Target Hosts

Introduction

Some small or medium-sized businesses say we are going all-in on the cloud, i.e., we will be deploying everything on the cloud. Others have thousands of servers, thousands of storage networks, and other components. They are thinking about which ones are suitable candidates to go to the cloud which ones maybe should not go to the cloud. We can use the following criteria to think about the different systems and whether they should go to the cloud or not.

On-premise storage

When your company uses on-premises storage, the server is located within the organization’s infrastructure, most often physically onsite. The company and its in-house IT team or an IT partner control, administer, maintain, procure, etc. the server. Your company’s local network allows you to share data and other information.

Cloud storage

In cloud storage, your data is hosted by an outside service provider, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP. Hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure are procured, installed, and maintained by the cloud provider. Your account can be managed and accessed online via a PC, a web browser, or a mobile app.

Pros and cons

Cost and maintenance

Here’s a look at the difference between the cloud vs. an on-premises solution, in terms of cost and maintenance:

On-premise

Deploying your company’s on-premises infrastructure means you’ll have to spend a lot of money upfront on hardware, software licensing fees, data backup, additional IT services, and support. Once the system is ready to go, you’ll need to hire internal or external IT staff to assist with ongoing support, maintenance, and security, and cover energy costs, hosting costs, and the additional square footage you’ll need in the office. We cannot overlook ongoing updates and purchases of hardware, software, and licenses.

You will need to invest more if you need to replace malfunctioning hardware, or if you want to upgrade to new equipment. Just starting a business can pose a significant disadvantage because of the capital investment involved.

Cloud

Cloud providers don’t have huge up-front costs, making them attractive to businesses. Subscription fees are charged monthly. In addition, your staff doesn’t need to waste precious time troubleshooting problems since the cloud provider provides maintenance, up-to-date software, security, and support. Many cloud providers offer large amounts of storage with their base subscriptions as well as benefits like increased security, file ...