Cloud storage


Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which data, said to be on "the cloud", is stored remotely in logical pools and is accessible to users over a network, typically the Internet. The physical storage spans multiple servers, and the physical environment is typically owned and managed by a cloud computing provider. These cloud storage providers are responsible for keeping the data available and accessible, and the physical environment secured, protected, and running. People and organizations buy or lease storage capacity from the providers to store user, organization, or application data.
Cloud storage services may be accessed through a colocated cloud computing service, a web service application programming interface or by applications that use the API, such as cloud desktop storage, a cloud storage gateway or Web-based content management systems.

History

Cloud computing is believed to have been invented by J. C. R. Licklider in the 1960s with his work on ARPANET to connect people and data from anywhere at any time.
In 1983, CompuServe offered its consumer users a small amount of disk space that could be used to store any files they chose to upload.
In 1994, AT&T launched PersonaLink Services, an online platform for personal and business communication and entrepreneurship. The storage was one of the first to be all web-based, and referenced in their commercials as, "you can think of our electronic meeting place as the cloud." Amazon Web Services introduced their cloud storage service Amazon S3 in 2006, and has gained widespread recognition and adoption as the storage supplier to popular services such as SmugMug, Dropbox, and Pinterest. In 2005, Box announced an online file sharing and personal cloud content management service for businesses.

Architecture

Cloud storage is based on highly virtualized infrastructure and is like broader cloud computing in terms of interfaces, near-instant elasticity and scalability, multi-tenancy, and metered resources. Cloud storage services can be used from an off-premises service or deployed on-premises.
There are three types of cloud storage: a hosted object storage service, file storage, and block storage. Each of these cloud storage types offer their own unique advantages.
Cloud storage is:
  • Made up of many distributed resources, but still acts as one, either in a federated or a cooperative storage cloud architecture
  • Highly fault tolerant through redundancy and distribution of data
  • Highly durable through the creation of versioned copies
  • Typically eventually consistent with regard to data replicas

    Advantages

  • Companies need only pay for the storage they actually use, typically an average of consumption during a month, quarter, or year. This does not mean that cloud storage is less expensive, only that it incurs operating expenses rather than capital expenses.
  • Businesses using cloud storage can cut their energy consumption by up to 70% making them a more green business.
  • Organizations can choose between off-premises and on-premises cloud storage options, or a mixture of the two options, depending on relevant decision criteria that is complementary to initial direct cost savings potential; for instance, continuity of operations, disaster recovery, security, and records retention laws, regulations, and policies.
  • Storage availability and data protection are intrinsic to object storage architecture, so depending on the application, the additional technology, effort and cost to add availability and protection can be eliminated.
  • Storage maintenance tasks, such as purchasing additional storage capacity, are offloaded to the responsibility of a service provider.
  • Cloud storage provides users with immediate access to a broad range of resources and applications hosted in the infrastructure of another organization via a web service interface.
  • Cloud storage can be used for copying virtual machine images from the cloud to on-premises locations or to import a virtual machine image from an on-premises location to the cloud image library. In addition, cloud storage can be used to move virtual machine images between user accounts or between data centers.
  • Cloud storage can be used as natural disaster proof backup, as normally there are 2 or 3 different backup servers located in different places around the globe.
  • Cloud storage can be mapped as a local drive with the WebDAV protocol. It can function as a central file server for organizations with multiple office locations.

    Potential concerns

Data security

Security of stored data and data in transit may be a concern when storing sensitive data at a cloud storage provider. Outsourcing data storage increases the attack surface area. Cloud storage is a rich resource for both hackers and national security agencies. Because the cloud holds data from many different users and organizations, hackers see it as a very valuable target.
  1. When data has been distributed it is stored at more locations increasing the risk of unauthorized physical access to the data. For example, in cloud based architecture, data is replicated and moved frequently so the risk of unauthorized data recovery increases dramatically. Such as in the case of disposal of old equipment, reuse of drives, and reallocation of storage space. The manner that data is replicated depends on the service level a customer chooses and on the service provided. When encryption is in place it can ensure confidentiality. Crypto-shredding can be used when disposing of data.
  2. The number of people with access to the data who could be compromised increases dramatically. A single company might have a small team of administrators, network engineers, and technicians, but a cloud storage company will have many customers and thousands of servers, therefore a much larger team of technical staff with physical and electronic access to almost all of the data at the entire facility or perhaps the entire company. Decryption keys that are kept by the service user, as opposed to the service provider, limit access to data by service provider employees. As for sharing multiple data in the cloud with multiple users, a large number of keys has to be distributed to users via secure channels for decryption, also it has to be securely stored and managed by the users in their devices. Storing these keys requires rather expensive secure storage. To overcome that, key-aggregate cryptosystem can be used.
  3. It increases the number of networks over which the data travels. Instead of just a local area network or storage area network, data stored on a cloud requires a WAN to connect them both.
  4. By sharing storage and networks with many other users/customers it is possible for other customers to access your data. Sometimes because of erroneous actions, faulty equipment, a bug and sometimes because of criminal intent. This risk applies to all types of storage and not only cloud storage. The risk of having data read during transmission can be mitigated through encryption technology. Encryption in transit protects data as it is being transmitted to and from the cloud service. Encryption at rest protects data that is stored at the service provider. Encrypting data in an on-premises cloud service on-ramp system can provide both kinds of encryption protection.
There are several options available to avoid security issues. One option is to use a private cloud instead of a public cloud. Another option is to ingest data in an encrypted format where the key is held within the on-premise infrastructure. To this end, access is often by use of on-premise cloud storage gateways that have options to encrypt the data prior to transfer.

Accessibility

  • Performance for outsourced storage is likely to be lower than local storage, depending on how much a customer is willing to spend for WAN bandwidth
  • Reliability and availability depend on wide area network availability and on the level of precautions taken by the service provider. Reliability should be based on hardware as well as various algorithms used.

    Limitations of Service Level Agreements

Typically, cloud storage Service Level Agreements do not encompass all forms of service interruptions. Exclusions typically include planned maintenance, downtime resulting from external factors such as network issues, human errors like misconfigurations, natural disasters, force majeure events, or security breaches. Typically, customers bear the responsibility of monitoring SLA compliance and must file claims for any unmet SLAs within a designated timeframe. Customers should be aware of how deviations from SLAs are calculated, as these parameters may vary by other services offered within the same provider. These requirements can place a considerable burden on customers. Additionally, SLA percentages and conditions can differ across various services within the same provider, with some services lacking any SLA altogether. In cases of service interruptions due to hardware failures in the cloud provider, service providers typically do not offer monetary compensation. Instead, eligible users may receive credits as outlined in the corresponding SLA.