- Introduction
– With everything in the media about “The Cloud”, you might think
it’s the best new thing out there. However, there are some good
things and even some not so good things to consider. You could
think of “The Cloud” as another hard drive somewhere else on the
Internet that you don’t control. Flexibility and convenience are
among the greatest cloud benefits whereas vendor lock-in and loss
of control of your data are among the least useful items. We’ll
take a look at just a couple of popular cloud use cases. Whether
the cloud is right for you, for those things you can control –
your data – is up to you.
The blog below makes a few points and asks a few questions to
consider.
– The Cloud In General
– The good (these are very good reasons to consider using the cloud)
– Works from any computer
– Create an account using DropBox, SkyDrive, or iCloud and
you’re easily able to store and, in most cases, sync your
data across multiple devices
– Usually free to use up to a certain data threshold
– It’s easy. Nothing much to set up other than the basic cloud
server connection information
– The not as good (these are very good reasons to be skeptical
about using the cloud)
– Vendor lock-in
– Proprietary cloud solutions by major vendors
– iCloud, SkyDrive, …
– No secret that companies want you to use their cloud
implementations so you’re “stuck” with them
– Change of Service provisions
– “Terms of Service” and their inevitable changes you must
agree to use and to continue to use the cloud service
– Remember if it’s free….”you are the product.”
– Service could go from free to paid at any time
– Shrinking free data amounts over time
– Your data is under the total control, whims, and profit
motives, of the cloud vendor
– Your cloud account could be disabled, removed, or corrupted
through no fault of your own
– As one example, read the article below and draw your own conclusions:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2456807,00.asp
– What happens to your data if your account is removed,
locked out, corrupted, hacked, etc.?
– Do you have a backup for this contingency?
– Did you also have a local copy of your data or did
you trust the cloud to be totally fault tolerant?
– Questions exist about who actually “owns” your data when it’s
cloud-hosted
– (yikes!)
– Cloud Computing
– Cloud Computing is when you run applications from the Internet,
not from your computer. You generally, almost always, pay a
regular fee to use these applications.
– Advantages
– Software is usually up to date
– Use the software only when you need it
– Limits software installed locally and maintaining it
– Less money up front to get software access
– Disadvantages
– Pay to play required — If you don’t pay the fee, you don’t
have the software
– Harkens back to mainframe computer days where you get
services from the “mainframe”, now “the cloud”
– Seen by many as a cash grab, mainly serving to improve
monthly cash flow for software vendors
– Losing Internet connection or the company going offline for technical
or other reasons means no application access
– Cloud Backups and Restores
– You lose control of your backed up data “in the cloud” (someone
else’s computer/disk)
– Does the cloud vendor offer full backups (disk images) or only
partial backups?
– This cloud vendor backup completeness (that is a whole disk
image vs. just data) can vary even by computer operating
system
– What’s the cost of the service?
– Who has access to this data on the server?
– ID Theft issues possible?
– Does storing this data violate any HIPPA regulations? (May depend
on answers to other questions.)
– Is your computer data encrypted during transmission over the
Internet (HTTPS)?
– Does the HTTPS use OpennSSL, which could be vulnerable to the
“Heartbleed” Internet bug?
– Are you concerned with possible other ‘zero-day’ exploits that
could put your data at risk?
– How long does the backup take? Minutes?, hours?, many many hours?
– What happens to your machine’s performance during long
backups?
– How are restores of your data done?
– Who does restores in your office or work environment?
– How do you search for a particular version of a backup file?
– Can you also create local backups in case of lost Internet
connectivity?
– How long is data, from backup to backup, retained?
– Can you go back and get a “version” of a file backed up last
week? Last Month? Last Year?
– As stated above, some cloud backups do not have full disk
image backups and their “retention policy” over many multiple
backups might not be what you want or expect. Thus, the
backup company’s goals and yours may be, and probably are,
out of sync. One of their goals, obviously, is to “minimize”
how much data you store on their server(s). Therefore, their
corresponding “retention policy” is one way how they manage
data size on their server(s). Their retention policy could
mean you might not be able to restore an older version (or
other file) since it wasn’t … “retained”.
– Have you experimented calling technical support to see what help
is available from the backup vendor?
– Is the cloud backup itself … backed up?
– How often?
– By whom?
– How does the backup company secure their backups of your data?
– Who has access to this backed-up data?
– Alternatives: Can you set up the same sync for free on your own?
– In most cases, YES!
– CalDav and CardDav are open standards supported by major
vendors so you could set up your own server for syncing
contacts, calendars, to-dos, and reminders.
– Advantages
– Your data is your own. No cloud company games. This is
the primary advantage of having your own private cloud or
sync service
– Once setup, it’s always free (it’s your server!)
– No data limits other than your own limits on disk space
– None of the Change of Serve Terms of Service or other
heavy-handed (“we’ve got you now”) cloud vendor games
– Based on open standards so no vendor lock in
– No chance your service could be canceled by mistake
– Disadvantages
– Without VPN, the sync would not work everywhere
– You are responsible for the server maintenance and updates
– You could still lose your data if you don’t backup
your data and your machine dies
– Backing up your Synced Data
– You have to learn and use backup software
– Current versions of Windows include backup and
Mac systems have built-in Time Machine that
automatically creates versioned backups
– Have to buy backup infrastructure like USB hard
drives
– Need to consider offsite backup and other
strategies
– Can initially be complicated to set up
– Videos on the web make setting up a sync server
relatively easy
– Server must be up and running for sync
– No one to directly support you if problems arise
– Will require special software configuration so
calendar, todos, and other programs don’t try to sync
when server is not up
– Other free alternatives
– There are free web alternatives to DropBox, for example. However,
these, again, are web cloud-based services so you have to agree
to Terms and Conditions. Implicit among these terms and
conditions is that YOU are the product and that these terms and
conditions can (and probably will) change without notice. Local
server options also exist, but these options often require a
static IP address which means you might have to upgrade to a more
expensive (home) business account.
– Conclusion
– The cloud offers incredible convenience and ways to share and
collaborate that we’ve never seen—especially in enterprise
environments. However, for home and for small business users,
the case for cloud, while still strong, has some significant
drawbacks to consider. While businesses are embracing the cloud
for its cost-cutting benefits, these same benefits for business
may put your data at risk. What you do when your cloud account
gets accidentally deleted or through some “misunderstanding” is a
serious concern. Even in the best case, consider the case where
you lose Internet for days or longer because of some natural
disaster. Therefore, “the cloud” for storage of personal and
small business information, while very compelling because of its
ease, is still a mixed bag.
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