Private Cloud Hosting Definition
Private cloud hosting refers to a private cloud computing environment dedicated to a single organization or user. This is also referred to as hosted private cloud services, dedicated private cloud hosting, and isolated access. Private cloud hosting solutions typically live in data centers, either on-premises or hosted elsewhere, but they are always used only by the single organization to whom they are dedicated.
Because hosted private cloud vs public cloud solutions provide resources such as servers, storage, and networking infrastructure that are exclusively used by one customer, they deliver a higher level of control, security, and privacy.
Private Cloud Hosting FAQs
What is Private Cloud Hosting?
Private cloud hosting provides a dedicated and isolated infrastructure for a single customer—a single-tenant environment. Unlike public cloud environments where multiple customers share resources, private cloud hosting ensures one organization uses all resources exclusively.
Private cloud hosting and the various phrases that refer to it—hosted private cloud services, dedicated private cloud hosting, isolated access—all essentially highlight the dedicated and isolated nature of the hosting environment. However, private cloud hosting remains flexible and can be deployed in different locations, including data centers operated by a service provider or on-premises within the customer’s own infrastructure.
Private cloud offers several advantages, such as enhanced security, increased control, and customization options. However, an organization that hosts its infrastructure in a private cloud may bear higher costs compared to its peers that use public cloud services, including the expenses of dedicated infrastructure and maintenance.
How Does Private Cloud Hosting Work?
Virtualization and the use of virtual machines (VMs) is foundational to private cloud infrastructure.
Virtualization technology. Private clouds are typically built on virtualization technology, such as hypervisors. Hypervisors create and manage virtual machines—isolated, independent instances of operating systems running on a physical server.
Resource allocation. Within a private cloud environment, the physical resources of the underlying infrastructure, such as CPU, memory, and storage, are divided into virtualized resources allocated based on organizational requirements. Each VM operates as if it were a separate physical server.
Isolation and multi-tenancy. VMs help isolate the private cloud hosting environment. Each VM is encapsulated and operates independently, ensuring that its allocated resources are isolated. This allows for multi-tenancy within a private cloud, enabling multiple VMs to coexist securely within the same infrastructure.
Scalability and elasticity. Virtual machines offer scalability and elasticity within a private cloud environment. As workload increases, organizations can provision additional VMs to meet demand. VMs can be easily created, scaled up or down, and retired as needed, allowing for efficient resource allocation and dynamic adjustment of computing capacity.
Management and orchestration. Private cloud management platforms provide tools and interfaces to manage and orchestrate virtual machines within private cloud infrastructures. These platforms enable administrators to deploy, monitor, migrate, and manage VMs across private cloud environments.
Flexibility and consolidation. Virtual machines decouple software from its underlying hardware, offering organizations the flexibility of running different operating systems and applications on a single physical server, consolidating workloads, and optimizing resource utilization. This also facilitates workload mobility, enabling VMs to be migrated or replicated across physical servers within the private cloud infrastructure.
Private cloud hosting systems also leverage the efficiency and flexibility of containerization technology to enable the deployment and management of applications in isolated and portable container environments. Private cloud hosting systems use containerization in similar ways to virtualization:
Resource optimization. Containers allow for efficient utilization of resources because they are lightweight and share the host operating system kernel. In a private cloud environment, containerization enables multiple containers to run on the same physical server, optimizing resource allocation and maximizing the use of computing capacity.
Horizontal scalability. Containers can easily scale horizontally, so users can add containers to handle increased demand. Private cloud hosting systems can adapt to changing workloads using orchestration platforms like Kubernetes to automatically scale containers based on predefined rules or metrics.
Isolation and security. Containers isolate applications, ensuring that each container operates independently without interference. This isolation improves security by containing any potential security breaches within a single container, limiting its impact on other parts of the infrastructure.
Application portability. Containers are highly portable, allowing applications to run consistently across different private cloud environments or even hybrid cloud setups. This enables easier migration of applications between different private cloud instances or between private and public clouds, providing flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
DevOps and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD). Containerization aligns well with DevOps best practices and CI/CD workflows. Private cloud hosting systems can integrate containerization with CI/CD tools and processes, facilitating the rapid development, testing, and deployment of applications within the private cloud environment.
Container orchestration. Private cloud hosting systems can use container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes to manage and automate container deployment, scaling, and monitoring. These platforms provide service discovery, load balancing, automated rollout/rollbacks, and self-healing capabilities, making it easier to manage containerized applications in the private cloud.
What Are the Types of Private Cloud?
On-premises private cloud. An on-premises or internal private cloud is built and operated within the organization’s own data center or infrastructure. The organization completely controls its hardware, software, and networking. This type of private cloud solution offers the highest level of control and customization but requires an upfront investment and ongoing maintenance.
Bare metal servers. Private cloud hosting can exist within a bare metal environment. The private cloud infrastructure is built directly on physical private cloud servers, sometimes called bare metal servers or dedicated servers, without any virtualization layer.
Traditionally, as discussed above, private clouds are associated with virtualization technologies and virtual machines (VMs). However, the emergence of bare metal cloud solutions makes a private cloud environment that runs directly on dedicated hardware possible, bypassing the need for virtualization.
Bare metal private cloud hosting offers several benefits, including enhanced performance, improved security, and greater control over the infrastructure. It can be particularly suitable for workloads that require direct access to the hardware or have specific performance requirements that virtualization may not fully meet.
What is a managed private cloud?
Managed private cloud hosting is private cloud infrastructure that is fully or partially managed by a third-party service provider. In a managed private cloud, sometimes called a hosted private cloud, the service provider takes responsibility for the setup, configuration, management, maintenance, upgrades, support, monitoring, compliance, security, backup, and disaster recovery for the underlying infrastructure and associated services. This includes managing the physical servers, storage, networking components, and virtualization technologies.
Hosted private cloud solutions can assist in scaling resources up or down based on changing demands. These services are often governed by service-level agreements (SLAs) that define the level of service, performance guarantees, uptime commitments, response times, and support availability.
Managed private cloud hosting allows organizations to offload their day-to-day management and maintenance tasks, allowing their IT teams to focus on value-added core business activities. Managed private cloud services offer a compromise: some expertise, operational efficiency, and improved reliability, with some of the benefits of a private cloud environment, such as control, security, and customization.
What is virtual private cloud hosting?
Private cloud hosting and virtual private cloud hosting (sometimes VPC) are related ideas, but they offer different types of underlying infrastructure and levels of user control. For example, differences in who controls the management of the cloud environment are central to these structures.
Private cloud hosting is a single-tenant approach that offers networking, computing, and storage resources to a provisioned application or organization. Virtual private cloud hosting is a multi-tenant model that offers an isolated environment inside a public cloud.
The basics of virtual private cloud hosting are as follows:
- Infrastructure. Virtual private cloud hosting refers to a section of public cloud infrastructure that is logically isolated, typically within the data centers of the organization using that section. It is a subset of their overall public cloud environment and a kind of hybrid cloud solution.
- Isolation. A VPC provides logical, if not physical, isolation within the public cloud infrastructure. The resources allocated to a specific virtual private cloud are separate from other VPCs in the same environment.
- Control. The organization controls the configuration and management of their virtual private cloud hosting environment, including network settings, security policies, and resource allocation.
- Scalability. VPC hosting offers similar scalability to public cloud services, so users can leverage the provider’s infrastructure to scale resources up or down as needed.
- Cost. Virtual private cloud hosting typically follows a pay-as-you-go model, offering a cost savings for some users.
What is the Difference Between Public and Private Cloud Hosting?
The main difference between public and private cloud hosting rests in who owns and controls the underlying infrastructure and who can access and use the cloud resources:
Public Cloud Services
- Infrastructure. Public cloud infrastructure is owned and managed by a cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud.
- Shared resources. Multiple customers or organizations share one pool of computing resources, including servers, storage, and networking infrastructure.
- Accessibility. Cloud services are accessible to the public over the internet. Customers can provision and utilize resources on a pay-as-you-go basis.
- Scalability. Public clouds can scale resources up or down based on demand.
- Cost. Users pay for the resources they consume.
Services such as Amazon EC2 and Google Compute Engine are public cloud offerings.
Private Cloud Hosting Providers
- Infrastructure. Cloud infrastructure is dedicated to a single organization and can be owned by the organization (on-premises) or a third-party provider (hosted private cloud).
- Isolated resources. Resources such as servers, storage, and networking are exclusively used by one organization, ensuring better control and security.
- Accessibility. Private clouds can be accessed over the internet or through a private network connection, providing a higher level of privacy and control.
- Customization. Organizations have greater flexibility to customize the cloud environment according to their specific needs and requirements.
- Cost. Private cloud hosting typically involves higher costs as the organization bears the expenses of dedicated infrastructure and maintenance for a self hosted private cloud.
VMware, Oracle, and Cisco are all examples of private cloud hosting companies.
What Are the Benefits of Private Cloud Hosting?
Private cloud hosting offers several benefits, particularly for enterprises:
Enhanced security. Private cloud hosting offers more robust security compared to public cloud services. Dedicated resources offer greater organizational control over infrastructure and allow the implementation of robust security measures tailored to meet specific needs. This is particularly beneficial for complying with strict regulations and handling sensitive data.
Increased customization. Complete control over the cloud environment allows enterprises to customize infrastructure, networking configurations, and security policies according to their specific requirements. This level of control enables organizations to optimize the cloud environment to meet their unique business needs and maximize operational efficiency.
High performance and reliability. Isolated resources ensure more consistently high performance and minimal latency. Private cloud hosting offers backup solutions, redundant infrastructure, and disaster recovery for enhanced reliability.
Compliance. A private cloud host more effectively addresses compliance requirements. Organizations with specific concerns about compliance with industry or contractual obligations or privacy for data stored on-site and online can maintain their data while complying with relevant policies and regulations within their private cloud infrastructure. No one needs to comply with irrelevant regulations—and private cloud users are empowered to avoid such unnecessary compliance.
Scalability and flexibility. Private and public cloud environments can offer comparable scalability and flexibility. Private cloud hosting solutions can be tailored to match the growth trajectory and changing requirements of organizations. Enterprises can scale resources up or down based on their needs to accommodate increased workloads or fluctuating demands.
Enhanced privacy. Private cloud hosting offers more robust privacy, as organizations have isolated space for their resources, reducing the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access. This can be critical for businesses that handle sensitive information or intellectual property.Cost optimization. Private cloud hosting typically involves higher upfront costs and ongoing maintenance expenses compared to public cloud services, yet it may still offer cost optimization benefits in the long run, especially for enterprises. By leveraging the flexibility and control private cloud hosting delivers, enterprises can optimize resource utilization, streamline operations, and potentially reduce overall costs.
Does Avi Offer Private Cloud Housing?
Avi Networks hosts infrastructure as a service (IaaS) on both public and private cloud networks rather than traditional data centers. VMware is a global leader in cloud infrastructure, and VMware for Private Cloud hosting services empower organizations to easily pool all their servers into one resource, distributed among VMs across the enterprise to run application workloads.
There are three major types of VMware private cloud hosting supported: VPC, hosted private cloud, and managed private cloud. The best private cloud hosting option for any one user depends heavily on the specific compliance requirements and goals of that organization.
Learn more about how to host a private cloud with Avi and VMWare here.