Cloud storage is an evolved version of data storage, wherein the valuable data of enterprises are stored in and are accessible from various distributed and connected resources that comprise a cloud. Multi-cloud provides the greater accessibility and reliability; data backup protection, rapid deployment, disaster and archival recovery, and cost effective as there is no requirement of buying storage equipment, managing and maintenances.
Over the past few years, enterprises are becoming more and more aware of the utility of the cloud storage; to explore the opportunity they are outsourcing their workload deployment to a cloud service provider. These suppliers are accountable for keep the data live and accessible along with securing the physical storage servers. In the recent year, the cloud market has drastically changed and various options have become available from many public IaaS provider which include IBM, RackSpace, Amazon and HP. Along with public IaaS providers there are few private multi-cloud providers as well such as VMware and OpenStack.
Cloud storage can be segregated into four categories, mentioned below:
- Personal cloud storage
- Private cloud storage
- Public cloud storage
- Hybrid cloud storage
At a basic level, a multi storage channel requires only one data server connected to the Internet. Enterprises that have subscription to the cloud storage services will send copies of data over the internet to the data server and the server will store the information in multiple locations. Enterprises can then access these files through Web-based interface; through web-based interface the customer can either access or modify the data on the server itself.
Multi-cloud has many benefits; the most effective one is file accessibility. Data stored in the cloud is easily accessible from any place any time as long as there is internet. The other biggest advantage of having cloud storage is that it provides companies with off-site backups of data which decreases the expenses related with disaster recovery. However, there is one drawback of multi-cloud storage system – “limited bandwidth”; if the internet connection is lagging or unstable, then accessing data could be a nightmare. Companies which require huge amount of storage space will have to pay significantly more money for the same right after consuming first few gigabytes of data stored.
On the other hand, Hybrid cloud storage is one the most popular way of storing data among the enterprises because it is the combination of the private and public cloud storage. It allows the enterprises to store the critical/confidential data on the private server while rest of the data is stored on the public server. This method is efficient and cost effective for giant enterprises.
In my opinion, the systematic storage procedure of cloud storage heavily outnumbers the drawbacks. Given proper management, policies, expenses, automation and transparency, migrating to cloud storage platform can benefit the enterprises handsomely as it cuts the costs and enhance the performance. So, as long as there is internet, the future of cloud based storage platforms appear to be positive and bright!
To know more email: marketing@calsoftinc.com
Contributed by: Anupam Bhide | Calsoft Inc.
