cloud vendors operate large networks that have built-in infrastructure security modules. As such, public clouds are highly reliable. | Private clouds provide limited scalability. This means that an organization can scale the model up to a certain limit, after which it may require additional hardware to run more workload. Private clouds perform well when it comes down to reliability, as the model can be configured to cater to contingencies. In an unexpected event of failure, users can divert computing resources to other hardware that may be off-site or on-site. |
| 4. Affordability | Public clouds require zero capital cost with minimal or no initial investment. The model is either free or runs on a pay-as-you-use or freemium model. | Private clouds, on the other hand, require a high initial investment. Capital is inclined toward procuring all the hardware, setting it up, and maintaining the hardware throughout the lifecycle. |
| 5. Compliance and Performance | Public clouds provide a basic security compliance model with additional add-on options for better security. Here, services are available on-the-go, and can be accessed by tenants as per their needs. This allows companies to save time and enjoy a better performance overall. | A private cloud can comply with the desired privacy regulations by customizing the compliance model on a need basis. Further, the private cloud uses a dedicated server to ensure efficiency and good network performance for users accessing the cloud over the organization’s intranet. |
| 6. Deployment and Maintenance | Public clouds offer quick and easy deployment over the internet without the need for long-term contracts. Also, as public clouds (i.e., hardware and networks) are entirely managed by third-party vendors, IT professionals within the organization need to invest minimal or no time in maintaining the cloud model. | A private cloud requires substantial time and effort from IT professionals for successful deployment. This covers the initial investment in configuring software & hardware and managing staffing requirements. Further, private clouds call for higher maintenance involvement, as the tenant is solely responsible for setting up the cloud infrastructure and maintaining it. This may also require monitoring and supervision by qualified IT personnel. |
| 7. Control and Customization | Public clouds offer lesser control over data governance and privacy policies that regulate the traffic over the public cloud network. Also, public clouds are limited in adaptability and customization aspects. | Private clouds have no participation of shared devices; hence, there is substantially more control over data governance and privacy policies. As the private cloud is a single-tenant infrastructure, it provides a fully customizable and adaptable environment that can be tweaked to meet the desired needs. |
| 8. Accessibility | Being a multi-tenancy model, the public cloud is available to multiple users accessing the cloud from anywhere over the internet. | A private cloud is only accessible via private and secure network links. This implies that the single-tenant model allows exclusive access to its tenant. |
| 9. Best Suited For | Public clouds are ideal for companies that treat cloud disaster recovery and application testing as a priority. This includes small-size and public-facing companies. | Private clouds provide customizable options with high-performance security features. As such, this model is best-suited for safeguarding and protecting sensitive data and critical applications. |
| 10. Adaptability and User Access | In a public cloud environment, an individual client cannot dictate resource adaptation strategies (i.e., resources cannot be adopted by a single client), as multiple clients tend to access and use the same computing or resource pool. The services offered by a public cloud are generally available to all users associated with the cloud. Although individual users operate independently, they utilize a shared resource pool for computing or operational purposes. | On the other hand, a private cloud enables organizations to alter the cloud infrastructure according to their requirements. This can include altering computer, network, and storage capacities to a different configuration. Here, private parties can make adjustments and customizations in the leveraged private cloud technology. The services offered by private clouds are only accessible to authorized users possessing the right to access the cloud services. Therefore, resources are not shared in private clouds but are instead allocated separately to each client. |
Also Read: What Is Hybrid Cloud? Definition, Architecture, and Management Best Practices for 2021
In conclusion
Both private and public clouds have played a pivotal role in bringing cloud technologies to the fore. While private clouds emphasize privacy, isolation, control, and customization, public clouds echo accessibility, ease of setup, and affordability.
Thus, large organizations looking to own a cloud setup and have better control, security, privacy, and customized setting on a need per basis should choose a private cloud model. Many well-known organizations have been migrating their business-critical systems to private clouds.
Meanwhile, small-size enterprises that aren’t concerned about exclusive ownership and are accustomed to the pay-as-you-go pricing model can take the public cloud route. A simple use case for the public cloud could be organizations adopting this environment for testing or development purposes.
However, while selecting an appropriate cloud model, businesses need to consider their IT strategy before making a choice. Organizations must also bear in mind that the optimal cloud infrastructure could very well be a combination of private and public models.
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