{"id":3138,"date":"2016-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otava.test\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T07:15:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T07:15:19","slug":"are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/","title":{"rendered":"Are virtual private clouds as secure as private clouds?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual private clouds<\/a>\"Virtual<\/a> are a hot ticket these days\u2014everyone wants<\/a> them. We know they aren\u2019t the same as a fully private cloud. But do the differences extend to security, too?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by reviewing the differences between private and virtual private clouds. If you want your environment completely dedicated to you and to\u00a0own everything, a private cloud is for you. The equipment will be on a site or data center you own, so you have total control over your infrastructure. If you want that control but don\u2019t want to worry about the hassle of infrastructure hosting, management and maintenance, then a hosted private cloud<\/a> is for you.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Security in a virtual private cloud<\/span><\/h2>\n

In a private cloud, resources are distributed across multiple physical servers. This allows for redundancy in equipment and gives you a smooth transition in the event of a hardware failure. With a virtual private cloud, you don\u2019t have to worry about the infrastructure, but it is not yours alone. Instead, you have an isolated patch of cloud on hardware shared with other users. When you configure a private IP subnet, VLAN and VPN, your organization has in effect created a private cloud and can access the environment securely and privately, despite being on shared infrastructure.<\/p>\n

It sounds counter-intuitive that your data is still private on a shared hardware, but think of it as two people storing their belongings in lockers at a train station. Each person has their own allotted space that only they have access to, yet they both have to go to the train station to get to it. Virtual private clouds act the same way.<\/p>\n

This means that when it comes to virtual private cloud security, it\u2019s in the eyes of the beholder. Look for providers that offer physical<\/a>, technical<\/a>\u00a0and administrative<\/a> security features along with other security protocols<\/a>. This is especially important if you need to be compliant with any regulations such as HIPAA<\/a>\u00a0or PCI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the end, the major difference between fully private and virtual private clouds is not one of security but hardware ownership. You can still store any data you choose on a virtual private cloud, including patient records and financial information, and have it be secure. To return to the train station analogy, your locker is only as secure as you make it. The same goes for security of \u00a0private and virtual private clouds. Virtual private clouds have similar secure configurations to protect your data, without the hardware to worry about. While there are many reasons why a virtual private cloud may not be the right fit for you, don\u2019t let the fear of weak security\u00a0be one of them. Just be sure the vendor you pick has a strong lock system for your data!<\/p>\n

Not sure which cloud is right for you? Speak with one of our cloud experts<\/a> to see how we can help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virtual private clouds are a hot ticket these days\u2014everyone wants them. We know they aren\u2019t the same as a fully private cloud. But do the differences extend to security, too? Let\u2019s start by reviewing the differences between private and virtual private clouds. If you want your environment completely dedicated to you and to\u00a0own everything, a private cloud is for you. The equipment will be on a site or data center you own, so you have total control over your infrastructure. If you want that control but don\u2019t want to worry about the hassle of infrastructure hosting, management and maintenance, then a hosted private cloud is for you. Security in a virtual private cloud In a private cloud, resources are distributed across multiple physical servers. This allows for redundancy in equipment and gives you a smooth transition in the event of a hardware failure. With a virtual private cloud, you don\u2019t have to worry about the infrastructure, but it is not yours alone. Instead, you have an isolated patch of cloud on hardware shared with other users. When you configure a private IP subnet, VLAN and VPN, your organization has in effect created a private cloud and can access the environment…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"other_category":[],"class_list":["post-3138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cloud-computing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre virtual private clouds as secure as private clouds? | OTAVA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out whether virtual private clouds are as secure as private clouds and how to choose the right fit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are virtual private clouds as secure as private clouds?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find out whether virtual private clouds are as secure as private clouds and how to choose the right fit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OTAVA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-26T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-14T07:15:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/team-bnr.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"553\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irma Brillantes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irma Brillantes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Irma Brillantes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35774075f8f4fcdd4eae80cb72034263\"},\"headline\":\"Are virtual private clouds as secure as private clouds?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-14T07:15:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/\"},\"wordCount\":495,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/otava.test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/servers-clouds_102643738.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cloud Computing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/are-virtual-private-clouds-as-secure-as-private-clouds\/\",\"name\":\"Are virtual private clouds as secure as private clouds? 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