Taos Glossary

An explanation of industry terms that is a quick read, and knowledge base.

Hybrid Cloud

What is Hybrid Cloud?

A hybrid cloud solution combines a private cloud with at least one or multiple public clouds, with data orchestrated between the private and public services via proprietary software or third-party solutions. Hybrid clouds integrate on-premises infrastructure cloud-based services, facilitating management and data portability between the different systems.

The goal of hybrid cloud is to establish a unified yet distributed computing network that an organization can operate and scale across various devices, employing both traditional and cloud-native workloads.

How does Hybrid Cloud work?

Hybrid cloud services give businesses greater control over their private data. An organization can store sensitive data on a private cloud or local datacenter while leveraging the more powerful processing resources of a managed public cloud, all through a single pane of glass.

Hybrid cloud infrastructure usually involves a public infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform, a private cloud or datacenter, and access to a secure network. Many hybrid models utilize local area networks (LAN) and wide area networks (WAN). Businesses that adopt a hybrid cloud typically lay a foundation with an IaaS solution and extend into the private cloud. The public and private clouds must be aligned and compatible if the organization is to deploy a hybrid cloud well.

Why is Hybrid Cloud important?

By enabling a company with greater workload flexibility, hybrid cloud strategies and solutions can move workloads between cloud solutions as needs and costs fluctuate. Managing public and private cloud systems and resources are preferable to overseeing individual cloud environments. This can help reduce redundancy and limit the possibility of exposing security vulnerabilities to compromise.

Hybrid clouds can also help companies achieve technical and business objectives more effectively and cost-efficiently than public or private cloud alone. And, even with these cost savings, the primary value of hybrid cloud is its inherent support of a fast-moving digital business transformation. This agility empowers organizations to adapt and change direction quickly, gaining a sizeable competitive advantage.

Benefits of Hybrid Cloud

A significant benefit of a hybrid cloud approach to data management and resourcing is the immense control it gives IT managers and teams. Most organizations have a high level of fluctuation when it comes to processing requirements on a daily basis. Hybrid cloud allows for more dynamic resourcing that avoids paying for the same amount of computing power. The organization can save on costs by extending to a public cloud only when necessary.

The hybrid cloud is also far less space-intensive where on-premises models are concerned. An organization can deploy a private network on-site to handle internal needs and switch to the private cloud when resources exceed local availability. This provides high agility, high availability, and cost-effective data oversight.

The Common Scenarios for Hybrid Cloud 

Hybrid cloud systems have many business uses, such as:

Developing and deploying new applications – Launching an application that has not been tested under different workloads can always involve a higher level of risk. Hybrid cloud systems can mitigate that risk by reducing the need for a more upfront investment as a company can deploy a new app and only pay for resources it needs or uses. If the app doesn’t work as intended or falls into disuse, the organization won’t lose as much.

Ease of regulatory compliance – Many industries must adhere to regulatory oversight to maintain performance standards and protect data for private and corporate users. However, when data isn’t always stored on a private or on-premises network, a hybrid cloud solution can help businesses comply with regulations while benefiting from expanded networking capabilities. Since the founding of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), many organizations have divided their data across several solutions and regions to comply with EU regulations while operating under different regulatory standards elsewhere.

Handling disrupted workloads – Especially in today’s highly disrupted marketplace, an application running well in its current system or network can either have different operational demands tomorrow. Hybrid cloud solutions allow organizations to adapt to workload needs as they fluctuate, allowing service to continue smoothly even when workload requirements spike.

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