Cloud storage
Encyclopedia
Cloud storage is a model of networked online storage where data is stored on virtualized pools of storage which are generally hosted by third parties. Hosting
companies operate large data centers; and people who require their data to be hosted buy or lease storage capacity from them and use it for their storage needs. The data center
operators, in the background, virtualize
the resources according to the requirements of the customer and expose them as storage pools, which the customers can themselves use to store files or data objects. Physically, the resource may span across multiple servers.
Cloud storage services may be accessed through a web service
application programming interface
(API), or through a Web
-based user interface
.
in terms of agility
, scalability
, elasticity and multi-tenancy. According to ComputerWeekly, it is believed by many experts to have been invented by Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider in the 1960's. Since the sixties, cloud computing has developed along a number of lines, with Web 2.0 being the most recent evolution. However, since the internet only started to offer significant bandwidth in the nineties, cloud computing for the masses has been something of a late developer.
One of the first milestones for cloud computing was the arrival of Salesforce.com
in 1999, which pioneered the concept of delivering enterprise applications via a simple website. The services firm paved the way for both specialist and mainstream software firms to deliver applications over the internet. Another notable mention would be FilesAnywhere
who also in 1999 helped pioneer cloud based storage services that also enable users to securely share files online. Both of which continue to offer those services still today.
It is difficult to pin down a canonical definition of cloud storage architecture, but object storage is reasonably analogous. Cloud storage services like Amazon S3
, cloud storage products like EMC Atmos
, and distributed storage research projects like OceanStore are all examples of object storage and infer the following guidelines.
Cloud storage is:
Hosting
Hosting can mean:* To act as the organizer or master of ceremonies for an event.* Self-hosting - software distribution which provides all necessary source code to enable itself to be re-compiled from scratch* Internet hosting service, including:...
companies operate large data centers; and people who require their data to be hosted buy or lease storage capacity from them and use it for their storage needs. The data center
Data center
A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems...
operators, in the background, virtualize
Storage Virtualization
Storage virtualization or storage virtualisation is a concept and term used within computer science. Specifically, storage systems may use virtualization concepts as a tool to enable better functionality and more advanced features within the storage system.Broadly speaking, a 'storage system' is...
the resources according to the requirements of the customer and expose them as storage pools, which the customers can themselves use to store files or data objects. Physically, the resource may span across multiple servers.
Cloud storage services may be accessed through a web service
Web service
A Web service is a method of communication between two electronic devices over the web.The W3C defines a "Web service" as "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network". It has an interface described in a machine-processable format...
application programming interface
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
(API), or through a Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
-based user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
.
Cloud storage architecture
Cloud storage has the same characteristics as cloud computingCloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
in terms of agility
Agility
* Agility is a physical trait of an animal or person, and a component of physical fitness. It is the ability to change the body's position and direction with speed and precision.Agility may also refer to:In Sport:...
, scalability
Scalability
In electronics scalability is the ability of a system, network, or process, to handle growing amount of work in a graceful manner or its ability to be enlarged to accommodate that growth...
, elasticity and multi-tenancy. According to ComputerWeekly, it is believed by many experts to have been invented by Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider in the 1960's. Since the sixties, cloud computing has developed along a number of lines, with Web 2.0 being the most recent evolution. However, since the internet only started to offer significant bandwidth in the nineties, cloud computing for the masses has been something of a late developer.
One of the first milestones for cloud computing was the arrival of Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is an enterprise cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco that distributes business software on a subscription basis. Salesforce.com hosts the applications off-site...
in 1999, which pioneered the concept of delivering enterprise applications via a simple website. The services firm paved the way for both specialist and mainstream software firms to deliver applications over the internet. Another notable mention would be FilesAnywhere
Filesanywhere
is the creation of Dallas-based software design and consulting firm, Officeware systems, and is a provider of remote file storage and file sharing for consumers and corporations...
who also in 1999 helped pioneer cloud based storage services that also enable users to securely share files online. Both of which continue to offer those services still today.
It is difficult to pin down a canonical definition of cloud storage architecture, but object storage is reasonably analogous. Cloud storage services like Amazon S3
Amazon S3
Amazon S3 is an online storage web service offered by Amazon Web Services. Amazon S3 provides storage through web services interfaces...
, cloud storage products like EMC Atmos
EMC Atmos
EMC Atmos is a cloud storage services platform developed by EMC Corporation. Atmos can be deployed as either a hardware appliance or as software in a virtual environment. The Atmos technology is designed to manage petabytes of information and billions of objects across multiple geographic locations...
, and distributed storage research projects like OceanStore are all examples of object storage and infer the following guidelines.
Cloud storage is:
- made up of many distributed resources, but still acts as one
- highly fault tolerant through redundancy and distribution of data
- highly durable through the creation of versioned copies
- typically eventually consistentEventual consistencyEventual consistency is one of the consistency models used in the domain of parallel programming, for example in distributed shared memory, distributed transactions, and optimistic replication, it means that given a sufficiently long period of time over which no changes are sent, all updates can be...
in regards to data replicas
Cloud storage advantages
- Companies need only pay for the storage they actually use as it is also possible for companies by utilizing actual virtual storage features like thin provisioning.
- Companies do not need to install physical storage devices in their own datacenter or offices, but the fact that storage has to be placed anywhere stays the same (maybe localization costs are lower in offshore locations).
- Storage maintenance tasks, such as backup, data replication, and purchasing additional storage devices are offloaded to the responsibility of a service provider, allowing organizations to focus on their core business, but the fact stays the same that someone has to pay for the administrative effort for this tasks
Potential concerns
- Security of stored data and data in transit may be a concern when storing sensitive data at a cloud storage provider
- Performance may be lower than local storage depending on how much a customer is willing to spend for WAN bandwidth
- Reliability and availability depends on wide area network availability and on the level of precautions taken by the service provider.
- Users with specific records-keeping requirements, such as public agencies that must retain electronic records according to statute, may encounter complications with using cloud computing and storage.
Examples of cloud storage
- Amazon S3Amazon S3Amazon S3 is an online storage web service offered by Amazon Web Services. Amazon S3 provides storage through web services interfaces...
- Windows Azure StorageAzure Services PlatformThe Windows Azure Platform is a Microsoft cloud platform used to build, host and scale web applications through Microsoft data centers. Windows Azure Platform is thus classified as platform as a service and forms part of Microsoft's cloud computing strategy, along with their software as a service...
- EMC AtmosEMC AtmosEMC Atmos is a cloud storage services platform developed by EMC Corporation. Atmos can be deployed as either a hardware appliance or as software in a virtual environment. The Atmos technology is designed to manage petabytes of information and billions of objects across multiple geographic locations...
- FilesAnywhereFilesanywhereis the creation of Dallas-based software design and consulting firm, Officeware systems, and is a provider of remote file storage and file sharing for consumers and corporations...
- Google Cloud StorageGoogle StorageGoogle Cloud Storage is a RESTful online storage web service for storing and accessing your data on Google's infrastructure. The service combines the performance and scalability of Google's cloud with advanced security and sharing capabilities...
http://code.google.com/apis/storage - Google App Engine BlobstoreGoogle App EngineGoogle App Engine is a platform as a service cloud computing platform for developing and hosting web applications in Google-managed data centers. It virtualizes applications across multiple servers,...
- iCloudICloudiCloud is a cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple Inc. announced on June 6, 2011 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference . The service allows users to store data such as music files on remote computer servers for download to multiple devices such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, and...
by Apple - OpenStack Swifthttp://openstack.org/projects/storage/
- Ubuntu OneUbuntu OneUbuntu One is a personal cloud service operated by Canonical Ltd.The service enables users to store files online and sync them between computers and mobile devices, as well as stream audio and music from cloud to mobile devices.- Features :...
See also
- Cloud computingCloud computingCloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
- Cloud storage gatewayCloud storage gatewayA cloud storage gateway is a network appliance or server which resides at the customer premises and translates cloud storage APIs such as SOAP or REST to block-based storage protocols such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel or file-based interfaces such as NFS or CIFS....
- Comparison of online backup services
- Cloud databaseCloud databaseA cloud database is a database running on Cloud Computing platform, such as Amazon EC2, GoGrid and Rackspace. There are two common deployment models: Users can run databases on the cloud independently, using a Virtual Machine image, or they can purchase access to a database service, maintained by a...