What is Cloud storage?

Before we get into what Cloud storage is, note the following:

When we say Cloud Storage, we aren’t talking about storing data in the real clouds up there in the sky.

Cloud storage is storing data that can be accessed over the Internet, anywhere, in physical servershardware storage devices called data centers. The cloud refers to physical servers that we can access over the Internet; these physical servers are located and maintained in off-site locations.

How does Cloud storage work?

In Cloud storage, users don’t plugin directly to the physical servers and they are not anywhere near them. Instead, data is created, retrieved, updated, and deleted over the Internet.

Cloud service providers like Amazon and Google own, operate, and deliver Cloud storage capacities over the Internet for free or via the pay-as-you-go model.

These providers manage the servers’ capacity, security, and durability to make data accessible to users the world over.

Benefits of Cloud storage

If possible, imagine our current world without Cloud storage. To know the benefits of Cloud storage, let’s see how it affects these two types of computer users:

• Primary users
• Expert users

Primary users: Anyone who has a smartphone is a basic user of Cloud storage. Cloud storage enables the world to move faster. The Cloud storage used by primary users is made available by Cloud service providers via Google Drive, iCloud by Apple, etc. They are also made available by expert users via the web/mobile applications they build using these providers.

Expert users: Expert users have more knowledge of computers. They are the ones who program and maintain computer systems. In addition, they build solutions for primary users who are using cloud storage.

Before Cloud storage, building software wasn’t as inexpensive and fast as it is today. Instead, in order to build a software product, programmers had to spin up physical servers for their product. But now, with the presence of cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, etc., a programmer can host data in minutes.

The world of software development has changed ever since Cloud storage came into play and, since then, we’ve seen great products built on top of these Cloud service providers.

Conclusion

In this shot, we’ve seen what Cloud storage is, how it works, and its benefits to computer users.