Understanding the cloud, how it works and who it’s for is no easy task. In a field filled with jargon, it can be hard to get a straightforward answer. The responses google provides never quite hit the mark. So, we got our security experts to sit down and explain to us (and you!), in simple language, the top five private cloud questions everybody wants to know.  

What is private cloud vs public cloud? 

A private cloud is a computing infrastructure and environment that is completely controlled by a single client. It does not use shared infrastructure and connectivity is usually achieved via a private network. By contrast, a public cloud is a computing infrastructure and environment that is shared between clients who want similar services. Public clouds that use shared infrastructure and connectivity are often achieved via the internet. Public cloud providers usually offer “off-the-shelf” solutions which aren’t well suited to clients who have “unusual” requirements.  

Private Cloud

• The service is completely controlled by a single client and not shared
• Supports one client
• Doesn’t use shared infrastructure
• Connectivity is usually over a private network (but can be over the internet also)
• Can be tailored to a client’s specific needs

Public Cloud

• The service is offered to all clients who want similar services
• Supports multiple clients
• Often uses a shared infrastructure
• Has connectivity over the internet
• Usually, the public cloud providers offer “off the shelf” solutions, so clients with
  “unusual” requirements aren’t well catered for

The best analogy I can think of is that private cloud is like living in a house. It’s dedicated to you and all the resources (water, heat, etc) are at your disposal and just for you. Public cloud is like living in an apartment block. Yes, you have a living space, but the water, heating, electricity etc, are common to the building; they’re a shared resource.

– Paul Delahunty, Information Security Officer 

Who owns a private cloud?   

You do! Private cloud is your own dedicated resource. It is privately owned by you and your organisation. A private cloud specialist may help you design the cloud environment, but ultimately the owner has sovereignty over it.  For example, Stryve designs the infrastructure and hands over the keys. We continue to support you but your data is under your control. Unlike public cloud which is public-facing with a large attack surface, private cloud is completely secure and under the owners’ (your) control.  

The types of organisations that may choose public cloud are:  

1. Companies that don’t trust the big cloud providers prefer to use their own private cloud.  
2. Companies who need to have a highly configurable or customisable platform, that gives flexible options in terms of compute or RAM or diskspace. 
3. Companies that need a highly secure environment (again not public facing) or have sensitive/private data.  
4. Companies that require data sovereignty. This is a challenge nowadays due to war or geopolitical uncertainty. 

– Andrew Tobin, Chief Executive Officer at Stryve 

What is private cloud used for? 

Organisations often use private cloud if they are looking for:  

1. Assurances that their data would not leave a certain jurisdiction; private cloud solution guarantee data sovereignty, meaning you have complete control over where your data is stored. This just really cannot be guaranteed with public cloud.  
2. Improved cybersecurity posture; strong defences are built into our private cloud solutions. By contrast and contrary to popular belief, public clouds need to be configured to provide even a minimum level of security.  
3. Flexibility to build exactly what you require; a private cloud solution means you don’t have to simply fit into a bucket of resources as offered by public cloud providers.  
4. Control; we build them and therefore have total control over the solutions we design.  

– Kathleen Lucey, Client Director at Stryve 

What are the advantage and disadvantages of private cloud?  

The main advantages of private cloud are dynamic secure control, and data sovereignty.  

It is privately owned by the business as opposed to public-facing cloud where the onus is on the business to manage and secure their cloud environment. Private cloud infrastructure is typically designed and managed by a security expert. An expert manages the private cloud on behalf of the company as part of its service, whereas public cloud offering is limited to what the provider makes available in off-the-shelf packages. 

In the private cloud space, the solution is built to exactly the requirements of the product or service and therefore offers more tailored infrastructure and bespoke security.  

One disadvantage of private cloud is that for smaller-scale businesses, for example, a corner shop, off-the-shelf solutions may be a better fit. Having said that, for expanding businesses, that store sensitive data, Private cloud is a more dynamic tailored solution that can scale with a business as it grows.  

– Gunter Bayer, Chief Information Officer at Stryve 

What is meant by private cloud? Can you give an example? 

To me, private cloud allows our customers to move the data off-premise. It absolves them of the responsibility of monitoring and managing the hardware on-premise and they no longer need to constantly train the IT team on new architecture and hardware. With a small IT team in particular, this can be extremely costly and time-consuming.  

When choosing a private cloud option from Stryve our customers know where their data is and they know they have experts monitoring and managing the infrastructure on their behalf. Your IT team should be concentrating on supporting your users and assisting your business to become more efficient, not worrying about the latest patches for the server operating system.  

Our private cloud gives our customers: 

1. Peace of mind; they don’t need to worry about hardware failure or firmware upgrades, that’s our job and we put redundancy measures in place, meaning that even if a hardware failure occurs, the customer will never know.  
2. Scalability; we can respond to the businesses’ increased demands at specific times of the year. At the click of a button, we can increase storage, CPU and memory. 

– Gillian Moody, Managing Director of Stryve Ireland 

If you would like to learn more about our secure private cloud offer, please do not hesitate to get in touch.