Cloud storage is a service model in which data is transmitted and stored on remote storage systems, where it is maintained, managed, backed up and made available to users over a network (typically the internet). Users generally pay for their cloud data storage on a per-consumption, monthly rate. Although the per-gigabyte cost has been radically driven down, cloud storage providers have added operating expenses that can make the technology considerably more expensive to use. The security of cloud storage services continues to be a concern among users. Service providers have tried to allay those fears by enhancing their security capabilities by incorporating data encryption, multi-factor authentication and improved physical security into their services.

Benefits of cloud storage

Cloud storage provides many benefits that result in cost-savings and greater convenience for its users. These benefits include:

• Pay for what is used. With a cloud storage service, customers only pay for the storage they actually use so there's no need for big capital expenses. While cloud storage costs are recurring rather than a one-time purchase, they are so low that even as an ongoing expense they may still be less than the cost of maintaining an in-house system.


• Utility billing. Since customers only pay for the capacity they're using, cloud storage costs can decrease as usage drops. This is in stark contrast to using an in-house storage system, which will likely be overconfigured to handle anticipated growth; so, a company will pay for more than it needs initially, and the cost of the storage will never decrease


• Global availability. Cloud storage is typically available from any system anywhere at any time; one does not have to worry about operating system capability or complex allocation processes


• Ease of use. Cloud storage is easier to access and use, so developers, software testers and business users can get up and running quickly without have to wait for IT to allocate and configure storage resources.


• Offsite security. By its very nature, public cloud storage offers a way to move copies of data to a remote site for backup and security purposes. Again, this represents a significant cost-savings when compared to a company maintaining its own remote facility.

An in-house cloud storage system can offer some of the above ease-of-use features of a public cloud service, but it will lack much of the storage capacity flexibility of a public service. Some hardware vendors are trying to address this issue by allowing their customers to turn on and off capacity that has already been installed in their arrays.

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