Why should I move from virtualization to private cloud?

While virtualization continues to create a buzz among businesses due to its ability to reduce IT cost and create an efficient, automated and flexible workload environment, many organizations are now considering moving from virtualization to a private cloud system.

What’s the difference?

Both private cloud computing and virtualization offer similar advantages and services to the organization. However, they differ from one another on philosophies and how each of them is set up.

A private cloud is a form of cloud computing whereby the cloud provider delivers a customized infrastructure for a given client. While public cloud providers may offer similar services to different clients, this is not the case with private cloud providers. Here, the vendor extracts the company data, transmits it to a remote location which is stored at a different place than any other data that the vendor might have.

In contrast to this, when you are using virtualization services, the network doesn’t send your company data to any cloud at all. Instead, it sends it to virtual machines. What are virtual machines? These refer to the splitting up of physical hardware pieces. This way, virtualization delivers more flexibility because each machine gets CPU and memory according to its requirement. This makes virtualization ideal for handing storage. Also, when you do virtualization and private cloud cost analysis, virtualization comes out to be the more cost-effective option of the two.

So, you have a choice to create your virtual machines and store your data in-house or use a cloud to store it at a third-party remote location.

Why move to a private cloud?

On the surface, you might think that virtualization is a better option. After all, it saves you money and offers flexibility. However, now the world is moving towards cloud solutions and you should too. Here is why.

Increased security

Since private cloud offers you remote and isolated storage of your data, when coupled with the right anti-virus software, excellent physical security, and advanced firewall rules, private cloud manages to be highly secured. You can rest assured that all your company data is as safe in this remote location as it would have been had it been sitting right in front of you. Since you know where your server is located, you can meet your vendor as per your desires to ensure that they are delivering the required security for your data.

Increased flexibility

If virtualization offers flexibility, the private cloud takes it one step further. This is because virtual machines are limited in terms of memory and storage. However, in the case of private cloud computing, you can increase the RAM and CPU of the server without having to find a physical server big enough to store your data. This helps in reducing hassle as well as your responsibility when it comes to data storage.

Better protection against disasters when combined with SAN

When you connect your private cloud with SAN, you can achieve a great amount of redundancy and enhanced protection against catastrophe. This is because combining SAN with private cloud allows you to balance your data load between various servers and automatically shift server resources from one to another. Also, you can shut down a given server without it impacting the performance of the other servers or causing any downtime. However, this requires the correct configuration. If the setting is done properly, then turning off one server will automatically shift the load to the next available option.

Moving beyond virtualization

IT expectations are rising. And this has created a void in the market. Various service providers and companies alike have responded to this increasing demand for autonomy and self-service by delivering quality private cloud system.

There was a time when co-location services were the new big thing. Now, they have evolved to form private cloud services that deliver extensive choices to the user in terms of handling infrastructure, providing security, and offering software applications.

Conclusion

Migrate from virtualization to private cloud. Benefit from similar services but better control and autonomy. The pay-per-use model along with the lack of in-house infrastructure needed makes it an excellent choice for both small and large businesses alike.