CONTENTS

TOPICS PAGE NO

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. HOW CLOUD STORAGE WORKS 4-5

3. ARCHITECTURE 6

4. TYPES OF CLOUD STORAGE 7

5. RISKS OF CLOUD STORAGE 8

6. ADVANTAGE & LIMITATION 9-10

7. CONCLUSION 11

8. REFERENCE 12

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 KEYWORDS

CLOUD STORAGE
ARCHITECTURE
RISKS
ADVANTAGE OF CLOUD STORAGE
DISADVANTAGE OF CLOUD STORAGE

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 INTRODUCTION

Cloud Storage is a model of data storage in which the digital data is stored in logical pools, the
physical storage spans multiple servers (and often locations), and the physical environment is
typically owned and managed by a hosting company. These cloud storage providers are
responsible for keeping the data available and accessible, and the physical environment protected
and running. People and organizations buy or lease storage capacity from the providers to store
user, organization, or application data.

Cloud storage services may be accessed through a co-located cloud computer service, a web
service application programming interface (API) or by applications that utilize the API, such as
cloud desktop storage, a cloud storage gateway or Web-based content management systems.

Cloud Storage is technology that allows you to save files in storage, and then access those files
via the Cloud. Let's break down this definition. First, storage is the computer's ability to save
files and other resources for later use. When you restart a computer, the files that are still
available after the computer turns back on are saved and read from storage. Such storage
commonly consists of a hard drive, a USB Flash drive, or another type of drive.
Because local data drives can be damaged or stolen, an idea was developed to use data drives
over a network as storage. This allows the drives to be secured in a data center and backed up
automatically. Initially, network storage required fast local networks (LAN), but today we have a
ubiquitous network called the Internet.
The second part of Cloud Storage, the Cloud, represents the Internet. Any service, including
storage, available over the Internet, is called Cloud service. If you use GMAIL it is email in the
Cloud, if you use an Amazon MP3 player, that's music in the Cloud.

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 HOW CLOUD STORAGE WORKS

While it’s true that all computer owners store data, some users acquire so much information that their computer almost
qualifies as a mini-library of sorts. For these users, finding enough storage space to hold all the data they’ve accumulated
can seem like Mission Impossible.

Some people invest in larger hard drives. Others favor external storage devices like thumb drives or
compact discs. Then there are those who are choosing to rely on a growing trend: cloud storage.

One solution is to begin storing files on an external or portable hard drive. While this may work for some,
companies and individuals with terabytes of data would quickly fill an external drive and find themselves
back where they started; they need more. This is where a cloud storage service comes in.

The word cloud is a metaphor for the internet or the online world. Cloud storage works as a combination of
an online backup or storage service and cloud computing for data management. Information is stored in what
can be viewed as a warehouse full of computers called server farms or data centers. Data centers can be
located anywhere in the world depending on your storage provider. Most cloud storage services ensure the
safety and privacy of your files by encrypting the data so that it is not intercepted and read by malicious third
parties.

For a relatively low monthly fee, users can store all their files on a secure online location and never worry
about having to find space. Files can be uploaded and downloaded with ease. They are safe, secure and can

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be accessed, by you and anyone authorized by you, from anywhere at any time via any computer or mobile
device using a web browser. Such services can even automatically back up and sync files on any device
without any extra effort on the part of the user.

In addition to providing space, cloud storage can serve as means by which to protect your files and data from
computer failure, theft or any other type of event that may cause your valuable information to be lost
forever. Having your data online will also give you the ability to share some or all of it with friends, family,
or co-workers. All you'd need to do is send them a link, or log in details, and they'll be able to access it.

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 ARCHITECTURE OF CLOUD STORAGE

A high level architecture of cloud storage.

Cloud storage is based on highly virtualized infrastructure and is like broader cloud computing in terms of
accessible interfaces, near-instant elasticity and scalability, multi-tenancy, and metered resources. Cloud
storage services can be utilized from an off-premises service (Amazon S3) or deployed on-premises (ViON
Capacity Services).
Cloud storage typically refers to a hosted object storage service, but the term has broadened to include other
types of data storage that are now available as a service, like block storage.
Object storage services like Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure Storage, object storage software like
Openstack Swift, object storage systems like EMC Atmos, EMC ECS and Hitachi Content Platform, and
distributed storage research projects like OceanStore and VISION Cloud are all examples of storage that can
be hosted and deployed with cloud storage characteristics. There is also multiple cloud services management
web application, like Multicloud designed to tie together all cloud storage services in one platform and
transfer data between cloud drives.
Cloud storage is:
Made up of many distributed resources, but still acts as one, either in a federated or a cooperative storage
cloud architecture
Highly fault tolerant through redundancy and distribution of data
Highly durable through the creation of versioned copies
Typically eventually consistent with regard to data replicas
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 TYPES OF CLOUD STORAGE

There are four main types of cloud storage — public, private, hybrid and community
Public Cloud Storage
The Public cloud is defined as computing services offered by third-party providers over the public Internet,
making them available to anyone who wants to use or purchase them. They may be free or sold on-demand,
allowing customers to pay only per usage for the CPU cycles, storage, or bandwidth they consume.

Private Cloud Storage

The Private cloud allows system and services to be accessible within an organization. It offers increased
security because of its private nature. Private cloud refers to a model of cloud computing where IT services
are provisioned over private IT infrastructure for the dedicated use of a single organization. A private cloud
is usually managed via internal resources. The terms private cloud and virtual private cloud (VPC) are often
used interchangeably.

Hybrid Cloud Storage

Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud
services with orchestration between the two platforms. It is mixture of public and private cloud. However , the critical
activities are performed using private cloud while the non-critical activities are performed using public cloud.

Community Cloud Storage

A community cloud in computing is a collaborative effort in which infrastructure is shared between several organizations
from a specific community with common concerns (security, compliance, jurisdiction, etc.), whether managed internally or
by a third-party and hosted internally or externally.

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 RISKS OF CLOUD STORAGE

Cloud storage is an infallible service. Along with the benefits, they come with a few risks as well. It’s totally
upon you to shortlist the service providers that properly serves your purposes. Otherwise, you may face
some risks in the process of backup. Let’s look at the flip side of a cloud storage system.

Requires high speed internet connection most of the time

Data is stored on third party servers

When a provider closes its service for maintenance, you may find it troublesome to access your data

If your provider closes its service permanently, you may lose you valuable data

Premium services cost you a considerable amount for the storage volume

Most of the cloud storage service providers offer a free plan that intends to serve your common needs. In
case of dealing with a huge pile of files or business essentials, cloud storage can be a reasonable way for
securing your data in the cloud

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 ADAVANTAGES OF CLOUD STORAGE

1. Usability:
All cloud storage services reviewed in this topic have desktop folders for Mac’s and PC’s. This
allows users to drag and drop files between the cloud storage and their local storage.

2. Bandwidth:
You can avoid emailing files to individuals and instead send a web link to recipients through your
email.

3. Accessibility:
Stored files can be accessed from anywhere via Internet connection.

4. Disaster Recovery:
It is highly recommended that businesses have an emergency backup plan ready in the case of an
emergency. Cloud storage can be used as a back‐up plan by businesses by providing a second
copy of important files. These files are stored at a remote location and can be accessed through an
internet connection
.
5. Cost Savings:
Businesses and organizations can often reduce annual operating costs by using cloud storage;
cloud storage costs about 3 cents per gigabyte to store data internally. Users can see additional
cost savings because it does not require internal power to store information remotely.

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 LIMITATIONS OF CLOUD STORAGE

1. Usability:
Be careful when using drag/drop to move a document into the cloud storage folder. This will
permanently move your document from its original folder to the cloud storage location. Do a copy
and paste instead of drag/drop if you want to retain the document’s original location in addition to
moving a copy onto the cloud storage folder.

2. Bandwidth:
Several cloud storage services have a specific bandwidth allowance. If an organization surpasses the
given allowance, the additional charges could be significant. However, some providers allow
unlimited bandwidth. This is a factor that companies should consider when looking at a cloud storage
provider.

3. Accessibility:
If you have no internet connection, you have no access to your data.

4. Data Security:
There are concerns with the safety and privacy of important data stored remotely. The possibility of
private data commingling with other organizations makes some businesses uneasy. If you want to
know more about those issues that govern data security and privacy, here is an interesting article on
the recent privacy debates.

5. Software:

If you want to be able to manipulate your files locally through multiple devices, you’ll need to
download the services on all devices.

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 CONCLUSION

Cloud storage allows faster information deployment management, and supervision.

Most large cloud storage providers have a diverse offer when it comes to storage plans and pricing.

Plans and offers vary from providers to provider.

Cloud storage has many advantages for both individuals and businesses. Though there are some
downsides, the benefits of cloud storage far outweigh them, and this is most evident by the rapid pace
at which everyone is moving their data to the cloud.

However ,there are concerns that the mainstream adoption of cloud computing could cause many
problems for users.

Many new open source systems appearing that you can install and run on your local cluster.

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 REFERENCES

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_storage
 https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-
d&q=CLOUD+STORAGE+CONCLUSION
 https://bigdata-madesimple.com/5-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloud-storage/
 https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=risk+of+cloud+storage

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