How To Best Utilize The Advantages And Benefits Of Cloud Storage

By Caitlin Smith


Conversations about the cloud and its capability are just about everywhere nowadays. Despite the fact that cloud storage has been in existence for years, it didn't actually gain traction with a mainstream market until Apple's release of iCloud in 2011.

Right now it looks like all people have the same questions, ranging from how cloud storage functions to how they can make use of it. If this sounds like you, read on to learn all that you should know.

In a regular setup, an onboard unit can be used to assist in storage needs. In a laptop this might be a built-in hard drive or flash memory, on a mobile phone it can be a memory card. The problem with these storage platforms is that you need to have them with you so that you can get access to your content. Whether this means taking a computer on a trip or lugging a USB drive around, you must have the medium in your presence if you wish to access your files.

Of course, this is a headache for individuals that make use of multiple devices. This is the predicament that cloud storage looks to resolve as we move towards a world where by our smartphones, tablets as well as computers must share all of our data. In a cloud storage setup, data isn't stored locally. It's uploaded to a remote server instead, and might then be accessed by just about any of a person's devices. Users of the cloud are not at risk of the perils of losing a USB drive just before a presentation or spending hours copying music between gadgets. If there's a network connection, cloud users can access their data considerably like an online back up.

Another advantage of cloud storage is it offers a backup for your files. Hard drive failures used to mean losing gigabytes of data that may or may not be recoverable. With cloud storage, you are able to actively retain backups of your data to ensure that a hard drive failure only requires a basic restore.

If all this sounds amazing, that's because it is. If you're considering changing to cloud storage, you'll want to know the numerous providers. As with every product, there's a handful of major providers inside the industry. Let's take a look at a few of the largest providers, together with what advantages or negative aspects that come with each one.

Apple's iCloud is one solution that was mentioned previously. If you possess any Apple products, such as an iPhone or MacBook, then you have 5GB of iCloud storage at no cost. Additional storage can be purchased at yearly rates of $20 for 10GB, $40 for 20GB and $100 for 50GB. The main disadvantage of iCloud, though, is the fact it's only compatible with Apple's merchandise. You can't manage files on their own, so files just like Excel spreadsheets are left out in the dark.




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