Cloud storage can be very convenient, consequently one outage could shut your business down in a heartbeat. For this specific reason, keeping sensitive data out of the cloud should be a top priority. Instead, data on mobile, encrypted USB flash devices, and remotely managing them through the cloud makes for a more secure alternative, while remaining just as convenient as cloud storage. Let’s discuss the two options in more depth.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage provides users with the ability to store and access digital data from anywhere in the world. There are several platforms that offer cloud storage, including, though not limited to, Amazon Web Services, Dropbox, Microsoft’s Azure, Google’s Compute Engine, and Apple’s iCloud. The majority cloud-based management services offer some free storage without the need to pay at all. Furthermore, to increase storage you’ll need to pay for it. For instance, Google Drive provides all Gmail users with 30 gigabytes of free cloud storage. However, you can also purchase additional cloud storage for a monthly subscription of up to $299.99 per month. Unfortunately, the downside with cloud storage, as we mentioned, is the risk of outages.
In 2015 alone, there were several cloud outages that disrupted the accessibility of data stored in the cloud. Some outages lasted a few minutes, while some lasted several hours. Take a look at the list of 2015 cloud outages below:
- January – Verizon planned outage for infrastructure work to prevent future outages – 40 hours
- February – Google Compute Engine outage – 40 minutes
- March – Google Compute Engine outage – configuration issue
- March – Apple iCloud – DNS error
- March – Azure, Central US 2 hour outage
- April – Three: power failure in DC hits own and Tesco Mobile network
- April – Bloomberg: combined hardware and software failure
- May – iCloud again, 500m users affected globally for up to 7 hours
- July – NYSE, United Airlines and WSJ: ‘technical issues’
- July – Office365 hosted Exchange outage during WPC
- August – AWS outage
- September – AWS again, cascading failure prompted by DB outage. ECC also affected. Heroku and GitHub affected.
- November – Telecity Group: London DC outage due to power issues
- December – Azure AD outage affects Office 365 and Visual Studio
You may have been surprised to see some familiar names that have fallen victim to outages over the last year. The reality is, cloud storage carries with it as much risk as it does convenience and ease of storage.
Cloud Management
A completely different model of storing and managing data, cloud management is far more secure than cloud storage, while maintaining the ease of use and convenience factor that makes cloud storage so great. With cloud management, the data is stored on local storage devices, such as hard drives and flash drives, but the devices can be managed remotely using a cloud management service.
One of the global leading brands in secure data storage, Kanguru, offers two convenient cloud management options to accompany its vast selection of secure USB storage devices. KRMC Cloud™ is a single administrator, cloud management application that enables the administrator to manage assigned Kanguru USB storage devices. Therefore, the administrator can manage, track, delete, and disable assigned Kanguru devices from anywhere in the world. Want to have more than one administrator? KRMC Cloud Pro™ gives the option to have one main administrator and several sub-administrators.
With the multitude of issues associated with cloud storage, cloud management easily takes the cake in this debate. It allows organizations to store their data on highly-encrypted, mobile USB devices, such as the Kanguru Defender Elite300™, which has 256-bit AES encryption, onboard anti-virus software, and is FIPS 140-2 Certified, while also providing organizations with the capability to manage these devices from anywhere in the world conveniently.