Do alternatives to the cloud to store your files? Of course, and in these times when both hackers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) seem to extend their tentacles throughout everything online, private storage of information becomes increasingly important.
If you want to protect your data from prying eyes, it's time to learn about solid, reliable alternatives to cloud storage.
Why look for alternatives to the cloud?
In case you're wondering why anyone would be looking for a storage form other than the cloud at this point, here are a few reasons:
Privacy
In one way or another, companies that offer cloud services have a certain level of access to our information, and they analyse it for commercial purposes. This is undoubtedly a significant intrusion into our privacy.
On the other hand, you already know that all the data online is being used to train AI models. In addition, the data we have stored may be subject to the laws of the country where the server is located, and this could mean a significant lack of protection for our data, since the legislation of outside Europe is not as strict about privacy as we are here.
Security
Another good reason to look for cloud storage alternatives is achieve an improvement in the security of our data.
Although companies offering these storage services invest large amounts of money in protecting data and security breaches are becoming less common, there is always a risk.
If hackers gain access to the content of our cloud as a result of a breach, our privacy is at risk, and we may even be victims of blackmail on their part.
Greater control
Cloud services offer limited customization options and may not be sufficient for some users.
Furthermore, when using these services we are totally dependent on the terms and conditions offered to us by the provider, which may limit our ability to dispose of and control our own data.
Saving money
Free storage space offered by specialized companies This service is quite limited, so as our need for digital file storage increases, we have to pay more and more.
On the other hand, many of the contracts offered by these service providers are long-term, which limits our freedom of choice.
Cloud alternatives: which are the best?
If you want to store your files, there are other options other than the cloud suitable for individuals and clientHere are some of the most recommended ones.
Local storage
It involves storing digital data on physical storage devices such as a hard drive or flash memory, as we did not so long ago.
You have several local storage options:
- External hard drives. They have the advantage of offering a lot of storage capacity, being easy to use, being portable and having a fairly reasonable cost per gigabyte. In exchange, you face the risk of physical loss or damage.
- NAS (Network Attached Storage). These are network-connected storage devices, perfect for homes and small businesses. It is a system that gives you access to files from multiple devices that are part of a network and has the capacity to expand. The drawback is that it requires an initial configuration and a stable network.
- SAN (Storage Area Network). It is a high-performance local storage solution for large companies. It is scalable and allows working with large volumes of data, but it is expensive and requires a specialized infrastructure.
Own servers
As a user, you can choose between physical and virtual servers. Physical servers give you more control and a higher level of customization. In return, you need to have technical knowledge to operate them, and the initial investment to set up a physical server is usually high.
The other option is to choose virtual servers, which offer flexibility and scalability. But there is a dependency on the hosting service provider, and performance can be affected by other users on the same server.
Private cloud
One of the best alternatives to the public cloud is a private cloud system. A cloud computing environment that is dedicated to a single organization. That is, you can have a cloud storage system at home or at your business just for you, as if it were a data center, but with the flexibility and scalability that are typical of the storage in these services.
Among its advantages it should be noted that it offers:
- Greater security, because it is an isolated storage environment.
- Greater control over your infrastructure and the data it contains.
- Scalability, since its capacity can be increased or decreased according to the needs of each moment.
- More performance than a public cloud, because resources are used exclusively.
A private solution halfway to a private cloud is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), which is a cloud computing model that provides on-demand access to essential computing resources such as servers, storage, and networks. In this case, instead of having your own infrastructure, you rent the resources from a cloud service provider and pay only for what you use.
Which of all the cloud alternatives is better?
The answer depends on what the users' needs are:
- Local storage. It is the best choice for individual users or small businesses looking for simplicity.
- IN THE. Recommended for small businesses and homes that need to share information between different devices.
- SAINT. Ideal for large companies that need to store large amounts of information and have good performance when accessing data.
- Physical ServersFor companies that require complete control over their infrastructure and have the technical resources to manage it.
- Virtual serversThey are recommended for companies that need flexibility and scalability, but do not want to invest in hardware.
- Private cloud. It is useful for companies that need a private cloud environment that allows them greater control than a public cloud.
As you have seen, there are several alternatives to the cloud and each of them can be useful in different situations. Which one do you prefer?