Debunking the Myths about Cloud Storage – Part 2
In the first part of our blog post on debunking the myths about cloud storage, we focused on 3 of the biggest misconceptions people have about its practicality. We learned that the number one concern about cloud storage is security and privacy. Is it possible to trust your data on the cloud? Is it susceptible to theft, loss or prying eyes? We have learned, in fact, that your data is even safer in the cloud than it is on a local drive, and that you are taking even more of a risk by not uploading your data to the cloud, where it is encrypted, scanned for viruses, password protected and stored in a remote location that prevents data loss due to fire, theft or hardware failure.
We also delved into architecture, and whether or not cloud storage integration could make a network more complicated and inconvenient to use. We discovered that implementation of cloud storage is easy with the right provider and that the learning curve is very short. Finally, we learned that with the right plan in place, and coordination of IT resources, moving large amounts of data isn’t a problem either, but just time consuming depending on the amount of data being transferred.
Here are the rest of the concerns about cloud storage that need to be addressed:
Cost: One of the biggest concerns about cloud storage is that is costs a monthly or yearly fee, as opposed to storing your data locally, which ranges from free to the cost of a removable backup drive. You may have asked at some point why it should be justified to pay that fee, especially with the economy being in the state it is, along with the need to cut costs in every way possible, in both personal and business situations. Although the cost of computing is supposed to go down as data throughput increases, this has proven to not be the case with cloud computing, as it is a complete system in and of itself, while an individual computer is merely the core that is inside of a complete system. So although the debate rages on, there are definite benefits that justify the cost of cloud storage, such as added security and remote storage, the use of convenient software tools and reduced costs associated with IT personnel having to manually manage and maintain data banks locally. With these benefits on the table, the cost is well worth it.
Harmful to the Environment: One of the less circulated, but potentially damaging myths, is that cloud storage is harmful to the environment. The argument is that with new data centers popping up in record numbers, more energy is being used. This is supposedly resulting in expansion of the industry’s carbon footprint, which can increase concerns about global warming. The fact is that, compared to the energy required to move millions of vehicles that transport tangible goods, moving bits of digital data doesn’t even come close. In fact, as the technology advances even more and hardware requires less energy to operate, and files are being efficiently consolidated with deduplication technology, the rate of energy consumption should actually go down.
The bottom line is that these things are not really legitimate concerns that justify writing off cloud storage as a viable, convenient, cost effective solution for your business and personal data needs. With the right provider, at the right cost and with the right features, you can’t afford not to migrate your data to the cloud.
