Cloud. Public or private?

If you find yourself in the Tech world, there is a big chance you get involved in one widespread debate that seems neverending: cloud – public or private. To better understand differences, benefits, and values, Justinas, our Cloud infrastructure Architect, was invited to share his expertise on this topic.

What are the key benefits of private compared to the public cloud?   

There are multiple benefits of a private cloud than the public one, but I would summarize them in two significant aspects: efficiency and control. Running a private cloud gives you the ability to choose the infrastructure components you want, combine them in the way you need, and have them run in a tailored fashion to address your specific requirements. In a private cloud environment, you are in control of where your workloads run, how they run, where you keep the data, and what kind of security controls you need to apply, and how.

Creating and running a properly functioning private cloud is neither simple nor easy. All these private cloud benefits come at the cost of having highly skilled people and a budget to support capital and operational expenditure. Creating and running a private cloud is a long journey; it’s like building a new house – you need to find a plot of land, develop or purchase blueprints, find someone to make it for you, build it yourself, etc. The process takes time, it’s not always smooth, mistakes and failures can happen and will happen, but with proper attitude and management support, you will prevail in the end.

So when is it better to choose the public cloud?

Going to the public cloud is like renting a house – you can choose various designs, locations, furnishing, and amenities, there is no need for significant upfront investments. Public cloud is great if you’re a new start-up, a small company with limited IT infrastructure, or even a medium or a large company that wants to focus on its primary business rather than invest in the outsourced IT support.

On top of that, you also get a “feel good “perk because it seems that everyone around you is in the public cloud, too (it’s trendy). Public cloud behemoths spend incredible amounts of money on marketing by targeting everyone – from CEOs to help desk technicians with specialized agendas, meetups, conferences, summits, and consultancies – all tailored to help you consume more. In a public cloud, you have almost everything you need readily available to you with lots of pointers for further “innovation.” This comes at the cost of having limited control over your data, workload performance, ability to fine-tune your solutions, and paying much more for the same resources than a private cloud cost.

At Ruptela, the cost difference is 2.5 times in favor of the private cloud, even with 3-year reservation prices in a major public cloud provider. This speaks volumes, I think.

What is your favorite myth about the private cloud?  

My favorite one is that the private cloud is complicated and costly. However, there is a difference between doing the right things and doing things right. The private cloud’s essential advantage is the ability to tailor it to the business’s specific requirements. Of course, with proper tooling, automation, and streamlined hardware procurement processes.

Myths about different clouds are often appearing and can be debunked only by reading or discussing with cloud experts. Lucky us, we have Justinas who’s expertise is undoubtful. Having all of the information he provided in mind, choosing the cloud that is best for your product/ team/ industry is going to be more comfortable.