Private cloud (also known as internal cloud or corporate cloud) is a type of cloud computing that provides storage, compute and networking services to a single organization in an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) model. Computing usage is tracked, so business units pay only for the resources they use. Large enterprises with dynamic or unpredictable computing needs that require direct control over their IT systems often use private cloud instead of public cloud services. Organizations with mission-critical workloads, security concerns, data sovereignty and uptime requirements can provision a portion of their existing data center as an on-premises — or private — cloud. Services are delivered to a limited number of people behind a firewall, minimizing security concerns.
Private cloud offers similar advantages to public cloud – such as scalability, mobility and availability of IT resources – while retaining ownership and management of the data center environment. With private cloud, security and compliance measures, workload deployment, and services allocation are dedicated to one business instead of several businesses. Private cloud handles computing capacity issues on demand, without over-provisioning. It also provides a secure environment for developing and testing new applications and workloads. Multiple machines can be created and provisioned for complex computing jobs. Once a project is finished, resources can be reclaimed for use elsewhere. Thus, IT departments can efficiently leverage available resources and reduce overall costs.
Proprietary cloud platforms or open source solutions such as OpenStack may be used to create private clouds. Paired with SUSE Linux, OpenStack can support existing as well as new cloud-based workloads.