The benefits of cloud backup are being acknowledged on a global scale. If you are still considering cloud deployment, then it is necessary to be familiar with the various forms of cloud. Cloud services come in various shapes and sizes. Enterprises, small to mid-sized businesses and even Governments can utilize these services for different purposes.

Different Cloud Deployment Options

Traditional Infrastructure: This infrastructure sits in your data centers, requires several resources such as power, cooling, maintenance and management staff. This infrastructure isn’t typically capable of backing your data up to the cloud but with cloud gateway appliances you can backup your data to the cloud.

On-premises Cloud Backup Appliances: This infrastructure provides on-premises backup and backup to the cloud using cloud connect services. Most on-premise appliances provide a private cloud only; however, StoneFly’s backup appliances facilitate the user to connect not just with StoneFly’s private cloud but also with public clouds such as Microsoft and Amazon.

Public Cloud: There are two options when considering public clouds: cloud backup cloud storage. The difference between the two is that cloud storage is basically meant to facilitate file sync and share. It isn’t ideal for backup and disaster recovery. Comparatively the backup service is specifically designed to back up your data to the cloud. The cloud backup service ensures that data is always available and recoverable.

Cloud Gateways: Cloud gateway appliances are, as the name suggests, devices that enable your existing backup infrastructure to the cloud. This transforms your backup solution to a hybrid cloud solution. You can backup your data on your backup infrastructure and replicate it over the cloud. Furthermore, you can utilize the storage tiers of public cloud service providers such as Microsoft and Amazon using StoneFly’s cloud gateway appliances. These storage tiers provide cost effective ways of archiving data.

Cloud Computing: There are three types of cloud computing services: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Each computing service (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) has different applications and is convenient for diverse reasons.

The kind of cloud deployment that suits best for your enterprise can vary. It can be a single enterprise cloud storage solution or it can be a combination of different cloud solutions. In order to choose the best cloud solution, you need to analyze your data requirements before you start considering the move to the cloud.