How the Cloud works
For those of us who grew up when mobile phones were beginning to go
mainstream, terrestrial television began airing a fifth channel and the discman
was the most technologically advanced mobile media player available, today’s
technology – such as smartphones, streaming services and superfast broadband –
can seem nothing short of miraculous.
The Cloud – perhaps due to its ubiquitous nature – is a great example of
such advancements. It’s almost like our data is being stored in – and retrieved
from – the atmosphere; quite literally like magic. The explanation, though, is
far more straightforward.
This service is delivered by multiple computers, servers and data
centres located in various places around the globe. When you store data in the
cloud, it is sent to a remote location via a network and stored in a physical
location. In essence, the cloud is comparable to the hard drive in your laptop
or the flash-based media in your phone, it’s just that users own the data, not
the device it’s stored on.
To put it another way, when you’re browsing the internet and you type a
web address into the relevant part of your browser, a request is sent to a
server. Following the server having received this request, the files are then
returned to your device in order to display the relevant website. The process
of uploading data to the cloud is similar but works in reverse: you create a
file, and this is sent to a server/data centre and stored there. When you then
open this file, it’s retrieved from the remote location and opened on your
device.
What are the benefits of the Cloud
In our opinion, the greatest benefit of the Cloud is the ability to automate
backups. By editing some simple settings, any file that you create can be
automatically saved on both the device on which it has been created and a
virtual location simultaneously. Additionally, even in the event that you need
to delete a file from your device’s storage media, you can still view it
provided you have an internet connection of any kind.
Should you require more virtual storage space, scaling up Cloud storage
is both easy and affordable. Because fees are subscription based and most offer
a minimum term of just one month, you can also easily reduce your overall costs
if your needs change.
Because files are stored virtually, the Cloud also enables people to
share files easily via a centralised platform making it easier for
geographically dispersed teams to work collaboratively.
Finally, because a user’s files are always available to them provided
their device is connected to the internet, the Cloud can be used to recover
data if a user’s primary storage fails.
What are the disadvantages of the Cloud?
Many users have expressed security concerns with regards to the Cloud.
Such individuals note that data stored in the Cloud is continuously networked
and that it is potentially vulnerable as a result.
Granted, companies offering such services are likely to invest heavily
in their security but, over the past few years, several extremely large
companies that do just that have suffered significant data breaches that have
resulted in users’ personal information having been obtained by cybercriminals.
This – along with the lack of control Cloud users are afforded regarding the
security of their data has resulted in many opting against storing their data
virtually.
Conclusion
The Cloud is a series of data centres that allow users to store and
retrieve their data via an internet connection. It is also a highly useful
means of backing up and sharing data with others. Some have expressed security
concerns, however, claiming that sensitive
data stored in the cloud is more vulnerable due to the fact that it will
always be stored in a networked location.