Net neutrality is the idea that all internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all content equally. That means they shouldn’t be prioritizing the data, slide some services on “fast lanes” while slowing down or otherwise discriminating against other material. In other words, they should not be able to slow down Netflix and put Amazon prime video on fast lanes.

Cloud neutrality has a similar meaning to net neutrality, it refers to an environment in which there is healthy competition between cloud providers. Clients using a particular cloud service are not locked out of using other cloud services. It also means that if a cloud provider has other providers using its applications, it allows the competition to exists. Everyone gets a fair shake, and the user is left to choose whichever vendor provides the most effective service.

History of Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spent years, trying to enforce neutrality protections. FCC had passed neutrality order in 2015 after series of legal defeats, but in 2017 new FCC administration voted to jettison that order, providing the freedom to internet service providers to block or throttle content. Its supporters have argued that an open playing field is vital for innovation. If internet providers choose favorites online new companies might not have a chance to grow. For example, service providers would have blocked video streaming we might not have YouTube largest video streaming sites.

Tim Wu a professor at Columbia University coined the term “network neutrality” in a paper about online discrimination. At that time internet providers banned local internet users from accessing virtual private networks (VPNs) and banned users from using Wi-Fi routers. In his paper, he expressed his concerns about internet providers tend to limit innovation and new technologies in the long term.

Importance of Cloud Neutrality

Cloud neutrality has a very similar meaning to net neutrality, it refers to an environment in which there is healthy competition between cloud providers. Clients using a particular cloud service are not locked out of using other cloud services. It also means that if a cloud provider has other providers using its applications, it allows the competition to exists. Everyone gets a fair shake, and the user is left to choose whichever vendor provides the most effective service.

The Cloud infrastructure is entirely owned by a handful of companies with hardly any supervision. This increases the chances of misuse, either in the form of trade-secret snooping, slowing or blocking of transmission. Modern tech companies are paying to outsource their storage and computing services to the cloud. This setup allows new startups to emerge in very little time by avoiding investment in physical hardware. It has initiated a generation of companies that uses the cloud to offer services.

It’s common these days for a single business to utilize multiple, interoperable cloud providers. A business might turn to an IaaS vendor to manage its infrastructure, a SaaS vendor for a workflow application, and a PaaS vendor to provide a development environment.

Access control of data should be independent of the cloud provider, which is useful in many ways. it simplifies the process of switching system integrators or cloud vendors. Access control in conjunction with encryption also means that when you move data, it can remain encrypted and safe.

Netflix runs its steams on Amazon Web Services in 2009 and 2010. Amazon started its streaming services in 2011. They have coexisted for a decade but how long Amazon will allow this situation. The major problem is that only a few resources to replicate the cloud infrastructure.

Cloud Neutral Technologies

The things to look for in choosing cloud-neutral technologies, the actual software that will run in the cloud. The cloud software should have a fluid agreement so that it runs where you want it. Additionally, software should be

  • Run in any cloud service or across a variety of cloud vendors.
  • It should support multiple data storage formats and industry standards.
  • Replicate data across different environments.
  • Offer its independent security.
  • Have a proven success record for data center migrations, administration changes.

In other words, cloud neutrality is about the cloud vendor getting their fair shake at a data center and a facility that can’t provide a cloud-neutral environment can lead to failure.