Single-tenant vs. Multi-tenant Cloud

Single-tenant cloud architecture is an architecture in which a single software serves only one customer. In this architecture, customers’ data is kept separate in different databases.

Multi-tenant cloud architecture is a type of architecture where a single software and database serves multiple customers concurrently. In this architecture, users cannot see each other’s data, even though they use the same software and database.

Advantages of Single-tenant Cloud

• Since each customer’s data is kept separate and isolated from each other, the probability of a data breach reduces.
• Since each customer uses custom software, there are more customization options than multi-tenant architecture.
• Migrating data from a single-tenant architecture may be easier because fewer data are processed than a multi-tenant architecture.

Drawbacks of Single-tenant Cloud

• The costs of installation, customization, and maintenance can be high for each customer.
• Updating or managing anything can take time, as the tenant is the person who manages the system.
• Not all resources may be available on a less optimized system, making for a less efficient system.

Advantages of Multi-tenant Cloud

• Serving multiple customers using a single-tenant approach is too much workload for a two-person team. While doable, it can take a lot of effort. However, if they adopt a multi-tenant system, they can access the tools provided by the cloud services provider, such as Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and build their applications faster. Multitenancy is at the heart of effective SaaS operations, as it makes it easy to build and deploy applications faster and scale those applications quickly.
• Unlike the single-tenant model, where resources are underutilized, available resources in a multi-tenant environment are maximized because multiple users share them.
• Because there are multiple customers in multi-tenant cloud architecture, the cost is apportioned, making the application more affordable to build.

Drawbacks of Multi-tenant Cloud

• Since it is an environment that many people share, there is no customization option. This architecture may not be suitable if your application requires customization for each tenant.
• While other tenants may not see your data, the likelihood of a data breach increases as there is broader access.
• Since there is one single server, any failure can affect all tenants.

When to Use Single and Multi-Cloud Architectures?

Since data privacy is critical in some industries, single cloud architecture may be more suitable. For example, a single-tenant architecture may be more appropriate where data is isolated and data breaches are low because high-risk data is more in the financial sector.

Consumer applications, such as cloud service providers like AWS, use the same hardware for various customers under the covers. Even though each customer has a different Amazon account, customer data is processed on the same computer. At this point, multi-tenant cloud architecture is preferred.

Sources:

https://www.cloudzero.com/blog/single-tenant-vs-multi-tenant

https://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/single-tenancy

https://digitalguardian.com/blog/saas-single-tenant-vs-multi-tenant-whats-difference