Characteristics of private cloud computing resources

To recap, a private cloud is a dedicated entity (single-tenant) computing model.

The following are the characteristics of private cloud computing resources:

  • Computing resources created on-premises at the organization’s facility or could be provided at a third party’s hosting facility; resources only available within the capacity provisioned.
  • It requires a CapEx expenditure model for computing resources.
  • Computing hardware (physical servers/virtualization platforms and so on) is implemented for the organization’s sole use. The hardware/physical resources must be supported; failed hardware must be replaced.
  • Required to provide systems and data availability, fault tolerance, scalability, security, protection, update management, maintenance, and support.
  • May allow on-premises facilities hosting computing resources to be decommissioned.
  • Computing resources access is available via a local/private network and typically will have an internet connection. The private cloud resources, however, may be disconnected from the internet or have intermittent access in scenarios such as cruise ships, construction sites, and Formula One teams on the trackside; while some other scenarios, such as regulated or high-security facilities such as medical, research, scientific, defense, and manufacturing, may not permit internet access and so are disconnected from the internet. Being connected or disconnected from the internet is not a defining characteristic of private clouds.
  • The same self-service management functionality and creation of resources is provided as with the public cloud computing model, but you remain in complete control of the security and governance; and you are also entirely responsible for the purchase, implementation, maintenance, and support of the hardware and computing resources you provide from the private cloud platform.
  • You do have complete control over hardware, physical resources, security, and compliance with the private cloud model.
  • Traditional Windows Server Active Directory can provide access to computing resources as the primary identity and authentication layer; Azure Active Directory can also be utilized when connecting to public cloud computing resources through a hybrid model by using directory synchronization as the link between the two identity providers for a consistent, common, or same-sign-on experience.
  • Physical servers can be deployed with the private cloud model.

The following are examples of private cloud platforms: Azure Stack or VMware VCloud.

Characteristics of hybrid cloud computing resources

To recap, a hybrid cloud is a combination of a shared entity (multi-tenant) computing model and a dedicated entity (single-tenant) computing model.

The following are the characteristics of hybrid cloud computing resources:

  • The greatest flexibility in choosing the most appropriate location of computing resources and computing model.
  • The hybrid cloud model provides a choice of creating some computing resources created in the service providers’ public cloud computing platforms; some resources are created in your on-premises private cloud platform; both these resources are connected via the internet or a private managed network such as Microsoft’s ExpressRoute service.
  • It allows bursting or extend computing resource capacity to a public cloud.
  • Computing hardware (physical servers/virtualization platforms and so on) is implemented for the organization’s sole use as part of the private cloud resources. These hardware/physical resources must be supported; failed hardware must be replaced. For public cloud resources, the hardware and physical resources are provided and supported by the service provider of the public cloud resources.
  • It provides the greatest flexibility of access to computing resources via the internet or private networks.
  • Private clouds are not necessarily disconnected from public cloud resources; access may be provided by a private managed network such as ExpressRoute to allow a hybrid cloud approach, a computing model where an organization uses some public cloud resources connected to some private cloud resources.
  • It provides the greatest flexibility of control of security, protection, and compliance.
  • Traditional Windows Server Active Directory can provide access to computing resources as the primary identity and authentication layer; Azure Active Directory can also be utilized when connecting to public cloud computing resources through a hybrid model by using directory synchronization as the link between the two identity providers for a consistent, common, or single-sign-on experience.
  • Physical servers can be deployed within the private cloud and public cloud, but you cannot own these servers in the public cloud; they can only be rented.
  • It provides the greatest flexibility of expenditure model, that is, the ability to choose CapEx or OpEx, whichever is most appropriate for the computing resources.

The following is an example of a hybrid cloud platform: Azure Stack connected to Azure – this scenario could have on-premises virtual machines backing up to Azure or an Azure web app connecting to an on-premises SQL Server, for example.

In this section, we saw the different cloud computing delivery models, how they compare, and the characteristics of each. Now we will take the same approach to look at the cloud computing service models.