Cloud-based file storage is an intuitive and convenient method for digitizing and personalizing your use of the internet. Personal cloud storage gives users access to their files from anywhere in the world at any moment. What are the benefits and downsides of using cloud-based file storage in your everyday life?
Pros
Every piece of technology we have developed has a certain utility to itself that may not be immediately apparent. Cloud-based file storage has many obvious benefits, so let’s dive straight into some of the less clear benefits of Internet storage.
Ease of access
Sometimes you’re not directly in front of the proper devices. A cloud-based, secure file storage app gives users the ability to be everywhere in an instant. Scans of your driver’s license can be accessed when an apartment application needs to be completed on the go, family recipes can be pulled regardless of your proximity to grandma’s house, and so on. Cloud-based file storage creates a nearly endless well of personal information and safeguards that information so you can feel confident in trusting this technology with your most personal information.
Security
Cloud-based file storage has to protect information with cutting-edge methods in order to fend off an entire internet-sized pool of bad actors. Your personal device, on the other hand can only be as secure as your knowledge of security methods. Many people around the world use cloud-based storage to save and secure their personally-identifying information simply because their personal security methods can’t compare to the security you get from decentralized file storage backed by AES 256-bit encryption and blockchain technology.
Redundancy
The “location location location” of the digital age. You can never have enough backup plans. When something as simple as a power surge on a windy day can totally wipe out your computer, it is wise to have a few redundancies on hand at all times. Human beings are fallible and fickle, but internet storage, Web 3 backups, and secured servers are leaps and bounds above us in terms of security and reliability.
Cons
Relying on cloud-based file storage is an incredibly useful method for decentralizing your data and creating a mobile storage system. Broadly, it’s a positive change that gives tech-savvy users a leg up in the modern world. However, there are a few downsides to incorporating these tools into your regular life.
Barriers to Entry
We live in a world of “now,” and frankly, relying solely on cloud storage forces you to live in a world of “just a second.” To avoid this, we recommend using cloud storage as a back up rather than relying on it entirely. Cloud storage gives you access to your files from anywhere, so if you’re near your machine, it’s often worth the time to simply access yourfiels directly from the source, rather than pulling them from the cloud.
Backups of Sensitive Documents
When you have sensitive files, you often want to keep them as close to the chest as possible. If you’re using cloud-based file storage to house your files, then you are, necessarily creating a copy of these sensitive documents. Cautiously-minded users tend to rely on the smallestt possible number of copies. From a purely mathematical perspective and in a vacuum, a larger number of copies leads directly to an increased probability of compromise.
Of course, this perspective ignores the number of security features that go into protecting files once they have been entrusted to the cloud, but this concern does deserve to be addressed.
Internet Access Required
The internet is accessible from nearly everywhere in the world. However, we have yet to reach 100% ubiquitous internet access. Using cloud-based storage for all of your files creates an interesting roadblock in the form of internet access. If you live, work, and play in areas with stable internet access, this is hardly an issue. Users in rural areas or areas that otherwise have unstable access to the internet may wish to use physical backups for their files.
Similarly, the internet has a maximum speed. There are rare cases where using the internet to transfer large files. These instances are rare, but in tech circles, the term “sneakernet” has arisen for these occasions. One such instance is when Google was transferring Hubble Space Telescope data. The bandwidth bottlenecks for these terabytes (120 TB to be precise) of data created a circumstance in which it was simply faster to hand-deliver the data physically.
These circumstances are unlikely, but should you find yourself working with raw data that rivals the space program’s data loads, cloud-based file storage may hurt you more than it helps.
Try AXEL Go
While we have yet to build a file storage system that bends the laws of physics, we make up for that by providing a service that is built on privacy, security, and integrity. AXEL Go will never sell your data or peer into your personal storage. We simply wish to provide a secure file sharing service that will return a personal sense of security to our users.
Try AXEL Go for your personal file-sharing needs, and as long as you’re not the Hubble Space Progam, you’ll see how much more convenient, secure, and accessible cloud storage can be.
Sources
Waters, Darren. “Technology | Google Helps Terabyte Data Swaps.” BBC News. BBC, March 7, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6425975.stm.
