In addressing the ‘where’s your cloud?’ question I like to use a banking metaphor…follow me for a moment…
Consider that the cloud is to data storage as a bank is tocash storage.
In both cases, you are storing something highly valuable, and you don’t necessarily know where it’s truly held. Selection criteria are similar, too: you have to consider security, basic fees and those little ‘gotchas’ for things early withdrawal, early account closure, falling below the minimum balance, using a human for support, etc.
However, because of its uniqueness and potential, the data you store in the cloud is, arguably, far more precious than the currency you store in the bank. Security in banking is pretty simple for individual consumers; since 1933, when theFDIC was formed, we haven’t had to look beyond its seal for accounts holding up to $250,000. And, of course, my dollar is the same as any other, so if I don’t get the exact same, unique dollar bill back from the bank that I put into it, I don’t care (and most likely wouldn’t ever know). As this is definitely not the case with data, that banking metaphor does begin to unravel somewhat.
Sure, there are companies that will insure your data against loss, but that insurance doesn’t get the data back, it simply pays a pre-determined cash value for it. Not quite the same. It’s hard to put a cash value on data, so ensuring its security is a better bet.
So what should you look for in a cloud to minimize risk of data loss or breach? Here’s a simple list:
- Data Center Location – Relative to natural disaster zones and, for extra protection, in relation to where other copies of the data are stored.
- Compliance – Has the data center undergone 3rd party audits to ensure compliance with data security and/or privacy standards – general (e.g., SSAE16) and, where applicable, industry-specific (e.g.; HIPAA)?
- Physical Security – Armed guards, bullet-proof glass, heat and motion-sensors, cameras, crash barriers; all of these security measures and more are used for 24/7 data center protection.
- Power – High capacity with redundancy
- Network – Redundant carriers, multiple paths
To take a closer look at what a leader in cloud storage does to safeguard your data click here to download our white paper “Four Myths of Cloud Backup”.
So, where’s your cloud?
