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Cloud vs. Cloud-Native Applications: What’s the Difference?

In today’s tech landscape, understanding the distinction between cloud applications and cloud-native applications is paramount for IT professionals.

What Is a Cloud Application?

A cloud application is fundamentally an application hosted in the cloud. There are multiple avenues for deploying a cloud application, whether through cloud servers, platforms like Amazon EC2, or utilizing services such as Elastic Beanstalk. If an application operates in the cloud, it is classified as a cloud application.

What Is a Cloud-Native Application?

A cloud-native application utilizes a specific architecture designed for scalability, generally consisting of microservices that can be independently deployed and scaled. Although these applications are termed "cloud-native" for their optimal performance within cloud environments, they can also function on on-premise servers.

Key Differences Between the Two

1. Development Approach: Cloud applications are comparatively simpler to develop than cloud-native applications, which require a more intricate approach due to their microservices architecture. A single CI/CD pipeline usually suffices for cloud apps, while cloud-native apps might necessitate individual pipelines for each microservice.

2. Deployment Strategies: Traditional cloud applications can easily be deployed on various server types, including bare-metal and virtual servers. In contrast, cloud-native apps typically require a microservices-friendly deployment environment, often running inside containers managed by orchestration platforms like Kubernetes.

3. Monitoring and Management: Monitoring cloud applications is straightforward, generally yielding a single set of metrics. Cloud-native apps, on the other hand, produce multiple logs from each microservice, necessitating comprehensive data collection for efficient operational oversight.

4. Security: Cloud applications are easier to secure due to their simplified structure. However, the isolated nature of cloud-native applications running in containers can enhance security, as each microservice’s potential breach does not affect others as readily.

Conclusion: Choosing the Right App

Ultimately, cloud applications offer simplicity, ease of development, and flexibility across different service types. In contrast, cloud-native applications provide superior scalability and the option to run in varied environments, including on-premises. Deciding between them hinges on specific operational needs and business objectives.

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