Differentiating Types of Cloud Architecture

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to differentiate between multi-tenant and single-tenant cloud architecture

Cloud Architecture

Multi-Tenant vs. Single Tenant Architecture

In cloud computing, tenancy refers to the number of tenants, or customers sharing the memory and bandwidth of physical infrastructure, such as servers.

You can think of multi-tenant infrastructure like an apartment building. All tenants share the core physical structure and resources, but each has their own secure apartment unit within the building. Within a unit, one can make their own design and décor choices, however they cannot make major structural changes, like knocking down a wall between your unit and your neighbor’s. If there’s a problem in your specific apartment unit, you call the building maintenance to resolve the issue, instead of having to take care of it yourself.

These multi-tenant cloud characteristics – standardization and outsourcing maintenance of the system to your cloud provider, result in the lowest TCO (total cost of ownership) and highest return on the customer’s investment.

With single-tenancy, there is a single tenant, or customer, on one or sometimes more physical infrastructures. Similar to being the only tenant in a home that you own on a plot of land, you have complete freedom in customization, including structural changes.

With a single-tenant infrastructure, customers who require a high degree of control and customization get the best of both worlds. They get full visibility and control with access to the backend of the system, and the ability to outsource the infrastructure and technical software maintenance to the cloud provider.

Graphic illustrating how multiple tenants access public cloud infrastructure while only a single tenant accesses private cloud infrastructure.

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