Businesses are finding significant advantages in adopting hybrid cloud infrastructures alongside the growing popularity of major public cloud providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure. While many organizations maintain on-premises data centers for various reasons, including the performance demands of legacy systems or transitional stages before full cloud migration, hybrid cloud models offer a balanced solution. This approach enables businesses to leverage the scalability and flexibility of cloud services while retaining some on-premises infrastructure for cost-effectiveness.Hybrid cloud setups typically involve a combination of on-premises and public cloud resources interconnected through a dedicated private network. This blend allows businesses to optimize their infrastructure according to specific needs and workload requirements.
Public clouds provide ease of deployment and scalability, offering automated orchestration and a wide range of services like load balancers. They are particularly beneficial for new applications and experimenting with emerging technologies such as Kubernetes. However, while public clouds are cost-effective for certain workloads, they can become expensive, especially for high-performance tasks, due to factors like storage latency. Everyday performance issues in public cloud environments include increased storage latency compared to on-premises setups, which can lead to higher costs for optimization efforts.
Various use cases demonstrate the flexibility of hybrid cloud architectures. Some organizations prefer to manage their on-premises resources independently, using tools like VMware for virtualization. Additionally, hybrid cloud solutions allow for burst usage of public cloud resources during peak demand periods or for specific functions like disaster recovery and archival backups.
Benefits of hybrid cloud deployments include leveraging cloud resources for on-premises applications and predictability in cost management compared to relying solely on public cloud pricing. However, complexity remains a challenge, especially in networking and staff training. The shortage of skilled engineers proficient in multiple cloud platforms often hinders widespread adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud strategies.
Security is crucial to hybrid cloud adoption, as it expands the attack surface and introduces new endpoints. Dedicated network connections and robust security testing are essential for safeguarding data and infrastructure. Automation and orchestration tools can help mitigate human error in deploying and managing cloud resources, supporting a comprehensive hybrid cloud security strategy.
Monitoring hybrid cloud environments poses its own challenges, requiring tailored solutions to address the complexity of modern infrastructure setups. SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability offers centralized visibility and real-time insights across private and public cloud environments, enabling businesses to monitor and troubleshoot effectively across diverse infrastructure landscapes.
NOTE: This article is a part of ETCIO Brand Connect Initiative.
