Multi-Cloud storage combines the various services of cloud storage vendors in one area. You can merge native cloud services, MSPs, and third-party cloud services in one multi-cloud architecture. Cloud storage used in multiple clouds can enhance flexibility and the protection of your data by distributing the data between various locations and eliminating the risk of vendor saving in your data.

In this article, we will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of multi-cloud storage and how it works.

What is Multi-Cloud Storage?

As its name suggests, multi-cloud storage is a way for businesses to use various cloud services to store their data. While this definition is easy to understand, it has a hidden difficulty as companies have to deploy the procedures to manage and distribute the data between various clouds. The clouds used can be all private, public, or maybe, a combination of both.

Businesses may use different cloud providers for other business areas, like infrastructure, data, or software. Consumers can store data over various providers while getting the advantages of each provider separately and the benefits of having everything linked to each other.

Multi-cloud storage allows you to use multiple cloud storage services, which can be hosted in a private cloud, as a standalone resource with abilities like a cloud or in a public cloud. It is a part of a multi-cloud architecture, which merges resources and services from various cloud providers and private cloud infrastructure.

Your cloud storage services can include:

Supplier-integrated Services

These can include MSPS, CSPS, and resellers of cloud services. These vendors provide services which are already integrated with your cloud provider. Services mostly provide improved performance and extra features as compared to the native service.

Native Public Cloud Services

These cloud services are provided by cloud providers directly. Cloud Providers can include Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS. They typically support object, database, file, and block storage.

Marketplace Services

Marketplace services are the third-party services provided by the cloud providers' marketplace. These services are pre-built machine images or applications that you can deploy.

How does Multi-Cloud Storage Work?

Multi-cloud storage is mainly managed with multi-cloud controllers. These controllers merge all resources under one API and namespace. This centralises the management and allows you to manage and observe the services from one dashboard. Multi-Cloud controllers mostly use a mix of security, storage, and cluster manager agents. There are also some specified multi-cloud Kubernetes services, such as Google Anthos.

By merging services in one framework, multi-cloud controllers allow you to:

Reduce expenses by using storage services only when required. You can personalise how data is moved between your services, ensuring it is still optimised and accessible.

Maintain control over your data with centralised observing and logging. This allows you to eliminate the risk of your data getting lost or stolen as you know where your data is.

Pros of Multi-Cloud Storage

There are various benefits of using multi-cloud storage, relying on your configurations. Most of the benefits are:

More Data Protection

As data and applications are different across various services, a breach of one service influences a limited amount of data. This allows you to isolate attacks and store data backups in remote locations efficiently.

More Flexibility

Using cloud storage services from various vendors allows you to avoid vendor lock-in and enhance the data durability by using a duplication method. Merging services also gives you more access to specialised services.

Cost Optimization

The capability of piecemeal storage services allows you to customise the performance and cost options depending on your requirements. Multi-Cloud environments will enable you to benefit from the best pricing structures for every service.

Cons of Multi-Cloud Storage

Even though multi-cloud storage can give a lot of benefits, it can be complicated to protect, manage, and deploy storage in a united way. Some common cons of Multi-Cloud Storage are:

Multiple APIs

Cloud services mostly communicate through APIs. Even though there is some similarity with RESTful APIs, various providers form various API structures. This includes different languages or rule structures. These differences need customisations to allow communication between these services.

Compatibility Problems

Storage services should be compatible across various clouds to merge smoothly into one environment. This means services should accommodate the exact data structures and allow integration with the same tools.

Complicated Management

Ensuring visibility across various cloud environments and services is difficult. It needs a centralised federation and monitoring of services, like access and identity controls. If there is no centralization, services will probably have configuration errors and enhanced vulnerability.

Use Cases of Multi-Cloud Storage

Companies can use various clouds to make their storage infrastructures better. There are a lot of ways businesses can do this:

Resiliency

Storing data in various locations can go a long way toward eliminating the risks related to data storage. An outage in a single cloud storage service should not influence the data stored elsewhere.

Backup and Archiving

A crucial use of multi-cloud storage is backup and archiving. This approach makes this use case easier, more reliable, and cheaper. Data is duplicated off-site, making it more affordable than tape storage while improving recovery points and retention periods.

Compliance

More strict data privacy rules mean that data should be stored in geography to meet the standard requirements. This means that most data can be stored in one country with a single cloud storage service provider. Still, a subset replication of that data should be kept on another cloud in another country to comply with regulations in that region.

Conclusion

Multi-cloud systems are becoming increasingly popular, and this trend shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. As multi-cloud strategies grow more entrenched in all businesses, it is more important than ever to ensure that you can optimize your multi-cloud strategy while protecting and securing your most strategic resource: your data.

Contact Datacenters.com today for a free demo to see how easy a multicloud deployment can be for your organization. Don’t have time for a demo? Spin up servers in a matter of minutes and customize your environment.