A public cloud is a multi-tenant computing environment provisioned for multiple organizations — complete with a shared pool of hardware and software resources. Other components such as storage, servers, virtual machines (VMs), and turnkey applications are available through the vendor to get organizations up and running quickly.
Flexibility is the hallmark of public cloud computing. Organizations have more options when it comes to reserving capacity, determining resource needs on the fly, and scaling rapidly to handle traffic fluctuations.
How do public clouds work?
Public cloud strategies typically diverge from the on-premises deployment model. Applications and their data are hosted virtually using hardware and software maintained by the vendor — as seen with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (among others).
A pay-as-you-go pricing model also lets teams scale resource allocation as needed without reserving too much compute capacity. This reduces cloud waste — saving organizations money otherwise spent on underutilized infrastructure. Some vendors also offer subscription models.
Public cloud platforms usually incorporate the following elements:
Distributed datacenters residing in multiple regions (or availability zones) across the globe
Virtualization of physical resources into a subdivided set of virtual resources, which each tenant can readily access depending on their plan
Shared storage, memory, and CPU processing power with continuous monitoring tools
API integration for improved application access and feature availability (both mature and bleeding edge)
Service-level agreements (SLAs) that outline key expectations around uptime, performance, support availability, maintenance responsibilities, and more
Public cloud security and compliance
Vendor infrastructure is fully managed, but users gain per-instance control over management and security through a browser-based command center. Public clouds frequently deliver functionality to organizations via APIs, unlocking more infrastructure deployment and configuration options without making teams reinvent the wheel to ensure integration.
While public clouds don't deliver the same regulatory compliance as private clouds (dependent on the vendor's own level of compliance), that doesn't mean your data isn't safe. Data stored in a public cloud environment is logically separated from data belonging to other organizations on the same server.
Microsoft Azure prevents customer data convergence using unique containers within the Microsoft Entra directory (to name one example), which enables isolation even when multiple tenants are stored on the same physical disk. Other platforms have their own unique approach to securing each tenant's data.
When considering overall security, public clouds and their users have a shared security responsibility. The vendor oversees security for the cloud platform itself, while each organization oversees security within the cloud for their own deployments. The key lies in finding the ideal balance between what's vendor-managed and what's team-managed — as cloud vendors might offload more responsibility to customers by giving them more administrative control.
What are the drawbacks of public clouds?
Public cloud computing might have been one the biggest developments in modern computing, but such solutions aren't perfect. Organizations might encounter the following hiccups while getting started:
Public clouds offer less administrative control on average than private clouds, giving teams fewer management options and thus flexibility.
For organizations with a firm grip on their overall resource needs, public cloud scalability might be less advantageous than a tightly-managed private cloud solution.
Regulatory compliance is more uncertain for organizations that need to meet the strictest standards.
Client data is virtually — not physically — isolated, leaving it slightly more vulnerable to attack or leakage under the right conditions.
However, public clouds remain some of the most accessible and foundational solutions companies currently rely on. Your industry, expertise, and budget will greatly determine if public cloud deployments are best for you.
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Does HAProxy support public clouds?
Yes! HAProxy One — the world's fastest application delivery and security platform — powers modern applications, APIs, and AI/LLM services at any scale and in any environment. This includes private clouds, public clouds, hybrid clouds, and on-premises deployments. HAProxy One also makes it easy to seamlessly connect services hosted on different clouds with ultra-low latency and multi-layered security features.
To learn more about public cloud support in HAProxy, check out our cloud-specific installation instructions or our blog post, Why your load balancer should be fast & flexible.