Explain Cloud Storage

[Yami Daimao]

I hear about it a lot, but I still don't understand exactly how it works. I ask because I discovered after downloading Windows Live Essentials that I now have something called Microsoft SkyDrive, which relies on cloud storage.

So what is it?

[Mayonnaise]

Basically stuff you'd normally save on your hard drive is stored on one owned by another company somewhere, in this case MS. It gives you access to these files on nearly every device you can use it on that has internet access so you don't have to carry thumb drives, hard drives, SD cards or what have you and you don't have worry about losing them if your HD breaks or you lose the drive. Music, video, photos, documents, all stored elsewhere with theoretical easy access.

[Yami Daimao]

Dec 12, 2012 0:38:41 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

Basically stuff you'd normally save on your hard drive is stored on one owned by another company somewhere, in this case MS. It gives you access to these files on nearly every device you can use it on that has internet access so you don't have to carry thumb drives, hard drives, SD cards or what have you and you don't have worry about losing them if your HD breaks or you lose the drive. Music, video, photos, documents, all stored elsewhere with theoretical easy access.

I see. So it's basically like an image hosting service like Photobucket or Imgur, except it's a HDD that you can also store other file types like music, videos, documents, etc.?

[xCompackx]

^^ But the downsides are that you can't access your data unless you have wifi or a smartphone plan and you generally get a pretty tight size limit unless you want to pay for more storage.

[Rican]

I started using Dropbox and never looked back.

[Red Impact]

Basically, yeah, you can store anything you can store on your HDD on a cloud server. So you dont' lose it if you lose your harddrive.

As far as the cons go, it can be costly (especially if you're going for a big brand like Apple, who charges a premium and may limit the types of devices you can play it on, IIRC). The second is security. We know most sites on the internet aren't that secure, and all it takes is someone with admin access to have their account hacked and you could potentially have a ton of data out there. You have less control of your security in a cloud, but you trade it with being able to access anywhere and on almost any device as long as you have wifi. But I wouldn't store anything that has any sensitive information on a cloud.

[B'Cup x]

Its actaully my job to talk to companies about Cloud storage, but in the back of my mind I like to believe its all done by magic x

[khyledeen]

I'm a bit confused to, I use Dropbox, before I connect to my internet on my laptop, I click on the Dropbox folder and the files are still there, shouldn't they be inaccessible if not connected to the internet?

That's the part that confuses me.

[SenorCrest]

Dec 12, 2012 4:06:36 GMT -5 khyledeen said:

I'm a bit confused to, I use Dropbox, before I connect to my internet on my laptop, I click on the Dropbox folder and the files are still there, shouldn't they be inaccessible if not connected to the internet?

That's the part that confuses me.

They could be cached or actually downloaded onto your laptop. If you make changes it will wait until it has a connection and then update everything. I am only guessing so I could be wrong.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

"cloud" is only another way to say WIRELESS .....

and all it's doing is having the files on another server ..... and NOT YOURS!

[deadstock]

Keep in mind anything you put on Skydrive can an is monitored by Skydrive .
Break the Rules an your account will be ban this includes accounts using that email like messenger an Xbox.

Skydrive gives 32gb an upgrades are 1 time fee. Personally i enjoy drop box its monthly payments but great support on phones which i tend to access my uploads.