Choosing an on-premises or cloud environment

You can choose to run Vertica on physical host hardware, or deploy Vertica on the cloud.

You can choose to run Vertica on physical host hardware, or deploy Vertica on the cloud.

On-premises environment

Do you have access to on-premises hardware on which to install Vertica? On-premises hardware can provide benefits in cases like the following:

  • Your business requirements demand keeping sensitive data on-premises.

  • You prefer to pay a higher up-front cost (CapEx) of buying hardware for on-premises deployment, rather than potentially paying a higher long-term total cost of a cloud deployment.

  • You cannot rely on continuous access to the internet.

  • You prefer end-to-end control over your environment, rather than depending on a third-party cloud provider to store your data.

  • You may have already invested in a data center and suitable hardware for Vertica that you want to capitalize on.

If you plan to install Vertica in an on-premises environment, this section of the documentation walks you through preparation and installation: Installing manually.

Cloud environment

Vertica can run on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure. You might consider running Vertica on cloud resources for any of the following benefits:

  • You plan to quickly scale your cluster size up and down to accommodate varying analytic workload. You will provision more computing resources during peak work loads without incurring the same resource costs during low-demand periods. The Vertica database's Eon Mode is designed for this use case.

  • You prefer to pay over time (OpEx) for ongoing cloud deployment, rather than the higher up-front cost of buying hardware for on-premises deployment.

  • You need to reduce the costs, labor, and expertise involved in maintaining physical on-premises hardware (such as accommodating for server purchases, hardware depreciation, software maintenance, power consumption, floor space, and backup infrastructure).

  • You prefer simpler, faster deployment. Installing on the cloud eliminates the need for more specific hardware expertise during setup. In addition, on cloud platforms such as AWS and GCP, Vertica offers templates on that allow you to deploy a pre-configured set of resources on which Vertica and Management Console are already installed, in just a few steps.

  • You have very variable workloads and you do not want to pay for idle equipment in a data center when you can simply rent infrastructure when you need it.

  • You are a start-up and don't want to build out a data center until your product or service is proven and growing.

If you plan to install Vertica on the cloud, first see Installing in the cloud.