In networking diagrams the cloud represents a part of the system for which a user does not need to know the details.. Cloud computing provides services and storage which others maintain and can shrink and expand according to your requirements without you having to add devices or redefine your network and provides a convenient and safe method for data backup and retention.
Advantages of cloud storage are that it saves costs, provides data redundancy and backup storage, meets regulatory requirements for data retention and provides security and malware protection.
Because cloud service provides buy a lot of storage they have enormous economies of scale and this means it costs less than maintaining the data yourself. You don’t need to purchase disks, manage them or provide data center services for them. It also lowers management costs because you do not have to employ staff to administer and monitor your data storage solutions.
Data redundancy and replication is also included in a cloud storage solution; this means the provider keeps multiple copies of your data and ensures object durability and mitigates the possibility of loss or destruction. Some vendors can even keep copies in geographically distinct regions if required to meet disaster recovery policies.
It is a convenient method of maintaining a backup of your data and, depending on how often you plan to access it, you can negotiate different classes of storage. For example,. hot storage means data needs to be instantly accessible, warm storage means it is likely to be used only occasionally and cold storage means that it is essentially an archive which will be rarely used. You need to keep in mind that if you need to restore data it will take considerably longer from cold storage options and may incur a cost penalty if required outside of agreed service level agreements. Some vendors can also move data automatically after a specified period of time.
The main advantages of cloud storage providers is that they can maintain your data according to regulatory requirements and ensure its safety. It is a good solution when you need to maintain data for a given number of years to meet compliance with government requirements. In addition they provide the best security and malware protection that the technology presently allows; while no-one can say they will never fail, cloud service providers have large distributed networks that are extremely difficult to bring down (with a denial of service attack, for example).