In contrast to the models discussed above, which define how services are offered via the cloud, these different cloud deployment types have to do with where the cloud servers are and who manages them.
The most common cloud deployments are:
Private cloud: A private cloud is a server, data center, or distributed network wholly dedicated to one organization.
Public cloud: A public cloud is a service run by an external vendor that may include servers in one or multiple data centers. Unlike a private cloud, public clouds are shared by multiple organizations. Using virtual machines, individual servers may be shared by different companies, a situation that is called “multitenancy” because multiple tenants are renting server space within the same server.
Hybrid cloud: hybrid cloud deployments combine public and private clouds, and may even include on-premises legacy servers. An organization may use their private cloud for some services and their public cloud for others, or they may use the public cloud as backup for their private cloud.
Multi-cloud: multi-cloud is a type of cloud deployment that involves using multiple public clouds. In other words, an organization with a multi-cloud deployment rents virtual servers and services from several external vendors — to continue the analogy used above, this is like leasing several adjacent plots of land from different landlords. Multi-cloud deployments can also be hybrid cloud, and vice versa.