Did you know that the average data breach cost in the United States amounted to 9.48 million U.S. dollars in 2023? Cyber attacks threaten the safety and privacy of confidential data. Cloud computing models significantly minimize the risk of data breaches and theft. Nearly all organizations use it. This computing model has shaped the nature of work. It is categorized into three types:
- Public cloud: shared across multiple organizations
- Private cloud: dedicated solely to one entity or organization
- Hybrid cloud: offers a mix of both public and private clouds
A private cloud is a data security solution gaining traction among security-conscious companies.
This blog outlines the advantages of private cloud computing and why it matters to companies across different industry verticals.
What is a Private Cloud?
A private cloud is a multidimensional and essential part of modern technology. At its most basic level, utilizing a private cloud means storing data on dedicated servers that are accessed via the internet. The private cloud environment comprises a wide range of technologies and practices to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data and infrastructure within the environment. A private cloud is dedicated to a single entity or organization to provide exclusive infrastructure and services, allowing companies enhanced security, confidentiality, and customization options.
A private cloud is different from public and hybrid clouds. It works in a private environment to ensure secure and confidential data, serving the basic needs of data security and confidentiality to prevent potential threats.
The private cloud offers many benefits, including scalability, ease of service delivery, and resource customization of on-premises infrastructure, control, and security.
Many companies choose the private cloud because within this environment it is simpler to deal with intellectual property, medical records, financial data, and confidential documents. Businesses often prefer the private cloud over the public cloud because the private cloud more easily meets their regulatory compliance needs.
Types of Private Clouds
Private cloud is of four types, including:
On-Premises Cloud
An on-premises private cloud is one in which an internal team is in charge of maintaining and managing all infrastructure requirements, including software, hardware, security features, and upgrades. It is hosted in the organization's on-site data centers. Although it provides excellent control over privacy, data security, and other customization choices, its capacity is limited by the company's infrastructure.
Virtual Private Cloud
A virtual private cloud (VPC) offers an isolated environment and private resources. It uses shared public cloud resources. An organization can define and control a custom virtual network like a private cloud environment. VPC enables companies to run workloads separately from other organizations while using a public cloud provider's shared IT infrastructure.
Hosted Private Cloud
Hosted private clouds are run off-premises on servers owned by a third-party vendor. Private cloud servers are exclusively used by a single organization. This private cloud offers scalability options and resources. The cloud service providers also own and manage cloud resources in a hosted private cloud, such as security, maintenance, and upgrades.
Managed Private Cloud
Managed private clouds can be located on-premises with no shared infrastructure. They offer services such as backups, disaster recovery, and identity management. A third-party service provider deploys, configures, manages, and maintains the managed private cloud.
Advantages of using Private Cloud
Private cloud hosting solutions allow businesses to manage their own private clouds. It helps organizations with:
- Responding promptly to potential security threats or vulnerabilities, and implementing stringent access controls and authentication mechanisms
- Customizing security protocols to align with industry-specific compliance requirements
- Maintaining greater visibility and control over data movement and storage
Some of the key benefits of private cloud include:
Security & Control
Businesses use private clouds for superior data privacy, security, and control. This benefits companies that handle sensitive data, such as healthcare, governmental departments, and financial institutions, as they must adhere to strict data protection laws. It also ensures a high degree of mental peace by restricting access to authorized users only.
Superior Performance
Private clouds are deployed within a firewall to enhance network efficiency and deliver superior performance. They don't share bandwidth, so they offer more predictable performance.
Private clouds are deployed within an organization’s firewall and offer dedicated resources and customized infrastructure. They allow lower latency and improved response times and result in more consistent and higher performance for crucial business functions.
Need-Based Customization
A private cloud helps businesses with hosting that offers a higher level of customization, can deliver long-term savings over unpredictable monthly billing costs, and can mitigate capital expenditure. Private compute services help businesses align with their operational needs and goals.
This customization capability allows organizations to:
- Optimize performance for specific workloads or applications
- Implement unique security measures or compliance controls
- Integrate legacy systems more efficiently with cloud infrastructure
- Scale resources according to particular business requirements
Private vs Public vs Hybrid Clouds
Organizations must understand their security needs and issues when choosing between private, public, and hybrid cloud environments.
Private clouds are more useful for workloads that require high security or data compliance. However, public clouds are ideal for almost anything else. A hybrid cloud provides a blend of benefits from both cloud environments.
One key difference among these clouds is their accessibility:
- Private clouds: to one single organization
- Public clouds: to multiple organizations
- Hybrid clouds: enable organizations to use both private and public cloud environments.
Concourse can adapt to various cloud strategies, including hybrid cloud implementations. It can integrate with private cloud infrastructure, on-premises systems, and public cloud providers. Our goal is to enable businesses to optimize their cloud environment to meet evolving performance, scalability, and security needs.
Why Prioritize Data Security and Compliance
Security is non-negotiable for businesses, especially when handling sensitive information, such as donor details and operational data. Concourse's hosting solutions adhere to stringent compliance standards such as PCI DSS and HIPAA, ensuring that Windows Servers and SQL databases have backups and are protected against cyber threats at all times. This level of security instills confidence among organizations, knowing that their data is safeguarded with the highest protocols in place.
Choosing the Right Private Cloud Provider
Consider the following points to make an informed decision:
Compliance and Certifications
- Look for private cloud hosting solutions that have relevant industry certifications, such as ISO 27001 for information security.
- Ensure that the private compute services provider meets the specific compliance requirements such as HIPAA guidelines and PCI DSS for secure payments.
Performance and SLAs
- Consider factors like response times, latency, and uptime to select the right private cloud services. Partner with companies offering 99.999% uptime.
- Go through service level agreements and evaluate performance guarantees with real-time monitoring and reporting tools to track performance metrics.
- When evaluating private cloud hosting solutions, ask for case studies or references to gauge the provider's experience and success in your industry. Make sure to talk with a real person, and ask questions to determine expertise and commitment to top-notch service.
Scalability and Flexibility
- Consider private cloud hosting that offers flexible deployment options and automated scaling capabilities.
- Evaluate the managed cloud partner’s ability to scale resources according to your evolving needs. Consider performance indicators such as IOPS (Input/output operations per second) and response time commitments.
Cost Structure
- Compare the long-term costs with those of other private cloud hosting service providers. Find out the hardware and software maintenance costs.
- Understand pricing models and inquire about hidden or additional costs.
Concourse private cloud is more cost-effective than public cloud options because hosting with Concourse covers Windows and SQL licensing fees, which can result in significant savings.
Transform your Business with Concourse
The private cloud will play a vital role in managing future business practices despite continued data protection and privacy concerns. Private cloud hosting offers many benefits, including compliance, data protection, and high performance.
Private cloud managed hosting services will play a significant role in helping organizations navigate the complex challenges of data protection and privacy. We offer customized private cloud services with a focus on serving our clients with a human touch, both in account management and ongoing support.
Contact Concourse today to learn how we can help you achieve your business goals of safe data and privacy, with excellent customer service.