What is Cloud Storage and How Does It Work?
In recent years, the perception many people have of cloud technology has gone from being a want to a need. It's now seen as fundamental for many businesses. With cloud-based applications, data storage, and recovery planning, the cloud allows new ways for businesses to become more agile and efficient. Let’s take a deeper look at cloud storage.
What is cloud storage?
Cloud storage allows you to save files and data without an onsite server. It is data storage that can be accessed through a private network or public internet connection. Data that you move off-site for storage becomes the responsibility of a third-party cloud provider. The provider secures, hosts, maintains and manages the servers and any infrastructure to make sure you can access your data whenever and wherever you need it.
Storing on the cloud is quickly scalable, and very cost-effective when compared to on-premise storage networks and data servers. Local data servers are great, but they can only store a limited amount of data. So what happens when a user runs out of space? They end up needing to transfer files to an external storage device. Traditionally, organizations built and maintained storage area networks (SANs) to archive data and files. SANs tend to be expensive to maintain and companies have to invest in adding servers and other infrastructure to handle the demand for increased data storage.
Cloud storage services provide flexibility, which means you can scale up as your data needs increase or dial back capacity as your needs decrease. By storing data in a cloud, your organization saves by paying for storage technology and capacity as a service instead of the capital cost of building and maintaining onsite storage networks.
How does it work?
Like onsite storage networks, cloud storage uses servers to save data. The difference is the data is sent to servers at an off-site location. Most of the servers you use are virtual machines hosted on a physical server. As your storage needs increase, the provider increases the storage space available and adds new virtual servers to meet demand.
So how does this whole “cloud storage” work? Usually, you gain access to the storage cloud through a private connection, public internet, mobile app, or website. Whichever server you are connected to then forwards the data to multiple servers depending on the cloud provider’s operation. As part of the service, providers typically store the same data at multiple locations and machines for redundancy. This way, if a server is taken down for maintenance or suffers an outage, you can still access your data.
Cloud storage is available in private, public and hybrid clouds.
Public storage clouds: You can access storage over the internet, and the cloud is maintained by a provider who allows you to access your data from just about any device. You connect to a storage cloud that’s maintained by a cloud provider and used by many different companies.
Private cloud storage: The difference for a private cloud is that they reside within your network, leveraging a physical server to create instances of virtual servers to increase capacity. You can choose to take full control of an on-premise private cloud or engage a cloud storage provider to build a dedicated private cloud that you can access with a private connection. Organizations like retail and banks tend to choose this due to the sensitive information and data they store.
Hybrid cloud storage: This option is just how it sounds. An organization is able to combine public and private clouds. Some organizations use hybrid clouds to supplement their internal storage networks with public cloud storage.
Cloud storage for business
So what type of business would benefit from cloud storage? Well, any business small or large could find it useful.
If you are a small business owner, cloud storage could make sense, if you don’t have the bandwidth or resources to manage a private cloud yourself. Cloud storage can also help with budget planning by making storage costs predictable, and it gives you the ability to scale as the business grows.
Larger enterprises, (e.g., a manufacturing company, financial services, or a retail chain with dozens of locations), you might need to transfer large amounts of data for storage on a consistent basis. In these cases,working with an established cloud storage provider is best.
Backup
Backing up your data is just as important as how your data is stored. Organizations need to back up their data regularly to prevent interruptions of business if the data is due to human error, natural disaster, or cyberattack.
Backing up data off-premise in a cloud offers an added advantage: distance. A building struck by a natural disaster, terror attack, or some other calamity could lose its on-premise backup systems, making it impossible to recover lost data. Off-premise backup provides insurance against such an event.
Security
How secure cloud storage is, has and will always be a major concern. Especially when handling sensitive information and data. You want to be assured that your data is protected from cyber threats with the best methods available. Layered security solutions that include endpoint protection, email and content filtering, and threat analysis, as well as regular updates and patches will help provide your data with better security health overall.
Ensuring additional security measures like access control, user authentication, and data encryption are in place is very important when sensitive data is involved. Also, data that is subject to regulatory compliance may require added protection, so you need to check that your provider of choice complies with all applicable regulations.
You can’t stop every risk but you can reduce your exposure to them. Whenever data is transferred, it is vulnerable to security risks. Choosing the right service provider and security integrator can make a world of difference. If you want to learn more about cloud storage and a solution that fits your needs, reach out to a scDataCom team member today.