A distinctive feature of our time is the constant growth of the volume of business information. Designers, marketers, copywriters, IT professionals, and companies that work with huge amounts of data are constantly in need of a secure place to store valuable files. If they were previously stored on floppy disks, flash drives, and CDs, now it is best to send them to cloud storage. Well, if you accidentally deleted your login information, use the instructions from appslikethese.
What is cloud storage?
In general, it is a specially allocated place on servers, where any user can upload various documents: text files, favorite audio and video clips, pictures, gifs, correspondence from messengers, and much more. In this case, the servers can be located anywhere: in Europe, Asia, or North America.
The mechanism of cloud storage is very simple: you need to install the client application and register in it. After that, you can easily upload any information to the cloud, share it with colleagues, update it, browse, and so on. You can access it from any device and from any place that has the Internet.
Since data is different, it is better to store it in the right places. By organization, there are the following types of cloud storage:
- file-based,
- block storages,
- object,
- databases.
Let’s talk about each type in more detail.
File storage
The file system is based on a hierarchical structure: the root record, from which the data about the files and their attributes depart. All of them, in turn, are organized into a convenient directory structure. If you know the name of any document, you can access it by clicking on its name. You can perform any operations with them – open, change, rename, delete, copy, move to another folder.
File storage can be of two types: physical and virtual. In the first case, data is stored on the hard disk; in the second case – on a virtual disk. The latter has a much larger volume than the hard drive, and you can also set up remote access there. Examples include Dropbox, Mail.Ru Cloud, Google Drive, and other similar services.
Advantages:
- Simple and straightforward structure.
- This storage is easy to navigate and search for the documents you need.
Disadvantages:
- Limited capacity, as it fills up, the access speed drops, and with it the performance.
This storage method is suitable for working with small amounts of different data.
Block storage
In block storage, the placement structure is the same. But all the files that get there are divided by the system into blocks, each of which is assigned its own identifier. With it, the system collects files if necessary.
Advantages:
- Each user environment is separate, so you can sort the data and provide separate access to them.
- Block storage provides better performance.
Disadvantages:
- It’s more expensive, and it’s difficult to manage because block handling puts extra strain on the database.
- It is, like file-based, limited in size.
It is good for enterprise databases.
Object repository
This is the most popular type of storage. Instead of a file system, it has a flat space consisting of many objects. Each object consists of an identifier and metadata.
Object repositories can be private or public. In the first case, it is created in a private cloud; in the second – the cloud is leased from a public cloud provider.
Advantages:
- The ability to handle an enormous amount of information.
- Ability to store data backups, especially those on which the life of the system depends (e.g. disaster recovery files).
- Ability to verify that files are correct and provide quick access to them.
Disadvantages:
- Difficult to name objects.
- Many object stores lack an interface for uploading and managing files.
This method is suitable for storing big data storage to Document Storage, images, media files, correspondence, and more.
Database
A database is a collection of specific information stored in a fixed order on physical or virtual media. A special program called a DBMS (Database Management System) manages the information. The DBMS allows you to process any texts, graphics, media. You can do anything with them: store, analyze, test products and updates, launch new projects.
It is very well suited for regular standard operations. For example, it records information about orders that come into the online store. On its basis, the application automatically issues an invoice for payment. An example of such a database would be a non-relational high-performance DBMS Redis, which stores data in RAM.
Databases can either reside on a server or in the cloud. Cloud DBMSs are the most popular in their field today.
Advantages:
- Cloud databases have virtually unlimited storage capacity.
- There is a backup function.
- They have a high level of external and internal security. For extra security on your smartphone, you can use special apps. Learn more about them at androidappsforme.
- Support for multitasking and multi-user modes.
Disadvantages:
- The complexity of management, which requires the cost of appropriate personnel and software.
- If they are on physical media, they have a limited capacity. So you may need to increase the disk space.
- High cost of development and operation.
A database is suitable for managing homogeneous data arrays.
What to expect in the future
In the future, another type of storage will appear – computing storage. All its work will be based on data processing while moving to the storage layer. This will allow not to distract central processor resources to perform operations. In terms of availability, cost-effectiveness, and reliability, cloud storage is still the main place for secure data storage.
