Learn about Public, Private, Hybrid, and Community clouds.
Cloud deployment models define how cloud infrastructure is implemented, managed, and accessed. The four main models are Public, Private, Hybrid, and Community. A 'Public Cloud' is owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider, which delivers their computing resources, like servers and storage, over the Internet. AWS, Azure, and GCP are the largest public cloud providers. This model offers economies of scale and pay-as-you-go pricing, but may not be suitable for all workloads due to security or compliance concerns. A 'Private Cloud' refers to cloud computing resources used exclusively by a single business or organization. It can be physically located on the company’s on-site data center or hosted by a third-party service provider. This model offers more control and security. A 'Hybrid Cloud' combines public and private clouds, bound together by technology that allows data and applications to be shared between them. This gives businesses greater flexibility, more deployment options, and helps optimize their existing infrastructure, security, and compliance. For instance, a company might use the public cloud for high-volume, lower-security needs like web-based email and the private cloud for sensitive, business-critical operations. A 'Community Cloud' is a collaborative effort in which infrastructure is shared between several organizations from a specific community with common concerns (e.g., security, compliance, jurisdiction).