Businesses are continuing to invest heavily in the cloud in the post-pandemic era. But not all resources can sit in the public cloud due to security, privacy, and operational concerns. As a result, many organizations are deploying hybrid cloud strategies which offer greater flexibility. In fact, 80% of companies are now using hybrid clouds.(1)

When going hybrid, it’s critical to have strong supporting connectivity between private data centers and public cloud resources. Inadequate connectivity can lead to a variety of problems like poor network performance, downtime, and security issues. At the same time, it can prevent you from maximizing cloud investments.

The good news is that cloud connectivity options abound. Keep reading to learn various ways to enable cloud data transfers, and some examples of how companies are using cloud connectivity to streamline operations and achieve IT modernization.

What is cloud-based connectivity?

Simply put, cloud-based connectivity refers to the interconnectivity and network communication between digital resources in a cloud computing environment.

As we point out in a recent blog post, there are many ways to connect to the cloud including:

• Public IP addresses
• Cloud VPN
• Private colocation hubs
• Private cloud ports
• Internet peering
• Software-defined cloud interconnection (SDCI)

One of the safest, fastest, and most reliable ways of connecting to the cloud is by setting up a direct cloud connection, or a dedicated link within a private network, or between a private network and the cloud. This can help establish a flexible network topology and overcome public internet uncertainty.

The main benefits of direct cloud connectivity include:

• Global reach
• Carrier grade reliability
• Stronger cloud infrastructure security
• Rapid scalability
• Higher edge computing ROI

How global cloud connectivity improves operations

Here are three examples of companies that are using cloud connectivity to enhance their digital services.

1. E-Learning Company Grows Rapidly Using Zenlayer Cloud Connectivity Network

Zenlayer Cloud Products: Bare Metal Cloud

Talk-Cloud, an e-Learning platform used by universities and other online education providers, was experiencing exponential growth and needed rapid deployment of new network nodes to maintain customer satisfaction.

The heart of their platform is two-way livestreaming, an application extremely sensitive to latency issues and network instability. By using Zenlayer Bare Metal Cloud and Edge Data Center Services for their network needs, Talk-Cloud was able to increase coverage by 40% while reducing latency by 5% and costs by 20%.

Results: 

• 24 locations
• 40% increase in coverage
• 20% cost reduction
• 5% latency reduction
• 99.99% uptime
• 1 point of contact

2. Zenlayer Cloud Networking Connectivity Enables Hybrid Cloud for Digital Media Company in China

Zenlayer Cloud Product:: Cloud Networking 

A global social and digital media company based in North America and Europe was exploring new business ventures within China but lacked a hybrid cloud interconnect solution for the highly regulated and unique Chinese market.

Using Zenlayer Cloud Networking, the client was able to deploy a complete hybrid-cloud environment across their infrastructure within just a week.

Results: 

• 38% decrease in overall latency
• 0 packet loss
• < 7 days to deploy
• 99.99% availability

3. Gaming Platform Rapidly Builds Global Cloud Network Using Zenlayer Bare Metal Cloud

Zenlayer Products: Bare Metal Cloud, Cloud Networking

The cloud gaming organization has a successful business providing a cloud platform for gaming companies to host games. Thanks to their good reputation and the ever-increasing popularity of online gaming, however, demand was spiking beyond what their existing infrastructure could handle. Furthermore, their success in APAC regions was attracting interest from gaming companies around the world, including emerging markets where the client had no existing infrastructure at all.

By choosing Zenlayer for their cloud networking solution provider, the client gained the ability to quickly expand both their gaming platform’s presence and performance around the world. The Bare Metal servers deployed on the edge provide the required low latency for gaming. The client can now focus on providing excellent digital experiences for their own clients and their users without worrying about cloud connectivity infrastructure deployments or maintenance.

Results:

• 1100+ servers
• 10 countries
• 25 ms average latency over last mile
• < 48 hours deployment time
• < 15 mins response time
• < 4 hours resolution time

Solutions for Your Cloud Connectivity Challenge

Now it’s easier than ever to access instant, reliable, and cost-effective cloud connectivity with Zenlayer Cloud Networking — a private, on-demand, and full-mesh network as a service (NaaS) solution.

Cloud Networking enables you to quickly connect to leading global public clouds, private clouds, and data centers with low latency and data transmission times.

To learn more about how Cloud Networking can streamline connectivity for your business, check out our product page.

 References

(1) https://www.flexera.com/blog/cloud/cloud-computing-trends-2022-state-of-the-cloud-report/#:~:text=Organizations%20embrace%20multi%2Dcloud&text=Eighty%2Dnine%20percent%20of%20respondents,both%20public%20and%20private%20clouds.