The Cloud can be a tricky thing. While most people know the Cloud from their Spotify and Twitter accounts, employees know the Cloud from their corporate Cloud access (also known as a private Cloud deployment). While one – the public Cloud – is accessible to everyone with an Internet connection, the other – the private Cloud – is only accessible to employees behind a corporate firewall or with encrypted VPN access.
This said, for those looking to mix the public Cloud with the private Cloud, a solution known as the hybrid Cloud has popped up on the market. This solution, a mix of both technologies, has given way to many reliable hybrid Cloud computing providers that aim to help you empower your corporate IT needs.
What is Hybrid Cloud Computing?
As previously stated, hybrid Cloud computing providers supply both the public and private Cloud to corporations in need. The breakdown is as follows: for less critical sensitive business data, companies can make use of a public Cloud deployment for their essential services. In some cases this might mean offering company solutions to the public through a Cloud deployment (like Google offers Gmail). In other cases, the company might have data which they need protected (new company projects come to mind). To protect this data, companies deploy a private Cloud or corporate Cloud.
Essentially, a hybrid Cloud is a Cloud infrastructure which mixes both major Cloud computing platforms that allows companies to allocate their resources where needed.
Should My Company Use a Hybrid Cloud?
The answer to this question depends on need. If your company needs to run company critical application and programs on site while also needed the ability to run less business critical applications in a public space, yes, a hybrid Cloud deployment would work well for your company.
On the other hand, if your company only needs to utilize one of the two, a private architecture or a public environment, than no, your company has no need for a hybrid Cloud deployment.
Finding Hybrid Cloud Computing Providers
The short of finding hybrid Cloud computing providers is simple: do a controlled Google search for “Hybrid Cloud Computing Providers”. Your controlled search will yield hybrid Cloud providers ranging from the large and well known – Rackspace, Eucalyptus, SingleHop and IBM to the smaller and lesser known – Cloud Velocity, Nirvanix, Right Scale. All in all, your search will provide you with the providers you need.
Yet, simply conducting a controlled search for “Hybrid Cloud Computing Providers” isn’t enough. To fully get an idea of the hybrid Cloud providers on the market, the best thing to do is invest a good amount of time looking through noted web hosting forums like WebHostingTalk and Sitepoint.
By spending a good amount of time on WebHostingTalk and Sitepoint, you can chat with current and past hybrid Cloud clients, learn what sets each hybrid Cloud provider apart from one another, learn about the compute resources you will need to power your community Cloud deployment and learn what price model suits your needs.
A Note on the Price of Hybrid Cloud Computing
Due to the joint nature of hybrid Cloud infrastructures, in general the platform is going to cost your company more money than a public Cloud solutions and less money than a fully invested private Cloud deployment. More to the point, because a hybrid Cloud option does not qualify as a pre-built Cloud solution (i.e. a typical deployment for hosts), providers like VMWare will charge their hybrid Cloud customers by hourly GB requirements. Point in case, the more resources you need per hour, the more you are going to be charged.