What is the best cloud hosting provider in 2022?

Cloud hosting allows to access applications, websites and other solutions via cloud resources. In traditional hosting, you deploy the solution on a single server. With the cloud, you can place all the data across many interconnected servers located in different geographical locations. All these servers only exist virtually, and this is where the name cloud comes from.


The advantages of cloud hosting are pretty impressive, and you can see how they can be beneficial for your business. Let’s dive in!

Also called a cloud service provider, a cloud hosting provider is a third-party company offering cloud storage services, infrastructure, platforms and software. It gives you the opportunity to access all the above services easily, without having to provide them on your own.

Cloud providers use a pay-as-you-go model and a lot of solutions are automated, which leaves a lot of space for autonomy, customization and growth. Depending on your business needs, your cloud provider will help you choose a cloud deployment model.

What are the benefits of cloud hosting?

1. Reliability
If your solution exists on one single physical server and this server goes offline or vanishes, so does your solution. With cloud hosting, a hardware issue on one server doesn’t cause any downtime since your solution is shared with a number of machines. In case one server stops functioning, the others can pick up the work and the user will keep receiving a smooth experience without any interruptions.


2. Cost efficiency and versatility
With cloud hosting, you only pay for the storage and services you are using. Scale as needed, and pay only for what you need. You can create your own custom solution with a certain set of features and services, and make it fit your requirements in terms of front, storage, architecture, etc.
On the other hand, with traditional hosting you pay a fixed amount for a fixed solution beforehand, without being sure whether you’ll need the services or the storage. It leaves little place for flexibility.


3. Scalability and flexibility
With cloud hosting, you don’t have any limitations when it comes to bandwidth, computing power or storage in one single server. The virtual nature of cloud hosting has literally no limits when you want to grow your business, add extra storage or schedule an event that will require more power and data.
Example: You run an e-commerce website. You want to scale your website to the point where it can accept all the buyers for a Black Friday sale. With cloud storage, you are only one call away from your cloud hosting provider.

The deployment models are based on the location of the infrastructure, the amount of control you’ll have over your service, security and accessibility.


1. Private cloud model
In this model, all the servers, data centers or networks belong to one organization. The private cloud model gives you the most privacy and data security, which is guaranteed by firewalls. You can host it both with an independent cloud provider or on a rented infrastructure.
The obvious advantages of private cloud deployment model are security and the control you have over your hardware and software.
The disadvantage is that for startups, this model can be relatively expensive.


2. Public cloud model
A public cloud deployment model is shared by different businesses. Think of it as co-working area, where different companies come together. The businesses use this model on a subscription basis. With the subscription, they get systems, services and capabilities without having to spend extra on them. In this model, you pay for what you use and you have massive potential for scalability, as the providers often offer excellent plans and opportunities for growing businesses.
The pros of using a public cloud model are cost, transparency, scalability and high bandwidth. You also don’t need to manage the infrastructure and you can focus on other things.
If your business works with highly secure data and you have maximum privacy concerns, it would be a drawback to using the public cloud deployment model.


3. Hybrid cloud model
The hybrid cloud deployment model contains both the public and the private features within one model. The tasks with higher privacy concerns and sensitive data can be run on the private model, while the more general tasks can be run on the public model.
This model can also be used for the tasks which have spikes in demand, like the above example with the Black Friday sale.
The clear benefit of the hybrid model is that in the most advanced approach it can seamlessly accommodate the best of both private and public models, adjusting to your business needs when needed.


4. Community cloud model
In the community cloud deployment model, the infrastructure is accessible by the members of the same community. You can have different sets of users / organizations with data access as long as they are united by the same community. The community can be based on skills, geography, applied law, etc. – the possibilities are endless.
To sum up, a private cloud model is like your own office which you pay for and where you set up everything, from the internet to the new desk. A hybrid model is where you have your own office but you might rent extra spaces for events or freelancers who don’t come in on a regular basis.
A public cloud model is an open coworking space, and the community cloud model is also a coworking space but only for the representatives of a certain profession. Example: there are more and more coworking spaces for jobs like hairdressers. You can have access there if you are part of the “community”.


Choosing the cloud deployment model will also depend on what type of cloud service you’re using.

1. PaaS or Platform-as-a-Service
   With this cloud computing model, a third-party provider gives access to hardware and software tools to the users. It is in the name – the provider delivers the ‘platform’ as a full service with a solution.
   Write the code and build the solutions without having to maintain the software and the hardware. It also significantly removes the amount of code you need to write for the solution.
   Example: Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine
   
2. SaaS or Software-as-a-Service.
   SaaS offers services directly online, where many users have the access to the service. The entire full-fledged application is delivered via a web browser, while the services and the workload are managed centrally by the SaaS provider.
   SaaS is most commonly used by smaller business who don’t have the necessary resources yet to handle their own applications or software, or for services that only require a limited amount of use.
   Example: Google Workspace, Dropbox, Salesforce.
   
3. IaaS, or Infrastructure-as-a-Service.
   The provider offers the business cloud-based computing resources for the operations. It is also a pay-as-you-use service, where you pay for the storage and virtualization when you need it. The user is responsible for the operations, and the provider gives access to the network, servers, virtualization and storage. It is a solid solution for businesses who are growing but who have limited resources to invest into hardware.
   Example: AWS, Google Cloud
   

Any growing business is not only concerned with the price question but also with the time question. Most businesses can’t afford a long downtime. Let us take a look at both and how to choose the best cloud hosting option for your solution.

How long does it take to deploy the cloud?

The time it takes to deploy the cloud will depend on what type of deployment and what type of service you use. When you make the big decision to move your business to the cloud, you are most likely asking the question: “How long will it take to deploy the cloud?”.


The answer will depend on the following criteria:

1. Your business’ size. Larger amount of data takes longer to move.
2. Business’ age. The longer your company has been around, the more systems and complexity need to be taken into account.
3. Operational needs of your business during the migration. How much downtime can you afford?
4. Cloud services provider. A skilled, efficient provider will do it in as little downtime as possible. They will also help you evaluate the deployment duration based on your business, budget and needs.

Your final choice of cloud provider will depend on:

• Scaling and flexibility
• Pricing
• Network quality
• Possibility to have backups
• Developper experience (support, documentation, etc.)
• Multi-cloud products
• Usability. While the best cloud provider will make sure you can focus on your business and save time, you still want a user-friendly interface where you can easily handle your data and storage.
  

What is the best cloud hosting provider?

With fully managed offerings for bare metal, containerization & serverless architectures, Scaleway brings choice to the world of cloud computing, offering customers the ability to choose where their customer’s data resides, to choose what architecture works best for their business, and to choose a more responsible way to scale.

Scaleway helps developers and businesses to build, deploy and scale applications to any infrastructure. Scaleway’s complete cloud ecosystem is used by 25,000+ businesses, including European startups, who choose Scaleway for its multi-AZ redundancy, smooth developer experience, carbon-neutral data centers & native tools for managing multi-cloud.

Don’t hesitate to give Scaleway a call or contact them via the form, to choose the solution that fits your needs best — and yes, you will only pay for what you’re using!