The adoption of cloud computing has grown tremendously in recent years. When most people think of “the cloud,” they’re thinking of public cloud services offered by third-party vendors.
Private cloud, on the other hand, is a cloud infrastructure that’s been set up to serve the needs of a single organization, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
In a private cloud, different departments, employees, vendors, partners, suppliers, and consumers may access the company’s cloud infrastructure. But, all of their activities are limited to that cloud. Even if the cloud infrastructure is managed by a separate entity, it’s still considered a private cloud if the infrastructure isn’t shared with other organizations.
So when would an organization choose private cloud services over the public cloud? Private cloud offers many of the same benefits as public cloud. These include agility, scalability, virtualization capabilities, and cost advantages, But, private cloud also offers data privacy benefits.
Here’s everything you need to know about the benefits of private cloud:
6 Benefits of Private Cloud
Privacy is the biggest benefit private cloud solutions offer over the public cloud. There are several other advantages to consider as well.
Privacy
The privacy benefits of the private cloud are somewhat intuitive. Only one organization accesses private cloud resources, so it limits the risk of accidentally exposing sensitive information.
When private cloud infrastructure is maintained on the premises of an organization, only the internal team has access to the resources. As a result, no external entity has authorized access. Even in an off-premises private cloud setup, internal teams aren’t typically accessing data over unsecured internet connections. Instead, they’ll access the remote private cloud using secure networks. This eliminates the possibility of data exfiltration.
Customization
Public cloud is meant to be used by a wide range of customers, from individuals to large corporations. As a result, public cloud providers typically offer predefined service packages customers can choose from. Customizations usually aren’t possible (and if they are, they’ll cost extra).
With private cloud, you can handpick the resources you’ll need to deliver the expected level of performance. A private cloud can be built according to the exact specifications of the IT team and easily changed when necessary. The public cloud usually doesn’t offer this level of flexibility.
Control
Private cloud setups offer intricate control over resources, data access, and physical access. They can be implemented on-premises or off-premises.
In either setup, the private cloud is hosted in a private environment with limited access, which is controlled physically and through the network. The organization has control over policies and infrastructure to a degree that public cloud can’t provide. In a public cloud, multiple organizations share the location, network, and computational resources.
Security
Public cloud solutions aren’t insecure. Providers need to ensure data is protected across their infrastructure. Yet, because public cloud providers generally offer the same standard of protection to all their customers, they aren’t always able to support a client’s custom protection requirements.
This can be challenging since security needs can vary. For example, the security needs of a national bank’s IT infrastructure can look very different from those of a small soft drink company. In this example, a private cloud solution may be better suited for the security protocols and security software of the bank and its regulatory requirements.
Meeting Compliance Requirements
On a similar note, governments around the world have passed laws intended to ensure the data security and privacy of consumers. These include GDPR and CCPA. Compliance requirements vary from country to country—and even from state to state in the US. Yet, businesses must adhere strictly to each standard they’re subject to.
In addition, some businesses may be subject to sector-specific regulations. Private cloud solutions can be designed to meet the country-specific and industry-specific compliance needs of an organization. They can also be modified easily if compliance requirements change.
Reduced Costs
Traditionally, businesses with complex security and regulatory requirements have defaulted to on-premises IT infrastructure. These solutions usually have high setup costs and overhead expenses and are less agile.
A private cloud, on the other hand, can offer greater flexibility at a lower cost. Though it’s generally more expensive than public cloud setups, the private cloud can strike an ideal balance between CAPEX costs and privacy needs for some organizations.
Is the Private Cloud Right for You?
Thanks to modern private cloud infrastructure, your organization can implement cloud-like agility both on-premises and off-premises. It will also ensure a high level of data privacy and cyber resilience.
Pure Storage® is a pioneer in custom private cloud solutions for virtualization, multicloud automation, and container-based workloads. Plus, Pure solutions are easy to implement.
Bring the benefits of the private cloud to your organization. Explore private cloud solutions from Pure.
