Public cloud

A public cloud is a cloud computing model where computing resources such as servers, storage, and applications are provided over the internet by third-party providers and shared among multiple customers. Unlike private clouds, where infrastructure is dedicated to a single organization, public cloud environments are multi-tenant, meaning resources are distributed across many users.
Public clouds deliver scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency because businesses pay only for the resources they use. Well-known public cloud providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). They support a wide range of services, from basic storage and computing power to advanced solutions like artificial intelligence and big data analytics.
Advanced
Public clouds operate on a shared infrastructure hosted in provider-managed data centers. Providers offer Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS), allowing organizations to choose levels of control and responsibility. Advanced deployments integrate tools such as autoscaling, serverless computing, and container orchestration to optimize performance and resource efficiency.
Security in public clouds relies on a shared responsibility model, where providers secure the infrastructure, while customers manage applications, data, and access. Multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies often include public clouds for agility and innovation while pairing them with private systems for sensitive workloads.
Relevance
Applications
Metrics
Issues
Example
An e-commerce business migrated its online store to Google Cloud to handle rapid growth and seasonal traffic surges. The scalability of the public cloud enabled the company to maintain high performance during peak shopping periods while reducing infrastructure costs.