What is the cloud and do I need it?

“The Cloud”

So what is this cloud thing that everyone is talking about, where did it come from and what do I need to know about it?

The Cloud will often be described in different ways by different people. Sometimes their definition might contradict, sometimes they will be talking about different situations or services. The confusion is because ‘The Cloud’ is not a thing, it’s a collection of things that work mostly seamlessly in the background allowing you to share information across different devices without having to worry too much about how you’re going to get your information from point A to point B.

The cloud was used to represent the internet in computer network diagrams, though originally nothing was kept in the cloud, it was just a means of transferring data from servers to users.

Mostly when people talk about ‘Cloud’ they are referring to online storage, that’s when you take a photo on your smartphone, and then sit down in front of your smart TV and can open an app and view the photo without having your phone near. Or maybe you’ve been working on a spreadsheet all morning, then have to head off to catch a train, but you continue working on your spreadsheet from your tablet on the train.

This is the cloud at work. Take the photo for example. You take the photo on your smartphone, the moment it’s saved to your phone’s memory, services from one app or another upload the photo to a server ‘somewhere’ on the Internet secured by your login details, meaning its then available to any other device you have that has the same service installed, such as your smart TV. Once you set the service up on your device it runs in the background silently uploading your photos. The benefits to this are the you don’t have to be involved in the upload, and that (almost) immediately, your photo is available to anyone with access to your account, anywhere around the world, and that should you then (as happened to me recently while on holiday) lose your phone, you don’t lose your photos.

There are many more ways in which you might be using the cloud already and not know it, if you have a fitness tracker that syncs to a website, use webmail, edit documents online, access social media or write a blog, most likely all will be using cloud computing.

Lot’s of Pro’s, any Con’s?

So what are the drawbacks of cloud computing?  Well firstly, it requires access to the cloud (the Internet) so if you live in a poorly connected area, getting back to your data might be an issue, and for use as a business tool you need to consider if you have sufficient bandwidth and redundancy should something happen to your Internet access.

Also, understandably, some people are cautious about storing their precious data on someone else’s computer, somewhere on the Internet. What assurances do you have about the provider? Do they secure your data, are they backing it up? Are you securing the logon details sufficiently?

There are lots of pro’s and some con’s that need to be considered when using the cloud, and it’s always a good idea to know where and when you are using the cloud, and how to manage your cloud use. But it’s a service that is here to stay and will be used more and more as our world’s become more connected to the Internet (see the Internet of things)

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For more information on cloud computing and the Internet Of Things and understanding how all these technologies can be put to your (or your companies) benefit, contact us.

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