Cloud storage
Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which the digital data is stored in logical pools. The physical storage spans multiple servers (sometimes in multiple locations), and the physical environment is typically owned and managed by a hosting company. These cloud storage providers are responsible for keeping the data available and accessible, and the physical environment protected and running. People and organizations buy or lease storage capacity from the providers to store user, organization, or application data.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Storage;
Advantages of Cloud Storage
- Accessibility: Files in the cloud can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. This allows you to move beyond time zone and geographic location issues.
- Cost savings: Cloud storage for your business will come at little or no cost for a small or medium-sized organization. This will reduce your annual operating costs and even more savings because it does not depend on internal power to store information remotely.
- Disaster recovery: All businesses should invest in an emergency backup plan and cloud storage can be used like this by creating a second copy of important files. You can store these files at a remote location and they can be accessed through a internet connection.
- Scalability: With cloud storage, you only pay for the amount of storage you require. If your business experiences growth, then the cloud operator can help accommodate your corresponding growth in data storage needs. All you will have to do is vary how much you pay to extend the storage you have. This also works in the same way if your business shrinks and you require less storage space at a reduced rate.
- Speed: Tests have shown that when the cloud is supported by the right enterprise technologies, the speeds achieved can rival onsite scores. For example, an enterprise can have multiple servers backing up data simultaneously much quicker than backing up onto disk.
- Storage immortality: The cloud offers the opportunity to bypass the risk of purchasing hardware that will soon be obsolete. Instead, you can pay for the capacity and performance your business requires, and your provider can upgrade the environment to keep pace with the latest technology. This is brought on by competitive pressures from other cloud providers.
Disadvantages of Cloud Storage
- Internet Connection
Cloud based storage is dependent on having an internet connection. If you are on a slow network you may have issues accessing your storage. In the event you find yourself somewhere without internet, you won’t be able to access your files. - Costs
There are additional costs for uploading and downloading files from the cloud. These can quickly add up if you are trying to access lots of files often. - Hard Drives
Cloud storage is supposed to eliminate our dependency on hard drives right? Well some business cloud storage providers require physical hard drives as well. - Support
Support for cloud storage isn’t the best, especially if you are using a free version of a cloud provider. Many providers refer you to a knowledge base or FAQs. - Privacy
When you use a cloud provider, your data is no longer on your physical storage. So who is responsible for making sure that data is secure? That’s a gray area that is still being figured out.
