External Cloud

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What Does External Cloud Mean?

An external cloud is a cloud solution that exists outside of an organization’s physical boundaries. It can be private, public or community-based, as long as it is not located on an organization’s property.

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An external cloud is similar to a public cloud, but they differ in implementation.

Techopedia Explains External Cloud

An external cloud involves sourcing any available cloud solution to be used in connection with internal cloud or IT infrastructure resources for virtually any business need. An external cloud can have various forms of delivery. In terms of a proprietary external cloud, an organization might install and host its physical servers at a cloud vendor co-location facility. The services delivered through this cloud solution will match that of a private cloud, but all the physical resources are external to the organization.

In a non-proprietary model, a cloud vendor might provide the entire cloud infrastructure and resources to selected organizations. Such cloud solutions are generally not marketed explicitly or to the general public.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.