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Much of the discussion around cloud storage has been on multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies, with the assumption that most IT teams choose one or the other. However, many organizations take a hybrid multi-cloud approach in which they use a private cloud in conjunction with multiple public clouds.

Hybrid multi-cloud storage can help organizations maximize their flexibility and store data in the way that best meets their requirements. It's a relatively new concept, so admins should know what it means, how to best use it and what's available from vendors.

Cloud platforms are typically categorized as either public clouds or private clouds. Public clouds are usually what people are referring to when they say "the cloud." Public clouds include platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure. The platforms offer a variety of services that users can access over the internet. The services are typically categorized as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) or infrastructure as a service (IaaS), although other variations exist.

A private cloud is a platform that an organization implements for its own private use. The platform might be deployed on premises or hosted with a third-party provider that maintains the environment for the organization's exclusive use. A private cloud delivers services in much the same way as a public cloud, although it's typically smaller in scope and geared toward the organization's specific requirements. An organization has more control over a private cloud than a public cloud, but that control comes with additional costs and administrative overhead.

Many organizations use a multi-cloud strategy for their storage requirements. At its most basic, multi-cloud means that an organization employs more than one cloud service. Beyond that, the exact meaning of multi-cloud gets a little fuzzy, with some slightly different interpretations:

Some vendors and industry pundits have adopted the term hybrid multi-cloud, which describes an environment that includes at least one private cloud and at least two public clouds.

At its core, a hybrid cloud is one that consists of both public and private clouds. It typically includes a management component for orchestrating the services between platforms, with the goal of creating a unified platform. As with multi-cloud, however, the meaning of hybrid cloud can get a little muddy, with several slightly different meanings:

Although the exact definitions vary, the idea persists that a hybrid cloud includes both public and private clouds. What's not clear, however, is the exact number of each or whether hybrid cloud can be considered a type of multi-cloud.

To help clarify this issue, some vendors and industry pundits have adopted the term hybrid multi-cloud, which describes an environment that includes at least one private cloud and at least two public clouds. As with a basic hybrid cloud, the environment relies on a management component to orchestrate the services between platforms.

Another way to describe a hybrid multi-cloud is that it includes multiple public clouds. Some sources might expand on this definition to include multiple private clouds or traditional on-premises resources, but the basic idea remains the same: It has at least one private cloud component and at least two public cloud components.

With a hybrid multi-cloud, organizations can distribute their data across multiple cloud platforms. This enables them to gain the benefits of each platform without being locked into any one of them. For example, an organization might store archive data on Amazon S3 object storage, maintain document data in Google Firestore to support a web app hosted on GCP and use their on-premises private cloud for highly sensitive data.

Organizations that take a hybrid multi-cloud approach can see several important benefits:

Despite the many advantages that hybrid multi-cloud promises, these environments have challenges. Decision-makers should carefully weigh the tradeoffs and consider the following disadvantages:

Hybrid multi-cloud is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Here are some of the more common situations that can benefit from a hybrid multi-cloud strategy:

Many vendors now offer products that support a hybrid multi-cloud storage strategy. Here are just a few examples of the types of products now available:

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An introduction to hybrid multi-cloud storage - TechTarget