What Is The Cloud?

Feel like you’ve got your head in the clouds when it comes to off-site data storage?

When you think of the cloud, you are probably thinking of the white, fluffy marshmallows in the sky. But, these days the cloud has another meaning. It’s all around you, but you don’t see it.

The cloud is a service that is available to everyone. It’s extremely accessible, with more and more people delving into using it every day. But what exactly is the cloud and why is it important for individuals and businesses?

Applications like Dropbox and Google Drive are cloud services and when you store something in the cloud, you’re storing your data on a very physical disk, somewhere in a mystery location. So once you upload your data, it travels to these servers and is stored securely. This also frees up space on your computer, without the sacrifice of deleting files, which helps it to run quicker. It’s the best of both worlds.

The cloud also gives you a better chance of not losing your work. Sure, backing up your files to a USB key or external hard drive is great, but they aren’t failsafe. If you have all your data on your USB key/External hard drive, and they fail, what would you do? This isn’t the case with uploading files to the cloud, as there is little risk of failure due to the hardware and technology being used to keep the servers afloat.

Alongside this, there are applications that you can have on your smartphone and tablets to allow you to access your files when you’re on the go. Some cloud applications also allow you to access your data when you’re working offline too.

But there are disadvantages to using the cloud too. If you are without a reliable, stable internet connection, you can be quite restricted with how and when you can access your data. There have also been concerns with security, but this worry has become a thing of the past now there is encryption and passwords to protect you from people attempting to steal your data.

So, to summarise, the cloud is an amazing piece of technology that can help your businesses stay protected and it keeps all your data backed up, no matter where you are or how much you have. It’s extremely accessible for people to use and to keep updated – but without a reliable internet connection, it can be hard to access and use.

If you have any questions about the cloud and how it can help your business and data, give us a call. We can help you with any technical support you require.