Important Cloud Deployment Models for 2021

Introduction

Cloud computing has emerged as a key technology over the past decade. Cloud service providers use several cloud deployment models. In this post, we are going to discuss several aspects like:

1. What is cloud deployment?
2. What are the four cloud deployment models?
3. How to compare the cloud deployment models?
4. What are the services offered by the cloud deployment models?
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of cloud deployment models?

1) What is cloud deployment?

The cloud deployment process is used to build a virtual computing environment. This environment includes the set up of several platforms like SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS. Deployment models of cloud computing provide scalable and flexible virtual computing resources. 

The cloud system is implemented through the cloud deployment models. These models differ in terms of access control, security protocols, ownership, and management. There are five popular models of cloud deployment, and they are:

• Public
• Private
• Hybrid
• Virtual Private
• Community Cloud

Cloud deployment models offer a competitive advantage to organizations and boost productivity. Several cloud computing models are emerging every day, and businesses apply various cloud deployment strategies to handle operational challenges. 

Let us discuss the four main types of cloud deployment models:

2) What are the Four Cloud Deployment Models?

Private Cloud

A proprietary environment dedicated to the business forms a private cloud computing model. The storage and computing power of this model are extended through virtual components. These virtual components can be located at the vendor’s data centers or on-premise. A private cloud provides a high-security level and control as an organization can configure and manage the environment depending on its business needs.

Public Cloud

All computing resources and storage are provided over the internet to the customers in a public cloud model. They are considered the most cost-effective deployment models of cloud computing service for any organization.

Community Cloud

The community cloud model is quite similar to the private cloud setup. The only difference between the two is that a single private entity manages the cloud computing servers and infrastructure in the community cloud setup. In this model, several organizations share their resource pools and, by doing so, save their operations, maintenance, infrastructure, and deployment costs. The model’s only constraint is that all participant companies should have similar privacy, performance, and security requirements. 

Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud offers the benefits of both private and public clouds with additional proprietary software. The applications can be hosted in a highly safe and secure environment. This environment is quite cost-efficient and requires less implementation time. 

3) How to Compare Cloud Deployment Models?

There are in all five cloud deployment models, and here is a comparison of these models:

Feature	Public Cloud	Private Cloud	Virtual Private Cloud	Community Cloud	Hybrid Cloud
Ease of Use	Can be used easily	Quite difficult to set up and implement	Service provider completes all setup steps, so this cloud service is quite easy to use	Community involvement makes the setup easier	Interconnected system makes the setup difficult
Reliability	There can be outages and failures at times, hampering cloud reliability	Systems are highly reliable	There can be outages and failures	Reliability depends on community	The systems are highly reliable
Scalability	These systems are not highly scalable due to  the presence of limited resources may delay processing	These systems are highly scalable due to the absence of other systems	These systems are highly scalable due to the absence of other systems	Scalability is fixed and limited	These systems are highly scalable
Data Control	The service provider has all the controls, so customers have lower data control	Customers have high control over their data as they own the system	The service provider has all the controls, so customers have low data control	The data control can be high if all the community members extend support	Data control is quite high due to the right setup
Cost	Highly Expensive	Highly Expensive	Affordable	Members can share the costs	These models are costlier than public models but cheaper than private ones
Flexibility of Setup	The service providers offer predefined setups, so there is almost no flexibility	Model is more flexible	Setup is less flexible than private clouds but more flexible than public ones	Setups are less flexible as the setups are predefined to a certain extent	These models are considered  highly flexible
Security and Privacy	Security is quite low, so it is not a good fit for critical information or data	Security is quite high, so the model is suitable for corporate data	Security of the model is very low, so it is not considered a good model for highly sensitive data	If the members collaborate on the policies designed for security, security can be higher	The data is kept on a private cloud, so security is quite high
In-house Hardware Demand	No demand for such hardware	The presence of in-house hardware is a must	No demand for such hardware	No demand for such hardware	In-house hardware is preferable but not essential

4) What are the Services Offered by the Cloud Deployment Models?

This was the broad classification of cloud deployment models. However, based on the services offered by these clouds, they are further classifieds in the following service models:

1. IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service

IaaS may require traditional application installation on the service provider’s servers. After this, customers are responsible for managing the remaining aspects of these applications, including software or hardware management. The advantages of the IaaS cloud are:

• IaaS is considered a time and cost-saving model since most of the installation and maintenance of the software happens in-house.
• IaaS flexibility is better as hardware resources are offered when demanded and are tailored to the client’s requirement specification.
• The model is considered most valuable for larger enterprises due to its low complexity, reduced cost, and easy customization. 

2. PaaS

In the hybrid approach of the cloud models, vendors provide software and hardware as a cloud service. Here tasks like software installation, hardware deployment, and software configuration are managed and handled by the vendors. A customer only needs to manage, tune, and optimize the software. A PaaS model offers the following benefits to the customers:

• This model is considered the best among the four, especially those who do not want to manage hardware and software. This model gives the flexibility of handling only the installation, tuning, and optimization of the hardware and software. 
• For large development projects, PaaS is considered a flexible platform to manage and implement instant platform productions.
• Customers of PaaS models are responsible only for managing the data security protocols and taking application backups.

3. SaaS

In SaaS, vendors provide and handle all aspects related to software and hardware. These services include hardware upgrades, availability, security, performance optimization, data safety, etc. Major benefits of the SaaS platform include:

• SaaS is a more expensive model than IaaS and PaaS; however, it offers several benefits. SaaS implementation saves time and can be deployed quickly. Customers do not need to manage and align the software. Moreover, they do not need to maintain the software.
• The vendors handle all upgrades related to hardware and software.
• Testing and deployment of new applications or software are comparatively easy and quick.

Cloud computing technologies or models of cloud computing are rapidly growing and are being adopted due to the SaaS models. Many organizations have adopted SaaS with low subscription models and monthly plans.

5) What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Deployment Models?

We have explained the cloud deployment models and services with their features. Now let us look at the advantages and disadvantages of these cloud computing deployment models:

1. Public Cloud 

Almost everyone using the internet uses public cloud service in some way, and therefore, this is one of the most widely used models. Especially for file sharing, web applications, and non-sensitive data storage, this can be the most suitable model. The service provider operates and owns all hardware required to run the cloud. The devices are kept in massive data centers by service providers. These models of cloud computing play a vital role in two phases of the software life cycle: the development and testing phases. 

The developers and testers usually use public cloud infrastructure for the development and testing of their applications. The virtual environment of the public cloud is cheaper and can be deployed and configured easily. Thus, it becomes the perfect environment for testing.

Advantages of Public Cloud

• No Hardware Investment: The infrastructure is funded by the service providers.
• Low Cost: In the market, public clouds are considered the cheapest model. In this model, clients pay only the registration fee and the charges for services they use; hence they need not bear any overheads. 
• No Cost for Infrastructure Management: A dedicated in-house team is not required to use the functionalities of a public cloud. 
• Reliability: Public clouds are considered reliable models that do not malfunction and are less prone to outages.

Disadvantages of Public Cloud

• Security and Privacy: This model is less secure as anyone can get cloud access. The systems are not protected against attacks. It is considered a more vulnerable model. 
• Limited Resources: The computing power of public clouds is very high, but the resources are shared by many users. Thus, the model may face scalability issues.

2. Private Cloud

As stated in the section above, private clouds belong to specific organizations. Thus, the system is controlled and managed by the organization centrally. This model is also called the corporate or internal model.

Advantages of Private Cloud

• Data Privacy: As only authorized people can access the data, privacy is high.
• Customization: The model is customized by the companies as per their requirement.
• Security: Resources can only be separated on the same infrastructure, leading to high-security level and access control.

Disadvantages of Private Cloud

• Maintenance: Private clouds are managed and maintained by organizations, so maintenance of these clouds is higher.
• High Cost: All hardware and software installation and upgrades have to be handled by the organizations; hence the costs are higher.
• Low Scalability: Scalability depends on resource requirements.

3. Virtual Private Cloud

Customers of virtual private clouds usually have access to a particular segment of the public cloud. In terms of price and features, this is a compromise between the public and private models of the clouds. 

Advantages of Virtual Private Cloud

• Less Expensive: These clouds do not cost much.
• Low Maintenance: Compared to private clouds, the maintenance is lower.

Disadvantages of Virtual Private Clouds

• These are not completely private clouds.
• Failure and outages are most likely.

4. Community Cloud 

These models are mostly deployed as public cloud models. The only difference is that it allows access to only a specific group of users who share use cases or interests. 

Advantages of Community Clouds

• Low Cost: Community clouds are not as costly as private clouds, but they offer good performance. As multiple customers share the expense, the cost is reduced.
• Easy Setup: An effective and easy setup.

Disadvantages of Community Cloud

• Shared Resources: The common problem of this model is the limited bandwidth and capacity of the resources.
• Low Popularity: Usually, this model is not opted for by many.

5. Hybrid Cloud

Combining two or more clouds or infrastructures like public, private, VPC, community, or dedicated server is known as the hybrid cloud model. All clouds of this model are part of the same architecture. One of the best cloud deployment model examples can be of a company that stores its secured information in a private cloud but less sensitive data on the public cloud.

Cloud bursting is the best example of hybrid cloud model implementation. In cloud bursting, organizations run the applications within their premises but “burst” them in the public cloud. 

Advantages of Hybrid Cloud

• Flexible: The setup is highly flexible, and custom-made solutions fit the client’s requirements.
• Security: A hybrid cloud can be protected from attackers, hence highly secure.

Disadvantages of Hybrid Cloud

• Special Use Cases: A hybrid cloud is perfect for organizations that can separate sensitive and non-sensitive data.
• Complexity: It is difficult to manage and set up hybrid clouds. This is because two or more cloud service models have to be combined to meet the purpose.

Conclusion

With five cloud deployment models, it may become difficult to choose the best model at times. Parameters like the ease of use, cost, privacy, cost, flexibility, compliance, etc., can help you select the most appropriate model. Small and medium organizations usually choose the public cloud. Large organizations prefer private clouds to protect their sensitive data or information. VPC or hybrid models are also chosen by bigger corporations. If your organization is into community service, you can choose the community cloud model.

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