What is hybrid cloud storage?
Hybrid cloud storage is a type of infrastructure that connects public and private cloud storage to on-premises resources.
Hybrid cloud storage is one of the recent methods of storing data in the cloud. It is growing in popularity as it combines the benefits of public and private cloud such as scalability, flexibility, data security, and privacy.
Hybrid cloud storage infrastructure allows data to be shared between the public and the private cloud. It is a combination of public cloud with either an on-premises or private cloud infrastructure. It is a composition of these elements that keep unique entities like connectors, software, and hardware bound together by standardized technology.
Benefits of using hybrid cloud storage
For organizations, hybrid cloud storage can serve as an optimal storage solution when compared to other non-cloud ones. This is because hybrid cloud solutions combine the benefits of public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises storage into a single, unified offering. Hybrid cloud storage offers the following benefits:
- Scalability: Hybrid cloud infrastructure helps organizations scale resources and optimize performance based on their changing needs. Establishing and implementing data center infrastructure makes private networks quite expensive for organizations. Private networks are configured in a way that any other devices outside the network do not have access. Hybrid cloud storage offers users more scalable storage options than physical data centers since it is easier to provision and scale resources to meet any increase in demand.
- Flexibility: Organizations work with a variety of data and adjust their infrastructure as per their workloads and applications. A hybrid cloud uses traditional as well as modern cloud technologies to help find the best possible mix of cloud and on-premises offerings. Organizations can migrate data to and from the traditional infrastructure and public cloud whenever required.
- Cost management: Hybrid cloud storage users have a choice to run the workloads in private or public cloud environments depending on their needs. Initially, companies would need to invest in upfront hardware costs. The introduction of hybrid cloud storage helps users lower long-term costs for an organization, thus saving a major chunk of their budget.
Basic elements of hybrid cloud storage architecture
Hybrid cloud storage infrastructure is more complicated than just setting up a private or public cloud offering. Since data migration is a crucial part of the installation process, access and control must be centralized well.
The following elements of hybrid cloud storage architecture keep the functioning of hybrid cloud storage in place:
- Public cloud: Every hybrid cloud architecture consists of at least one public cloud component. Public cloud service providers usually own and manage hardware infrastructure needs such as computing, storage, and networks in data centers.
- Private cloud or on-premises servers: Private cloud, also referred to as internal cloud or corporate cloud, is the infrastructure in which the hardware and the software are dedicated to a single customer. Private cloud serves only the organizations with the required infrastructure, resulting in higher costs compared to public cloud. They can be hosted on-premises or accessed via the cloud.
- Integrators: The entire data center architecture depends on how well it is connected. Active communication between each element is required which is accomplished using application programming interfaces (APIs), virtual private networks (VPNs), and wide area networks (WANs).
- Data fabric: Data fabric is a data management solution that acts as a layer of data and connecting processes. It provides a unified approach to the data lifecycle that runs on a hybrid environment. It allows organizations to manage dataflows.
Hybrid cloud storage best practices
Hybrid cloud storage can help improve a company’s IT efficiency. It can be easily achieved if the following best practices are followed:
- Analyze the organization’s workloads: It is important that organizations study and understand their types of workloads and applications so that the appropriate type of storage can be identified.
- Look for partner expertise: When choosing a hybrid cloud storage offering, a best practice is to opt for a software vendor that agrees to lend their expertise to the user.
- Data security and governance should also be a priority: Data portability, data sharing, and data governance are usually a concern for any organization. Hybrid cloud storage mitigates the risk involved in them by replicating important data in nodes and clusters. It is advisable to know how hybrid cloud storage options will impact data privacy rules across borders.
- Expect to proceed slowly: Data storage migration to hybrid cloud architecture is a slow process. Companies must account for the time it takes to migrate data before they start observing the benefits of data migration.
- Run audits from time to time: IT teams come across threats and challenges as they emerge. However, running detailed audits occasionally will help understand the infrastructure health in real time. Some public cloud vendors own tools that do not coordinate with the other systems, leading to vendor lock-in issues. IT teams should look for best-fit third-party observability tools. These tools aid in revealing threats in any type of cloud environment.
- Follow a “no trust” principle: Organizations should make sure that no new resource should interfere with the environment until deemed secure by the compliance and IT teams in the organization. It is advisable to not allow local servers to join hybrid cloud infrastructure until tested.
- Implement unified security management: Establishing a set of standard security procedures helps in reducing oversights like security breaches.
- Back up data separately: Data backups help in safeguarding against ransomware attacks. Data backups should be stored separately from the hybrid storage environment because storing data backups in the same place as that of a hybrid environment can lead to security threats, data breaches, and cybersecurity attacks when due to a breach in the hybrid environment.
Shalaka Joshi
Shalaka is a Senior Research Analyst at G2, with a focus on data and design. Prior to joining G2, she has worked as a merchandiser in the apparel industry and also had a stint as a content writer. She loves reading and writing in her leisure.
