A multi-tenant cloud is a cloud computing architecture that allows customers to share computing resources in a public or private cloud. Each tenant's data is isolated and remains invisible to other tenants. In a multi-tenant cloud system, users have individualized space for storing their projects and data.
Benefits of multitenancy
Better use of resources:
One machine reserved for one tenant isn't efficient, as that one tenant is not likely to use all of the machine's computing power. By sharing machines among multiple tenants, use of available resources is maximized.
Lower costs:
With multiple customers sharing resources, a cloud vendor can offer their services to many customers at a much lower cost than if each customer required their own dedicated infrastructure.
Drawbacks of multitenancy
Possible security risks and compliance issues:
Some companies may not be able to store data within shared infrastructure, no matter how secure, due to regulatory requirements. Additionally, security problems or corrupted data from one tenant could spread to other tenants on the same machine, although this is extremely rare and shouldn't occur if the cloud vendor has configured their infrastructure correctly. These security risks are somewhat mitigated by the fact that cloud vendors typically are able to invest more in their security than individual businesses can.
The "noisy neighbor" effect:
If one tenant is using an inordinate amount of computing power, this could slow down performance for the other tenants. Again, this should not occur if the cloud vendor has set up its infrastructure correctly.