Marlowe Cosby
IT 201 CRN 12043
9/13/2020
Cloud storage may be the best form of any kind of storage whether it be physical or technical we have here in the world currently. Enterprises explore cloud storage because of the growing need for more space, or capacity. A key thing cloud storage has is elasticity, a much better way to manage storage overtime. I am an avid user of cloud storage can easily say it has been very helpful for my recreational and educational use.
Cloud storage is a remote platform that uses “highly virtualized, multi-tenant infrastructure” to give enterprises the scalable storage resources they need (ESF). Just like when you’re browsing for storage units to store items when you are moving out of a house, this is no different, there are various types of cloud storage routes to go, and there may be even more factors that go into the selection of a cloud storage vendor rather than a Uhaul for example. You may want more protection less of a price but don’t care for a lot of storage per say. Each vendor will have their own packages or deals of what services they will offer to you.
Before cloud data storage even started IT departments would have to manage full data centers by “throwing boxes” when they were overwhelmed and couldn’t make the overall best solution out of their situation (ESF). They had to add more physical storage devices on top of the ones that were already there and full. Imagine not being able to break up the gallery of photos in your phone, send some in a folder or in the cloud or save to desktop or email. Ultimately what they were doing was indeed not the best option, because of the amount of expenses they tallied while over challenging themselves trying to manage various, growing data in that form. Clouds were by far the better alternative because of the ability to change and adjust or fit shape needed, better known as elasticity, its scalability, which is the range of capacities and its multi-tenancy, the allowing of a server to serve multiple people and purposes giving them the same data and experience from the one source alone (ESF). Cloud storage also comes with disaster recovery, because all data in the cloud is replicated incase of fault tolerance or any accidental deletions.
The way cloud storage connects to the internet is by using at least one data server that the user will then send files in an automatic or manual setting. Which is then forwarded information across multiple serves and all stored data is perfectly accessible through a web based interface. And even though they only need at least one data server at a time, Cloud storage systems involve many data servers to make sure some are always well and available. So, for example if one shuts down or has an issue everything will be fine because either it will quickly be repaired and be fine to continue or it’ll switch to another server jus fine because the range and span of servers goes across dozens of geographical regions.
In general there are four specific types of this cloud storage out there. From public to private to personal and hybrid. Public cloud storage is always readily available with internet access and the most commonly use third party services are Amazon, Microsoft and Google. This service infrastructure is built, owned and managed by the cloud storage provider whether it be any of those listed before or another service (ESF). The private cloud storage is under control of the ownership company. They usually are used by organizations that want more security and enjoy the elasticity and scalability it brings them. Your personal cloud storage is powered by a network attached device which also will allow you to store any type of personal data such ass images, music etc. You control and own it and can access it anywhere long as you are connected to the internet. Hybrid cloud storage is a mixed breed of public, and private n which some organizations rather it be. What it does is it takes the resources owned and managed by the enterprise with public cloud storage and combines it with a secure balance to keep the public data safe, this route also comes with the elasticity, scalability and cost efficiency. If I had to choose one of the four for my own business, I would select using public. I would allow the risk of lower security because of the included upgrades, maintenance, and replicated data. Those three things are very crucial to me and seem very important because I feel if someone really had the intent of breaking your security and they knew what they were doing no matter if you have public or private they could do some harm. But at least with public it has regular maintenance, and everything is backed up.
Cloud storage is remote and can be located anywhere, from across towns or countries. Simply a remote storage platform that accepts data over the internet, completely unlimited and it may or may not save someone or a business money depending upon management. I highly believe end users need more knowledge of cloud storage, so many people, including young somewhat tech savvy teens don’t understand the premise of the cloud. All most people know if they know anything is “it goes up to the cloud” and that’s all they can say. Cloud vendors have commercials and ads saying to join it or use their services but don’t really explain to end users what it is and what they do. They could do a much better job of putting out that info into the mainstream world. Also tech classes in public schools such as middle and high should be learning about it if not already as well. When I was in middle and high school we used USB flashdrives and I did educated myself on the cloud and would have rather used such but teachers didn’t really know about it either and preferred us use the traditional method. Cloud storages are the best option for anyone or any business looking to store things. I use cloud storage personally for many of my photos and music, I have used google and dropbox and can say I have been very satisfied. I encourage and can see in the near future many more people and business’s doing the same in joining in on cloud storage, maybe even end up evolving cloud storage into sky storage, something even more massive than before.
References
Enterprise storage forum. (2018). Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/storage-management/cloud-storage-takes-off-flash-cools-off.html