Futureproof hybrid cloud platform for modern apps Introduction The past few years have seen a significant inclination of major enterprises towards the hybrid cloud platform. Digitization has forced the hands of businesses to reconsider utilizing the hybrid cloud approach. And after COVID-19, our lives have become entirely dependent on technology. Hence, due to such lifestyle and career choices, enterprises are constantly adopting new-age technological tools like cloud platforms. Gartner predicted that by 2024 approximately 45% of the expenses of IT will switch from traditional solutions to cloud-based solutions. The world is witnessing an increase in demands for technological advancements, faster delivery of applications and services. To gain agility and stay ahead in the competition most organizations prefer hybrid cloud infrastructure. Besides improving business efficiency, hybrid cloud infrastructure can also pose some challenges in terms of management and operations. Before we get started on future-proof hybrid cloud strategies. Let us understand what a hybrid cloud is first. What is a Hybrid Cloud Platform? A hybrid cloud platform is a combination of on-premises public and private clouds. Hybrid clouds deliver the best of both by switching platforms and transferring workload between them. In hybrid cloud platforms, both private and public clouds work in sync with the help of hybrid cloud management tools. In general, hybrid clouds connect on-premises data centers to public clouds. The hybrid cloud allows enterprises to choose between platforms that provide the best performance, security for hosting data and applications. It is cheaper to run big data applications on public clouds than on sensitive data. It makes more sense to keep sensitive data in the private cloud. Hybrid cloud solutions provide access to a single pool of resources that can be shared seamlessly. This supports an enterprise’s effort of digital transformation along with modern application strategies. Hybrid Cloud Architecture Managing overall public and private cloud resources is more convenient rather than managing individual cloud platforms. As a result, the processes are simplified by reducing redundancies. The basic components required to form a hybrid cloud architecture are: Public Infrastructure as a Service Platform (Iaas) It provides public cloud services for storing data and networking resources. The most used IaaS platforms are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Private Cloud Platforms and On-Premises Infrastructure Private clouds act as an on-demand cloud deployment model. It includes major hardware components like on-premises data centers, servers, storage, and networking equipment. Management Tools Any cloud infrastructure’s important concern is its security. These different sets of tools allow businesses to keep a tab on the performance and storage capacity of hybrid cloud environments. Hybrid cloud management tools use the concept of open-source IaaS integrated with public cloud platforms. Network Connection For a successful hybrid cloud strategy, it is important to have a strong network connection. It is mostly accomplished by using application programming interfaces (APIs), Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and wide area networks (WANs). Benefits of Hybrid Cloud The implementation of Hybrid cloud computing offers several benefits to enterprises. Flexibility Generally, a hybrid cloud platform uses both traditional systems as well as the latest cloud technology. The load balancing feature allows enterprises to seamlessly migrate workloads to the new cloud environment. Hybrid clouds allow organizations to scale up and down according to need. Thus, allowing them to adapt to changing business demands quickly. Cost-Effective Private clouds use on-premise infrastructure that requires immense capital investment to deploy and maintain. Whereas hybrid clouds let organizations divide and run workloads between environments that prove to be cost-effective. Agility and Scalability Although private cloud platforms are highly agile in terms of provisioning and scaling, on-premise data centers have fewer resources available. This could be a problem when there is an increase in workload or a spike in demands. With hybrid clouds, you can easily migrate local workload from private infrastructure to public infrastructure. Security and compliance Security is one of the biggest concerns for IT organizations. In the case of public cloud environments, businesses do not have any control over cloud infrastructure. The entire infrastructure is the exclusive property of the provider. Organizations have a higher risk of losing data in event of a security breach. Therefore it makes sense to keep sensitive data in a private environment while operating workloads in the cloud or vice versa. Since certain multinational organizations have restrictions on the migration of certain workloads. Hybrid Cloud Challenges And Strategies To Overcome Them Hybrid cloud platforms are a solution for rapid product deployment, agility, and integration of private environments with public infrastructure. However, implementing hybrid cloud platforms is one giant step for IT enterprises. Discarding traditional solutions overnight is not child’s play and is nearly impossible. Some of the most significant challenges faced by organizations are: Compatibility The first and foremost challenge in adopting hybrid cloud solutions is the compatibility of existing applications with the cloud platform. To successfully implement the hybrid cloud infrastructure organizations need to modernize applications that are incompatible with the cloud platform. Migration from a private environment to a hybrid cloud system is a time-consuming process. The easiest method of modernization of legacy applications is through “lift and shift”. It involves moving the application without altering the data or the application. The location of the application i.e the public or private cloud system depends on the workload requirements. If organizations want to restructure the code of the existing application or improve business continuity. In that case, organizations can modify their applications in order to adapt them to a new environment using refactoring migration. Security Each day tons of data are moving to the cloud, which is why organizations must have strategies to protect them. A typical hybrid cloud model involves transferring data between public and private clouds. Therefore it is easy for intruders to steal your data in the event of a security breach. To overcome data privacy and security breach problems organizations need to implement strategies. Such as using endpoint verification protocols, VPN, and data… Continue reading Futureproof hybrid cloud platform for modern apps