Cloud Storage Monitoring Apps – Not All They’re Cracked Up To Be
When anything comes along in the field of digital technology that is a relatively good idea, it can pick up and take off pretty quickly. With billions of people now online and using various digital devices that are inter-connected, a decent idea can spread like wildfire, generating the interest of millions of people over the course of just one day. Unfortunately, although this is great for the developer of such a great idea, as it often leads to nearly instant profit and wealth, it is not so great for the last great idea, as it ends up being cast aside as yesterday’s news.
Cloud storage has enjoyed an excellent life cycle, proving to be far more than the flash in the pan a lot of people thought it would be. When such a thing becomes more commonplace and is proven to be here to stay, then focus shifts to how to optimize usage of the technology by making it more user friendly and, when it comes to any type of storage, saving space.
To help with the saving space part, apps are starting to be developed that will interface with your cloud storage account and tell you how much space is being used, and in what ways, whether it is with pictures, movies, documents or other files. This can prove to be quite useful when it comes to seeing where space is being used and can offer quick insight into what types of files take up the most space. The problem with this type of app is that, although it is designed to help the cloud storage customer, it is really helping the provider.
Sure, it can’t possibly be denied that saving storage space also saves the customer, but it depends on the circumstances. If the cloud storage user is getting close to the capacity of space offered with their plan, then yes, it is helpful to know where to optimize. But when a user isn’t anywhere near their capacity, such a tool is completely useless. All that is necessary is to just see the totals of where you are at. Breaking that usage down by file type is a waste of time, as there is nothing that really needs to be done about it. We will explain why that is.
Most cloud storage providers like Dropbox don’t own their own data centers and, therefore, have to pay a fee for each GB of storage and bandwidth that is used. They pay a certain amount of money per GB and add an additional cost that ends up being the price the customer is charged for each plan. Since this is the case, the customer is paying for the capacity, while the provider is paying only for actual usage. If you are a customer and decide to be vigilant about saving space, and you have a storage plan with a certain amount of GBs of storage provided, you are still paying for the full allotment. It doesn’t matter how much you actually use. The only argument that can be made is that it can save you money in the long run when it comes time to expand your capacity, since it will theoretically take longer to reach your limit. But those types of savings are a long way off and hardly worth the extra effort of monitoring storage usage in this way.
With companies like Amazon S3 or Google, where you pay for storage per GB, you begin to see the rationale of monitoring your usage and optimizing wherever possible. This is the rare case, though, as over 90% of cloud storage providers out there today charge for tiered storage plans, where you are guaranteed a certain maximum amount of storage for a fixed price that never changes. In the mainstream, such an app only benefits the cloud storage provider and makes their business with you more profitable for them. The point becomes even more moot if you have an unlimited storage plan.
So before you go out and buy such tools, thinking that they will save you or your business money, be sure that you know how cloud storage works and how the relationships are between your data, yourself and your provider. Find out if your company owns its own data center or if it purchases space from Amazon or Google and resells it to you. Finally, be in touch with your own needs, which is going to help you make the decision about what cloud storage provider to use anyway. Once you find the provider that is the right fit for you, if they don’t have a particular feature, chances are that you don’t need it.
