We all talk about the cloud fairly often in our speech, but do we really know what we mean when we say it is in the cloud? It is not a magical place that is floating just out of reach above our heads. Even though you may not realize it, you can actually touch the cloud because it is a physical entity. The cloud is still a series of servers that are connected to each other. Anytime you save a file to the cloud, it can be accessed by any computer or device. That is the beauty of the cloud. You can save data from one device and retrieve that same data with another device that is not at all connected to the first device. The cloud has thousands of servers connected to each other that are stored across several large warehouses.
This is a huge shift from saving files on the hard drive of your computer and only being able to access them from that computer. Or saving files to a server to which your computer is connected and then other computers connected to that server can access those files. With the cloud, no one computer or device has to be connected to another. The only real requirement is that you are connected to the internet and using a cloud service, such as https://arcticit.com.
The data you have in the cloud is safer than anything you have stored on your hard drive. The cloud servers are well protected and not many employees actually have access to them. The data is the servers are encrypted, making them incredibly challenging for hackers to access. It is recommended that you back up your files to the cloud to protect them from being hacked on your own computer. Storing data in the cloud is incredibly cheap. It is often free, but there are limits to how much data you can store for free. Once you have exceeded that limit, there is a cost. It is an inexpensive way, especially compared to the costs of other data storage options.
While the cloud is secure, it is not perfect. Hackers are always trying to get access to data that is not their own. Data in the cloud can be viewed by others. All types of government agencies can request access to data within the cloud. The cloud service provider must decide if that request is valid and if they are legally required to share the information. You do not have a say if your information is shared. While there are some drawbacks to the cloud, overall it is a safe place to store your data.
