Cloud Computing Explained

The Cloud is a recent development over the last decade in data security and management that allows users, both private and public, to store information on a space other than a standard hard drive.

For many businesses and members of the public, the Cloud has proven itself ultra-handy at storing small pieces of data that, in large amounts, take up a lot of room, such as customer information, business information, resumes, songs, application downloads, and more. Thus, those who utilize the cloud find themselves with more disk and hard drive space to take on larger projects, store only the most useful data, or run applications that only pertain to what they need right at the moment.

All else is stored away and accessed via the Cloud. This is especially helpful to those who do not currently have in their possession enough hard space to keep all their data, and require space above and beyond what they currently have for storage.

In addition to data storage, the Cloud is trusted to be safe and secure. Businesses of all sizes maximize usage of a private cloud developed specifically for their individual business entity, and will either develop the private Cloud of their choosing in their own IT departments, or outsource to a specialized company. For public cloud users, the situation is only slightly different.

The public Cloud is developed and maintained by large companies such as Google or Apple, and users mainly use the public Clouds developed by such companies for personal use, such as downloading games, playing games online, listening to music, storing emails, and other small tasks.

How does the Cloud work?

In a nutshell, the Cloud is a service delivered from company to consumer via the Internet as a utility of sorts; the Internet provides the space in which the Cloud is operated by the consumer. The Cloud itself is a general term that is used by different companies that own and maintain their own version or section of it.

Essentially, the companies that own and maintain their own Cloud or portion of it offer it to businesses and/or the public for use in data storage, network connection between various devices, data processing, and other services. In addition to the public and private Cloud options available are the Hybrid (a combination of the best parts of the public and private Cloud options) and the Multi-Cloud (the option of using multiple types of clouds to maximize storage, processing, security, and other tasks).

All of these options are available at little to no cost to the consumer, making the Cloud an easy option in bringing about greater data efficiency to the consumer.

One of the main concerns users have about the Cloud, whether public or private, is security. This is more of a concern for those utilizing the public version of the Cloud, as it is mainly individuals using large companies’ (such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft) version of the Cloud for their personal data such as emails, contacts, any saved payment information, among other things.

While there have been breaches in security in different companies, it is worth noting that measures have been taken in preventing any and all data leaks, sale of information, data corruption and theft, and other issues from happening again. Many companies have round the clock maintenance services for when such situations arise, and are happy to assist in resolving the matter promptly.

The Cloud has made significant headway in providing a great service to businesses and individuals alike over the past decade, and has recently evolved to offer more options that maximize efficiency of data management.

Those that use it have found it to be worthwhile provided that the Cloud is used to store and manage large amounts of lesser data, leaving space on more private alternatives for important pieces of information. That being said, the Cloud itself is a wondrous utility that is incredibly useful for all data storage and maintenance needs.

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