Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

A virtual private cloud (VPC) is a hybrid model of cloud computing in which a private cloud solution is provided within a public cloud provider’s infrastructure.

VPC is a cloud computing service in which a public cloud provider isolates a specific portion of their public cloud infrastructure to be provisioned for private use. The VPC infrastructure is managed by a public cloud vendor; however, the resources allocated to a VPC are not shared with any other customer.

VPCs were introduced specifically for those customers interested in taking advantage of the benefits of cloud computing but who have concerns over certain aspects of the cloud. Common concerns involve privacy, security and the loss of control over proprietary data. In response to this customer need, many public cloud vendors designed a VPC offering a part of a vendor’s public infrastructure but having dedicated cloud servers, virtual networks, cloud storage and private ID addresses, reserved for a VPC customer.

VPCs are sometimes referred to as private clouds, but there is a slight difference as VPCs are private clouds sourced over a third-party vendor infrastructure rather than over an enterprise IT infrastructure. Examples for VPCs include Amazon VPC, launched in August, 2009, and Google App Engine, where the VPC feature is supported through the secure data connector product launched in April, 2009.