Cloud spanning definition
Cloud spanning refers to the practice of distributing workloads and applications across multiple cloud environments. These environments can include public, private, or hybrid clouds, depending on the organization’s needs.
See also: cloud as a service, cloud server, cloud architecture
Cloud spanning benefits
- Increased flexibility. By leveraging multiple cloud environments, businesses can deploy applications where they are most efficient, such as storing sensitive data on private clouds while running customer-facing services on public clouds.
- Enhanced resilience. Distributing workloads across multiple clouds minimizes the risk of downtime. For example, if a cloud provider experiences an outage, another can pick up the slack.
- Cost optimization. A business can allocate workloads to the most cost-effective cloud environment and reduce costs. For instance, a public cloud can be suitable for testing, but a private cloud could handle the production systems.
- Avoiding vendor lock-in. With many cloud providers to choose from, organizations don’t have to rely on a single vendor.
Public, private, and hybrid clouds
- Public cloud. Operated by third-party providers and offer scalability and affordability. But may have security and compliance limitations.
- Private cloud. Dedicated to a single organization, it provides greater control and security, making it suitable for sensitive workloads.
- Hybrid cloud. Combines public and private clouds, enabling seamless data and application sharing for a balanced approach to flexibility and control.
