How to Understand the Difference Between Single-Tenant and Multi-Tenant Cloud?
Tags: singletenantvsmultitenant, digitalidentitymanagemen, cloudcomputing, mfa
Published: 2023-03-28 10:19:06

## **Introduction:**

Tenancy in cloud computing refers to the sharing of computing resources in a private or public environment that is isolated from other users and kept secret. Single-tenant SaaS and multi-tenant SaaS are two types of tenancy.

## **What is a Single-Tenant Architecture**

A single-tenant cloud runs on dedicated infrastructure. This means that the hardware, storage, and network are dedicated to a single client, and there are no neighbors sharing hosted resources with you. Single-tenancy architectures typically reside in data centers or with managed private cloud providers who offer dedicated offsite facilities. 

In a single-tenancy architecture, each tenant gets their own database. This way, data from each tenant remains separated from the other. Furthermore, the architecture is built such that only one software instance per SaaS server is allowed.

**Advantages Of Single Tenant Cloud**

**1. Enhanced Security:**

Single-tenant (SaaS) systems enable true data isolation that contributes to optimal protection and increased security. 

**2. Migration:**

Migration is easy when a tenant wants to migrate from a single-tenant (SaaS) system into a self-hosted or local environment, because they can quickly move an application to their own managed servers.

**3. Customization:**

Single tenancy allows consumers to design an environment that meets their exact needs.

**4. Reliability:**

Single tenancy offers a consistent level of performance for an application.

**Drawbacks Of Single Tenant Cloud**

**1. Cost:**

Single-tenant does not allow cost-sharing for facilities such as deployment and monitoring, so companies end up paying more. Additionally, the customizations and maintenance required by single-tenant software often take more resources and time than multi-tenant software, which results in higher costs.

**2. Maintenance:**

A single-tenant architecture needs continuous modification and improvement, which requires a lot of maintenance.

**3. Setup:**

There may be delays due to individual installs, not to mention the learning curves that have to be considered as well.

## **What is a Multi-Tenant Architecture**

Multi-tenant cloud architecture is a single cloud infrastructure built to serve multiple businesses. It integrates multiple servers and data centers, incorporated into a single database. 

Cloud providers offer multi-tenancy as a gateway to share the same application with multiple businesses, on the same hardware and operating environment.

**Advantages of Multi-Tenant:**

**1. Scalability:** 

A multi-tenant cloud allows for easy onboarding of users, making it possible to onboard ten users from a thousand companies or a thousand users from one company without any difference in process.

**2. Saves money:**

Multi-tenancy allows resources to be consolidated and allocated efficiently, thereby saving a lot of expenses.

**3. Flexibility:**

A multi-tenant cloud can allocate resources to users as their needs change, scaling up or down accordingly.

**4. Efficiency:**

Multitenancy reduces the need for infrastructure management and software updates.

**Drawbacks of multi-tenant cloud**

**1. Security:**

Cybercriminals can exploit multiple access points to breach a system's security.

**2. Backup and restoration:**

Many companies fail to keep up with the latest advances in backup technology and data recovery options.

**3. Limited Management:**

Limited customization options and a lack of management features make it difficult for consumers to interact with the system.

## **Conclusion:**

The [difference between multi-tenancy and single-tenancy](https://www.loginradius.com/blog/identity/single-tenant-vs-multi-tenant/) is important for prospective customers to understand before signing a contract with a Cloud provider. This post should provide some clarity in the matter, and it might just make things clearer for the reader, too.