Cloud Networking vs Traditional Networking: Which One Should Your Enterprise Choose?
In today’s world, businesses are moving towards using the best tools to scale up their organizations, primarily because today’s world is fast-moving. Network infrastructure is essential as it upgrades the overall capacity of the organization to perform better. The shift in the technological landscape has led to more businesses and enterprises making decisions that best suit their organizational goals. Technology is moving significantly faster, which has made organizations seek solutions that upgrade their infrastructure. Cloud computing has similarly created ways for organizations to deploy and use resources rapidly. Statistics show that 71% of companies expect their cloud budget to increase.
How Does Cloud Networking and Traditional Networking Work?
Cloud computing works by designing, implementing, and managing cloud-based resources integrated with an organization’s network. It acts as a bridge connecting employees, resources, and applications. A cloud service provider manages and assists companies by managing networking hardware and infrastructure.
On the other hand, Traditional Networking relies on manual configuration and management of devices, including routers, switches, and firewalls. It has a fixed function and specific hardware designed to control network traffic.
Differences Between Cloud Networking and Traditional Networking
Traditional Networking:
Traditional networking limits organizations due to physical constraints. The capacity of a conventional network hinders the organization primarily due to the failure to upgrade the network infrastructure. It relies on physical hardware, which limits the capacity of the entire business procedure and leads to significant downtime. In today’s world, it can be costly as businesses can suffer tremendously due to downtime. Also, it relies on installation and constant maintenance, which is expensive for companies.
An IT support team is required on-site for any problems, such as downtime or hardware problems. Moreover, the network visibility is limited, which leads to the external addition of resources to implement the tools, adding to the scalability issues. Also, compared with cloud networking, traditional networking is time-consuming as it leads to longer resolution time and slow deployment of resources as per the organization’s demand. In organizations that do not require scalability automation and fast software deployment, traditional networking with customized resources is still efficient. However, cloud computing is more efficient for businesses seeking to grow and scale their operations.
Cloud Networking:
Cloud networking is flexible in that it allows it to scale according to organizational demand. It can deploy resources to ensure performance during peak times. The capacity of cloud networking is significantly greater than that of traditional networking as the volume is adjusted according to the network performance. Moreover, through virtualization, cloud networking creates and manages resources such as virtual routers and firewalls. As it relies on virtual machines, the downtime of cloud networking is entirely dependent on hardware failure.
Hence, optimizing resources mitigates downtime by effectively distributing workloads and ensuring network availability if the system fails. Organizations also have a better understanding and visibility of cloud networks, including traffic, performance, security, and resources, as traffic and performance can be monitored in real-time. Moreover, by consulting with your cloud service provider, they can provide plans and practical tools for better resource utilization.
Furthermore, the cloud service provider offers prompt responses and fast resource deployment in case of network breakdown so enterprises do not suffer delays. The virtualization solution is the base of cloud networking, offering assistance deploying network resources. The virtualization solution ensures that the data and bandwidth are distributed accordingly, allowing for workload movement.
Adoption of Cloud Networking
Over the years, cloud computing options have increased and provided substantial returns, leading to a slowdown in traditional networking as businesses want resources that cater to their organization. 67% of companies’ infrastructure is now cloud-based as it caters to organization demands, and the pandemic significantly impacted businesses, leading to 61% migrating their business to the cloud. Statistics show that 80% of companies have reported operational improvements by adopting the cloud, and 82% of SMEs have seen practical cost deductions in their budget after adopting cloud technology
What is Better For Your Business? Cloud Networking or Traditional Networking
The above statistics show the effectiveness of Cloud Networking. Virtualization solutions and network infrastructure allow the overall distribution of network resources, leading to quick adoption of changing market demand. The independence of workloads facilitates the facilitation of efficient resources. As discussed before, cloud networking offers significant advantages that overshadow traditional networking. Flexibility, scalability, and accessibility have become the key priorities of organizations. Traditional networking allows greater control over the physical hardware and infrastructure, which can lead to enterprises adopting them if they do not rely on scaling their business and have specific needs.
However, the answer solely depends on the business needs and market demands. Both traditional networking and cloud networking have pros and cons, and ultimately, by identifying and evaluating the company’s needs, you can make an informed decision about which will best suit your business.