GDPR Compliance: Private Cloud vs Public Cloud Explained

Continuing our GDPR Compliance series, we’ve taken a look at the whole private vs public cloud issue to get to the bottom of it. Here’s Private Cloud vs Public Cloud Explained:

What is Public Cloud?

A public cloud is where an independent, third-party provider maintains computer resources that customers can access over the internet. Public cloud users share these resources, a model known as a multi-tenant environment.

And Private Cloud? 

Private cloud is a type of computing infrastructure that delivers the advantages of public cloud, including scalability. However, unlike public clouds – which deliver services to multiple organisations, a private cloud is dedicated to the needs and goals of a single company. As such, ‘private’ or ‘dedicated’ offers a great solution to companies that require direct control over their environments, typically to meet security, privacy, governance or regulatory requirements.

Anything Else Out There?

There are also hybrid models in which a private cloud connects with public cloud infrastructure, allowing an organisation to orchestrate workloads across the two environments.

So, which approach is most likely to give better performance, greater flexibility, stronger security, and lowest cost to operate? Which approach would potentially also add to your brand of being a consequential company with your own computing infrastructure?

A Key Question: Do You Want To Share With Others?

Another critical question might be: do you want to share your cloud with others? It’s not that uncommon to hear people say they don’t fully trust the security of public clouds, or that they much prefer the control available with private cloud offerings.

Also, apropos the brand question, do you want to be seen to be sharing your computing infrastructure with others? What would your customers say if they knew where their data was being stored?
Does your company want to be seen to be sharing your computing infrastructure with others? Click To Tweet

Private Cloud gives full control over data

A private cloud offering – meaning you’re the only company with access to it – addresses the concerns of security, performance, and data management; especially the latter, because private cloud gives full control over data:

• where it’s stored
• how its accessed
• who accesses it
• how long data is retained.

When properly architected and implemented, private cloud provides

• user self-service and scalability
• the ability to provision and configure virtual machines
• ability to change or optimise computing resources on demand
• computing usage can also be tracked so that you pay only for the resources or services you use.

Recommended Reading The Business Case for Dedicated and Secure Data Solutions

Multi-tenanted cloud might not be appropriate

Private clouds are often deployed when public clouds are deemed inappropriate. For example, the risk of hosting mission-critical data in the public cloud might exceed an organisation’s risk tolerance; in addition, there might be security or regulatory concerns related to the use of a multi-tenant environment.

So what’s best for my business?

There’s obviously more than one model for cloud adoption, as companies have to balance many variables. A small slice of a multi-tenant public cloud may work for a smaller companies or those dealing with data that’s not very sensitive, but this might become more of an issue as your company grows its services and customer base.

Larger companies will need to carefully weigh the costs and advantages of sharing multi-tenant or using their dedicated infrastructure.

So depending on where your company is now, ask these questions before deciding on which option:

1. What are my tolerance levels for security over my data?
2. How much control do I need over my computing infrastructure?
3. Can my brand handle being seen to be using public cloud services?

You need to ask the right questions when planning your cloud adoption or managing your cloud strategy.
You need to ask the right questions when planning your cloud adoption or managing your cloud strategy. Click To Tweet
The most important issue for your business might not be public cloud vs. private cloud but instead is it multi-tenant cloud vs. dedicated instance. What are you more concerned with in terms of security, performance, control, brand, meeting regulatory requirements?

Understanding your priorities is the key to making the best, most-informed decisions about where to keep your data.

At Rinodrive, we strive to give customers alternatives to suit their needs. For most of our customers from SMES to larger organisations, we offer a packaged private cloud solution. This is where software, infrastructure and security are delivered as a dedicated instance from a dedicated server to the user. This gives the customer complete control of computing power, control over their data, control over users and control over the levels of encryption and security being applied.

However we also have a starter level cloud service for smaller companies that may not be dealing with levels of sensitive data and do not yet face intense regulatory and compliance regimes. As these companies grow or as their needs change we also offer a seamless path to an entry level private dedicated infrastructure. Talk to us today about your data infrastructure needs, we can help.
Recommended Reading: Do You Have Command and Control Over Your Data

Is your company using the public cloud? Have you considered changing to meet GDPR requirements? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below. 

Join our conversation ‘all about data’ on Twitter and LinkedIn. And keep up with what’s going on in the world of data by trusting us with your email for monthly mailings (and we store it on Rinodrive so it’s super safe).