What is a Public Cloud?

When people think of cloud computing, they often think of offerings such as Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox, and Google Drive. These are public clouds. A public cloud provider uses the same hardware (e.g., servers, storage devices, networking equipment)

To deliver its cloud services to all its customers. So, for instance, if you subscribe to Google Drive, your files are on the same hardware as the other subscribers’ files.

The hardware used to deliver the cloud service is always at the provider’s facility. The provider is responsible for managing the IT resource being offered (e.g., software, backup service) as well as maintaining the hardware used to deliver it.

Using a public cloud offers several benefits. For starters, you can add IT resources without having to make large capital investments. Another advantage is that you can quickly change the amount of resources you are using, letting you efficiently operate your business. Finally, you do not need to manage the IT resource you are getting through the provider.