Defining the Cloud in a Physical Way

As with many technological terms, the cloud has only been around for the past decade or so, but is often shrouded in mystery and confusion. When computers were the size of rooms, users used “dumb terminals” to access the processing power. Essentially, the terminal was a point of access without any solo capabilities. This was the origin of cloud computing, but these days, the cloud’s main application is highly dependable storage.

Eliminating the Need for External Storage

With the rise of the Internet in the 90s, high-speed data connections on mobile devices transformed into the standard, but it was once a luxury. In the past, dropping your external hard drive or scratching your CD could lead to a loss of important files. However, clouds now have extensive data recovery and backup systems. Information is often stored on multiple servers so that, should one malfunction, you can have access to your files without noticing an issue.

The Cloud Is Physical

What’s one of the greatest misconceptions about the cloud? It’s an intangible presence in the Internet’s existence. Actually, the cloud is very much physical. You don’t have to worry about seeing or dealing with equipment, but when you store files on a cloud service, your documents are placed in a physical place. It’s like an external hard drive but much bigger. Just because you don’t see the data center every day doesn’t mean the cloud is intangible. It’s simply more convenient and usually cheaper than traditional physical storage.

With every passing day, external storage systems like CDs and back-up drives are being driven out with cloud storage. These systems have multiple backup systems that give users peace of mind because their important files are significantly less likely to be lost due to a crash or malfunction. The cloud is as old as those massive mainframes, and because it continues to evolve in useful ways, it looks like this current storage staple is here to stay.