【Table of contents】
-
1. What is on-premise?
On-premise is when we own our own information systems and operate them with our own equipment.
-
2. On-premise for beginners
-
a) What is the cloud?
The cloud (cloud computing) is a system that allows cloud service providers to use a variety of IT resources, including computing, databases, storage and applications, via the Internet from a cloud service platform provided on the Web.
-
b) Cloud vs On-premises
We will learn about the difference between "cloud" and "on-premises".
The cloud (cloud computing) is a service that allows the user of a service to use the service when it is needed and in the amount needed without the need for infrastructure or software, such as servers and networks.
You pay a fee for the services you use, but only for the period of time you need them. There's no need for long-term lump-sum contracts or complicated licensing agreements; you just pay for what you use.
Conversely, if you use a service that is not "cloud", you have to build the server yourself, buy the software yourself, and do all the configuration and security measures yourself to make it available. As the years go by and you no longer use the servers and software you have purchased, you will still need to manage and dispose of your purchases. It is possible to achieve a detailed configuration for each user, but it requires a lot of specialized knowledge, skills, and a place to set up the server.
-
c) Advantages of on-premises
On-premises have the following advantages.
i) High degree of freedom of customization
Since you can secure and occupy everything from hardware to software by yourself, you can build a free system to suit your business.ii) The infrastructure can be occupied by the company itself
With on-premises, you can manage and operate the system without being influenced by other users' usage conditions because you have your own information system.
In the case of cloud services, it is common to share servers and networks with other users, so if a user using the same device uses an extremely high load, the performance of the other users may be degraded.iii) Easy to integrate with existing systems
On-premise has the advantage of a high degree of freedom in linking and integrating with internal systems within the same network.
In the case of cloud services, there are cases in which it is impossible to link up with them if the Internet is used as a precondition. -
d) Disadvantages of on-premises
On-premises have the following disadvantages.
i) Procurement of resources is time consuming and expensive
There is a cost to do so, as all the resources used will be provided by the company.
Some resources, such as data centers and hardware, take time to be secured.ii) Users are responsible for security and other technical issues themselves
On-premise, you have to do all of the following tasks by yourself.
・ Installation and operation of security devices such as firewalls
・ Update OS and middleware
・ Securing hardware for the introduction of new technologies
・ Establishment of construction procedure for introduction of new technology, evaluation and verificationDoing these tasks by yourself has its merits, such as the ability to accumulate know-how within the company, but since it is a specialized technology, learning it from scratch is costly, and there is a possibility that you may find that you have tried to do it, but in the end you have failed to achieve it, or that there are many problems.
iii) Less flexibility in adding or reducing resources
On-premise, if you want to add resources, you'll need to invest in additional hardware. Even if accesses suddenly increase, you can't afford to buy a server right away, which can lead to glitches such as service downtime or a slow display speed.
In order to avoid failures, it is necessary to set aside extra IT resources in advance, but instead of making failures less likely to occur, they can lead to over-investment.iv) High cost to achieve high availability
Typically, high availability on-premises comes at a significant cost. Hardware redundancy is necessary to prevent server outages and other failures, but the cost of doing so can be nearly doubled by simple calculations.
-
-
3. Hybrid cloud
In section 2, we explained the advantages and disadvantages of on-premises and cloud services while comparing both of them. These days, more and more people are using both on-premises and cloud services to make the best use of both and compensate for their weaknesses. This method of building and operating systems using both on-premises and cloud services is called hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud offers the following benefits
・ It protects your data.
・ Load balancing is possible.
・ Security can be ensured at a relatively low price.In a hybrid cloud, data is distributed and stored in different locations, allowing for quick recovery from server attacks and disasters.
In addition, highly confidential data can be used flexibly, for example, on-premises.
The use of the public cloud also allows you to distribute the load relatively inexpensively.
Companies that have implemented a hybrid cloud in their company have succeeded in using three different types of server systems exquisitely according to their usage.
Examples include the use of hybrid clouds for measures to ensure the maintenance of company data in the event of a disaster, such as BCP measures, as well as measures to deal with short-term server load.
The hybrid cloud seems to be a good fit for industries that need to be able to get back to work quickly in an emergency, and for companies that provide services that are expected to have a lot of access at any given time.
-
4. Conclusion
We introduced the advantages and disadvantages of on-premises and compared to cloud services. Whether on-premises or cloud services, it is important to consider what functions are necessary for the requirements of the system or service you want to provide, and what technologies and services will be used to realize those functions.
