Depending on the needs and characteristics of each company, business applications, documents and, generally speaking, everything related to daily operations, tend to be stored on servers. Each company has different requirements, but all of them result in the use of these servers, which may well be hosted in-house (on-premise servers) or in the cloud (cloud servers).
Pros and Cons of On-Premise Servers
The main advantages or reasons to use an on-premise server environment are:
- Corporate IT Rules and Existing Applications. In case the hardware or applications for local use are already available, it is necessary to proceed in this way. There also tend to be IT policies that support the use of on-premise servers.
- Security. The IT Department team is in full control of the security aspects of the system.
- Efficiency. At the local level, there are some advantages of on-premise servers related to performance. For example, lower latency than with Internet servers.
- Costs. Considering the long term, it is important to bear in mind that on-premise environments may be more economical for applications with predictable usage patterns.
Nevertheless, there are also some inconveniences of on-premise server environments that need to be considered when deciding whether to opt for on-premise infrastructure instead of cloud:
- Reliability and Maintenance. In order to have a reliable environment, maintenance costs of on-premise must be taken into account, which are aligned with the infrastructure we have. The more local infrastructure, the more maintenance costs and personnel dedicated to it.
- Scalability and Costs. Local hardware has limited resources. If more are needed, it will be necessary to increase the hardware, which also implies higher acquisition and maintenance costs.
- Security. In environments with on-premise servers we must take into account the application of security policies and control possible human errors.
Pros and Cons of Opting for Cloud Servers
Among the highlights of using cloud servers, we can mention:
- Performance and stability. Cloud server environments are 99.99% operational, guaranteeing their availability and functionality.
- Scalability. Unlike on-premise environments, using cloud servers means we can scale according to the resource needs that are demanded, avoiding the oversize and waste of resources if they are not necessary.
- Pay-as-you-go. You pay for what you use. No need for costly investments using external cloud server environments.
At the level of disadvantages of external cloud servers, we must also make some considerations:
- Downtime. Although providers of cloud server environments offer very high up-time, they may sometimes stop working. It must be considered that these service stoppages could cause problems in the operation of those applications or services that are implemented.
- Stability and reliability. It must be kept in mind that, occasionally, what we wish to implement may not work as we would like, due to the technological architecture for which it was designed.
- Costs. Costs must be adjusted to the actual needs of the business. Otherwise, you could be paying for resources or external cloud server services that are not really required.
Then, Which Path Should We Follow? On-Premise Servers or Cloud Environments?
It depends on the company and its needs. There is no correct answer, and one way is not better than the other. The real solution depends on the project, the applications, the costs, the availability of IT personnel, the needs and the services to be provided.