Cloud storage is an increasingly important concept in modern times. Many have predicted the changes the internet would result in during the last fifty years. But no one had quite figured out how we would get there. The destination was pretty obvious. Location would be abstracted away replaced by connections as the new paradigm. Cloud storage is one big jump to that future.
What is Cloud Storage Cloud Storage?
A common joke is that “the cloud” is really just someone else’s computer. There is some truth to that. The whole point of cloud technology is so that you aren’t dealing with things on the hardware level anymore. Instead, you have requirements for your software to run and for your data to be stored. You then rent out the hardware to meet those requirements.
The storage provider usually has a vast array of hard drives or other storage medium. This is divided up into virtual pieces for their clients. There’s a lot of complications to doing this from error prevention, to security, to automation, and more.
What Are its Benefits?
The most business-relevant reasons for cloud storage are the separation of concerns and scale. Managing information requires a specialized set of skills, maintenance requirements, and security practices. The data needs to be appropriately backed-up; it needs to be checked for consistency; it needs to be secure from data breaches and alterations. Having an organization solely responsible for this improves their focus and effectiveness.
The other benefit is that they can more efficiently scale their resources. This ranges from buying drives in bulk to having the right amount of employees, to making optimal use of floor space. Each problem is a new chance to optimize costs.
How Is it Useful?
Cloud storage isn’t just about saving money. It increases your options and flexibility. For instance, it is much easier to establish redundancy. You can have two cloud storage providers sharing copies of your data and structure so that you can still access it if one goes down.
However, Cloud storage really shines on the access side. Everything being remote means any device can have access to the same information. This frees employees, services, and infrastructure from being tied to a physical location. Many companies even run their own in-house cloud storage just to get these benefits.
Cloud storage is more than just a fancy new way of storing information. It’s an elegant new way of accessing information. This flexibility of accessing and using data has opened up a wealth of new ways to do things. Just look at browsers and other apps that have started using cloud storage to sync on multiple devices.