Legacy Storage vs Cloud Storage
When we speak about the storage of data, four significant aspects are paramount and taken into account by companies and the IT Managers:
- Security
- High Availablity
- Infrastructure
- Deployment cost
Early on, the preferred storage medium was on-site, where-in IT Managers would backup and store data either on hard disk partitions / external hard disk/tape drive/NAS boxes. This translated into significant manual dependence and high recurring cost of backup media. This essentially means that the IT Manager my occasionally forget to backup, or that particular data backup may go corrupt. There is a risk of the media being damaged or data going corrupt. This will undoubtedly mean a loss of productivity to the company.
Now let us look at Cloud Storage.
Cloud storage means storing your data “off-site” but not at any physical location. Data is stored storage offered by services like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox. These services can be bought at a significantly lower cost vis-a-vis on-site storage.
These companies have several servers at multiple locations, to ensure high availability. The IT admin or end-user can assign different rights for users or groups, thereby effectively control rights to access the file. While travelling, if you feel the need to access a particular file, all you need is a computer and a decent internet connection. This can be done sitting in any area in the world, where there is the internet.
This not only saves cost but also ensures fast communication and high productivity while not compromising on security.