Cloud Storage

A simple question: How you store all your data? Hard disk, external hard drive, DVD and pendrive with variable storage capacity are some of the most common ways people saving or backup their own files and documents.

So, have you heard about Morgan "Cloud Storage"? I bet not many have heard this term unless you are a hardcore computer fan. The term "Cloud" here means Internet, as in the cloud we normally would draw to represent Internet. So overall, Cloud Storage means Internet-based storage. Now you know what it is, right?

A more formal explanation of Cloud Storage will be referring to saving data to an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. Instead of storing information to your computer's hard drive or other local storage device, you save it to a remote database. The Internet provides the connection between your computer and the database.

For a basic setup, a Cloud Storage system needs one internet accessible data server. A client, who subscribes to the Cloud Storage service, sends copies of his files over Internet to the data server and stores the files inside it. When that client needs the information, he can access the data server via a Web-based interface (Mozilla, IE, or Chrome). Upon the request, the server will send the files back to the client or allow the client to manipulate the files on the server itself.

In practical, the system is more complexly organized with hundreds or thousands of data servers interconnected to each others. The same data will be recorded over multiple machines as to ensure the safety of the clients' data. This is what we called redundancy. So even if one of the data server is corrupted or power failure, the client is still able to access their data online.

There are a few types of Cloud Storage. One enables the storage of certain type of files. For example, e-mail (yahoomail), videos (youtube) and digital pictures (photobucket). Another type would be storing any form of data, be it a text file, cd image file or multimedia file. For example, Xdrive and megaupload.

So, how much capacity is needed for storing all the clients' data? The answer is subjective. It all depends on the scale of the business and how big is your client base. One other issue concerned would be the rights over the data. Who would own these data? The client who uploads it? Or the company who hosts this service? What if files are downloaded and made profitable? Is it going to lend a hand in growing the piracy? There's so much to answer to the implementation of this service.

Cloud Storage, in my personal opinion, is feasible. With vast internet penetration nowadays, it would be convenient if we are able to retrieve our own files wherever we are. However, that doesn't mean portable drive will go obsolete in the future.