Cloud Storage vs Physical Media
– What you need to know!
What You Need to Know about Cloud and Ph
ysical Storage 3
Cloud Storage: 4
What is the cloud? 4 Cloud Storage Pros 5 Cloud Storage Cons 6 Physical Storage: 7
What is the physical media? 7 Physical Media Storage Pros 8 Physical Media Storage Cons 9 In Summary 10
About CDT 11 Contacts Us 11
What You Need to Know about
Cloud and Physical Storage
The entire world is on a cloud storage high and are rapidly transforming the way in which they store their critical business data.
What do you need to know before you start moving your information over to the cloud. Are there disadvantages to cloud storage? Is it perhaps safer to use physical media to store your intellectual property?
In this guide we provide the pros and cons of both cloud and physical media storage, providing you with the information you require to make a well-informed decision on your intellectual property storage requirements.
Cloud Storage:
Terms such as the cloud and virtualisation aren’t the easiest terms to
understand. How is it possible to store your information... in the clouds? It just doesn’t make logical sense.
The fact is, cloud storage isn’t really in the ‘cloud’. Cloud storage still uses networks, servers and a hosting company with a rather large data centre. Cloud storage systems are accessed through web services such as the internet or a web-based user interface, where authorised users can log in and store, edit and remove files.
In short, cloud storage is an off-site storage system managed by a third party.
There are several benefits to storing your intellectual propert
y and critical business data in the cloud, these are as follows:
Companies don’t need to purchase their own serv
er racks and install these on their own premises, saving money and office space.
You only need to pay for what you use. Very similar to those car insurance adverts that claim you only ‘pay for when y
ou drive’; it’s the same thing with the cloud.
Software upgrades, back-ups, data replication and purchasing additional storage are no longer your issue. With cloud stor
age your hosting provider manages all of this for you.
You can easily expand on your storage requirements as and when you need them.
Cloud Storage
Pros
Although hosting companies say that they guarantee the securit y of your data, there have been many global hacking incidents
recently.
If your hosting company experiences downtime on their serv ers, you may not be able to access your critical business data when y
ou need it.
Whilst the idea of accessing your stored information from wherev er you are may sound very tempting, you need to keep in mind
that this depends on your internet connection. Bad connection = limited or no access to information.
You don’t have ultimate control over your data, because y our information is hosted on the internet, it is susceptible to viruses and hackers and other internet threats which ma
y lead to data compromise and loss.
Cloud Storage
Cons
Physical
Storage:
Physical media storage are the ‘physical’ devices onto which you physically store information and data. These are DVDs, CDs, flash drives, external hard drives and so forth. They are the storage devices where you can transfer your information to and place it somewhere for safe keeping.
Physical Media
Storage Pros
You have absolute control over your critical business data y ou
store on physical media, whether you keep it on your person or store it in a room; a compact disc isn’t going to experience downtime.
You have simple accessibility to your data whenev
er you need it. Just take the disc and put it into your computer and you’re
ready to go.
No software upgrades are required, and companies can hire duplication companies to transfer their data to ph
ysical media storage for them.
You can easily purchase more physical media storage as y ou require it for safeguarding.
Physical Media
Storage Cons
Physical media storage devices can sometimes experience
incorrect duplication of data, resulting in corrupt files that are
inaccessible.
Physical media storage is kept very local, you ma
y decide to store them in your company’s storage room, but y
ou may risk
information loss in the event of a fire.
Duplicating your information onto physical media storage devices can take up enormous amounts of time, but there are
companies that do this for you.
Using a duplication company to transfer your data to ph
ysical media storage can be risky if the duplication compan
y is not
In Summary
Both cloud and physical media storage have their advantages and disadvantages on security and loss threats, as well as accessibility. What is advised for
companies is that they understand the type of information and data that they want to store, and weigh up whether they can risk it being compromised, and what type of risk would be worst – fire or hacking.
For instance, financial and confidential documents may be more secure stored on physical storage devices such as DVDs and CDs due to the lack of compromising threats such as hackers. For extra security and back-up in the event of physical media loss, companies can choose to store additional physical media in another location.
For business data that is required on a daily basis by many different employees at the same time, cloud storage may be the answer. This information is more than likely not highly confidential and compromising to the integrity of the organisation and will be of less use to hackers in the event that they get their hands on it.
About CDT
Contacts Us
For any further information please contact us at:
Website: www.cdt.co.za
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 011 545 7700
Physical Address: Unit E Lanzerac Estate, Old Pretoria Road, Midrand, South Africa
Postal Address: PO Box 3495, South Africa
CDT is the largest independent manufacturer of digital discs in Africa, and our customers have come to expect excellent service and products along with the highest levels of security and professionalism.
We pride ourselves on meeting and exceeding international standards for superior quality CD and DVD replication, duplicaiton, authoring, printing and packaging.
Whether our clients require digitisation of financial reports, educational aids, promotional items or the release of the next top 40 hit, CDT has the complete solution for you!
We supply a wide range of clients from large corporates, advertising and
promotional agencies and the music industry (including individual musicians) to government healthcare institutions and universities.
