Cloud Storage Channel Feature
What is Cloud Storage?
With terms like cloud communications, cloud hosting, cloud recording and cloud storage being thrown around, it is often times difficult to determine the difference between all the words surrounding the increasingly popular cloud trend.
But cloud storage is one area of the cloud that is really gaining in strength, particularly as public, private and hybrid cloud storage options expand rapidly.
Simply put, cloud storage is a model in which data are stored online on multiple virtual servers, generally hosted by third parties, as opposed to dedicated servers. Cloud storage providers operate large data centers and people who would like to turn to the cloud for their storage needs may buy or lease storage capacity from them. Cloud storage services can be accessed through a Web-based user interface or a Web service application programming interface.
For those that are ready to say goodbye to on-site data centers and hello to cloud providers, they must also decide among the plethora of cloud storage options ranging from private to public to hybrid. But perhaps the biggest debate that exists today is between public and private cloud and which offers more benefits.
A public cloud, or an external cloud, is when the service provider makes resources available to the general public over the Internet. These models are typically free or offered on a pay-per usage model. Public clouds tend not only to be cheaper but are more scalable and are easy to set up because hardware, application and bandwidth costs are covered by the provider. Moreover, there are no wasted resources because you only pay for what you use. However, concerns – primarily those surrounding security – exist with public clouds.
Conversely, a private cloud is managed by the organization it serves and it provides hosted services to a limited number of people behind a firewall. The private cloud can be specifically designed to meet the particular needs to the company. Benefits of private clouds include greater control over data and secure access. However, some argue that the private cloud is more cost prohibitive.
A third cloud storage option is also available called hybrid cloud storage, which is a composition of at least one private cloud and at least one public cloud. A hybrid cloud is usually offered when a vendor has a private cloud and forms a partnership with a public cloud provider or when a public cloud provider forms a partnership with a vendor that provides private cloud platforms.
Carrie Schmelkin is a Web Editor for TMCnet. Previously, she worked as Assistant Editor at the New Canaan Advertiser, a 102-year-old weekly newspaper, covering news and enhancing the publication's social media initiatives. Carrie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in English from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves
