Cloud storage is a network-based online storage model in which data is not stored on dedicated servers, but rather on multiple virtual servers, usually hosted by a third party. Hosting companies operate large data centers, and those who require hosting meet their storage needs by buying or renting storage space from them.
The data center operator prepares storage virtualization resources on the back end according to the customer’s needs and makes them available as a storage pool that the customer can use to store data or files. In fact, these resources can be distributed across multiple server nodes. The cloud storage service can be accessed via a web service application programming interface (API) or a web user interface.
The benefits of cloud storage:
- Users pay only for the amount of storage they actually use.
- Users don’t need to install physical storage in their own data center or office, which reduces IT and hosting costs.
- Storage maintenance tasks (such as backups, data replication and purchasing additional storage) are shifted to the service provider, allowing enterprise organizations to focus on their core business.
Potential problems with cloud storage:
- Data security becomes a potential problem when sensitive data is stored at a cloud storage provider.
- Performance may be lower than with local storage.
- Reliability and availability depend on the availability of the WAN and the level of precautions taken by the service provider.
- Users with specific record storage needs, such as government agencies that need to store electronic records, may face some challenges in implementing cloud computing and cloud storage.
Currently, cloud storage is mainly divided into public clouds, private clouds and hybrid clouds. Public clouds generally refer to clouds that can be used by third-party providers for users, and public clouds are usually accessible via the Internet. Private clouds are created to be used exclusively by a single customer and thus provide the most effective control over data, security and quality of service.
Private clouds can be deployed within the enterprise data center firewall or in a secure location, with the primary attribute of a private cloud being its own resources. Private clouds can be enterprise-provided or self-created. A public cloud combines public and private clouds.
Private cloud security is superior to public cloud security, while public cloud computing resources are not available to the private cloud. In this situation, the hybrid cloud solves this problem perfectly, it can use the security of the private cloud to store important internal data in the local data center; at the same time, it can use the computing resources of the public cloud to complete work more efficiently and quickly than the private or public cloud.
Although it is possible to give data to several people at the same time or to transfer data to people in different locations when one person transfers data (for example, files from a cell phone to a computer or from a computer to a cell phone), it is not as fast as using a transmission line because it requires a new “upload” and “download”. It’s not as fast as using a transmission line because it feels like a long way.
When transferring large amounts of data, a small amount of data may need to be transferred again, or a large amount of data may be lost in the event of an Internet outage or cloud service provider error. How to use cloud storage safely? First, do not place important data or data related to personal privacy on a cloud server, as there is no such thing as completely secure cloud storage. Second, important data should be well backed up locally to prevent cloud service interruption or loss of cloud data and other unforeseen situations.
Again, when choosing a public cloud, choose global or more well-known service providers, after all, these service providers have the technical strength in transferring data encryption and encryption storage. Then you should set a high-security password, and disable the automatic login option, before replacing or discarding the mobile device to empty the device to save the cloud service login password to ensure that their own data is not leaked.
How to secure cloud storage? Vinchin Backup & Recovery allows you to restore the entire virtual machine and all of its data from any restore point (full, incremental or differential backup) without affecting the original backup data. Backups that have been deduplicated or compressed can be restored. This is a great solution for ensuring business continuity and minimizing critical business interruptions caused by a disaster or system failure.
You can also quickly check the availability of backup data by instantly restoring a target VM to a remote location in minutes. Ensure that in the event of a true disaster, all VMs can be recovered and the data they contain won’t be lost or corrupted. Vinchin offers solutions such as VMware backup for the world’s most popular virtual environments, XenServer backup, XCP-ng backup, Hyper-V backup, RHV/oVirt backup, Oracle backup, etc.
