Multi-Tenancy Cloud: Definition, Security & Benefits
If you have ever lived in an apartment, you know what it is like to be in a building that contains multiple tenants, or residents. The virtual equivalent of this real-world concept is multi-tenancy cloud computing when one cloud server has multiple customers accessing the same computing resources while their personal data remain separate. In cloud computing specifically, and software in general, multi-tenancy is a single software instance, or copy of a program that is running on a device, that multiple people have access to. The concept has changed how we use our physical devices, allowing access to programs and files on phones, tablets, and multiple computers.
How multi-tenancy works
Why would you want a multi-tenancy model for cloud computing services? For one thing, cloud customers are not aware of each other. While you might hear your apartment neighbours in real life, you will not “hear” other tenants in the cloud. This means you are unlikely to experience slowdowns or service interruptions simply because others share the server that you are on. Multi-tenancy is what makes cloud computing a viable concept. Cloud computing works for most people because companies no longer need to maintain their own physical servers. Someone does that for them off site. But if a cloud computing company had to house one server for every customer, there would not be enough physical room for all the boxes. Multi-tenant cloud computing is based on software as a service, or SaaS. One person has one copy of a piece of software and puts it on their computer. They then grant access to this software to other users, usually as a business or service. Each user’s information remains isolated from other users, even though they use the same program. Cloud computing pivots users to platforms as a service, or