To understand how public cloud and private cloud differ, it is helpful to first consider what they have in common. Both private and public cloud offer on-demand, internet-mediated access to computing capabilities that are provided by IT infrastructure located elsewhere. The central difference between public cloud and private cloud emerges from tenancy practices, or who is allowed to access the IT infrastructure. In a private cloud paradigm, server access is restricted to only one customer, which is usually a business. Companies might create their own private cloud settings, housing and managing the IT infrastructure themselves. Or, companies might purchase private cloud services through a cloud hosting provider. Public cloud providers, on the other hand, typically offer multi-tenant environments, allowing multiple companies or users to access the same computing resources at the same time.