Role of Storage Technology for cloud storage
Data is a crucial component of any business. We all deal with gigabytes or terabytes of data in our day to day work. And when you store a lot of files in your PC it’s most likely that your PC can turn slow, resulting in poor performance. Although there are plenty of external storage solutions to store and backup your data, these storage devices are not failsafe. You can lose your important data due to any mishap such as breakage, theft, damage, and many others.
There is nothing worse than losing your data or the fear of losing it. This is where cloud storage comes with its fascinating features and great capabilities that you can get remotely sitting at the comfort of your home or office sitting at your PC or while outside traveling with your Smartphone or tablet.
Cloud storage is a convenient and reliable option to store and retrieve data. There are many different cloud storage services available in the market. Before going for a cloud service, it’s important to understand what exactly cloud storage is and how it works. So, let’s get started.
What is Cloud Storage?
Cloud storage is a storage space available to store data on remote servers which can be accessed from the cloud (or the internet). The data is managed, maintained and backed up remotely, for which the users generally pay a monthly or per consumption rate.
Cloud storage uses data centers with massive computer servers that physically store the data and make it available online to users via web. Users can remotely upload their content, store them and retrieve the data as and when required. With the introduction of cloud, now you don’t need to purchase servers, external hard drives and memory sticks to carry your data from one place to another.
How Cloud Storage Works?
Cloud storage works simple and easy. In cloud storage, information is stored in data centers located anywhere in the world and maintained by the third party. As the data is on hosted servers, it is easily accessible through a web interface.
The cloud storage uses a chain of servers that includes both master control server and other storage servers. The servers are all linked with one another and it can be utilized depending upon your use and requirements, and billed accordingly. Cloud storage saves you a lot of money otherwise you would have to spend on more strong servers as your business needs increases. But in cloud storage, you only pay for the space occupied by your data in the cloud.
Cloud storage generally supports multiple file types of all sizes, so you can easily upload all your important content such as documents, videos, photos, music, movies and more. Once you sign up for cloud storage service and upload your files, you can sync it with your Smartphone, tablet or other mobile devices for easy access while on the go.
The most fascinating feature of cloud storage solutions is you can upload your files or download them from anywhere across the World even without carrying your laptop. You just need internet access and any mobile device on which you need to download the application of your service provider. Then, simply login to your account and upload or download the files.
Cloud also allows you to share your content with other users or your team members working for your company. You can give them access to remotely edit or read the files shared with them. Your team members can collaborate and work together on a project and edit the documents shared with them. You can invite people to give access to your files and folders and everyone with the access can see the shared documents in their account.
The data stored in cloud storage is secure and protected by a combination of strong password so any unauthorized person cannot access the files shared or uploaded by you. Also, cloud storage has the feature of restore and recovery of data for accidentally deleted files, folders or documents. It gives you the option to restore your data by linking your account with any device like tablet, Smartphone or PC.
Cloud storage is an example of technological advancement that provides us an innovative method to maintain and manage our content. For a nominal monthly fee, anyone can store their data securely on an online location, without worrying about space. It’s easy to upload and download your files with the cloud. Additionally, they are secure, safe and can be accessed by you and anyone whom you authorize. The files can be accessed anytime, from anywhere, using a PC or mobile device.
Storage Systems in the Cloud :
There are 3 types of storage systems in the Cloud as follows.
Block-Based Storage System
File-Based Storage System
Object-Based Storage System
Let’s discuss it one by one as follows.
Type-1 :
Block-Based Storage System –
Hard drives are block-based storage systems. Your operating system like Windows or Linux actually sees a hard disk drive. So, it sees a drive on which you can create a volume, and then you can partition that volume and format them.
For example, If a system has 1000 GB of volume, then we can partition it into 800 GB and 200 GB for local C and local D drive respectively.
Remember with a block-based storage system, your computer would see a drive, and then you can create volumes and partitions.
Type-2 :
File-Based Storage System –
In this, you are actually connecting through a Network Interface Card (NIC). You are going over a network, and then you can access the network-attached storage server (NAS). NAS devices are file-based storage systems.
This storage server is another computing device that has another disk in it. It is already created a file system so that it’s already formatted its partitions, and it will share its file systems over the network. Here, you can actually map the drive to its network location.
In this, like the previous one, there is no need to partition and format the volume by the user. It’s already done in file-based storage systems. So, the operating system sees a file system that is mapped to a local drive letter.
Type-3 :
Object-Based Storage System –
In this, a user uploads objects using a web browser and uploads an object to a container i.e, Object Storage Container. This uses the HTTP Protocols with the rest of the APIs (example: GET, PUT, POST, SELECT, DELETE).
For example, when you connect to any website, you need to download some images, text, or anything that the website contains. For that, it is a code HTTP GET request. If you want to review any product then you can use PUT and POST requests.
Also, there is no hierarchy of objects in the container. Every file is on the same level in an Object-Based storage system.
Advantages :
Scalability – Capacity and storage can be expanded and performance can be enhanced.
Flexibility — Data can be manipulated and scaled according to the rules.
Simpler Data Migrations –As it can add and remove the new and old data when required eliminates disruptive data migrations.
Disadvantages :
Data centers require electricity and proper internet facility to operate their work, failing in which system will not work properly.
What cloud storage requirements should you consider?
Ensuring your company’s critical data is safe, secure, and available when needed is essential. There are several fundamental requirements when considering storing data in the cloud.
Durability and availability :- Cloud storage simplifies and enhances traditional data center practices around data durability and availability. With cloud storage, data is redundantly stored on multiple devices across one or more data centers.
Security :- With cloud storage, you control where your data is stored, who can access it, and what resources your organization is consuming at any given moment. Ideally, all data is encrypted, both at rest and in transit. Permissions and access controls should work just as well in the cloud as they do for on-premises storage.
What are cloud storage use cases?
Cloud storage has several use cases in application management, data management, and business continuity. Let’s consider some examples below.
Analytics and data lakes
Traditional on-premises storage solutions can be inconsistent in their cost, performance, and scalability — especially over time. Analytics demand large-scale, affordable, highly available, and secure storage pools that are commonly referred to as data lakes.
Data lakes built on object storage keep information in its native form and include rich metadata that allows selective extraction and use for analysis. Cloud-based data lakes can sit at the center of multiple kinds of data warehousing and processing, as well as big data and analytical engines, to help you accomplish your next project in less time and with more targeted relevance.
Backup and disaster recovery
Backup and disaster recovery are critical for data protection and accessibility, but keeping up with increasing capacity requirements can be a constant challenge. Cloud storage brings low cost, high durability, and extreme scale to data backup and recovery solutions. Embedded data management policies can automatically migrate data to lower-cost storage based on frequency or timing settings, and archival vaults can be created to help comply with legal or regulatory requirements. These benefits allow for tremendous scale possibilities within industries such as financial services, healthcare and life sciences, and media and entertainment that produce high volumes of unstructured data with long-term retention needs.
Software test and development
Software test and development environments often require separate, independent, and duplicate storage environments to be built out, managed, and decommissioned. In addition to the time required, the up-front capital costs required can be extensive.
Many of the largest and most valuable companies in the world create applications in record time by using the flexibility, performance, and low cost of cloud storage. Even the simplest static websites can be improved at low cost. IT professionals and developers are turning to pay-as-you-go storage options that remove management and scale headaches.
Cloud data migration
The availability, durability, and low cloud storage costs can be very compelling. On the other hand, IT personnel working with storage, backup, networking, security, and compliance administrators might have concerns about the realities of transferring large amounts of data to the cloud. For some, getting data into the cloud can be a challenge. Hybrid, edge, and data movement services meet you where you are in the physical world to help ease your data transfer to the cloud.
Compliance
Storing sensitive data in the cloud can raise concerns about regulation and compliance, especially if this data is currently stored in compliant storage systems. Cloud data compliance controls are designed to ensure that you can deploy and enforce comprehensive compliance controls on your data, helping you satisfy compliance requirements for virtually every regulatory agency around the globe. Often through a shared responsibility model, cloud vendors allow customers to manage risk effectively and efficiently in the IT environment, and provide assurance of effective risk management through compliance with established, widely recognized frameworks and programs.
Cloud-native application storage
Cloud-native applications use technologies like containerization and serverless to meet customer expectations in a fast-paced and flexible manner. These applications are typically made of small, loosely coupled, independent components called microservices that communicate internally by sharing data or state. Cloud storage services provide data management for such applications and provide solutions to ongoing data storage challenges in the cloud environment.
Archive
Enterprises today face significant challenges with exponential data growth. Machine learning (ML) and analytics give data more uses than ever before. Regulatory compliance requires long retention periods. Customers need to replace on-premises tape and disk archive infrastructure with solutions that provide enhanced data durability, immediate retrieval times, better security and compliance, and greater data accessibility for advanced analytics and business intelligence.
Hybrid cloud storage
Many organizations want to take advantage of the benefits of cloud storage, but have applications running on premises that require low-latency access to their data, or need rapid data transfer to the cloud. Hybrid cloud storage architectures connect your on-premises applications and systems to cloud storage to help you reduce costs, minimize management burden, and innovate with your data.
Database storage
Because block storage has high performance and is readily updatable, many organizations use it for transactional databases. With its limited metadata, block storage is able to deliver the ultra-low latency required for high-performance workloads and latency sensitive applications like databases.
Block storage allows developers to set up a robust, scalable, and highly efficient transactional database. As each block is a self-contained unit, the database performs optimally, even when the stored data grows.
ML and IoT
With cloud storage, you can process, store, and analyze data close to your applications and then copy data to the cloud for further analysis. With cloud storage, you can store data efficiently and cost-effectively while supporting ML, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced analytics to gain insights and innovate for your business.
Authors:-
- Aditya Dere
- Anushka Ahire
- Mandar Ambulkar
- Vedant Jore
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