What is the difference between public and private cloud hosting methods?
It’s never been more important to stay competitive and agile. Over the last few years, disruptions in both the technology and financial sectors have pushed businesses to implement major changes. As a result, most accounting firms have started to ditch their traditional accounting systems for cloud-based QuickBooks hosting software that’s hosted online, which a lot of them are starting to find easier and faster than before.
Cloud computing has become a popular way to store, access and process data. The outsourcing of important services related to hardware and software means that customers save time and money while tech staff gains the time they need to work on more important things. However, there are still plenty of debates as to whether it’s better to have sets of computers in other locations run by other companies for your organization or if you want your own servers — this is called either public or private server cloud hosting.
Let’s discuss private hosting first:
Private hosting is a form of cloud computing that is just for your business, not shared with anyone else. This means you can access your data at all times, and there’s more security to stop any unwanted intrusions. For example: Firms that handle sensitive data, such as pharmacies, legal enterprises, accounting firms, and personal record agencies will want to focus on a third-party hosting service that provides a dedicated server and related hardware. This is one of the most reliable solutions for those who are protecting their consumers’ privacy rights.
Benefits of private hosting
Higher security
A private cloud is significantly more secure compared to a public one as the firm’s infrastructure lies behind a firewall controlled by only one administrator and protected by an internal network. This means that access needs to be authenticated and encrypted, so sensitive data does not get stolen or compromised. Since there is only one administrator, the company can take stricter control of it, which includes granting of access to some people only — depending on their role in the company or department. It also ensures more flexibility and ease in coordinating content between users since everyone has direct administrative rights over the server they store their files on.
Scalability
Scalability is an important factor that controls the evolution of firms as they typically grow in size. As these companies increase their data limits or their hardware needs expand, they need to have more space and efficient ways to do so without sacrificing growth.
More reliability
When technical help is required, especially in the case of cloud services, there is no confusion about which people turn to for help. One admin manages the entire cloud’s performance and if a problem arises, there’s someone for you to call that is familiar with the system and can make an effective change to improve quality of services. This makes the whole cloud system more reliable for you.
Drawback of private cloud
Private cloud hosting is not a viable option for businesses that fall into the SMB category because this configuration is more costly compared to public cloud hosting. In addition, companies may also have to bear the cost of on-field IT teams to execute private cloud deployment.
For many organizations and SMEs, the cost of private cloud hosting can put it out of reach. Public cloud hosting is significantly cheaper for organizations with smaller budgets. On top of this, firms may need to employ in-house IT personnel to manage the deployment process. Although increased control over development platforms and software applications is a useful benefit of private cloud hosting, it does require an in-house IT support team and more expertise than public cloud computing services.
Working with a QuickBooks hosting provider, you do not have to worry about the budget as they follow pay as you go model and you can only pay for what you are using.
What is public cloud?
A public cloud is a collection of hardware infrastructure, available on the internet as a utility service. Since you don’t have to build your own servers and cooling facilities, you can form a more cost-effective budget while experiencing the benefits of scalability and having access to the newest technologies.
Benefits
Low cost
The biggest advantage of public cloud hosting is the low cost. The number of users on these platforms allows providers to minimize costs. In many cases free services are offered with advertising to help generate revenue for the provider.
Expanding capability
Due to the extensive capabilities of using a public cloud, companies can expand or restrict themselves according to their needs and essentially have the ability to grow with hosting space at whatever pace they need. The company will thus have access to cutting-edge infrastructure without investing in IT staff to maintain it.
Drawback of public cloud
The biggest drawback with public clouds is that they provide weak security and privacy capabilities. Inadequate security increases the risk of cyber-attacks, which could result in loss of data, consumer confidence, and unplanned downtime. Moreover, retrieving stored data from a public cloud can be troublesome and time-consuming due to the irregular access controls or policies for data deletion. Most cloud environments do not sufficiently protect user data from unauthorized access — and that is something most businesses and consumers alike want to avoid at all costs. It also damages consumer confidence in your business as people will shy away from doing business with you if they aren’t confident their private data won’t be released publicly, or fall into the wrong hands.
However, choosing a reliable QuickBooks hosting provider such as Quick Cloud Hosting can get you best of public cloud with advanced security features deployed on their cloud servers. As they offer hosting for all editions and versions of QB, like QuickBooks premier hosting, pro and enterprise hosting.
