A private cloud or private cloud is a cloud infrastructure in which computing resources are dedicated exclusively to an organization. Unlike the public cloud approach, resources are not shared with other customers and therefore companies maintain greater control over the performance of their virtualized IT infrastructure.
Private cloud environments are ideal for all types of businesses and projects. It is also the most common cloud deployment model for hosting mission-critical data and applications that require a high level of performance, availability, and security. The private cloud services market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 29.7% between 2022 and 2029, reaching $528 million, according to data from Maximize Market Research.
How does a private cloud work?
A private cloud is a single-tenant infrastructure or environment where resources are for the exclusive use of each organization. Each server corresponds to a single client.
Resources can be hosted in your organization’s on-premises data center or hosted by a cloud provider in an external data center. Organizations can fully manage their environment or outsource some or all management to a managed services provider. However, when you opt for outsourcing, the Private Cloud provider is responsible for acquiring, managing, monitoring and maintaining the physical infrastructure.
Main advantages of private cloud
Organizations choose a private cloud deployment to benefit from the efficiency and service customization inherent in single-tenant environments; as well as to meet regulatory compliance requirements. Using a private cloud is similar to having a dedicated data center, leveraging the benefits of the cloud. Not only do companies not have to worry about maintaining their infrastructure and dedicated servers, but it also allows them to speed up provisioning and deployment processes.
Exclusive use of resources
The private cloud model offers similar benefits to an in-house data center. By opting for this model, companies do not share their computing resources with other customers. This prevents its performance from being affected by the activity of other virtual machines within the same physical infrastructure. An issue that can occur in public cloud solutions where resources can become overloaded.
Controlled and transparent costs
While scalability is important, so is keeping your IT budget in check. Contrary to what many think, a dedicated cloud environment like the ones we design at Stackscale is actually competitive. A private cloud environment is often the most cost-effective option.
Likewise, thanks to the cloud, companies do not need to make large capital investments in purchasing and upgrading IT equipment and, at the same time, can also reduce operating costs. However, the lack of transparency in some public cloud solutions often causes cloud costs to skyrocket. In fact, cost management issues are one of the reasons behind cloud repatriation.
But this is not the case in Private Cloud environments, where costs are typically much easier to control. Compared to the high costs of using public cloud and the costs associated with data center management in on-premise solutions, a private cloud infrastructure offers the best of both worlds. At Stackscale, for example, we follow a transparent pricing structure and billing policy, so customers know up front how much their infrastructure will cost.
Greater control and security
A private cloud approach, by its nature, significantly reduces the estimated number of security threats. Customers enjoy greater security and control over their IT environment because they do not share their resources with other customers.
Additionally, by implementing appropriate measures and protocols, a private cloud promotes regulatory compliance and increases security compared to an on-premises data center. That’s why more and more organizations are turning to private cloud solutions for workloads that process personally identifiable information, medical records and other sensitive data.
Data protection
With a private cloud solution, customers can easily know the location of their services. Additionally, when it comes to regulatory compliance, companies should always ensure that the location of the provider’s servers complies with their company’s local regulations. For example, to comply with European Union data protection laws, it is advisable to have reliable data centers in Europe.
Public cloud versus private cloud
In summary, below we have created a table with some of the most common differences between public cloud environments and private cloud environments.
| Public cloud | Private cloud |
| Shared resources. | Dedicated resources. |
| Hosted by a cloud service provider. | Hosted by a cloud or in-house service provider. |
| Connectivity through the public Internet. | Connectivity over the public Internet or through a secure private network. |
| Proprietary standards. | Open standards. |
| Low initial costs. | Controlled costs over time. |
| It requires a high level of security from the company. Does not include dedicated proactive monitoring. | Requires a medium level of security from the company. Includes dedicated proactive monitoring. |
| Ideal for supporting specific traffic peaks. | Ideal for mission-critical IT workloads and predictable traffic spikes. |
| Low visibility and control over infrastructure. | High visibility and control over the infrastructure. |
| Great scalability. | Great scalability when opting for a private cloud hosted by a specialized provider. |
| Suitable for information that is not confidential. | Suitable for sensitive data; with special focus on data protection and data sovereignty. |
From on-premise private cloud to hosted private cloud
Traditionally, private clouds were hosted on the company’s own premises. However, this approach is becoming less common. Because? Because a private cloud hosted by a cloud service provider makes it easier to take advantage of the benefits of the cloud.
- A provider-hosted private cloud allows businesses to scale more easily.
- Companies do not need to maintain, manage and update their own physical infrastructure.
- The IT team can focus on tasks that provide more added value to the business.
Adopting private cloud solutions hosted by a service provider is increasingly popular among organizations. This increase is due to the need to have a dedicated cloud environment without incurring acquisition, management, maintenance and update costs. Additionally, compared to public cloud platforms, dedicated cloud environments make it easier for businesses to integrate their existing services, applications, and software. Since private cloud environments can be adapted to the requirements of each client.
Types of private cloud
There are different types of private cloud that offer different advantages to companies:
- Local private cloud. This type of private cloud involves creating a virtualized, private environment within your organization’s on-premises data center.
- Private cloud hosted by a provider. This type of private cloud offers organizations dedicated resources from an external provider like Stackscale. The servers remain for the exclusive use of each organization and independent of the activities of other customers.
- Virtual Private Cloud or VPC. This type of private cloud uses an isolated environment within a public cloud. This allows organizations to run their workloads using private resources, but the servers are still shared with other customers.
In summary, among the different types of cloud, the private cloud hosted by a provider stands out for offering dedicated resources with the best balance between high performance, security and control. If you are looking for a secure, reliable and cost-effective cloud solution for your mission-critical applications, do not hesitate to contact our private cloud experts for a customized proposal.
