What exactly is "cloud"?
 

I would like to find in simplest and easiest terms what exactly is "cloud". I still can't understand it even though I'm a techie. Thanks for any help given.

Cheers

It's salesman-speak for a service hosted on an internet-connected server.

It pretty much means anything that is not local storage that you can access online now.

If I put a server in my house that has files available to me online, those files are considered being stored in "the cloud" even though they could be in the next room.

If I rent space from Amazon to store on their servers anywhere in the world, that's also the cloud.

I think the most commonly accepted definitions now imply access via the internet, in the past that was not always the case.

Pay-per-use, self service setup, available over the internet, on demand.

This is pretty much a layman version of the industry accepted NIST definition.

So its like I can access my files and whatnot anywhere in the world and its stored in the internet rather than your own computer?

It basically means that you are storing your data (music, images, files, etc) on somebody-elses computer that is available on the Internet.

To do this you should TRUST that person/company to backup your files and not go out of business, where you could lose everything on their computer.

You gain the ability to access your files from any Internet-connected computer, but lose the ability to access your files when you don't have an Internet connection.

Is it secure or they have access to it as well? What about you and the others? Do you trust cloud in general?

So I guess a benefit of cloud is you save hard drive space?

Cloud to me means Software as a Service (SaaS) or in layman's term "let others worry about the infrastructure".

Cloud's main appeal is that it is accessible from anywhere from any device as long as you have an Internet connection. The data is still available should you lose your device (vs locally stored files/applications.)

If you are wary of prying eyes, you can encrypt your data before uploading.

Whether or not they have access to it depends on the service you use. Read any user agreement very carefully! One of the most popular cloud services, Dropbox, does indeed have a "back door" that allows employees to gain access "if needed." "If needed" is supposed to mean "because they received a subpoena," but who knows. That said, it is still a useful service and there's a fair bit of information I'm comfortable keeping there--typically data that is publicly available or meant to be shared. I would not put personal information there.

For benefits, yes, you can save hard drive space, but for me the primary benefit is that I work on multiple computers, and everything is automatically synced across machines.

I can tell you with assurance, that NOTHING is completely secure with computers - not just the web. It's just a matter of HOW insecure something is.

If the site uses HTTPS (secure sockets), than the data going to/from your computer to theirs is encrypted. But once it reaches their compuer, anyone who has access to their database and/or file system has access to your files. Typically, there are controls to limit who can see what. You'll never know what those controls are - or how well they work.

Most, if not all, cloud-based sevices require authentication (ID and password) to access data stored there. Part of the security is how secure your ID and Password is.

Do I trust the "cloud"? Personally, I'm a backup-fanatic. I have multiple copies in multiple places (including "the cloud") of anything that's vaguely important to me. I backup every night. If you keep a "local" copy as well as a "cloud" copy, there's a distinct advantage to using "the cloud" - assuming you trust the cloud owner to do their part to support security. Frankly, there's no real way to answer that last part - you just have to have a modicum of faith!

bert

I currently use a secondary 1.5TB internal hard drive for all of my documents, files, videos, etc.

Is that your only storage for those files? What happens WHEN that drive dies (it WILL die eventually).

One of the reasons to use "cloud" storage is for an off-site backup.

Unfortunately, it is my only storage option. I replace it every few years and just transfer the files to a new drive. What cloud program are you using? And what do you recommend?

There are many options for internet backup. I use iDrive, which I have been happy with. I also backup up nightly to an external storage device (RAID NAS). I've been using/building/programming computers since the late 60's and have lost more data than most people have. I'm just a bit more than fanatical than most about backup, but it's not without reason.

Personally, I wouldn't be happy with JUST cloud backup or JUST local backup - either can be lost in a blink of an eye.