By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
While centralized clouds deliver apps and services to customers from servers located in one place, distributed clouds spread their workloads across multiple locations, including the primary cloud provider’s data center, other third-party data centers, and even on-premises servers. Distributed clouds are particularly useful in reducing latency, which can make them valuable for edge computing, where data is processed and analyzed closer to where it’s generated, such as a networked IoT device, but potentially stored in a far-off data center.
Distributed clouds can help organizations stay in compliance, as it allows them to store data in locations that fulfill certain regulations and other requirements. It also enables redundancy and flexibility, as processing loads can be shifted if a data center or other network node goes offline. If architected correctly, a distributed cloud can be managed via a single console and a streamlined toolset, enabling easier and more transparent cloud management.
However, distributed clouds also come with their own drawbacks, including the complexity that comes with having infrastructure in multiple locations. But for IT pros and others who work in industries that demand precious little latency for tech operations, such as healthcare and automated transportation, distributed clouds can help keep things moving quickly.
