Navigating the Landscape of Data Storage: Comparing Traditional Server Farms, Cloud Computing, and Hybrid Cloud (Case Study)

Regarding the evolution of data, we’ve come a long way since punch cards and floppy disks. We now have Flash drives, Solid State Drives, data servers, and local storage, in addition to how we store and process data online. Data lakes and cloud storage are the primary ways of storing and accessing data on the Internet.

This case study will discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and differences between traditional server farms, cloud computing, and hybrid cloud computing.

Traditional Server Farms

A traditional server farm is a physical location where computer servers are housed and managed. These servers store and process data, run applications, and provide other IT services.

Server farms have several advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of traditional server farms include the following:

• Control: You have complete control over your data and infrastructure.
• Reliability: You can ensure that your data is always available.
• Security: You can implement your own security measures.

The largest server farms offer customizable options for colocation services, access to high-capacity network connectivity, and around-the-clock security and support.

The disadvantages of traditional server farms include the following:

• Complexity: Managing a traditional server farm can be complex and time-consuming.
• Cost: It can be expensive to purchase and maintain the hardware and software for a traditional server farm.
• Inflexibility: It can be difficult to scale a traditional server farm up or down as needed.

The most notable disadvantage of server farms is that they use an exorbitant amount of energy and electricity. An average-sized server farm can use enough electricity to power a small town. Some of the largest server farms are nearly a million square feet.

The largest traditional server farms include KDDI America, China Telecom, and CenturyLink.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the Internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical server farms and data centers, you can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, on an as-needed basis from cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.

Cloud computing has several advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of cloud computing include the following:

• Cost: Cloud computing can be more cost-effective than traditional server farms.
• Reliability: Cloud providers offer a high level of reliability.
• Scalability: You can easily scale your cloud resources up or down as needed.
• Security: Cloud providers offer a high level of security.

Cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform run on their already-established infrastructure that many are familiar with. They provide management tools side-by-side with their other end-user products, such as Gmail, including computing, data storage, data analytics, and machine learning.

The disadvantages of cloud computing include the following:

• Compliance: You must ensure that your cloud service use complies with all applicable laws and regulations.
• Security: Security is a shared responsibility between you and the cloud provider.
• Vendor lock-in: Once you have chosen a cloud provider, it can be difficult to switch to another provider.

Downtime, data loss, theft and hijacking, leakage, insecure APIs, and DoS attacks are only some of the specific disadvantages of the Cloud. Since data is only accessible to the customer via the Internet, it also makes it accessible to hackers and data leakage.

The most popular cloud providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud is a combination of a public cloud and a private cloud. This allows you to take advantage of the benefits of both cloud computing and traditional server farms.

Hybrid cloud has several advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of a hybrid cloud include:

• Cost: You can save money using the public cloud for less-critical workloads and the private cloud for more-critical workloads.
• Flexibility: You can have the flexibility to use the best solution for each workload.
• Reliability: You can improve reliability by using the public cloud for peak workloads and the private cloud for non-peak workloads.
• Security: You can improve security by storing sensitive data in the private cloud and using the public cloud for less-sensitive data.

Ultimately, hybrid cloud offers a unique balance of control, performance, and scalability. Deployment can be expeditious, and overall business is made agile.

The disadvantages of a hybrid cloud include the following:

• Complexity: Managing a hybrid cloud can be complex.
• Security: You need to ensure that the security of your hybrid cloud is adequate.
• Vendor lock-in: You may become locked into a particular cloud provider.

Vulnerable and complex security and decreased control are among the top disadvantages of hybrid cloud. Maintaining visibility can prove difficult, and a lack of visibility poses a security risk.

The most popular hybrid cloud providers include IBM, VMware, and Microsoft Azure.

Conclusion

Both on-premise and cloud data storage pose their own advantages and disadvantages. When deciding between traditional server farms, cloud, and hybrid cloud, the difference is the location. On-premise data storage is more reliable and secure and allows companies to maintain a level of control that the cloud does not offer. On the other hand, the cloud offers newfound flexibility, scalability, and agility. Every successful company needs a scalable infrastructure, whether physical or in the Cloud.