Harnessing the Power Of Hybrid Cloud Solutions: Integrating Colocation And Cloud Services

Both colocation and the cloud have delivered significant benefits to businesses of all sizes. Their benefits can, however, be increased by combining them to create hybrid cloud solutions. Here is a quick guide to what you need to know.

The basics of colocation

Colocation is the service of providing managed data center infrastructure. The colocation vendor manages everything to do with the data center facility itself. Businesses manage their own equipment and the data on it.

The basics of cloud solutions

Cloud solutions are ways to deliver computing resources over a network. They come in two main forms, private and public.

Private clouds are used by a single entity. They are often run on in-house infrastructure but may be hosted on dedicated third-party servers. Either way, they will be integrated into the entity’s internal network. Most private clouds will also connect to the internet.

Public clouds are shared infrastructure that can be accessed by anyone. By default, they deliver their resources over the public internet. They may, however, also have direct connections with key real-world locations such as data centers.

The services offered by public clouds are generally divided into four main categories. These are infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), Function as a Service (FaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). FaaS is more commonly known as “serverless computing”.

The basics of hybrid cloud solutions

Hybrid cloud solutions are solutions that blend colocation infrastructure with cloud infrastructure. This can be as simple as adding a single public cloud solution to an existing colocation solution. Alternatively, it can be as complex as integrating multiple colocation facilities with multiple public cloud solutions. It all depends on the organization’s needs, wants, and budget.

The benefits of hybrid cloud solutions

The benefits of hybrid cloud solutions are the benefits of both colocation solutions and cloud solutions plus the benefits of combining them. Here are five of the key benefits that hybrid cloud solutions deliver.

Cost-efficiency: In general, using colocation for core processing is more cost-effective than using a public cloud. It does not, however, necessarily scale quickly enough to cope with sudden traffic spikes. Integrating colocation with a public cloud solves this problem and, hence, eliminates the need for businesses to overprovision their use of colocation resources.

Optimized performance: Another major benefit of hybrid systems is that you have a lot more options for distributing workloads. This gives you a lot more options for optimizing the performance of your system.

More granular security: With hybrid cloud solutions, you have the option to keep data permanently on your own servers or to allow it to move between environments. If you allow data to move between environments, you can set the rules that define how and when it can be moved. For example, you may allow data to be moved to a public cloud for processing but not stored there permanently.

Improved flexibility: Hybrid cloud solutions offer the customizability of colocation with the scalability of public cloud solutions. This gives businesses the ultimate in flexibility and, hence, agility.

Enhanced geographical reach: Colocation solutions can be used to deploy infrastructure near established user bases (or where you are actively developing user bases). Cloud solutions can be used to enable service delivery in areas where there are not (yet) enough users to justify implementing a colocation solution.

The challenges of hybrid cloud solutions

Although hybrid cloud solutions deliver many benefits, they can also bring challenges. Here are five of the main ones along with guidance on how they can be addressed.

Data security and compliance: Employ robust encryption mechanisms, access controls, and identity management solutions to protect data both in transit and at rest. Implement comprehensive security policies and regularly audit compliance to ensure adherence to relevant regulations and standards.

Data governance and management: Implement centralized data management tools and policies to maintain visibility and control over data across hybrid environments. Utilize data governance frameworks and metadata management solutions to enforce data policies consistently and ensure data quality.

Interoperability and integration complexity: Utilize standardized APIs, middleware, and integration tools to facilitate seamless communication and data exchange between different components of the hybrid cloud environment. Implementing consistent data formats and protocols can also streamline integration efforts.

Resource management and orchestration: Employ cloud orchestration tools, workload automation, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) practices to automate provisioning, scaling, and management of resources. Implement centralized monitoring and management platforms to gain visibility and control over hybrid infrastructure, facilitating efficient resource allocation and utilization.

Network connectivity and latency: Establish redundant and high-speed network connections between real-world data centers and cloud providers. Utilize content delivery networks (CDNs), edge computing, and hybrid networking solutions to minimize latency and improve performance for distributed applications and services.