At some point you may have heard about cloud storage and wondered what this actually means for you. There are some fibre optic broadband packages that come with cloud storage. There are also some fibre optic broadband providers that offer cloud storage systems of their own, rather than those of other partner providers. It is important that you understand what cloud storage is and how you can use it. It can be a great way to store files and information for access by all your devices; even those with limited memory capacity.
What is cloud storage?
The first question you are probably asking is: what is cloud storage? If you are using cloud storage, your documents, videos, picture and general files can be saved to the cloud. This might sound like something from a fairy tale, but the cloud is the name given to a remote online storage space. What all of this means is that you are able to save a file in a data centre that can be accessed, at a later time, on a different device.
If you have a picture on your phone that you want to Photoshop, you may think your means of transfer are limited. You would either have to email the image to yourself or manually connect the phone to your computer. With cloud storage, you dont have to do either. You simply save the image in your cloud storage account and, when you log onto the cloud storage on your computer, you can download the image.
This constant uploading and downloading uses a lot of data and broadband speed. If you are going to be using cloud storage a lot, it is recommended that you get broadband that suits this. The best broadband would be fibre optic broadband, because of the super fast speeds it offers. Of course, it is possible to use other broadband options but the download of the files from the cloud will take longer than with fibre optic broadband. If you are using the cloud on smartphones and tablets it is often best to synch when you are connected wirelessly to your home broadband or to a hotspot; it is just plain cheaper.
The advantages of the cloud
You should consider what the advantages of this type of storage are. When you truly understand the system you will no doubt be looking for a provider.
Sharing between your own devices is easy. Most people have a few devices that they use which connect to the internet. Instead of having to manually share the data through wire connections, you can seamlessly connect your devices.
Sharing information with other people is easy. If you work remotely, or if you often share information with other people, then the cloud is ideal. This takes away the need to email people all the time, as you can upload large amounts of data to the cloud for them to view.
If you lose your device you have your data. If one of your devices was to be lost, all the information you have saved to the cloud will still be there. This is ideal for people who have pictures on their phone that they do not want to lose.
The providers and fibre optic broadband
There are many providers who offer cloud storage systems. Some of these providers will offer free storage of a certain data amount. Others will offer free trials before you have to pay. If you are going to be using the service regularly, and with high data amounts, then you will have to pay a fee.
It is best to have fibre optic broadband when using the cloud because of the log out time the provider may have. If the data does not upload within a certain time, the provider may abort the transfer. This is something that you might suffer from, if you have a very slow internet.
Apple iCloud
Anyone who has an Apple product most likely has this storage on their devices already. It should be noted that, like most Apple products, this cloud storage is only available to people with iPhones, iPads and Macs. If you do not have an Apple product, you will not be able to use this storage service.
This service is very easy to set up on all of your Apple devices. Many of the new Apple products will come with iCloud preinstalled. This service is also compatible with all Apple products and operating systems, which is something you may not find with other services.
This service offers you 5GB of storage for free, and most stored files will count in this. However, if you have bought the music or app through iTunes, it will not count. After you have used the 5GB of storage, you will have to upgrade your account.
Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the best known cloud storage services. This service is easy to use and can be placed on any device with any operating system. Once you have stored something in Dropbox, you will be able to access it through the app or on the Dropbox website.
There are many benefits of using Dropbox, as opposed to other cloud services. Dropbox is not connected to a single platform, which opens it up for any computer and any phone. As long as the device is able to host the internet or the app, you should be able to get this service.
The free amount of storage offered by Dropbox is smaller than iCloud, at 2GB. There is a way that you can get more storage space without having to pay anything. If you refer a friend to the service, you will get an additional 500MB of storage. You can add space, in this way, until you reach 18GB. There are also a number of companies that offer Dropbox incentives, if you buy something from them. The most notable of these is Samsung, who offers a years worth of 50GB storage when you buy certain devices from them.
To get more space, after all of this, you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee. There are three upgrade accounts that you can get. The largest plan offers 500GB of storage, which is seen by many as more than enough.
Fibre optic broadband became available in Sam Jones area, and because it was better quality he wanted it for his home. He got a great deal by shopping online using price comparison websites like uSwitch.com
This article is copyright free.