It’s the start of the new year, so it’s time to start thinking about the digital trends that will shape the software business in 2022. We want to help you get familiar with forthcoming trends as the new year approaches so you can be prepared and start taking your talents to the next level. We’ll talk about multi-cloud today. Multi-cloud computing is a cloud computing architecture that combines two or more cloud platforms, allowing you to benefit from the resources that each cloud provider has to offer. Multi-cloud can help businesses reduce cloud costs, improve resiliency and flexibility, and do a lot more. By the end of 2022, Gartner predicts that over 75% of cloud clients will have adopted a multi-cloud strategy. It’s a vital topic to understand, especially given its growing popularity!

 

We’ll talk about:

1. What is a multi-cloud environment, and how does it work?
2. The benefits of working in a multi-cloud environment
3. Hybrid cloud vs. multi-cloud
4. Kubernetes on many clouds
5. Conclusions and Next Steps

 

What is a multi-cloud environment, and how does it work?

Two or more cloud platforms are used in the multi-cloud cloud computing model. Rather than relying on a single cloud provider, the multi-cloud strategy makes use of a variety of cloud providers to take advantage of the many cloud services available. Software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) are all examples of multi-cloud. Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and VMware are all popular cloud providers.

Cloud storage, machine learning, big data analytics, serverless computing, databases, and other cloud resources are available from various cloud providers. The majority of firms that migrate to the cloud use a multi-cloud model. A multi-cloud solution is one that can be used across a variety of cloud infrastructures. These solutions usually make use of cloud-native technologies and aid in the management of workloads across several clouds.

 

What is cloud-native technology, and how does it work?

Cloud-native development is a method of app development that takes advantage of the cloud computing delivery mechanism. Containerization, service meshes, declarative APIs, and microservices are examples of cloud-native technologies that can be used to create, deploy, and manage high-impact applications. These technologies “empower enterprises to design and deploy scalable applications in modern, dynamic settings such as public, private, and hybrid clouds,” according to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

 

What is multi-cloud management, and how does it work?

Multi-cloud management refers to a set of methods and technologies that can be used to manage and secure several cloud applications. Multi-cloud management platforms might be challenging to set up. Maintaining cloud security across several platforms, deploying programs across multiple environments, and visualizing data from multiple clouds on a single interface can be difficult. The following are some of the features of a good multi-cloud management solution:

1. Multiple clouds can be managed from a single interface.
2. Multiple cloud providers or platforms are supported.
3. Kubernetes and other containerization tools are supported.
4. Visibility into cloud resources is provided.
5. Provides materials for artificial intelligence and analytics.

 

The benefits of working in a multi-cloud environment

Adopting a multi-cloud strategy has numerous benefits. Let’s have a look at some of the most important advantages:

1. Freedom and flexibility: A single cloud service provider may not have all of the cloud services you require. Multi-cloud enables you to access a wide range of resources while also avoiding vendor lock-in. When combining resources from several cloud vendors, there’s a potential that you’ll face downtime or outages at the same time. Many of the best cloud providers have service-level agreements in place to safeguard you from downtime.
2. ROI optimization: A multi-cloud infrastructure allows you to be selective about the solutions you use within your company. You can effectively allocate your resources and just pay for what you use. Multi-cloud reduces the odds of an unplanned failure taking down your entire business. To lessen the chance of failure, develop redundancy.
3. Shadow IT refers to the usage of IT services, technologies, infrastructures, and projects without formal approval. Multi-cloud allows you to see all of the cloud services you’re using, spot security flaws, and enforce security standards. Containerization technologies and microservices make it easy to move data between cloud providers, which helps to reduce integration concerns. Multi-cloud helps you to properly distribute your resources and construct an infrastructure that guarantees everything functions well and that the organization can swiftly recover in the case of a disruption.

 

Hybrid cloud vs. multi-cloud

The hybrid cloud strategy is frequently confused with the multi-cloud approach, although there are important distinctions between the two. Both public and private clouds are used in a hybrid cloud system. This allows you to keep confidential data secure in either an on-premises cloud solution or a private cloud. Hybrid cloud solutions combine the benefits of private data centers with the resources of public cloud providers. To work between the multiple cloud environments, multi-cloud does not necessitate the usage of a private cloud or coordinated operations. Hybridization, also known as hybrid multi-cloud, can be implemented using a multi-cloud architecture. This implies they employ both public and private clouds, and these two cloud environments are coordinated to some extent, allowing you to work within a single cloud IT architecture. You can simply incorporate Agile and DevOps best practices, securely and consistently deploy and scale data across numerous environments, and fully govern your workloads in a hybrid multi-cloud environment.

 

There are two types of clouds: public and private.

The public cloud is a cloud deployment strategy in which resources are shared across numerous companies and hosted by a cloud service provider. Organizations can scale their resources without adding new physical resources by using public clouds only when they’re needed. This also implies that the organization saves money because they only pay for resources when they are needed and they aren’t spending as much money on actual hardware or software. A private cloud is a cloud deployment paradigm in which an organization’s own infrastructure hosts resources. The private cloud is usually housed in the company’s own data center or at a third-party data center. Physical security and protection are frequently in place in this area. The private cloud is typically managed by the entity that uses the cloud service, which includes things like maintenance, upgrades, software and cloud data management, and more. At a lesser cost, private clouds provide enterprises with the same level of control and security as a traditional on-premises system.

 

Kubernetes on many clouds

Container orchestration tools like Kubernetes are critical for a successful multi-cloud design. Multi-cloud is challenging to execute because the more clouds you have, the more difficult it becomes to manage them consistently. Kubernetes can aid in the implementation of a multi-cloud architecture by removing some of the complexities. Provisioning is a major complication with multi-cloud. You can run all of your workloads on Kubernetes and use the same configurations across all of your clouds in a multi-cloud design. You only need to configure your monitoring tools to watch Kubernetes if you organize your workloads to run in Kubernetes, which takes a lot of the burden out of monitoring your entire infrastructure. Kubernetes also improves security by allowing you to standardize setups and reducing the risk of mistakes. Kubernetes also comes with its own set of security capabilities that you may use to protect your infrastructure.

 

Conclusions and Next Steps

Congratulations on taking your first multi-cloud steps! As the cloud continues to take over the business landscape, the multi-cloud approach will gain in favor. Multi-cloud architecture provides numerous advantages and applications, including improved business continuity, disaster recovery, flexibility, and robustness. When you combine containerization technologies, such as Kubernetes, with multi-cloud, you may transfer your confined programs between clouds while maintaining full functionality. It’s an important component of multi-cloud deployment. There’s still a lot to learn about cloud computing. The following are some suggested topics to discuss next:

1. Using Kubernetes to increase network latency
2. Automated deployment
3. Connectivity between AWS and Azure

Check out Educative’s DevOps for Developers’ learning route to get started on these concepts and more. You’ll understand DevOps concepts like Kubernetes and Docker, app deployment, and AWS Terraform in this hands-on learning route. By the end of the course, you’ll have the cutting-edge abilities needed to assist in the implementation of effective cloud infrastructure.