The amount of information that the Internet brought with it created the need for very different tools to those we were used to a few decades ago. Cloud storage is one example.

In the past, there were concerns about space on the computer’s hard drive, files stored on that USB that could easily be lost, not to mention CDs that were damaged almost effortlessly. All these resources had a great limit: space.

It has been thanks to cloud storage that, nowadays, things as simple as changing computers have become much simpler processes.

Companies have also benefited, for example, by always and everywhere having information about their business.

To understand what it is and what types of cloud storage exist, follow me on this post for the next few minutes!

What is cloud storage?

This is the name given to the type of storage that stores information and keeps it always available on a server. To gain access, it is essential to have an Internet connection.

Also known as cloud computing, this type of service allows you to store content of all kinds, whether text, image, sound or video, and in turn you can access them from any device with an Internet connection.

Some web applications also handle this type of storage so that their programs work and their users have access to information, such as marketing automation tools, CRMs, among others.

Because of the amount of information that can be stored, storage in the cloud has limits that will depend on the company that provides this service.

Most have free accounts, which for many may be more than enough, while for others may seem little.

An average user will use approximately 5 to 10GB of information stored in the cloud per year. How? Well, between photos, music and videos, this space is easily consumed in a short time.

Types of Cloud Storage

Depending on the properties, limitations and access to the information they present, there are different types of storage that you or your company should consider before making a possible investment decision.

Public cloud

This type of storage has few restrictions on access to information. By having a company dedicated to its care, the maintenance you must do to your account is minimal and also the risks of losing information are low, because they have a good level of security.

This is the option most used by users of this type of storage, due to its low or null cost and ease. Some of the most common are Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, Soundcloud, among others.

In short, we could say that public cloud storage is ideal for personal use, small entrepreneurs and marketing professionals who are starting to build their portfolio.

Private cloud

This type of storage in the cloud has better security and customization performance compared to public storage, and can sometimes have much larger storage capacities.

Data backup providers, query programming tools or image banks could be examples of this type of cloud.

This solution is more used by companies, since they need high storage capacities and also security in their information.

Hybrid cloud

This is nothing more than a mixture of the two previous clouds and they are used when, for example, you want to have a reserve of data, but at the same time you want to make public a part of them.

We can mention a company that uses Big Data and needs this type of cloud to store sales information, OKR and sensitive company metrics, but in turn wants to share some useful information with their collaborators.

Types of Cloud Storage Service

As I mentioned earlier, there are companies whose products or services depend on this cloud storage.

These services can be infrastructure, platform or storage.

Starting with the IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) which are the most common, we can find companies such as Amazon, Rackspace, Flexiscale, which have large storage servers that provide the basis for other services.

If the service has an operating system, a programming language, a database and a server, it is known as a PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), some of them are Microsoft Azure, Salesforce.

And finally we find the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), which work with a model of web applications where users can find solutions many times cheaper than buying a software license. Some examples can be Hubspot or Pipedrive.

Conclusion

Cloud storage gave way to a major digital transformation. The big change occurred not only in access to information, but also in the number of services and solutions that emerged from it.

We can say, then, that public clouds are feasible to be scalable, but they are not known for performance, since their focus is on the individual consumer.

Private clouds provide high confidence, but are limited in their long-term scalability.

Finally, hybrid clouds offer the internal control that some companies are looking for, but they tend to be more expensive.

The choice will depend on the strategy you want to use and, of course, do not forget that this must be contemplated within any marketing strategy, for example, in the use of a marketing automation tool or a CRM.

If you want to take a step towards digital transformation and don’t know how to do it, look at this article on the subject and clarify your doubts!