How You Can Store Your Data Securely and Access on Demand

Data storage is a key factor for every business. The data keeps increasing as your business grows. Your business requires an efficient storage system that can scale instantly. With the introduction of cloud computing, the cloud storage started getting popular among both individuals and businesses. While individuals can manage with the free cloud services, the risk factors come into the forefront when it comes to the data of a business. Keeping the security factors in consideration, a separate enterprise cloud storage was initiated at a cost.

Large organizations can afford to rely on-premise cloud storage. Many organizations adopted the hybrid cloud storage solution using their on-premise facility for critical and sensitive applications and using the cloud for their other IT operations. However, these solutions were not feasible for the small businesses as they neither have the budget nor the proficiency to manage. The enterprise cloud storage works as an ideal platform offering affordable and efficient storage solution to improve their business performance.

When you move to the cloud, there are tremendous savings on infrastructure. All you need is a computer and internet connection to start with. The cloud hosting service provider will manage and maintain the servers for you. So, you do not need technical proficiency saving you more money.

Some of the benefits include:

Easy accessibility on the go:

In the cloud, the data is stored on multiple servers in different locations. So, the information will be available to you at the same speed irrespective of your location. It is a service offered via the internet. So, when you use the enterprise cloud storage, you can keep working on your applications on any internet connected device including smartphones, laptops, tablets and of course your personal computers back home. This improves employee teamwork.  They can update their tasks and reports from any location. You can work from home, access your files while travelling or even while in the middle of a meeting. This saves you plenty of time and money.

Scalable and available on demand:

As mentioned, data keeps increasing. The traditional method of storage is risky. You cannot keep adding new storage devices whenever the need comes. It can become chaotic. The enterprise cloud storage scales on demand. You can increase the storage capacity with just a couple of moves on your system and in case, you wish to reduce the capacity, it is possible by simply reversing the earlier moves. Cloud eliminates the need to buy external storage devices and gives you a secure option without risks of losing any data due to hardware corruption or device loss.

Data recovery:

The cloud providers replicate your data and save it across multiple servers in different locations. Even if you lose some information due to some negligence, accident, or disaster, the enterprise cloud storage ensures complete information is still available by connecting your site to the other servers. The data can be recovered and accessible all the time. If one server is down for some reason, you get access from the other servers in the network.

Factors Which Influence Pricing for the Cloud

When you look for cloud server hosting plans, you will be quite shocked to see the discrepancies in rates offered by various vendors. So, if you own a small business you may be required to pay anything between $5 and $100 every month for cloud server hosting solutions. This is a huge range and makes us wonder why the prices offered by different vendors could be so different from one another. So, it is important to look at the factors which influence the prices of cloud hosting.

Factors which can affect cloud server hosting rates:

- It is a known fact that businesses will always get the cloud server they have paid for. But, not all cloud service providers are the same. When the provider is charging a small amount like $10 a month, there are chances that the services will not be up to the mark. In contrast, when the prices for cloud solutions are incredibly high, clients often wonder what exactly they are going to get for that price. So, there is no point in comparing features of two plans which are very differently priced.

 - When you are looking at quality cloud server hosting solutions you will require quality hardware. This will definitely not come for throwaway prices. If you want high-end hardware you should be prepared to spend for it. So, when you pay a high price for the cloud server, you must ensure that the hardware is of good quality and obtained from reputed manufacturers.

- When you get very low cloud server hosting prices, it is recommended that you check for the kind of guarantees they are offering you. For a $10 fee you are not likely to get too many guarantees. So, when your system crashes for some reason, you cannot depend on the provider for backup hardware as there is no redundant hardware. When you pay a high rate for cloud servers on the other hand, you will get built-in redundancy and even when the system fails, the applications, storage or power supplies will not go down.

- When you must pay high prices for cloud server hosting, you will probably be paying the high costs for higher accessibility. There are providers which offer about 98% availability which is equivalent to an allowed downtime period of approximately 14.4 hours. This is quite a long spell when services will be affected. However, when you choose to pay more for a service, you may get providers who will guarantee 99.9% availability. This will only amount to about 5.26 minutes in a year, which is quite negligible.

- How the server resources are managed can also influence prices of cloud server hosting plans. Your company may need a lot of RAM and CPU, bandwidth and disk space all through the year. But for companies which need these only for limited periods during the year, scalability if very vital. They can then pay only for what they use and nothing extra. When demands are high they can also scale up their resources conveniently. For this flexibility, you may have to pay more money when you sign up. While initial costs appear to be too high, you can actually end up saving at the end of the day when you need additional resources suddenly.

- Finally, prices are also high when the vendor can guarantee you 24x7 technical supports. This is necessary when you run an ecommerce site which may suddenly crash in the middle of the peak period. At such times, you cannot depend on knowledge base sections and FAQs on sites; you need real people to respond to your calls. Most cloud vendors offer round-the-clock supports for free in their packages.