This is Part 7 of cloud computing tutorial. There are different types of clouds - Public cloud,
Private cloud, Hybrid cloud. In this video, we'll discuss what is a public cloud, its benefits,
limitations and use cases. In our upcoming videos, we'll discuss private and hybrid clouds. First
public cloud. As the name implies, a public cloud is public and it is the most common type of cloud.
It is easy for anyone that is an individual or an organization to start using public cloud
resources and services. There is no upfront huge capital expenditure. You don't have to buy
the expensive hardware or worry about setup and maintaining the cloud. This is because,
with the public cloud all the infrastructure, that is the physical servers, storage, networking etc
are procured and owned by the cloud service provider. It is this cloud service provider
that sets up the cloud and maintains it there on. Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services are
examples of a public cloud. We access public cloud resources and services over the internet. So to
use a public cloud we need an internet connection and to manage the cloud services and resources the
cloud service provider provides a web portal. For the cloud services and resources we use, we pay a
monthly fee to the cloud service provider. This monthly fee is like your utility bills, water
or electricity. For example, it's pay-as-you-go model, meaning you only pay for what you use.
Anyone can use the public cloud. In a public cloud your organization share the same hardware,
storage and network devices with other organizations. In cloud computing terms this
is called multi-tenancy. Your organization data may be stored along with other organizations data
on the same storage device. Now, let's look at the benefits of the public cloud. You don't have
to buy expensive hardware or set up your own data center, that is no upfront capital expenditure.
It supports pay as you go model. You only pay for what you use, just like your water or electricity
monthly bills. No maintenance headaches. You as a consumer don't have to worry about maintaining the
public cloud, that is replacing the failed hardware, installing the security patches,
updates etc. Your service provider is responsible for maintaining the public cloud. You only pay a
small monthly fee based on the cloud services you use. Highly scalable. You will almost never
run out of resources in a public cloud. Based on your business needs you can scale resources
up and down. You can even automate this by setting threshold limits.
Highly reliable. A public cloud is a vast network of servers. So data is always
backed up. This means hardware failure, power failure, natural disaster or other crisis do not
result in data loss. So bottom line, public cloud is highly reliable. Next,
limitations. Low visibility and control. Public cloud infrastructure is owned by the cloud
service provider. So, you don't have much visibility and control over it. Compliance and
legal risks. Since you don't have much visibility and control over the public cloud infrastructure,
you are relying on the cloud service provider to protect data and adhere to local
and international regulations. Your company may still be liable if the cloud service provider
fails to live up to the task and if there is a data breach. So a public cloud may not be the most
viable solution for security sensitive or mission critical applications. Cost concerns. Cloud in
general reduces upfront infrastructure costs and its pay as you go model provides more flexibility.
Depending on the traffic, the amount of cloud resources you consume, the plan you have chosen,
the way you scale resources up and down determines the overall price you pay. Sometimes this overall
price tag may be higher than what you anticipated. Next, let's look at the use cases for public
cloud. We never run out of resources in a public cloud. It provides near unlimited scalability.
So if you want to dynamically scale up and down at will, then public cloud is your solution.
Businesses with varying peak demands greatly benefit from the public cloud. When there is high
demand, you scale up and when the demand subsides, you scale down and pay only for what you use.
Fast growing businesses also greatly benefit from the public cloud. They can use the public cloud
and quickly scale up their operations rather than having to build their own private cloud which not
only has huge upfront capital expenditure but also time consuming. Businesses can also benefit from
the public cloud by using it for backup and disaster recovery solutions. In our upcoming
videos we'll discuss private and hybrid clouds. That's it in this video. Thank you for listening.