What Is hybrid cloud?

Hybrid cloud is a mixed computing environment that combines infrastructure from the public cloud, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or the Google Cloud Platform, with an organization’s private cloud or on-premises data center. The primary advantage of a hybrid cloud is agility: Organizations can scale compute resources up and down according to need, and choose where workloads are processed based on requirements for data security or workload sensitivity. Organizations can migrate and manage workloads between cloud environments to optimize processing flexibility, cost, and control based on specific business or regulatory requirements. A hybrid cloud can also be used as part of a disaster recovery strategy, or to dynamically scale out capacity based on performance conditions (“bursting”).

Additionally, app teams may prefer developer tools and rich toolsets available in public cloud platforms.

The public cloud allows enterprises to host applications and data in shared computing resources owned by a third-party service provider. The public cloud offers access to almost limitless computing resources, offering organizations massive economies of scale without the need to invest in data center hardware. However, cloud computing’s pay-as-you-go pricing model means that costs can be steep with ongoing use, and the shared responsibility model means organizations have limited control over data security, or even visibility as to where cloud providers process workloads or store data, which can run afoul of data sovereignty regulations.

The private cloud is dedicated—not shared—cloud infrastructure controlled by the enterprise and can be operated by a third party or hosted in a private data center. Many organizations elect to keep mission critical services in on-premises data centers or private clouds and move other services to the public cloud to reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies. However, organizations are increasingly adopting security as a service offerings in cloud-based platforms for improved threat detection and remediation.

Key takeaways

• Hybrid cloud combines infrastructure from the public cloud, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or the Google Cloud Platform, with an organization’s private cloud or on-premises data center.
• Determining where data will be stored and how it will be accessed is an important element to consider while implementing a hybrid cloud environment.
• Hybrid cloud solutions provide the best of both worlds, offering businesses the ability to leverage the benefits of both public and private clouds.
• To help simplify your hybrid cloud strategy, F5 offers a comprehensive set of security and management tools that remain consistent across clouds and protect data and applications across multiple IT environments.

What is the difference between multicloud, distributed cloud, and hybrid cloud?

The terms multicloud, distributed cloud, and hybrid cloud are often used synonymously but they are not the same.

Multicloud is focused on using multiple cloud computing services or platforms from different vendors. For example, an organization might use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for some of its applications and Microsoft Azure for others.

Distributed cloud extends a public cloud provider’s infrastructure to multiple physical locations, such as on-premises data centers, edge sites, or even data centers belonging to other cloud providers. The public cloud provider retains responsibility for operations, updates, and governance in all locations.

F5 Distributed Cloud Services supports distributed cloud implementations by offering security, networking, and application management capabilities delivered as SaaS. Organizations can connect, protect, and deploy apps across distributed cloud environments with these services.

Hybrid cloud is focused on using both cloud services and on-premises infrastructure with cloud services. For example, an organization’s hybrid cloud environment might involve running some applications in a public cloud like AWS, while others are run in a private cloud hosted on premises.

Key differences between multicloud, distributed cloud, and hybrid cloud environments involve architecture, flexibility, security, and complexity.

• Architecture: Multicloud spans multiple public cloud environments from different providers. The different public clouds are generally used for different tasks (e.g., one for program logic, another for databases, and a third for machine learning) and the distribution across clouds can vary on a per-application basis. Organizations choose a multicloud strategy to take advantage of the flexibility and features of various clouds.
  
  Distributed cloud extends a single public cloud provider's infrastructure to multiple physical locations. Unlike the multicloud approach, a distributed cloud relies on one provider's control plane rather than those of several vendors.
  
  Hybrid cloud includes two or more different types of cloud environments (on premises, private cloud, and public cloud). In many architectures, the public cloud’s role is to extend the functionality of the private cloud or on-premises environments. A hybrid cloud architecture is typically used by organizations that are migrating apps to the cloud or those who have too much technical debt (sub-optimal systems or code) to go 100% cloud native.
  
• Flexibility: By using multiple public clouds from various vendors, multicloud architectures enable organizations to avoid vendor lock-in, optimize their cloud spending, and choose the best cloud for each workload. These decisions can be based on business requirements and factors such as performance, necessary features, and geographic location.
  
  A distributed cloud gives organizations the flexibility to decide where workloads run. An organization might run a workload close to users or local data sources to reduce latency. This architecture lets them avoid the burden of infrastructure management, since the public cloud provider operates and updates that infrastructure remotely.
  
  A hybrid cloud architecture’s flexibility comes from the ability to combine the advantages of a private cloud (e.g., greater control, security, and compliance) with the benefits of a public cloud (e.g., scalability, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use).
  
• Security: A multicloud architecture distributes data across multiple public clouds, which improves security by reducing the risk of a single point of failure. When using different cloud providers, an organization can take advantage of each provider’s security features. This approach does introduce a level of complexity, in that there must be management of the variety of security features across the multiple cloud environments. There may also be potential security risks associated with integrating different cloud platforms.
  
  In a distributed cloud model, the cloud provider applies security patches and updates across all locations, which helps maintain consistency. Organizations maintain visibility into exactly where their data physically resides to meet compliance and data residency requirements.
  
  An additional layer of security for sensitive data and critical applications is provided by private cloud companies in a hybrid cloud architecture. This infrastructure gives the organization greater control over the security measures (e.g., access control, encryption, and data protection) implemented in the private cloud. However, the public cloud component can introduce security concerns, including the need to protect against data breaches, account hijacking, and other threats that could compromise the integrity and availability of the data.
• Complexity: Multicloud architecture involves a deep understanding and management of multiple public cloud environments with their own tools, APIs, and interfaces. Configuring and managing this kind of architecture requires significant planning and coordination. It also requires ongoing management to make sure the organization achieves optimal performance while remaining cost-effective and maintaining data security.
  
  A distributed cloud generally lowers management complexity compared to multicloud or hybrid cloud models. The organization works within a single provider's unified control plane rather than needing to integrate distinct vendors or self-managed environments.
  
  A hybrid cloud architecture needs to integrate and manage both private and public cloud components. This involves configuring and managing connectivity between the private and public clouds, ensuring data consistency and synchronization across multiple clouds, and maintaining security and compliance across the hybrid environment

How hybrid cloud works

A hybrid cloud combines the advantages of both public and private clouds, but the hybrid environment requires careful integration, orchestration, and coordination so data and workloads can be moved, shared, and synchronized quickly. This means that robust interconnectivity and networking is critical for a hybrid cloud deployment to function correctly. This enables applications to work consistently across different environments, creating a single computing platform that spans across more than one cloud.

Determining where data will be stored and how it will be accessed is an important element to consider while implementing a hybrid cloud environment. One of the most common data storage strategies in a hybrid cloud environment is to use the public cloud to store less frequently accessed data, as well as for use as backup, disaster recovery, and archival purposes. Organizations often choose to store frequently accessed or sensitive data on a private cloud or in on-premises storage to ensure greater control and security, though this may require more upfront investment in infrastructure. Some vendors offer hybrid storage solutions that combine cloud and on-premises storage in a single platform, providing businesses with greater flexibility and control over their data.

Hybrid cloud architecture and core components

Implementing a hybrid cloud architecture that connects on-premises infrastructure to public cloud services requires interconnectivity, virtualization and containerization, and control plane orchestration.

Interconnectivity
Interconnectivity involves physically and logically linking on-premises systems with the public cloud. Organizations typically rely on virtual private networks (VPNs), software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), and APIs to move data and route traffic securely among environments.

Virtualization and containerization
Virtualization and containerization abstract applications from the underlying hardware so the applications can run consistently across environments. Technologies such as Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift package applications into containers that can run on premises or in the public cloud without requiring developers to rewrite the underlying code.

Control plane orchestration
Control plane orchestration tools give IT teams a single point of management for resources spread across on-premises and public cloud environments. Tools such as Azure Arc and AWS Outposts extend a public cloud provider’s management tools to on-premises infrastructure, so teams can apply consistent policies and monitoring no matter where a workload runs.

Key features of hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud scenarios include several key features and concepts:

• Workload portability is the ability to move and adapt data and applications between on-premises systems and the cloud, or from one cloud service provider to another. Portability is a key consideration when designing an application or service, and is often addressed through the adoption of open-source standards and APIs, which also facilitates interoperability and automation.
• Data integration is the process of bringing together data from multiple different sources to gain greater visibility and to ensure a smooth transition to cloud computing. Historically, most organizations stored data in stand-alone silos or separate data stores. Having real-time telemetry and insights is especially important to the success of digital transformation strategies and to compete in an increasingly digital world.
• Security for the hybrid cloud is orchestrated between two environments. It must protect data and applications both on-premises and in the public cloud, and protect data and workloads as they move between public clouds and private clouds or data centers. InfoSec teams need to ensure there is a consistent security posture between both environments, and make sure that risk is properly assessed between public and private clouds.
• APIs are frequently targeted by attackers because they provide critical connections in hybrid environments across on-premises and cloud environments. Protecting APIs consistently, regardless of where they are hosted, is an essential part of maintaining a unified security posture across a hybrid architecture.
• Consistent application delivery means delivering, securing, and managing applications the same way no matter where they run, whether on premises, in the public cloud, or at the edge. In a hybrid environment, consistent application delivery requires dynamic traffic routing among on-premises and cloud resources. Routing depends on multiple real-time conditions, such as application load, user location, and the type of content being requested.
• Observability is the ability to see how applications and infrastructure are performing across every environment in real time, rather than relying on separate, disconnected monitoring tools for each one. In a hybrid environment, observability tools should track metrics such as response times, transaction processing, and error rates. They should also generate alerts when performance issues, bottlenecks, or anomalies are detected—before they affect end users. A unified view into both on-premises and public cloud environments makes it easier for IT teams to identify where a problem originates and resolve it quickly, instead of piecing together data from disparate dashboards.
  

Examples of hybrid cloud

There are multiple ways to configure hybrid cloud environments to address specific computing needs and circumstances.

• Cloud bursting is a hybrid configuration method in which public cloud resources are employed only when on-premises compute infrastructure reaches peak capacity. In other words, when the internal data center reaches 100% of processing capacity, the overflow workloads burst into the public cloud for processing. Cloud bursting is a cost-effective way to support varying demand patterns and seasonal spikes in need for compute resources.
• Cloud replication is a hybrid cloud model that involves duplicating and mirroring data from on-premises storage to the public cloud for backup and disaster recovery scenarios, or to increase the availability and accessibility of data for customers or distributed teams.
• Cloud tiering is a data storage strategy that involves movement of data between different storage tiers, based on the importance of the data and how frequently it is accessed. Storage tiers are often defined as extending from “hot” storage, meaning data that must be immediately available for use by applications, through to “cold” storage, which includes archival data that is rarely accessed. In a typical hybrid cloud model, hot data would be stored in the data center to enable fast processing while colder data could be stored remotely in the public cloud for cost savings.

A hybrid cloud computing model is key to the success of several major organizations.

• Netflix uses a hybrid cloud model to store and manage large amounts of video content and handle spikes in demand. Netflix uses a public cloud provider to organize its massive catalog of content and to track users, their preferences, what they watch, and what they click on. However, to reduce latency and ensure high-quality streaming, Netflix has built its own private-cloud-based content delivery network known as Open Connect, which delivers video content to customers directly from the company's own servers.
• Airbnb uses both public and private clouds to optimize its infrastructure for performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Airbnb uses its public cloud provider for a range of services, including storage, compute, and database services, as well as for its website, mobile app, analytics, and data processing needs. During times of high demand, Airbnb has the option of leveraging the flexibility and scalability of the public cloud to handle increased traffic. Airbnb uses its own private cloud infrastructure for storing and managing sensitive user data, such as payment information and other personally identifiable information.
• Adobe uses a hybrid cloud infrastructure to manage software updates and ensure a seamless user experience across different devices while maintaining control over sensitive customer data. Adobe employs a public cloud architecture to allow users to access their creative assets and applications from anywhere and on any device. The system automatically syncs updates and changes across devices, providing a consistent experience for users. At the same time, Adobe uses its private cloud environment to maintain control over sensitive customer data, such as user profiles, purchasing history, and behavioral data.

Enterprise hybrid cloud

Enterprise hybrid cloud is a cloud computing model that combines the advantages of public and private clouds to deliver a flexible, scalable, and cost-effective IT infrastructure. With enterprise hybrid cloud, organizations have the flexibility to deploy applications and workloads in the cloud or on-premises, depending on their requirements. This enables businesses to quickly respond to changing market demands and scale their IT infrastructure up or down as needed. Security is also a key feature of enterprise hybrid cloud, as it allows organizations to maintain control over sensitive data and applications in the data center or private cloud, while still benefiting from the scalability and cost-effectiveness of public cloud services.

Additionally, hybrid cloud can help organizations reduce IT costs by optimizing the use of existing on-premises infrastructure for mission critical workloads and leveraging cost-effective public cloud services for non-critical workloads.

Enterprise hybrid cloud has been successfully implemented across a variety of industries to help organizations achieve their business goals.

• In finance, Capital One migrated its customer data to a private cloud hosted on-premises and used public cloud services for non-critical applications. This hybrid cloud helped the company reduce costs while maintaining data security and compliance.
• In healthcare, Mercy Health migrated its patient records and other sensitive data to a private cloud hosted on-premises, while using public cloud services for applications such as email and collaboration tools. This hybrid cloud helped the company streamline operations, improve data accessibility, and comply with industry regulations.
• In manufacturing, GE Aviation migrated its design and simulation applications to a private cloud hosted on-premises, while using public cloud services for data storage and analysis. This hybrid cloud helped the company reduce costs, increase scalability, and improve collaboration among their global engineering teams.

Modern enterprise use cases

As enterprise workloads evolve, hybrid cloud architectures are being used in newer, more specialized ways. Three of the most common modern use cases are hybrid AI pipelines, edge computing, and FinOps-driven cost optimization.

Hybrid AI pipelines split AI workloads across environments based on where each stage is best suited to run. Training and fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) often take place in the public cloud, where organizations can access large-scale GPU compute without owning the hardware. Meanwhile, sensitive data, such as proprietary business records or regulated customer data, remains on premises or in a private cloud. Only data needed for training is moved into the public cloud environment. This hybrid approach lets organizations take advantage of public cloud compute scale for AI workloads while controlling data governance and compliance requirements tied to sensitive information.

Edge computing extends hybrid cloud architecture by processing data close to where it is generated instead of routing everything back to a centralized data center or cloud region. With AI workloads, edge computing enables organizations to run AI inference (the process of generating predictions or outputs from new data) at or near the edge, such as at a retail location, a factory floor, or a local device. Organizations can conduct more compute-intensive model training centrally in the public cloud or data center. This approach reduces latency for real-time decisions and also minimizes how much raw data needs to move across the network.

FinOps is a discipline that brings finance, engineering, and operations teams together to manage the variable costs of cloud spending. For hybrid environments, FinOps teams rely on automation to continuously monitor workload usage and cost. Automated tools then shift workloads among fixed-cost on-premises infrastructure and variable-cost public cloud resources based on real-time pricing, demand, or business priority. Applying FinOps to the hybrid cloud extends the cost optimization idea behind cloud bursting into an ongoing, automated practice.

Hybrid cloud solutions

Hybrid cloud solutions provide the best of both worlds, offering businesses the ability to leverage the benefits of both public and private clouds. Advantages of implementing hybrid cloud solutions include:

• Increased flexibility: Hybrid clouds allow businesses to choose the deployment model that best suits their needs. Applications can be deployed in private or public cloud environments depending on their requirements.
• Scalability: Hybrid clouds offer the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand. Businesses can leverage the public cloud during peak usage periods to ensure they have the resources to meet demand and then scale back down when demand decreases.
• Cost-effectiveness: By using a combination of public and private cloud solutions, businesses can optimize their infrastructure costs by choosing the most cost-effective option for each workload. This can result in significant cost savings over time.

Challenges of hybrid cloud

While implementing a hybrid cloud strategy can bring numerous benefits to organizations, it also poses challenges. For instance, hybrid cloud environments are more complex than traditional IT infrastructures and integrating and managing different cloud platforms, on-premises infrastructure, and third-party services require specialized skills and expertise. Organizations need to ensure that their data is secure, backed up, and available across all hybrid cloud environments, and that the cloud infrastructure is interoperable so that data can be easily exchanged between different clouds and/or the data center.

Security is also a critical concern for hybrid cloud environments. In addition to gaining visibility across all environments, security teams need to consider managing access control, encryption, and identity management across different cloud environments. Organizations must also ensure that their cloud infrastructure complies with industry regulations, and coordinate threat remediation for vulnerabilities that may impact both on-premises and cloud environments.

Hybrid cloud best practices

Organizations should consider the following tips and best practices as they begin to plan and execute their hybrid cloud environment.

• Understand business needs and goals. This includes factors such as specific industry workload needs, regulatory compliance, data management, and security requirements.
• Determine how to use public and private cloud services to meet business objectives. This strategy should include considerations such as the types of workloads that will be hosted in each environment, and how data will be managed and secured.
• Choose the right mix of public and private cloud services. These choices should be based on factors such as workload requirements, data sensitivity, and regulatory compliance.
• Implement a cloud management platform with a unified view of the entire infrastructure. This platform should allow administrators to easily move workloads between environments, monitor performance, and manage security and compliance.

How F5 can help with hybrid cloud

Organizations often end up with hybrid cloud architectures for practical reasons, such as to avoid dependence on a single vendor. However, each additional environment in a hybrid cloud architecture often adds its own tools and policies, creating new challenges. Without a consistent way to deliver, secure, and monitor applications across all environments, organizations can face increased operational costs and potential security gaps.

The F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) is an extensible platform that unifies traffic management, policy enforcement, and visibility across on premises, multicloud, and edge environments, so NetOps and platform teams can manage applications and APIs consistently, regardless of where they run.

To help simplify your hybrid cloud strategy, F5 offers comprehensive security and management tools that remain consistent across clouds and protect data and applications across multiple IT environments.

Hybrid cloud: Frequently asked questions

How does a hybrid cloud differ from multicloud and private cloud environments?

A private cloud is an environment with dedicated infrastructure controlled by a single organization rather than shared with other tenants. A multicloud architecture uses multiple public cloud providers simultaneously. And a hybrid cloud combines on-premises or private cloud infrastructure with public cloud services in a single environment. Organizations can have a hybrid cloud architecture that includes public cloud services from more than one provider.

Why do enterprises use a hybrid cloud model instead of putting everything in a public cloud?

Enterprises often choose the hybrid cloud model to keep sensitive or heavily regulated workloads on premises or in a private cloud while reserving the public cloud for scale, cost efficiency, or specialized tools. A hybrid cloud also enables organizations to support legacy workloads and maximize existing hardware investments while gaining a path to the cloud in the future.

What is cloud bursting, and how does it work in a hybrid architecture?

Cloud bursting is the practice of using a public cloud to handle overflow processing when on-premises infrastructure reaches capacity. A hybrid cloud architecture makes it possible to shift workloads as necessary, such as when an organization needs to handle seasonal spikes or unpredictable demand, without paying for unused capacity when demand is normal.

What are the top hybrid cloud security challenges enterprises face?

The biggest hybrid cloud challenges are maintaining consistent security across environments and gaining full visibility into all environments. For example, teams must coordinate access control, encryption, and identity management across multiple environments that might use different tools. Organizations also need to maintain compliance with relevant regulations and coordinate remediation for all environments.

How do public cloud tools like AWS Outposts or Azure Arc fit into a hybrid cloud strategy?

Tools such as AWS Outposts and Azure Arc are control plane orchestration platforms that extend a public cloud provider’s management tools to on-premises infrastructure. Instead of managing on-premises and cloud resources with separate tools, IT teams can apply consistent policies, monitoring, and governance from a single place, regardless of where workloads are running.

How is Kubernetes used to manage workloads across a hybrid cloud environment?

Kubernetes packages applications into containers that can run consistently across different environments. In a hybrid cloud setup, containerization enables organizations to move or scale workloads between on-premises infrastructure and the public cloud based on demand, without rewriting or rebuilding the application for each environment.