Many businesses are opting to use hybrid cloud deployment models for several reasons. Not only are they beneficial in terms of business agility, but also in relation to scalability and economics. Hybrid clouds are attractive because they essentially offer the best of both worlds. They present the control of processes and critical data as provided by private clouds, whilst also offering lower costs by the utilization of on-demand scale and pay as you use model of a public cloud. Nonetheless, choosing to go for a hybrid cloud is only the beginning, you then need to consider various deployment models. This post aims to give you a helping hand with that. So, let’s take a look…
To begin with we have the hybrid data model. This model operates to data levels whereby the public cloud is utilized as aggregated or extended storage media for on-site data. The major challenge you face when opting for this model is in relation to data compliance and security. It is ideal for rarely used data, backups and archives that will be stored in a public cloud and they can then be used from on-site applications, as and when required. Because compliance is a major concern for this model, it is important to ensure you classify the data compliance need. Whenever you are downloading or uploading data from the public cloud, it is imperative to use transport security, for example SFTP / HTTPS.
The next deployment model worth considering is the hybrid applications and services model. This is when public cloud applications and private cloud applications use an integration service layer to interact with each other. This is suitable when you have applications that require on-demand integration and scalability. The main challenge with this model is the fact that in order to create services from on-site applications data or services, there needs to be service integration layer overheads. One piece of advice you should definitely take on board is instead of deploying the integration middle layer on premise, you should consume it from the public cloud.
Last but not the least, the final cloud model we are going to take a look at is the one that works at the infrastructure level. This is where the public cloud and the private cloud extend or share virtual machines. It is largely done by virtual machine movements and management. This model is most suited when workloads require on-demand infrastructure that is scalable to be an extension to the on-premise private cloud. Additional network topology changes are required to set up this type of cloud model, which is the main challenge. This includes the set up of VPN, security, network connectivity, and firewall rules.
To conclude, you should hopefully now have a better idea regarding three different hybrid cloud deployment models. This should help you to determine what route to go down. It is all about finding the model that is right for you, and remembering that no matter what option you go for, there will be challenges that you need to address.
