DevOps FundamentalsWhen you think of the technological advancements that have made their mark on businesses within the last two decades, cloud computing is likely at top of mind. This type of internet computing happens when a user accesses IT resources via a web connection. Today’s software platforms and storage systems often reside on remote databases and not on local hardware, which presents a unique set of benefits and challenges. Internet computing falls within four categories (1). Let’s explore some of the pros and cons of each of them.
Public Clouds
Public clouds consist of data centers that are used to warehouse software, network infrastructure, and development environments. Most third-party service providers such as IBM (2) and Salesforce offer software, platform, and infrastructure-as-a-service packages to the public for a subscription fee. Some public internet computing environments such as Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Outlook are free for non-commercial use.
Pros
Public clouds (3) allow small and medium-sized businesses to compete with much larger and more established organizations. Instead of buying IT resources for anticipated growth, public clouds allow business operators to pay only for what they need at the moment. When growth occurs, they simply upgrade services and expand their offerings using the vast IT resources of the service provider.
DevOps(4)is a set of practices for software development and IT operations that relies heavily on team collaboration. Collaboration is heightened by the visibility that organizations get when they use public clouds.
Cons
Depending on your industry, cyber security is more than just an add-on feature. Businesses that operate in healthcare and financial services are mandated by law to have robust security measures in place to protect sensitive data. Public clouds take security out of the hands of companies and outsource it to third-party providers. This is often unacceptable for some organizations that are liable if data is stolen while residing on public clouds.
Private Clouds
Private clouds are also administered by third-party service providers, but the services are for use by a single customer’s staff. When companies use public clouds, they often pay for features within their packages that they don’t need. If they want a service that’s not in their package, they must pay extra for an upgrade.
Pros
Using a private computing environment allows business operators to customize its features for a company’s exclusive use.
DevOps evolved into DevSecOps as the need for integrated cyber security increased over the years. Private clouds provide the best cloud security for the implementation of DevSecOps.
Cons
Private clouds are more expensive than public ones due to custom features and services that have costs that can’t be spread across a wider audience.
Hybrid Clouds
Hybrid clouds offer business operators the best of both worlds when choosing between public and private clouds. Hybrid clouds combine the scalability of public clouds with the security of private ones. Hybrid clouds also interoperate with on-premises infrastructure.
Pros
Cloud security for hybrid clouds is superior to that of public clouds. Some IT companies prefer hybrid clouds when
creating custom cloud development environments. They can keep critical work private but scale up when necessary by using public clouds.
Cons
Hybrid clouds are hard to execute because of compatibility concerns. Software applications on private clouds may not be compatible with the infrastructure that’s housed on public ones.
Community Clouds
Interdisciplinary projects are on trend. Community clouds allow different organizations to work together on these types of projects within a private internet computing environment.
Pros
Community clouds are more cost-efficient than private clouds since service providers can spread infrastructure and service costs across many customers. However, community clouds still maintain high levels of security since they aren’t accessible to the general public.
Cons
Community clouds are characterized by shared data and other IT resources. Multiple tenants in community clouds make negotiating service level agreements for those shared resources more difficult.
Conclusion
While each type of developer cloud serves different audiences, they all have something in common. They’re all targets for today’s cybercriminals. IT professionals must remain vigilant as both technology and cybercrimes become more sophisticated. Most cybersecurity experts will agree that it’s important to build security into cloud-based IT systems from start to finish.
References
- http://)https://anyconnector.com/en/software-integration/types-of-cloud-computing.html
- https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/public-cloud
- https://avataracloud.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-public-cloud/
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/what-is-devops/#devops-overview