Multi-Cloud vs. Hybrid Cloud: The Main Difference

Currently, nearly 60% of corporate data resides in the cloud, per the 2022 data. The present moment presents an ideal opportunity to make a move.

The benefits of cloud computing, like enhanced mobility, cost savings, and access to advanced hardware, offer a unique competitive edge for companies transitioning to the cloud.

Without much doubt, cloud computing has transformed the operational landscape for businesses, revolutionising their operations. So, how do you select the appropriate cloud strategy from the two most popular types?

To comprehend the disparity between multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, let's first understand the distinctions between public and private cloud services.

Public Cloud vs Private Cloud: What's The Difference?

The contrast between public cloud and private cloud infrastructure lies in the ownership, control, and maintenance of physical computing resources.

Public cloud environments furnish a range of computing resources accessible over the internet. These servers often cater to multiple companies and are hosted in large data centres by prominent public cloud providers like Amazon Web Service, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

On the other hand, private cloud infrastructure is typically located on-premises and privately hosted, exclusively serving a single organisation. These private clouds are usually safeguarded behind company firewalls and dedicated to specific or specialised workloads.

One can decide between multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies by getting the gist of private and public cloud services.

What is Multi-Cloud?

A multi-cloud technology strategy entails using multiple cloud computing platforms or providers to handle various business tasks.

For example, a company might use AWS for certain tasks, Google Cloud Platform for another set of tasks, and Microsoft Azure for another set of tasks.

Going with a multi-cloud approach can be extensive and intricate, depending on the number of clouds involved and how the business uses each cloud resource or service.

Top Benefits of Implementing Multi-Cloud Computing

Better Security

Business firms can reduce the likelihood of a security breach impacting their data and applications by distributing workloads across multiple providers.

Flexibility

Rather than being limited to a single provider's ecosystem, a multi-cloud approach empowers enterprises to choose the most suitable cloud provider for each workload.

Improved Disaster Recovery

A multi-cloud strategy lets businesses store data and run applications in multiple locations, bolstering their disaster recovery capabilities.

Cost Efficiency

Companies can capitalise on diverse pricing models and negotiate better deals by leveraging multiple cloud providers.

Enhanced compliance

Multiple cloud providers allow organisations to ensure that their data and applications adhere to regional regulations. This, in turn, enables better compliance management.

Avoid vendor lock-in

By relying on multiple providers, businesses can mitigate the risk of being tied to a particular vendor's technology or pricing strategy.

What is Hybrid Cloud?

A hybrid cloud technology strategy combines a private cloud (or on-premises infrastructure) with a public cloud environment. This melange creates a unified cloud computing environment that combines the advantages of both types.

In the context of a hybrid cloud configuration, an organisation may choose to establish a private cloud environment to facilitate self-service resource allocation for software developers. Additionally, they might choose to locally host a crucial cloud-native application.

The business can also connect the private cloud to a public cloud to access additional resources or leverage specialised services offered by the public cloud provider.

Top Benefits of Implementing Hybrid Cloud Computing

Flexibility

Companies can choose the most suitable deployment strategy for each task based on their specific requirements.

For example, IT teams can deploy public clouds for large computing operations. At the same time, sensitive data can be stored in private or on-premise data centres to align resources with business goals.

Scalability

Hybrid cloud systems enable companies to scale their resources up and down as needed.

For example, you can deploy a public cloud during peak demand, while private clouds can handle off-peak periods. This helps businesses optimise IT costs while effectively managing fluctuations in demand.

Security

Companies can improve their data security and maintain greater control by keeping sensitive data and applications in a private cloud.

This is particularly important for companies that must comply with regulatory standards and ensure their data protection.

Data Backup

Hybrid cloud solutions leverage public cloud resources for disaster recovery and data backup, and vice versa. This allows companies to protect and recover their data effectively, enhancing their resilience against potential data loss or system failures.

Improved agility

With hybrid cloud solutions, businesses can seamlessly move workloads between different environments without modifying their applications' code or architecture.

This agility enables organisations to adapt quickly to market demands and become more responsive to changing business needs.

Cost-effectiveness

Hybrid cloud solutions help to minimise expenses by leveraging public cloud resources when demand is high and private cloud resources during low-demand periods.

Public clouds often offer pay-as-you-go pricing models, making them more cost-effective than maintaining on-premises IT infrastructure, particularly when demand fluctuations occur.

Know the Difference Between Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud

Infrastructure

Hybrid and multi-clouds differ fundamentally in their infrastructure. In a hybrid cloud environment, private and public cloud services are combined, whereas a multi-cloud model uses two or more public cloud services.

The key distinction lies in the ownership and management of resources.

In a hybrid cloud, users have their private cloud resource, which can be hosted in-house, on-premises, or on dedicated servers in third-party data centres. This private aspect integrates with public cloud workloads to create a comprehensive business solution.

On the other hand, multi-cloud systems rely solely on public cloud services.

Pricing

Deploying a hybrid cloud model incurs higher costs, especially when the private cloud resource is hosted on-premises. Companies need to purchase, manage, and maintain this resource.

In contrast, public cloud services do not require much upfront investment. Also, deploying and maintaining multi-cloud solutions using public cloud resources is more cost-effective.

Leveraging the purchasing power of public cloud vendors provides multi-cloud users access to cutting-edge technology at a more affordable price.

Availability

Multi-cloud environments are designed to ensure high availability. Large cloud vendors' service levels and guarantees enable public cloud resources to deliver business-critical uptime.

If one resource becomes unavailable, the company can easily switch to another.

On the other hand, hybrid cloud resources require management from the owner. If the private resource experiences downtime, it will require maintenance and may cause significant disruptions if no backup resource is available.

Data Storage

One of the significant advantages of hybrid cloud computing is that it allows companies to control their data storage through private cloud resources. This is particularly useful for storing critical, regulated, and sensitive data.

Public resources can then handle less sensitive tasks and connect with private resources.

Depending on the industry, data storage can be one of the most significant considerations in a hybrid cloud. It offers compliance for critical data but is typically a finite resource with uptime and disaster recovery concerns.

In contrast, a multi-cloud solution provides infinite storage space, backups, and disaster recovery possibilities.

Security

One of the apparent benefits of a hybrid cloud is that companies have control over physical access to their private cloud hardware, which is desirable in highly regulated industries.

In multi-cloud solutions, companies do not control physical infrastructure access directly, although robust security measures typically protect it.

In online environments, multi-cloud solutions offer state-of-the-art security measures. These systems simplify the configuration and management of automation, access controls, encryption, and overall security.

The company configures and controls online access to its private cloud resource in a hybrid environment.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a crucial advantage of multi-cloud solutions. Businesses are free to choose the exact resources they need and select the provider that offers the ideal services.

While hybrid cloud users can choose their public cloud service provider, they face more limitations with their private cloud resources.

Multi-cloud architecture also allows companies to scale resources as needed. If additional resources are required, they can be rapidly deployed.

Moreover, there is no vendor lock-in, enabling companies to choose the right supplier for each task rather than being restricted to a single cloud provider.

Hybrid cloud resources may have configurations or requirements that limit choices or impact cloud migration efforts.

Conclusion

Multi-cloud deployment enables companies to fully leverage significant cloud providers' flexibility, scalability, and cutting-edge technologies.

On the other hand, the hybrid cloud empowers companies with greater control and ownership over specific IT infrastructure components.