The Truth about the “Cloud.” How Do the World’s Largest Companies Store Our Data?

Featured article by Evelina Brown, Independent Technology Author

About 15 to 20 years ago, a computer with a 200 to 300 GB hard drive was considered an impermissible luxury. In the 2000s, to score such a capacity seemed fantastic: almost the entire Internet was charged by megabytes, and with an unlimited tariff could spend eternity to score the same 200 GB.

But time changed everything. What do users do when need to store large amounts of data but can’t carry an external drive everywhere? “Clouds” or cloud storage will help.

Let’s look at how it works and what happens to user data when stored in the cloud.

The mystery behind the seven seals

You will be surprised, but how cloud storage actually works is very difficult to say. Every company, whether Apple, Google or Amazon, has its own compression, storage, and access algorithms.

However, there is a certain scheme that runs the classic cloud storage.

How does cloud storage work

Today, there are many different cloud storage systems. Each has its own tasks. Some are responsible for keeping correspondence in messengers, others for keeping bank account numbers from which you book a Corpus Christi Hotels. There are also universal ones, thanks to which you can upload files of any type and with any extension.

For companies that provide disk space as a cloud, it is important to not only have enough capacity but also to take care of a few additional factors.

Excessive redundancy. A data center cannot consist of servers that are specifically designed for a particular client base. Simply put: If 1000 people are using the cloud at 10 GB per cloud rate, the company needs to take care of a much larger capacity than 10 TB of storage.

Backup power. In cloud storage, engineers connect servers so that users, again, always have access to files, even in the event of a power failure.

To ensure uninterrupted access, self-contained electrical generators are used, which can provide very long running times.

1. For security purposes and to prevent unauthorized access, all data uploaded to the cloud is encrypted with a sophisticated encryption algorithm. This data can only be accessed using an encryption key that only the user has.

Is it worth trusting them?

When you ask yourself such a question, immediately remember your behavior during the installation of the desktop client Dropbox, Google Drive, Yandex.disk and others.

When you check the box and click on the “Accept” button, do you preview a good dozen pages of text with “Terms of Service”?

95% of users do not do this. So there’s no point in them worrying about the privacy of their uploaded data.

The main thing is to choose the right “cloud” in which you plan to store your data. Of those you can trust, it is worth noting:

– Apple with its iCloud service and very humane rates;
– Google with the service Google Drive and unlimited for downloading photos from your smartphone in standard quality;
– Dropbox with an expensive but cool tariff for 1 TB of space in the cloud.

Cloud storage really does make our lives a lot easier. They have replaced our bulky hard drives and eternally lost flash drives, providing instant access to hundreds of gigabytes of information. Is it worth giving up these advantages out of superstition? I don’t think so.