When it comes to cloud computing, there are several different types of tenancy that can be implemented. These will impact the way your organization accesses and uses cloud resources. There are many things to consider when choosing a cloud computing provider. Here is a brief overview of the different types of tenancy in cloud computing that can be utilized in an environment and how each one affects an organization’s use of the cloud resources.
What is a Tenancy in Cloud Computing?
A tenancy is a form of contract between an organization and a cloud service provider that defines the relationship and responsibilities between both parties. This will also include the level of control an organization has over its data and resources. As mentioned above, there are various types of tenancy that can be utilized in a cloud contract.
The type of tenancy you choose will impact the way your organization accesses and uses cloud resources. There are two main types of tenancy – managed and independent. A managed tenancy is where an organization shares resources with other tenants on the same physical infrastructure.
An independent tenancy is where each organization has its own physical resources. The difference between these tenancies lies in who has control over the physical hardware, network, and other resources. In a managed tenancy, the cloud service provider is responsible for managing the hardware and network, while an organization has limited control over this.
In an independent tenancy, the organization is able to fully control the environment and can make changes to it as needed.
Cloud-Managed Services Tenancy
This type of tenancy is often found in the public cloud environment and where shared services are offered. Organizations that utilize these cloud services are usually hosted on the same physical infrastructure as other organizations. This means that multiple tenants are sharing the same physical resources, networks, and hardware.
These tenants will be offered a service-level agreement (SLA) that outlines the level of service they can expect from the public cloud provider. There will be a certain amount of resources that are dedicated to that organization. However, there may be other organizations sharing the same resources at any given time.
Cloud-managed services tenancy is often found in the public cloud environment, where organizations share resources with other tenants on the same physical infrastructure. While the cloud service provider might offer some level of control through APIs or other integrations, organizations using these shared services don’t have full control over the environment.
Independent Resource Tenancy (IRM)
IRM is an independent tenancy where organizations are given their own virtualized environment that is isolated from other organizations. This gives the tenant full control over their resources and allows them to make changes to the environment as they see fit.
It is important to note that these virtualized resources are usually on the same physical infrastructure as other tenants. This means that there will be other organizations sharing the same physical hardware, network, and other resources, but each tenant will be given all the resources they need.
This type of tenancy is most often found in the private cloud environment, where organizations are given their own virtualized environment that is isolated from other organizations on the same physical infrastructure.
Equal-Storage Independent Resource Tenancy (E-IRM)
E-IRM is a type of tenancy that gives each tenant an equal amount of storage. This type of tenancy is most often utilized in a hybrid cloud environment where organizations are given an equal amount of storage from the public cloud and a private cloud.
This means that the public cloud storage and private cloud storage will be the same in size. This type of tenancy is sometimes referred to as “equivalent-resource” tenancy. It is important to note that not all organizations will have the same amount of storage in the public cloud.
The amount of storage an organization has in the public cloud will depend on its contract with the provider.
Equivalent-Resource Independent Resource Tenancy (Equivalent IRM)
This type of tenancy gives each tenant an equal amount of resources, such as processing power, bandwidth, and memory. This is different from E-IRM as each tenant will be given an equal amount of each resource, regardless of whether it is public or private. Both public and private resources will be the same, and each tenant will be given the same amount.
This is best suited for organizations that have a number of different workloads or applications that they want to move to the cloud. In this situation, tenants can be given the resources they need to run their applications.
Cloud Services Reservation Contract (CSRC)
This type of tenancy is most often found in the public cloud environment, where organizations will reserve resources in advance. This type of tenancy is referred to as either “equivalent-resource” or “equivalent-storage”, depending on the type of resources being reserved. This means that the organization will reserve resources ahead of time that they will use at a later date.
These resources are typically reserved for an entire year. With a CSRC, an organization will have full control over the environment and be able to make any changes they see fit. A CSRC is often utilized when an organization needs a large number of resources for a short amount of time. As the name suggests, organizations will reserve resources ahead of time so that they have access to the necessary amount of resources when they need them.
Final Thoughts on Types of Cloud Computing
The type of tenancy in your contract will determine whether you have access to raw resources (e.g., virtual machines or storage), or whether you are able to interact with these resources through API endpoints or some other integration point. Here we have given an overview of the different types of tenancy in cloud computing and we hope this helped you understand well.
