Why Do Some Cloud Services Store Files On My Computer?

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Table of Contents

What Is Deject Storage and How Does Information technology Work?
- Deject Storage vs Cloud Computing
- Cloud Storage vs Online Backup
Benefits of Using Cloud Storage
- Automatic Updates
- Cloud Storage Costs
Types of Cloud Storage
- Personal
- Private
- Public
- Hybrid Storage
How Condom Is Cloud Storage?
Terminal Thoughts
Comments

Cloud storage is a service that you tin can use to store information on remote servers. Deject storage works by letting you access that data over the net, assuasive you to store and retrieve your files from anywhere in the world where you have an net connection.

In this article, nosotros'll be taking a deeper dive into cloud storage for those who are new to the concept. We'll be looking in more particular at how cloud storage works, the different types of cloud storage and some of the benefits of using it.

We'll mention some swell deject storage providers along the way, merely we suggest you take a wait at our list of the all-time deject storage as a good starting point. This guide has everything y'all need to know about cloud storage, so read on to notice out more.

What Is Cloud Storage and How Does Information technology Piece of work?

When you store files on your reckoner, the files are saved on your hard drive or on another grade of removable storage media, such as flash drives or external hard drives. Every bit an alternative, deject storage works by sending your files over the net and saving them on remote computers designed to host them (called servers).

These servers are designed to be connected to remotely. This ways that you can access your files from anywhere and on whatever device, so long as you have net admission (and the service supports your device). The same server can host the data of multiple users, but you volition only exist able to access the files from your own account.

In improver, your files may be shared with other servers, to ensure that cipher is lost if a server goes downwardly. This gives you back-up, meaning data loss is much less likely to occur.

In simple terms, deject storage is like having a virtual hard bulldoze that you can admission from wherever you lot desire, whenever you desire. The word "cloud" is thrown around a lot when it comes to tech, so information technology's piece of cake to confuse deject storage with other types of cloud-based technology. Allow's take a wait at some of the differences to aid you understand further.

Cloud Storage vs Deject Computing

Cloud storage tin sometimes be confused with deject computing, but these are two very different things.

As we have already seen, cloud storage allows yous to upload your files to remote servers. Cloud computing is different: it allows you to access computing ability or software remotely.

Cloud storage allows you to access a remote hard bulldoze as if information technology were your ain, and information technology is entirely focused on storage. In comparison, deject computing allows you lot to admission the whole figurer to run software, brand apply of the processing power and (indeed) store files.

Ane of the about common uses of cloud calculating is Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS. Instead of installing software on your own computer, you can install and access it remotely. This means you don't need to worry about whether y'all accept enough hard drive space or your computer is powerful plenty, but it all the same feels like the software is running on your computer, regardless.

Cloud Storage vs Online Fill-in

Online backup is also often dislocated with cloud storage. These concepts are more than like, but there are some important differences to consider.

Both involve storing your files in the "cloud" on remote servers. However, the biggest difference between them is that storage in the cloud is intended to deed like a virtual difficult drive. In contrast, online backup is intended to replicate the contents of your whole computer. The purpose of this is to provide you lot with a way to recover your data if it is lost or destroyed.

Obviously, if you lot have files in deject storage, you can retrieve these if you lot take a problem later, such as a hard drive failure. Nevertheless, nigh deject storage services don't replicate your file structure. Online backup copies everything exactly equally information technology is, so it's simple to restore things back to exactly how they were if something goes wrong.

Online-backup services also offer more than protection against information loss, with long-term storage services, offered past platforms similar Acronis, allowing you to archive your files for recovery at a later engagement.

You can learn more than almost the departure between online storage vs online backup to help you lot learn more than. Alternatively, you can explore our listing of the best online fill-in services for recommendations.

If you just desire to give online backup a try, then there are plenty of free cloud fill-in options — like IDrive and Jottacloud — available, also.

Benefits of Using Cloud Storage

Cloud storage services are hugely popular. That's because they offering a number of benefits that make the cost more than worth it (cheque out our piece where we talk near the risks and benefits of cloud storage).

Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox, famously said that he came up with the idea for what would get one of the about popular cloud storage services when he realized he'd forgotten his USB thumb drive. Cloud storage gives yous flexibility; you don't need to take your data storage nearby considering services like Dropbox and Google Drive are always available.

With deject storage, you can access your files anywhere where you can go an internet connexion. You could exist in the middle of the desert, but if you can get a signal, you can get to your files, and that's the biggest benefit of storage services like these.

Cloud storage likewise solves the trouble of having low disk space on your PC or mobile device. With video files, applications and even operating systems getting ever larger, it's all too easy to fill up upwards your super-fast solid state bulldoze. To help deal with this problem, deject storage allows you to transfer files from your difficult drive to the cloud.

Yous tin can still access these files whenever y'all need them, but they won't exist taking up all of your hard drive space. This also helps deal with some other upshot; a cleaved hard drive can outcome in the loss of all of your data. Photos, documents: all gone.

With cloud storage, even if your hard drive fails, your files are prophylactic and retrievable. You don't demand to worry most information loss, equally you lot tin store copies of your of import files on your chosen storage service.

Automatic Updates

Another do good, should you need disarming, is that your files will automatically update across all devices. Make a alter to a file on your desktop and the same file on your telephone volition instantly show those same changes.

That makes deject storage incredibly useful when you're thinking nearly collaboration. Multiple people can work on files stored in the cloud at the same time and see the changes in real fourth dimension.

It's also simple to share files with deject storage with your friends, family and colleagues. Providers similar Sync.com allow you lot to send a link to your files, which the recipient tin then access from another location. You lot tin set permissions if you desire to restrict the ability to edit the files, and fifty-fifty password protect them for extra security.

Nevertheless, there are some downsides to cloud storage. As you might have guessed, deject storage generally requires an internet connection to upload your files. If you're offline, you lot won't be able to access your files (except for information stored locally).

Most providers volition permit you shop files both locally and in the cloud, and so this shouldn't be too much of an consequence. However, the longer yous're offline, the bigger the difference between your deject files and local files.

There are also security and privacy issues to consider. Dropbox had a major data alienation back in 2012, with 68 1000000 user passwords leaked online. Some providers will besides scan your files in order to ensure that you're not breaching whatsoever of their policies.

If you don't like the idea of this, await for a provider that offers zero-knowledge encryption, which ways that your deject data is stored in encrypted form, and only you (not your provider) holds the fundamental to decrypt them. You lot tin check out our list of the best naught-knowledge cloud storage services to learn more than.

Cloud Storage Costs

The final downside to a cloud storage service is that you'll probably take to pay for it. Most providers practice offer gratuitous accounts, but yous don't get a huge corporeality of free storage, and some of the benefits are restricted to paying customers. If yous're curious, our look at some of the best gratuitous cloud storage options should help you decide.

For the average user, y'all'll demand to pay to have enough space for all your files. The good news is that prices are pretty reasonable, and you shouldn't need to pause the bank to store your files, especially against the toll of buying more physical storage.

If you're curious, our cloud storage comparing list should aid you compare the cost of the main storage deject providers.

Pros:

Access files anywhere there is cyberspace
No need for additional difficult drives
Recover files in the event of lost information
Files update across devices
Collaboration
Simple sharing

Cons:

Requires an internet connection
Privacy and security concerns
Yous need to pay for a decent amount of storage infinite

Types of Cloud Storage

Not every cloud storage user wants or needs the same things. That'due south why there are dissimilar types of cloud storage systems bachelor from diverse providers.

Personal

Major deject storage services allow you to admission their remote servers, but you lot can also set up your own server at habitation to create your ain personal cloud storage.

Products such equally Western Digital My Deject allow y'all to set up a local server that only you can access. There are a number of reasons why you might desire to exercise this. It'south bang-up for streaming media — such every bit music and movies — within your dwelling house because you can rely on faster speeds on your home network than y'all might get streaming from a server over the internet.

It too means that, if your media content is from less-than-reputable sources, you lot don't accept to worry about your cloud storage provider snooping around and scanning your files.

Private

Private cloud storage is basically personal deject storage for businesses. This is where a business sets upward its own in-house storage servers. Employees can access those servers through the cloud, similar a corporate Dropbox.

There are a number of reasons a concern may choose to build their own private deject storage, just one of the nearly important is that some businesses are required to store user information on site for legal reasons.

Public

This is what people usually hateful when they talk most cloud storage. Services like Google Drive and pCloud have whole racks of servers in data centers defended to serving the public, assuasive those users to store their files in the cloud.

Our site is generally devoted to public cloud storage providers, including services such every bit Sync.com, which — every bit our Sync.com review shows — is our number-one choice for public cloud storage, although pCloud holds a worthy second place (encounter our pCloud review for more).

However, alternatives are available. Privacy-focused users could await into a MEGA subscription (check out our MEGA review) or, if you're thinking about collaborating on Office files, you could consider using OneDrive instead (see our OneDrive review).

These providers are mostly focused on the personal data storage market, merely many cloud storage services also offering plans that businesses can besides take reward of if they want to store information off site. Have a await at our list of the all-time business deject storage to acquire more.

Hybrid Storage

Take the speed and security of private cloud storage and mix it with the ease-of-use and flexibility of public deject storage, and congratulations: you've discovered hybrid deject storage, a new approach to storing files online.

Hybrid cloud storage allows you to combine your local storage server with a public cloud storage provider. This lets you choose which data you want to shop locally and which files you want to store remotely in the cloud.

This gives you the all-time of both worlds and could be a perfect solution for many businesses (bank check out our roundup of the all-time hybrid cloud fill-in). Services such equally Microsoft Azure allow y'all to manage your hybrid cloud storage, as our earlier Microsoft Azure review explains.

How Safe Is Deject Storage?

With data breaches occurring daily, you might exist wondering but how safety cloud storage truly is. We've already mentioned the Dropbox alienation back in 2012 that leaked millions of user passwords, but it's far from an isolated incident, with celebrities suffering memorable breaches of their iCloud storage.

Is cloud storage safe? Well the short answer is: aye, up to a point. Dropbox has upped its security since the breach, and the iCloud "hacks" were mostly down to poor account management and weak passwords, rather than hacking the service itself.

Most third-party cloud service providers in the market are very secure, only it's likewise true that if someone gets access to your countersign, they can access your business relationship. That's why you lot should ever use two-cistron hallmark if the service offers it.

When you sign in, this 2FA organisation requires you to enter a code sent to your phone or generated by an authenticator app every bit a second layer of protection, alongside a strong countersign that'southward difficult to figure out.

Two-factor authentication also ways that, even if someone has your password, they tin can't sign in to your business relationship without having your cell phone handy, besides.

For the best security, utilise a provider that offers nil-knowledge encryption so that if the servers themselves are hacked, the attackers could access your encrypted files, simply they wouldn't be able to decrypt them.

Providers such every bit Tresorit offer zilch-knowledge encryption as standard, so be sure to cheque out our Tresorit review to learn more. For more options, accept a look at our most secure cloud storage recommendations, such as pCloud, MEGA and Egnyte Connect.

Terminal Thoughts

Hopefully, this guide has left y'all with a greater understanding of how deject storage works and has given you a few recommendations of providers you can try at piffling to no cost.

Deject storage has go hugely pop precisely because of its ease of use, low cost and overall convenience. It allows you to access your files and folders whenever you lot desire, from wherever you desire, while also keeping them protected against data loss. You lot're as well reducing the amount of disk space you're using, freeing up room for videos, games and more than instead.

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If you have a favorite cloud storage provider, or y'all have your own tips and recommendations to help other Cloudwards.cyberspace readers looking into deject storage, so be certain to go out a annotate below. As ever, cheers for reading.