What is the difference between a cloud and a non-cloud? Imagine that we have rented a hosting service that is accessed via FTP. After all, we can upload our files to the FTP server and get access to them. How is regular FTP different from the cloud?
The fundamental difference is that the structure of the online storage itself is not visible to the client in principle. He does not know exactly on which server on the Internet his data is stored. It connects to a specific host, say google.com, and accesses its files. Google Drive cloud storage consists of many distributed servers, and for the client it all seems like one big dimensionless server.
Сloud Storage Types
You can store data in different ways, so there are different types of storage. Basically, cloud storage is categorized by the type of data stored. And you can store:
- Files and folders – such storage is called file cloud storage. Typical examples are Google Drive, Yandex. Disk and other similar services. Often, when talking about CS, they mean this type of storage.
- Block storage – used by enterprise applications, such as databases, resource planning systems. A typical example is Amazon Elastic Block Storage (EBS).
- Object storage – used to store the properties of objects. A typical example of such storage is Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3). Used to provide application scalability. But if desired, such services can also be used to store backups, for example, Handy Backup supports S3 storage for creating backups.
Which cloud storage to choose?
As usual, the answer to this question depends on the tasks set, namely on what data is planned to be stored in the cloud and how exactly it will be accessed.
If the amount of data is small and the task is to provide data sharing, then you can use regular file cloud storage. This is the easiest option if you don't want to bother. All file storages provide some amount of data that the user can store for free. For personal use and small projects, this is enough. Additional space is available for a fee. But for corporate use, there is often not enough space and not all services provide packages specifically for business. Often, with large amounts of data, such storage can be more profitable than traditional file storage.
Examples of using
There are many examples of using cloud storage, let's take a look at five of the most popular:
- Backup and restore. There is no need to talk about the importance of backups. Cloud resources provide high reliability and low cost of data storage. The scaling possibilities are almost unlimited.
- Software development and testing. Software development and testing often require redundant storage environments. Creating such conditions is costly and time consuming, using the cloud is much cheaper, and most importantly, the necessary resources will be allocated almost instantly. Using cloud resources is a common practice among software developers.
Data migration. Migrating data to the cloud is a very serious task that requires a lot of experience from the system administrator. However, there are services that make this process easier.
Big data. BigData requires a lot of resources – after all, this biggest data needs to be stored somewhere. And the cloud provides almost unlimited resources. That is why when working with BigData, cloud storage is optimal.
Sharing data. Often a group of specialists needs to share data, and this group is not always located in the office – specialists can be out of the office (sales agents, freelancers), in branches, or even in other countries. Let's imagine that the data is stored on a server within the enterprise network. In this case, you need to organize a VPN on the server – otherwise how can you access data from outside the office? It's complicated, but why give access to all network resources if you need access only to certain shared files. In this case, the documents are published in the cloud and accessed by everyone who needs them. The "sharing" function is available in all popular cloud storages.
To store data in the cloud or not to store?
In most cases, the answer is yes. Large corporations have long made their choice in favor of the cloud in one sense or another – or deployed their own cloud infrastructure or use third-party cloud storage. Small businesses are wary of cloud storage.
The logic is as follows – 4 TB of space will cost about 30 euros (either when using OneDrive or when using Mega). The WD My Cloud Home 4 TB NAS costs approximately 180 euros (the price may fluctuate depending on the exchange rate, you can find cheaper). In total, the purchase of a drive will pay off after six months of operation and you will have your own cloud.
However, we must not forget that data in the cloud is better protected primarily from hardware failure – the probability of loss tends to 0, but a regular physical drive can fail at any time, and the warranty applies only to hardware – you will be provided with a new drive, and the data will not be returned. In addition, the physical drive can be damaged in a fire or simply stolen from the office - along with it, you will lose all your data. Therefore, choosing a cloud, you not only pay for your comfort, but also for the security of your data.
Stages of creating cloud services
In the storage data development of cloud services, the following stages can be distinguished:
- Product analysis. It is necessary to determine the business requirements of the product: the target audience and the goals of the product.
- Development of technical specifications. We develop terms of reference (specification) with sufficiently detailed descriptions of the functionality and requirements for the cloud service. It is important to know what the initial development requirements are.
- Software implementation. We start creating the product after the final approval of the terms of reference. We design the architecture, prepare prototypes and design, then write the code.
- Testing. Before launching, we examine the operation of the service manually and on automatic programs: we identify and eliminate possible errors in the service, preventing new ones.
- Launch. We set up and launch the project. If necessary, we do one more stage of testing after launch.
- Support and development of the project. We are ready to support the service: developing new modules and modifying existing ones.
Work models
When creating a cloud application, there are 2 options for working:
Fixed Price: the cost and deadlines of the work are clearly set from the very beginning. In this scheme of cooperation, a detailed TOR is developed, in which all the nuances of the work are recorded.
Time & Materials: a system of work that does not require a clear specification, and the main details are specified in the process of creating a product. The cost is calculated from the hours of work spent by the team of specialists to complete the task.
