Cloud storage
Many times we hear about the cloud, and of course the famous
cloud storage. But many of us do not know what this type of storage that is so
popular is, what it is used for or what benefits it has.
In today's article we will explore just that, the concept of
cloud storage, learn what it is, what it is for, how it works, advantages,
disadvantages, and a comparison with traditional data storage.
So if you are interested in immersing yourself in emerging
technologies and others that have been established for a long time but are
still a reference in the cloud industry today, read on.
What is cloud storage?
Cloud storage, also known as Cloud Storage, is a concept
that derives from cloud computing, where a user can hire a remote space cloud
computing provider to store their files and data in general.
It is usually offered as a remote service, and not local,
which has a certain capacity and prices. This type of cloud computing offers
serious advantages since, among other things, it allows companies to have a way
to host data without having to spend on data storage equipment (hard drives or
SSD drives) locally
Cloud storage offers agility, durability, scalability, low
cost, and remote access from anywhere, 24 hours a day.
Cloud storage features
Let us now see what are the characteristics of cloud storage
that have made it so popular in recent years.
Easy to use
Nothing is easier than drag and drop, and that's what cloud
disk space brings us. Thanks to services like Google Drive or Dropbox, storing
documents, movies, files or music is easier than ever. You just have to move
the items to the Dropbox or Google Drive folder, and everything is
automatically copied to the cloud.
Sharing is easy
These types of cloud storage services allow you to share
files with colleagues, friends and family quickly. Invitations can be sent and
permissions enabled so that only certain people can access them, making it not
only easy, but also secure.
Encrypted information
All connections to most cloud storage services are encrypted
thanks to the use of different security algorithms such as SSL/TLS certificates
that can encrypt point-to-point connections (client to server) .
Online edition
Cloud storage allows documents to be edited online. A
classic example of this is the Google Docs services that allow you to edit
documents and automatically save them to Google Drive.
Multi platformo:p>
They are services that are characterized by working on any
platform (Windows, Linux and MacOS). And if any native application does not
work directly, the browser can be used as the main browser for the files and
directories that we have hosted there. In addition, they also work on mobile
platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
Large storage capacity
Cloud storage services offer anywhere from 1GB to 30GB of
free storage. And if you need more space for very little monthly money, you can
access 100GB up to several TB of virtual disk in the computing cloud to upload
everything you need.
Advantages and Disadvantages of cloud storage
Let's find out now Advantages and disadvantages.
Advantage
·
Ease of use and to share
data with teams, friends and family.
·
They are integrated into
business suites with other productivity applications.
·
They are mostly free,
although they have limits on their capabilities.
·
t does not require
installing any software on the client (computers).
·
It is managed and updated
automatically, without our intervention.
·
Documents are automatically
saved after any modification.
·
It allows you to choose
with whom to share the data, thus improving security.
Disadvantages
·
Always requires active
Internet access.
·
There are storage limits,
after reaching it you will have to pay for sure or delete content.
·
Every so often they modify
their interfaces, which can confuse users who are not very technological.
·
By depending on servers
(especially in the web hosting industry), they often suffer from attacks or
security problems, making them unavailable.
·
They can potentially cause
data loss if web or storage servers are compromised.
How does cloud storage work?
The basic concept of the cloud is that it works on the
Internet. With that as a premise, we can logically assume that cloud storage
works by storing your data on servers located on the Internet.
These servers work in cluster or farm mode, creating
backup/mirror copies of all your information, and thus making the dispatch of
your data not only safer and faster, but also safer because it is not stored in
a single place.
When uploading data to Google Docs, Google Stylesheet or
uploading a video to Facebook or Mega, you are uploading data to the Internet.
The data passes from your computer to the Internet, where it is ready to be used
by different online services, or shared with different people who can access
that information from anywhere in the world.
Cloud storage providers make sue that those servers and the
entire network infrastructure are available at all times, as well as that they
have the necessary security measures to prevent you from losing that data.
Benefits of saving files in the cloud
Data storage in the cloud brought with it many benefits for
both users and companies and corporations that began to adopt it. Let's see
what they are now.
nline Modifications
As we mentioned before, you do not need to have any software
installed to be able to modify documents online, now cloud storage providers
allow you to do it online directly from the browser, without the need to install
anything like in the old days where you needed Microsoft Office to do anything
or similar suites.
Auto save
Automatic saving is another great benefit of working with
cloud data storage. Before, if you were preparing a report, you always needed
to remember every few minutes to press the save button, otherwise your document
would not have the changes applied. That no longer happens with online office
suites like Google Docs or Office 365, as they save everything automatically so
you don't lose anything
Multiple formats
In the past decade you needed a program to open certain
files on your computer, and if you had a slightly different format you already
needed to install another program. It was something crazy. Today cloud storage
and office suites take care of everything. Not only do they allow you to upload
any type of file, but they also convert it if necessary and allow you to work
with it without any restrictions.
Sharing is easy
When you work with teams online and remotely, having shared
documents becomes an imperative need. That is where one of the great benefits
of cloud storage arises, it allows easy, fast and secure sharing. You can
choose with whom to share the files, and assign the privileges you want
(reading or modifying those files).
Helps reduce costs
In the past decades, large companies spent tens of thousands
of dollars on licenses to be able to work with certain file formats such as
.doc .xls .ppt, etc. Today, thanks to initiatives such as Google Suite, you can
work with style sheets, documents, forms, presentations, flow charts, digital
whiteboards and much more in an integrated way, and the best: free!
Quick implementation
Getting started with these cloud storage services is quick
and easy. The space in the cloud is there, you just need an email address, a
password and that's it. In a matter of seconds, you can access a complete range
of applications that allow you to save your information online.
Centralized management
Having a single place to store, modify and delete
information makes everything faster. The management of documents, emails and fies
in general becomes super fast thanks to theintegration and teamwork tools. This
is one of the biggest benefits of cloud space.
Differences between cloud and hard drive storage
What are the main differences between cloud storage vs
traditional hard drive storage? Let's see more on that topic now.
Availability
The difference between cloud storage and storage on
traditional hard drives is very obvious: when you host data on your hard drive,
you are doing it on a single physical medium. While when you do it in the cloud
your files are multiplied and stored on many disks connected to each other.
n case of a crash of your local disk, you run out of data,
you lose everything. While being stored in the cloud, when there is a failure
in one storage unit, the others take over and continue to dispatch the
information (your data), this means that they are always available.
In that sense of data
availability, it is much safer to work with the cloud than with a traditional
disk.
Speed
In terms of speed, the cloud has to lose, because to be able
to work with that data you need to download it to your PC first, and with each
modification the changes must be uploaded to the Internet. So if you don't want
to wait a couple of seconds (in the case of Drive, Dropbox, and similar
services) from your PC for the changes to be transmitted to the Internet, the
ideal would be to use a hard drive.
The write and read speed of SSDs today is amazing, and you
can do any operation involving light or eavy data in a matter of thousandths of
a second.
Security
In terms of security, cloud storage is prone to external
attacks on its servers. But thanks to protection mechanisms such as two-step
authentication, it is much safer to protect yourself from hackers who want to
compromise access to your files in the cloud.
In this aspect, if you work on a local hard drive, you may
have a little more advantage, although if you do not protect your operating
system well, use antivirus, antimalware and keep it clean, someone can also
hack your PC and lose all your data.
In this sense it is a tie, in both you can suffer security
problems.
Collaboration
When we talk about collaboration tools, the cloud has
everything to win. With cloud storage you are more productive, you can work as
a team without having to transport files with a flash drive or send them by
email. While if you work on your hard drive you run the risk of taking a long
time to share files with your colleagues or friends quickly.
Types of cloud storage
What kinds of cloud storage are there? We will try to answer
this question by showing you the different types of cloud storage that are used
today:
file storage
This type of cloud storage specializes in providing access
for shared and collaborative work environments for teams in companies.
These are cloud servers connected to NAS network storage
devices, other popular solutions may be Amazon's EFS (Elastic File System),
where it is often used to store large files such as movies, DVDs, Blu-rays,
large programs weight, and other similar files.
Object storage
It is usually used to host small to medium files, it is
widely used in conjunction with virtual machines or containers, as it allows
real-time scalability of disk space, as well as total flexibility when
increasing or decreasing its capacity.
Another use that is given to this type of storage is the
backup of servers, websites or databases. Examples of object storage can be
Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage.
Block storage
This is one of the most used types of cloud storage in
business environments. It is characterized by maximizing performance and
availability to the maximum, offering storage environments with very low
latency, high IOP rates, something that ensures almost instantaneous dispatch
of information, ideal for applications that require immediate response.
An example of this type of service might be IBM Block
Storage or Azure Blob Storage Block.
Cloud Storage Usage Examples
We are going to see several examples of cloud storage, that
is, the scenarios where it becomes a useful tool for companies.
Data backup and recovery
Always make a backup, it is one of the most important
premises in the world of computing. This becomes even more important when we
work with data. Always having a defined backup structure and configuration will
make you sleep more peacefully at night.
In turn, knowing the data recovery plan in case it fails
will save you not only headaches, it will also prevent data loss and of course,
money loss as well. Today there are numerous ways to back up to the cloud
automatically.
You will be able to organize your backup copies in files or
file warehouses to retain data in accordance with the normal and legal
requirements of your different countries, or as part of the contract and
services that you provide to your clients.
This type of cloud backup services are not only used by
banking and financial entities, but also by health services, the media,
educational institutions, and also by computer companies, accounting firms, and
any SME.
Software development environments
Having a place where you can create, modify and destroy
virtual machines (VM), as well as having an elastic cloud disk storage allows
you to store large amounts of data that are often necessary in software
development tests.
If you need to create, delete or duplicate volumes of data,
the ideal is to start working with cloud storage, which guarantees speed,
avoids migrations between hosts and, above all, maintains a relatively low cost
compared to traditional servers.
Whether you need to create a simple website, or a
complicated application for your mobile or the web, developing on cloud storage
offers great advantages.
Scalability and high availability
One of the things that is most sought after among companies
today is to ensure constant and smooth data growth. Therefore, having a company
that offers cloud storage and that is scalable is critical.
Another reason why these services began to be used has been
the high availability provided by these cloud environments, it is especially
useful when those who use it are businesses or virtual enterprises with users
who consult the data 24 hours a day, 365 days a week. weekdays.
Company that Provide free Cloud Storage.
|
Company |
Free File
Storage |
Link |
|
Mega |
20 GB |
https://mega.io/ |
|
Dropbox |
2 GB |
https://www.dropbox.com/ |
|
Googledrive |
15 GB |
https://www.google.com/drive/ |
|
Icedrive |
10 GB |
https://icedrive.net/ |
|
Media fire |
10 GB |
https://www.mediafire.com/ |
|
Pcloud |
10 GB |
https://www.pcloud.com/ |
|
Sync |
5 GB |
https://www.sync.com/ |