Hello and welcome to another Cloudwards video.
My name is Mauricio and today we’ll be going back to basics to try to define what cloud
storage is, what it does, and why you need to be using it.
Even if you’re already familiar with cloud storage, this is a great refresher course
to give you some ideas about how you could use your cloud storage to the fullest.
Stick around for a ton of useful tips on all the ways cloud storage can make your life
easier.
This is part of a mini series we’re launching kind of like a cloud storage 101, so subscribe
to our channel and hit the bell icon to get notified whenever we release a new video.
With that out of the way, let’s jump right in.
When you store files on your computer, the files are saved on your hard drive.
Now, with cloud storage, instead of saving your files to your own computer, you instead
send them over the internet to a remote computer called a server.
You can access that server and your files from really anywhere in the world.
Your files are not tied to your computer at home.
As long as you have an internet connection, you can access your files from any device,
whenever you feel like it.
There are a bunch of upsides to using cloud storage, as well as some minor downsides,
and we go over all of those in depth in our full article on Cloudwards.net, so be sure
to check that out as well, there’s a link in the description below.
Now let’s take a quick look at what those pros and cons are.
Pros Let’s start with the pros.
So, we already mentioned how your files are always available to you anywhere there’s
an internet connection.
Now, this by itself brings with it a ton of other benefits.
For example, you don’t need to lug around your files on a laptop or an external hard
drive or even a USB.
You can just log into your cloud account at work and have all the files there.
Now most of the time a cloud service will offer what’s called cloud sync.
This means that you’ll always see the same version of a file on all your devices.
With cloud sync, whenever you make a change to a cloud file, the file gets updated everywhere.
Another useful feature is that when your files are online it’s super easy to share them.
Most cloud storage services offer file sharing, at least the reputable ones that we recommend
in our best cloud storage video that you can watch here.
This lets you, for example, share private photos with people you care about, without
having to post them on Facebook for the world to see.
But cloud sharing is also great if you need to collaborate with people remotely.
We’ve all seen how tricky remote work can be, and if you’re one of the billions of
people who’ve had to work from home this past year, you have probably already used
the cloud.
Several cloud storage services let you create documents right within the cloud app, like
Google Drive and OneDrive do.
Because that document isn’t just on your computer, this lets you work on the same document
with your coworkers at the same time.
Now let’s talk a bit about security.
Generally, you’ll want your files to be protected by what’s called zero knowledge
encryption.
We won’t get into the details, as we have an upcoming video on this topic, so stay tuned
for that one.
But in general, zero-knowledge encryption makes it so that only you can ever access
your files.
It even stops the cloud provider from seeing what you’ve uploaded, so it’s the highest
form of cloud encryption possible.
Not all providers have this feature, so be on the lookout for services that have it,
like Synvc.com and MEGA.
If we have you convinced by now that cloud storage is the way to go, here’s one thing
to consider.
Making a long-term commitment always pays off, and in the world of cloud storage there’s
nothing better than a lifetime plan.
Now, this feature is a bit of a unicorn, as there are really only two reliable providers
with lifetime plans, Icedrive and pCloud, and you can see how they compare in this video
here.
Lucky for you, those are also two of the best cloud services around.
Finally, having a backup of your files in the cloud ensures you always have a copy of
them available.
Even if you lose your laptop or it just falls apart on you, your files will still be safe
in the cloud.
Now, we said earlier that cloud storage has a few negatives, but none of them are really
that serious.
For example, you generally can’t access your cloud files without an internet connection.
You can avoid this to a degree by syncing your files.
This will let you access them even when you’re offline.
However, if someone else makes a change to that file while you’re offline, you won’t
be able to see that change until you get back online.
Another thing to note is that you’ll need to pay for your storage.
No surprise here, online services are usually not free.
Keep in mind that most cloud services actually come with some free storage too, and you can
see our video on the best free cloud storage providers here.
Now, if you don’t need more than 10 or 15GB of storage, you’ll be happy with a free
service, but you’ll need to pay to get anything more than that.
Thankfully, there’s a bunch of providers that won’t break the bank, like Sync.com
and Icedrive.
Finally, some cloud providers are just not safe to use.
For example, Google Drive might be a great service for collaboration, but Google is known
for harvesting its users’ data.
And while it’s not likely to get hacked, some people just aren’t comfortable with
Google or any other company scanning and looking at their files.
Another common mistake people make is that they’ll see a service offering 100GB or
500GB for free and just dump all their important files onto that service.
These services are usually either terrible to use, or just straight up scams that take
your data and sell it.
In these cases you have to remember the old adage that if the product is free, you’re
probably the product.
That’s it for this video, we hope you enjoyed it and found it useful.
If you liked this video, please give us a thumbs up and subscribe, it helps a lot to
keep the channel afloat, and watch the other videos on our channel.
We have hundreds of useful videos on cloud storage so be sure to check those out.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and as always, thank you for watching,
and stay tuned for the next one.