We all have used public cloud services to store our data online at some point in time. It can be in the form of emails, online photo albums, or file storage services. But the concept of a private cloud can be a bit difficult for novice users. Private Cloud shares a lot of similarities with the traditional medium of data centers which adds to further confusion.

In this article, we’ll illustrate the concepts of Public Cloud, Private Cloud, and what are the major differences between these two platforms. In addition to it, we’ll also discuss why an increasing number of businesses are migrating to the PowerFolder platform these days.

Public Cloud

A Public Cloud is a cloud platform available to the public at large. The public cloud service provider gives access to its platform, resources, infrastructure, and software to multiple individuals and business organizations. However, a user’s data always remains hidden from other users on the same platform.

Public Cloud service can be either partially free with fewer features and limited storage quota, or completely paid in nature. The organization has an option to upgrade with a monthly or annual subscription to acquire additional storage quota. Public Cloud platforms are mostly available through pay per usage payment basis wherein the customer can acquire additional storage capabilities and on-demand resources for additional payment.

Private Cloud

A Private Cloud is a cloud platform that is not shared with the public at large. It is strictly limited to only one organization, and the resources are not shared with any other organizations or individuals.

A private Cloud server is often hosted internally on a company’s premises and administered by its own workforce. In some ways, it shares a lot of similarities with the traditional data center and is often confused with it.

Difference: Public Cloud and Private Cloud

Cost

Public Cloud is commonly used due to its reduced operational costs and economic benefits. It has a flexible pricing structure suitable for students, personal users, households, small organizations, and anyone looking to store their data online.

In contrast, a Private Cloud is expensive. It costs expenses on the workforce, server setup, maintenance, upgrades, and repair. Over time, the organization requires to spend on repair and replacement of the existing servers.

Easiness

Public Cloud is very easy to set up without needing to deploy a separate IT force. Your organization can set up a public cloud within hours by setting up a connection to the remote servers.

Setting up Private Cloud servers is relatively difficult, requires server configuration and other self-service.

Maintenance & Upgradation

Public Cloud is maintained by the cloud server provider, and not by the organization. Your organization doesn’t have to look into the technicalities, server maintenance, software and hardware up-gradation, and other aspects.

Private Cloud requires the organization to set up, maintain, and upgrade the infrastructure. The organization needs to deploy a dedicated IT force to look after the server maintenance, repair, and hardware & software up-gradation.

Long-term Commitments

With Public Cloud, there are no commitments to sign long-term contracts with the cloud provider. It is beneficial for individuals, small and medium scale businesses who don’t have proper estimates of their storage requirements in the long term. No long-term contracts mean you pay as your business and revenues grow.

Private Cloud typically requires long term commitments as the organization deploys a significant workforce, resources to set up and maintain the infrastructure.

Security

Since the resources are shared with third-party users and organizations, the security offered is relatively lower in Public Cloud.

Private Cloud offers a higher level of security as the resources are not shared with other parties.

PowerFolder: Best Public & Private Cloud Service

PowerFolder offers both Public Cloud and Private Cloud services with lightning speed data migration. PowerFolder has added security protection to protect your data from viruses and malware. Now, you can collaborate in teams, backup your documents periodically with high quality and low maintenance servers. PowerFolder makes it easy to integrate multiple departments or branches of your organization regardless of where they are located.

Features

• Collaborate within the team and share large files seamlessly
• Protects data hosted on both public and private cloud platforms
• Automatic synchronization
• Dedicated backup protects your data against data loss, accidental deletion
• Seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook
• Public Cloud servers are hosted in the European servers
• Private Cloud servers can be hosted on your organization’s infrastructure
• Lightening speed data transfer and migration