Cloud computing involves running workloads in an IT environment that abstracts, aggregates and shares resources across a network. The cloud does not belong to a specific technology category.
- Cloud computing refers to the ability to run workloads in the cloud.
- The cloud is an environment, a place where applications are run.
- Technology refers to the software and hardware used to build and use the cloud.
Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud And Multi-Cloud
In the past, it was easy to define the differences between public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud by location and ownership. But things are no longer that simple. So while we do our best to define the major cloud types, we remain focused on the future, because knowing what happened in the past doesn’t mean knowing how the cloud will be used in the future.
- Public Cloud: A cloud environment created using resources that are not owned by the end user and can be redistributed to other tenants.
- Private Cloud: It can be broadly defined as: a cloud environment created specifically for an end user, usually within the user’s firewall (sometimes also on-premises).
- Hybrid Cloud: A multi-cloud environment with a degree of workload portability and orchestration and management capabilities.
- Multi-Cloud: An IT system that contains multiple cloud environments (public or private clouds), which may or may not be connected to the Internet.
No cloud architecture or infrastructure is perfect. All clouds require an operating system like Linux®, but cloud infrastructure can include a variety of bare metal, virtualized, or container software that abstracts, aggregates, and shares scalable resources across the network. That’s why it’s best to define clouds by their capabilities rather than their components. You have created a cloud if the IT system you build meets the following criteria:
- Other computers can be accessed via the network.
- Contains an IT resource library.
- It can be quickly configured and expanded.
You can build your own private cloud or use a packaged cloud infrastructure like OpenStack®. There are thousands of cloud service providers around the world. Here are some of the most popular cloud providers:
- AWS
- Google Cloud
- IBM Cloud
- Microsoft Azure
Creating a hybrid cloud strategy requires a certain level of workload portability and orchestration and management capabilities. Application programming interfaces (APIs) and virtual private networks (VPNs) are standard methods for hybrid cloud networking. Many major cloud providers even include pre-configured VPNs for their customers in their subscription packages:
- Google Cloud provides Dedicated Interconnect services.
- Amazon Web Services provides Direct Connect services.
- Microsoft Azure provides the ExpressRoute service.
- OpenStack provides the OpenStack Public Cloud Passport service.
Another approach to creating a hybrid cloud is to run the same operating system in each environment while building cloud-native applications based on a container platform and managed by a common orchestration engine such as Kubernetes. The operating system abstracts all hardware, and the management platform abstracts all applications. As a result, you can deploy any application in virtually any environment without reconfiguring applications, retraining personnel, disrupting management, or sacrificing security.
Achieve Automation Across Hybrid Cloud
Due to its reliance on virtual infrastructure, hybrid cloud complicates issues around self-service, governance and compliance, resource management, financial controls, and capacity planning. Cloud management, automation and enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools can help maintain greater visibility and oversight of these disparate resources.
Today’s automation technologies, such as Red Hat® Ansible® Automation Platform, can automate assets across your entire environment. Bringing modern automation capabilities to multi-cloud environments not only prevents the environment from becoming complex, but also improves cloud security and workload performance for both traditional and cloud-native applications.
