What is a hybrid cloud?
Let’s start by looking at the individual cloud computing options or cloud services to understand the landscape better.
A private cloud is a cloud environment that is only accessible to one company/user via the Internet or a private internal network. It can be hosted in a data centre owned by a company, in that of a third-party provider or a private cloud provider. Normally, the user is responsible for operating a private cloud, and they have to take care of maintenance, updates and upgrades – similar to a conventional IT infrastructure. One advantage of private cloud services is that they give users greater control through firewalls and internal hosting. The main disadvantage of a private cloud versus a public or hybrid cloud is that the company will need the necessary know-how and willingness to invest.
A public cloud is a cloud service that a user can access free of charge or subscribe to on a monthly or pay-as-you-go basis from an external provider. As other organisations can also use the public cloud service, the user does not own it. This makes it more suitable for storing less sensitive business information and data. The advantages of a public cloud are that it is highly scalable and can, therefore, easily accommodate sudden peaks in traffic. A public cloud solution is also a good option for users needing to access their data regularly, as it can accessed from any location with internet access. The disadvantage of public cloud services is that you can become dependent on the cloud service provider (vendor lock-in), as they own and manage the services. Sharing cloud resources with others can also pose a data security risk.
So why not have the best of both worlds – and choose a hybrid cloud?
Organisations can orchestrate workloads and data across both environments by integrating private and public clouds. This allows them to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness of public clouds for certain tasks while keeping sensitive data or critical workloads in a more secure and controlled private cloud environment. If several public clouds are used, it is also referred to as a multi-cloud environment.
There are different combinations of hybrid clouds – depending on your strategy:
- One private cloud and one public cloud
- Two or more private clouds
- Two or more public clouds
A hybrid cloud can only work efficiently if the systems in the different environments are seamlessly connected. Which IT divisions are allocated to which cloud depends on the respective company’s strategy, and there is a wide range of possibilities. Some companies store data in their own on-prem data centre and outsource the computing element. Others go for on-site computing power but store their data in a cloud to ensure easy access.
How does a hybrid cloud work?
To operate a fully-fledged hybrid cloud solution, IT resources must work together. Individual clouds can only become coherent hybrid cloud environments if they are connected seamlessly. It is important to note that infrastructure in the cloud is synonymous with software. All hardware components, such as firewalls, servers, storage and backup systems, TCP/IP load balancers, switches, routers, etc., must be freely configurable in cloud computing.
There are four key aspects to consider:
- Predefined and abstracted infrastructure
- Full virtualisation of all components (server, network)
- Dynamic infrastructure software
- Location and device-agnostic access via IP networks
There are several ways to achieve this level of connectivity: connecting resources via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), controlling access to data via scalable authorisation and authentication mechanisms, or consolidating resources via container technologies and data lakes.
Pain Points of not having a Hybrid Cloud?
Hybrid clouds offer significant advantages over the other two options, which is why it is worth considering the specific disadvantages of choosing a private or public cloud:
Risk of failure
Locally operated data centres are not always resilient enough to ensure uninterrupted operation.
Very high administration costs
As the company is responsible for managing and operating a private cloud, this type of cloud is associated with additional staffing, admin and maintenance overheads comparable to running a conventional data centre. Even efficient automation solutions and configuration tools such as Ansible, Puppet or Jenkins must be administered and maintained.
Maintaining cost-intensive IT structures
Servers are a significant investment for private cloud operators. If the infrastructure is not used to full capacity, there may be no return on investment.
Lack of flexibility during peak load times
In private cloud structures, sudden computing and processing demand peaks can sometimes exceed local capacities. This can prevent overflow traffic from being forwarded and may delay processing times.
Limited data security
Due to the multi-client nature of public cloud services, there is always a risk that third parties may gain unauthorised access to business processes and data.
What are the benefits of a hybrid cloud?
A hybrid cloud environment combines the advantages of both cloud models while minimising their respective disadvantages:
Continuous availability
Resources can be used and accessed flexibly in a hybrid cloud infrastructure, so changing priorities can easily be accommodated. In the event of unexpected peaks in demand and increased processing requirements, a split system can distribute loads and data based on its importance to the company: core applications are moved to the public cloud so the on-site data centre has sufficient capacity for secure applications. Applications that must be available worldwide are also available in the public cloud. The server landscapes of hybrid cloud operators also offer far greater reliability (high availability, disaster recovery, and cyber security) than would be possible in a private cloud, for example.
Cost reduction potentials
A hybrid cloud is often less expensive than using a private cloud infrastructure. Hardware acquisition, installation, and maintenance costs are limited – as are idle costs due to potentially unused servers. The upward and downward scalability means resources can be allocated to or withdrawn from projects with a public cloud provider at short notice. In addition, many public cloud providers also offer saving plans that involve identifying opportunities to reduce expenses associated with cloud resources and services while maintaining or improving performance and reliability.
Reduced administration effort
Hybrid clouds can significantly reduce the amount of admin needed, particularly in industries with high data security needs and strict legal regulations (finance, public authorities, health), as certain obligations fall to the cloud operator.
