Most hybrid clouds combine a public cloud with a private cloud.
A hybrid cloud mixes two or more types of cloud environments. Hybrid cloud deployments combine public* and private clouds**, and they may also include on-premises legacy infrastructure. For a cloud to truly be hybrid, these different cloud environments must be tightly interconnected with each other, essentially functioning as one combined infrastructure. Almost all hybrid clouds include at least one public cloud.
A hybrid cloud is somewhat like a hybrid car. Hybrid cars combine two totally distinct technologies: an engine that burns gasoline and electric power. Each technology functions in a totally different way, and each one has its benefits and drawbacks. However, when the two are combined effectively, the result is a car that is more efficient than most gasoline-only cars and yet more powerful than most all-electric cars. Similarly, hybrid clouds combine the benefits of multiple types of cloud environments for greater efficiency and functionality.
Hybrid clouds have a number of uses. An organization may use their private cloud for some services and their public cloud for others, or they may use the public cloud as backup for their private cloud. They can also use the public cloud to handle periods of high demand, while keeping most operations within their private cloud.
(For more on how cloud technology works, see What Is the Cloud?)
The combination of any two of the environments listed below can be considered "hybrid cloud":
A multicloud deployment combines multiple public clouds, while a hybrid cloud combines a public cloud with another type of environment. Hybrid clouds combine apples and oranges – a multicloud deployment is more like combining many types of apples.
A multicloud can also be a hybrid cloud if it mixes multiple types of cloud environments, in addition to using multiple public clouds – just as a rectangle can be a square, but not all rectangles are squares. Conversely, a hybrid cloud deployment can also be multicloud if it uses several public clouds.
For a hybrid cloud to work well, the connection between the separate clouds is key. Public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises infrastructure can connect to each other in a variety of ways, including:
Without a working connection between clouds, an organization is not running a hybrid cloud – they are merely running two or more separate cloud environments in parallel, and they won't reap the benefits of hybrid cloud deployments.
The Cloudflare global network sits between end users and Cloudflare customers' infrastructure, protecting both users and companies, and accelerating traffic to and from the users. Cloudflare can be deployed in front of any type of network infrastructure, including hybrid cloud and multicloud.
After reading this article you will be able to:
What Is Multicloud?
What Is a Cloud Firewall?
What is Cloud Migration?
What Is Hybrid Cloud?
What Is the Cloud?
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