HOB, Inc. today announced it has addressed the debate of public versus private cloud computing. Enterprises are progressively recognizing the advantages of central data storage. This trend is being driven by the promise of cloud computing. Whether public or private, the cloud demands centralized data and applications. Public cloud designs are, due to security concerns, still being hesitantly deployed. Private cloud solutions, however, are very much sought after.
Public vs. Private Clouds
If an organization leverages the public cloud, enterprise data are transferred to the cloud provider. In a private cloud, however, the data remain solely in the company’s hands: physically as well as virtually. Public clouds promise much: Economies of scale, lower cost and less administrative expense – including fail-safety. These are only some examples. A private cloud is more modest: Economies of scale are smaller, whether costs can be reduced is questionable, but: Security for data and applications is always in safe hands and can be controlled. Additionally, a private cloud can be structured as a user wants – here, a public cloud is not so flexible.
On closer inspection, it becomes clear: Security risks in the public cloud are currently incalculable – and thus, unacceptable. The legal situation is also neither uniform nor clear. These facts alone should give every IT manager a reason to worry. Depending on where the servers of the cloud providers are located, considerably more people could access sensitive corporate data than you might think. With a private cloud, organizations can eliminate this risk.
Many public cloud providers claim to have fail safety, high availability and data protection at the highest level, but can this claim be trusted? Fail safety means more than a server location protected against floods or hurricanes. Overload scenarios must also be considered. Is the cloud still performant when another cloud company randomly uses up more capacity? For these reasons, HOB strongly recommends private cloud designs. Having a personal cloud can also satisfy the highest demands on security and still have the utmost flexibility.
HOB Solutions for the Private Cloud
Once a private cloud is built and the data correspondingly secured, access to data and applications in the cloud must be made possible. Before anything else, this access must be secure, but also flexible and practical. To this end, HOB provides several remote access solutions to fit a company’s specific needs, securely, from any user device, at any time and from anywhere. For access via an SSL VPN, HOB RD VPN is the first choice: Browser-based, no installation on the client device, best usability and the highest degree of security and flexibility. If a smartphone is the device being used, HOBLink Mobile provides secure access to e-mails, contacts, calendar entries and notes. With HOBLink Mobile, no data are downloaded to the smartphone, nor are any stored there. This way, in the event the smartphone is lost or stolen, the data remains safely in an organization’s private cloud. If the organization uses IPsec solutions, HOB supports this with the HOBLink VPN Anywhere Client: it is compatible with the VPN gateways of leading manufacturers and needs no installation on the client.
“HOB solutions have one thing in common: They are easy to administrate, can be custom configured and, with respect to security, at the top of the class. This is achieved via strong encryption, either SSL- or IPsec-based, as well as various strong authentication methods,” explained Klaus Brandstätter, CEO of HOB, Inc.
About HOB, Inc.
HOB, Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of the software development and network service provider, HOB GmbH & Co. KG, which is headquartered in Cadolzburg, Germany. HOB, Inc. was founded in New Jersey in April 2000 and is currently headquartered in Hawthorne, NY.