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Cloud Storage Explained: Models, Benefits and Key Considerations

Cloud storage is a scalable, internet-based solution that allows organizations to store, manage and access data without maintaining physical infrastructure. This guide explains how cloud storage works, the different storage models available, and the key benefits and challenges businesses should consider.

  • Overview
  • What Is a Cloud-Based Data Storage?
  • How Does Cloud Storage Work?
  • Importance of Cloud Storage for MDM
  • Types of Cloud Storage Models
  • Cloud Storage Architecture
  • Advantages of Cloud Storage
  • Disadvantages of Cloud Storage
  • Cloud Storage Use Cases and Examples
  • Conclusion
  • Cloud Storage FAQs
  • Customers Using the AI Data Cloud
  • Data Warehouse Resources

Overview

In the not so distant past, the only way for organizations to grow their storage capacity was to make significant investments in on-premises infrastructure. The ability to scale was limited, complex and most of all costly. With the introduction of cloud storage, these organizations gained access to a storage solution that can scale up or down as needed, with a more cost-effective pay-as-you-go model. Data stored in the cloud can be accessed anytime, anywhere in the world by any authorized user with an internet connection — supporting seamless collaboration and data sharing across remote teams, time zones and platforms. In an era where data drives every decision, the ability to access data quickly via the cloud is a core part of business operations.

The cloud isn’t just about data access, though. The robust backup and recovery capabilities of cloud storage can help keep critical information available and protected, supporting business continuity depending on your configuration and provider options. As well, advanced encryption, redundancy, and compliance features built into cloud storage services promise to provide better security and regulatory adherence.

Cloud storage is not a one-size-fits-all solution. As digital transformation accelerates, understanding the various types of cloud storage models — object, block and file storage — is important. In this overview, we’ll also explore the different cloud infrastructure models — public, private or hybrid — and dig into the advantages and disadvantages of each.

What is cloud-based data storage?

Cloud storage is a scalable, internet-based solution for storing, accessing and managing data remotely. Unlike traditional on-premises storage, which requires buying and managing costly infrastructure, cloud storage is maintained by a third-party provider which hosts, manages and secures the data on its own equipment, making it available for access by the customer on a pay-as-you-go basis.

How does cloud storage work?

Like traditional on-premises storage, cloud storage relies on file servers to store information. However, rather than being operated by the user directly, these servers are owned, hosted and managed by a cloud computing provider, typically housing them in large datacenters located around the world. Users of the service can upload data to these servers and access it anytime and anywhere, either through a standard web browser or through a dedicated private connection, such as a secure web portal or mobile app, which communicates with the servers through an application programming interface (API).

Virtualization, redundancy and encryption are all critical components of cloud storage, working to ensure availability and security that is often better than what organizations can achieve in-house. Virtualization allows cloud providers to deliver on-demand, flexible storage to users via virtual machines (VMs), which are emulations of physical servers created in software instead of hardware. Redundancy features such as mirrored servers allow users to recover more quickly from a disaster without disrupting business operations. Encryption is also commonly available to cloud storage customers, ensuring data stored in the cloud is protected even if first-round security measures are breached.

Why cloud storage is important for modern data management

Cloud storage plays an important strategic role in today’s global digital landscape, enabling scalable data access, supporting remote work and enhancing disaster recovery.

The key driver of cloud storage is that organizations find themselves dealing with more and more data, necessitating more cost-effective and flexible storage solutions to keep up with all of it. Legacy storage systems are not only costly to implement and manage, they can also quickly become outdated. Cloud storage provides a scalable solution that reduces reliance on physical infrastructure.

Another key advantage of cloud storage is its 24/7 accessibility. With data stored on the cloud, remote teams can access it no matter where they are in the world. Access to always-available data is key to powering cloud-native applications, improving collaboration and supporting compliance across industries.

Types of cloud storage models

There are numerous types of cloud storage models. Here is an overview of the more common types and how they support different use cases.

 

Object storage

Organizational data doesn’t just exist in structured spreadsheets and databases. Today, users find themselves storing large volumes of unstructured data, including photos, videos, audio files and more. Object storage allows unstructured data like this to be stored in its original format, while customized metadata makes it easier to access and analyze. Object storage is widely used due to its flexibility, near-infinite scalability and cost-effectiveness, making it ideal for long-term archiving and the management of large datasets (such as an image library).

 

File storage

Common in personal computing, file storage organizes data in a hierarchical format of files and folders. With an intuitive, centralized organization system that is easy to use, this familiar method is often used for informational directories and file repositories. 

 

Block storage

Block storage stores data in the form of fixed-size blocks, each with a unique identifier. The cloud provider then stores the blocks wherever is most efficient for the system, making access to each block very fast. Block storage is often used for large volumes of data that require low latency, such as ERP systems or enterprise applications such as databases.

 

Archive storage

Organizations often need to store inactive data permanently (or nearly so) for compliance purposes or historical reasons. Archive storage is a more affordable way to maintain inactive data without tapping into on-prem resources such as tape storage.

 

Hybrid cloud storage 

Hybrid cloud combines cloud storage and on-premises storage, with a layer of orchestration used to integrate the two modes. Hybrid cloud storage gives organizations the flexibility to decide where to store each type of data. For example, they might decide to store very sensitive financial data on-premises, where control and security can be directly managed without an intermediary, while less sensitive information is sent to a public cloud system that is fast and less expensive.

Cloud storage architecture

Below are the foundational components of cloud storage architecture that allow it to handle large volumes of data while ensuring accessibility, scalability and security.

 

Front-end interface

The front-end interface is how users interact with cloud storage to access data. This could be through API-enabled mobile apps, a website or a web portal such as Google Drive. The front-end layer is also where authentication happens to ensure secure access to the service.

 

Storage infrastructure 

This is the back-end layer where the data is actually stored, either through object, file, block or another storage model.

 

Metadata management

Metadata is an important component for many storage systems because it makes data more easily findable and manageable. Metadata includes information like file name, a description of the data and information about who can access the data.

 

Security and access controls

When it comes to cloud storage — especially on the public cloud — security is a top priority. To ensure data is protected, cloud storage systems use data encryption and strict access controls to ensure only legitimate users can access it.

 

Replication and redundancy systems

With cloud storage, copies of data are commonly stored in multiple locations. This replication ensures data is accessible even if the server hosting one of the copies fails or the data is corrupted in some way. Multi-site replication also ensures business continuity in the event of a disaster, such as a hurricane or other issue destroying one data center.

Advantages of cloud storage

Cloud storage offers a number of key advantages, including these six benefits.

 

Scalability and flexibility

Cloud storage eliminates the need for purchasing and managing physical storage devices, which allows companies to easily scale their storage up or down, as needed, without having to worry about building and supporting hardware infrastructure.

 

Cost-effective storage options

The cloud’s pay-as-you-go pricing model means customers only have to pay for the storage they need, instead of investing in costly, idle capacity that isn’t used for months or years.

 

Remote access and collaboration

Anytime, anywhere access allows remote teams to access data wherever they are in the world, fostering more streamlined collaboration.

 

Automated backups and disaster recovery

The cloud’s redundancy features ensure business continuity in the event of disaster, and IT teams are relieved of the burden of performing tedious data backups.

 

Enhanced security and compliance

Tight security controls including encryption and authentication services are fundamental to cloud storage, ensuring data is protected. In many on-premises environments, security can be something of an afterthought.

 

Integration with cloud-native applications

Many cloud storage services can work directly with an applications platform through an API. This allows developers to build apps that use a cloud storage service to handle the application’s data instead of having to build their own storage subsystems into the application.

Disadvantages of cloud storage

While there are many advantages to cloud storage, many organizations will encounter a few common challenges to overcome.

 

Data privacy and regulatory concerns

Certain regulations such as GDPR place rules over how data is stored and managed. Storing data in the public cloud can violate these rules, potentially without the customer’s knowledge. The opaque nature of many cloud storage services also means relinquishing strict control over security and compliance, requiring you to put your trust in the cloud services provider to manage them.

 

Latency and bandwidth limitations

Transferring data to and from the cloud can get bogged down based on internet traffic and bandwidth issues. On-premises storage is almost always a significantly faster option.

 

Vendor lock-in and migration complexity

Switching from one cloud storage vendor to another is not always straightforward, and many providers make it difficult to transfer data to another service.

 

Cost management and tier optimization

Although cloud storage is generally cost-effective, surprises can and do occur when usage is higher than expected. Smart organizations can mitigate this by ensuring cloud storage can scale down as well as up. 

 

Security misconfigurations

Weak access controls, unsecured APIs and other vulnerabilities can expose data to breaches. It’s essential to learn and use the vendor’s security tools, which can vary from provider to provider.

Cloud storage use cases and examples

Cloud storage has many real-world applications. Below are some common use cases for the technology.

 

Enterprise backups and disaster recovery

Backup and recovery are critical components of any data management strategy, but as data volumes grow in size, they become increasingly challenging for organizations to do well. Cloud storage provides a cost-effective, redundant and scalable way to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster and is usually far more efficient than on-premises backup solutions.

 

Media and content delivery

High-speed, cloud-based object storage is commonly used for streaming media needs, including audio and video files. Storing this data in multiple locations means it can be accessed by users with minimum latency and on a global scale, efficiently and cost-effectively. 

 

Big data analytics and machine learning

ML training data is famously massive in size and scale. Storing this data on the cloud means organizations can access, process and analyze it more efficiently, allowing for more effective decision-making. 

 

Remote work and file sharing

Cloud storage offers anytime, anywhere access to data, which makes remote work as efficient as being onsite. 

 

IoT data collection and storage

With cloud storage, organizations can process, store and analyze the famously high volumes of data that IoT devices (such as industrial sensors) produce without having to invest in expensive onsite storage devices.

 

Archiving and long-term retention

For various compliance and legal reasons, many organizations need to retain inactive data for years or decades. With cloud storage, this data can be safely stored for the long-term without consuming on-prem resources. 

Conclusion

Cloud storage is the cornerstone of modern data management, giving organizations a cost-effective and efficient way to store, access and manage large amounts of data. It eliminates the need for costly investments in on-premises infrastructure and makes remote work and collaboration easier in today’s digital economy. Different storage models and architectures work better for different requirements, so invest the time to understand the available options before settling on a cloud storage technology for your organization.

Cloud storage FAQs

There are three main cloud storage models: object storage, file storage and block storage. 

Object storage is commonly used for unstructured data, such as photos, videos, audio files and other types of web assets. The objects are stored in their original format and assigned metadata for easy retrieval.

File storage is the hierarchical folder and file format that is utilized in personal computing. This is a popular method for storing data related to everyday business tasks like directories and personal documents.

Block storage stores data in identically sized blocks that can be stored and retrieved quickly. This model is best for storing large datasets that require predictable, low-latency response times, such as streaming media files and transactional workloads. 

Cloud storage is a key component of cloud computing, storing the data used by applications as they operate. When you engage with a cloud-based application, the data you create in that application is often stored on the cloud.

Most cloud-based data storage providers offer exceptionally high levels of security, including encryption, to ensure data in the cloud is protected. In many cases, data stored on the cloud may be more secure than data stored on-premises.

Take a four-step approach to choosing the right cloud storage provider for your organization:

 

  • Assess needs: Consider how much storage you need now and for the future. To ensure maximum flexibility, make sure the provider allows you to scale storage down, as well as up.

  • Evaluate security: Seek out a provider that offers strong encryption and robust access controls, ensuring your data is protected in storage and in transit. If your industry is subject to regulatory restrictions, determine if the provider is compliant with them.

  • Backup & recovery: Evaluate the provider’s backup and recovery protocols to ensure data is protected in the event of a disaster — and easy to recover when you need it. 

  • Look beyond price: While cost is always a crucial factor, so is performance, integration capabilities and customer support. Talk to existing customers to determine whether the provider lives up to expectations for these factors.