One of the interesting emerging trends in cloud computing is that of private cloud computing. Because of its inherent benefits, most of the organizations are preferring a private cloud to a public one. But what is a private cloud, and is it really a good idea for businesses?
The concept of a private cloud arose when organizations started feeling the need for greater privacy than they thought public cloud computing provided. This meant protecting the workflows, services, as well as data from intentional or unintentional leaks. Private cloud computing achieves this by providing two options for hosted services:
- On-premise private cloud: In this type of service model, the services and applications are hosted within the organization. This allows the IT department to work as a cloud computing service provider for the organization. Security is enhanced as data and services rest within the organization’s network, and traffic is monitored by the firewall.
- Virtual private cloud: Another option of achieving private cloud computing is through virtualization. This involved creating a virtual dedicated infrastructure within the public cloud, simulating an on-site private cloud. The network is connected through private connections.
The advantages of maintaining a private cloud are many. The organization can have increased control on the data, which involves the physical security as well. This also leads to increased privacy. However, this comes at the cost of having to maintain an IT team and infrastructure, which can reach its practical limits very soon once services start to scale up.
