Cloud Computing and More!!!! by As You Wish organizing

Just read a very informative article about the pros and cons of cloud-computing. By Sue Smythe of CMIT Solutions in Everett. She points out 2 main points to discuss about your potential move to the cloud.

“Where does my data live, and how is it stored? Where your data is physically stored has several implications. You’ll want to know not only where the servers upon which your data resides are geographically located, but whether multiple copies of your data exist in case one of the provider’s data centers goes down. In the case of the Amazon Cloud outages that occurred a few weeks ago, clients who had data mirrored outside of the north Virginia facility were much less affected than those who didn’t. Data that isn’t replicated across multiple geographical locations is vulnerable to total loss.

Recovery. In the event of a prolonged cloud outage or data loss, what measures does the provider have in place to restore your data to you, how long will it take, and what safeguards are in place to minimize the risk of human or system errors? A permanent data loss could have severe consequences for your business, and having fail-safes in place to prevent such an occurrence are vital. Another important question to ask is, in the event that data restoration needs to take place, in what format will your provider return your data to you? Will it be in a format compatible with widely available software, or in some sort of proprietary format specific to the provider?

Data security is a complex issue with cloud computing, and having a trusted adviser to help you navigate the airspace, so to speak, is vital.”

I totally agree and hope that you will consider these points thoroughly with a knowledgable party before making the move. If you already have moved, “kudos!”. It’s the cheapest backup policy a business or person can have as far as it goes. And if you are looking for a recommendation check out Dropbox. They are on the top rung when it comes to this subject.