Let’s get this out of the way. We deal in colocation. We deal in everything colocation. However we are also geeks and nerds. We are tech freaks and web hosting ninjas. Yes, we just said ninjas. Due to this, amongst ourselves and with our readers we are having constant ongoing debates about what the hell the Cloud actually is. Should it be called the Cloud? Should it be marketed as the Cloud? Does the Cloud mean anything to anyone? You get our point.
More into this, one of the issues which we see sprinkled all over the world wide webs is the compelling theory that the Cloud – Cloud Computing solutions – makes data security an impossibility. The common thought on the block is the Cloud makes data less secure. Well, here at QuoteColo.com, we want to challenge this assumption. We’re just going to come out and say it. The Cloud is actually making data more secure. Not less.
Don’t believe us. Here are three reasons you need to change your way of thinking and get on board the Cloud Security train.
1. Automatic Data Backups
Let’s be honest here for a moment, how often to you backup your locally stored data? How often do you sit down and actively backup your data on a secure external hard drive? Do you even back your data up? Do you even have an external hard drive? If you’re like most people and companies, you don’t own an external hard drive and if you did, you wouldn’t use it on a normal basis. According to the 4th annual Backblaze Data Backup Study, 94% of computer users, 94%, do not backup their locally stored data in any shape or form. 94%! That’s insane. So, how is the Cloud more secure? Simple.
Most Cloud providers offer some form of data backup solution. Most Cloud providers have some data backup plan for their customers – whether it’s backing up a certain GB of data per month or a scalable amount of GB per infinitum, Cloud providers backup your needed company data for you. Moreover, if you are the type of person who backs up your local data, backing up data via Cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Box.net, SugarSync etc., offer consumers way more storage space at a much cheaper rate than a consumer could ever buy or use.
So the first reason the Cloud is more secure than your own measures – Cloud Computing actually backs up your data.
2. Data Replication
Hey, remember that time when Hurricane Sandy came ripping through the NY Metro area or remember that time when a powerful earthquake took down the power grid of Los Angeles for weeks on end? Oh yeah, what about all those ice and sleet storms in the great white north that have the power to cripple an entire cities infrastructure. The truth is, terrible things happen causing power grids to shut down for days and local infrastructures to also fail. With this in mind, utilizing a Cloud provider means utilizing data replication across the nation. Cloud providers who operate out of a Tier 2 data center or above make use of real time instant data replication. This means if your main data center fails, no worries, your solutions are up and running in another data center halfway across the world. No matter the weather outside, Cloud data replication ensures your solutions are safe and sound, even when your local super market can’t open because it’s under water.
3. Corporate Data is More Secure
The last reason the Cloud is more secure than local storage has to do with the ability of a corporation or company to shut off access to their private Cloud. Most people don’t realize this but the vast majority of security leaks inside of a corporate setting doesn’t come from the outside world hacking in, it comes from the inside seeping out. To prevent this, corporations need to begin adopting Cloud solutions to such an extent that their workers forget to store any data locally. The trick isn’t worrying about local data storage in corporate environments, the trick is for the corporation to have their employees rely so heavily on Cloud solutions that they never think to store any of that data locally. True Cloud adoption.
So there, the Cloud is actually more secure than local data storage. The Cloud promotes regular data backups, instant data replication across the globe and true corporate Cloud adoption. Cloud, one. Local external hard drive, zero.
By the way, we can’t believe we wrote the phrase “Cloud Security train”. We know, it looks and sounds ridiculous.