The Cloud

The 'Cloud' is a name for the virtual space where we can store files of any type. Our files is stored on servers and they are available to us anytime that we have an internet connection and an appropriate device. The main advantage of using cloud based services is that our information is always available and, quite often, the service is free. We therefore do not have to worry about dropping a computer or losing a pen drive because our information has been backed up on reliable servers. The disadvantages of cloud based storage revolve around issues of privacy. We can never be sure who has access to what is being stored in serves (see NSA and Snowden for more details). Also, if we have large files or we wish to store many photos etc. then we have to pay for extra storage space. I have just started to use Dropbox and Google drive. I find them to be useful services and I'm happy that they are free. As I mainly use these services on my own computer I sometimes wonder how I would access them from other computers as it is not always easy to remember so many passwords. I find sharing information and files on Google drive to be particularly useful but I have never tried to share a large file like a film so I don't know if it would be possible. https://www.dropbox.com/home https://drive.google.com/#my-drive