We all have used cloud storage or at least heard about it if our devices have enough storage, to not introduce the need to have some extra GBs. In this article, we will go in-depth on what it is. We will also discuss its types, usage, and much more. With enough introduction already in place, let us get to the topic.
What is a Cloud Storage?
Cloud storage is a service provided by companies, also known as cloud providers, which allows us to save digital data in off-site storage devices, known as clouds, accessible to the users with the required credentials.
It is like a bank vault where people store their most precious belongings and cash, with the only difference, in this case, is that the belongings in cloud storage are digital data. The transfer of data takes place over the internet and is often accessed through a cloud computing service, APIs, or simply by devices such as mobile phones and laptops.
There are mainly three types:
- Public Storage: Multiple organizations share the same server of the cloud provider and typically store generic data.
- Private storage: A single organization gets control of a server of the cloud provider. This type of storage mainly stores data with high sensitivity.
- Hybrid storage: In this type of storage, organizations seeking cloud storage from the provider have options to choose from both the Public and the Private storage depending on the sensitiveness of the data.
How Does Cloud Storage Work?
Whenever an organization or an individual uploads data on a cloud network, it gets transferred to one of the several off-site physical servers of the provider present at their data centers. The server size gets adjusted as per the needs of the organizations.
Depending on the size, the fees get calculated so that the organization pays only for the storage they use. Often, the data gets stored in more than one server so that whenever a server is disconnected or is down for maintenance, the data is still available.
The cloud providers are responsible for creating and maintaining a fault-tolerant and highly durable network of servers for safe, efficient, and quick fetching of data over the internet whenever required. Similar to data uploading to servers, retrieval takes place using the internet through devices, APIs, and several other services with authorization.
What are the Benefits of Using Cloud Storage?
On a personal level, individuals use storage to get free space for their data whenever the storage in their devices gets or is about to get filled. Several companies such as Google, Apple, and many others provide free storage to the users for a certain amount. That’s quite a benefit for us for sure.
While the amount of storage allotted is enough for most individuals, organizations cannot strive with such small amounts, and hence they need to purchase more storage space from the providers. Buying cloud storage space is cost-effective as they only pay for the storage they use with no additional headache of building and maintaining servers.
Several factors such as data security, latency, durability, and availability of data whenever required are taken care of by the cloud providers. Apart from that, companies also use cloud storage for keeping a backup so that valuable information is safe in case of an internal server malfunction.
