Storing Your Data on the Cloud?

Did you know that when you store your data on the Cloud, you hand over control over it?

Yes, from a technical and legal standpoint — it still belongs to you, but let me explain.

Unlike storing your data on location, with the Cloud, you never know where your data might end up. Cloud providers have data centers all over the world, and while they will adhere to geographical requirements and legislation — every country is different regarding its data storage regulations and privacy laws.

Even more important is the fact that access to your data can be revoked at any time. Those terms and conditions you signed? Within that fine print are stipulations that few of us ever truly read. For example, they could state that your data is no longer retrievable if the data center shuts down. Or, if you do not access your data at regular intervals (we’re not talking cold storage here), the provider has the freedom to terminate your contract with only a fair amount of notice.

The same goes for cloud-based apps, like CRMs or image hosting sites. For example, if the company decides to cease operations suddenly, your data can disappear with it. However, that is not an issue when storing your data on-site.

So, you might own the data generated from your projects, but the cloud service provider you’ve chosen controls it. Scary, right?

Is data uptime important to you?

Fact: Cloud providers can limit your access at any time.

Ensuring your data is available 24/7 is critical to your data storage projects. And if not 24/7 availability, it certainly needs to be available as you need it, when you need it.

Cloud storage data centers have improved significantly over the years. So, too, have their safeguards and redundancies. But — even today, we still hear stories of center-wide outages.

Think about that impact! Imagine if your cloud storage provider had a three-hour-long outage. Could you go without accessing the data related to that vital research project you and your team are working on? Probably not.

That’s why an on-premises, network-attached storage solution is invaluable to your day-to-day operations.

Budgets often have very specific parameters.

Did you know storing your data on the Cloud might make the funding approval process more difficult? For example, sometimes, if not all the time, your department relies on the funds from specific research projects to advance the important work being completed or your need to meet distinct requirements for the funds to be released.

Here at 45Drives, after talking with our customers, we’ve learned that releasing these funds from the appropriate budgets often has to be spent in lump sums. So, for example, in the case of cloud storage costs typically billed every month, receiving monthly invoices from your chosen provider might hinder your project even more.

Unlike cloud storage, purchasing a single server is done with one transaction; the server, the hard drives and perhaps some support hours to get you started. There are no recurring monthly costs, no hidden charges or surprises. The only additional costs associated with buying a single server come with upgrades, e.g., you’ve run out of storage space and need to purchase another!

Put money back into your research projects.

It’s time to stop spending needless money on storage costs — The Cloud can be an attractive solution at first glance, enticing entry-level packages to get you started. They sound appealing initially and seem to give you everything you need. Once you start growing the amount of data you have. However, those costs start to creep up.

And if you have to download that data? You’re paying even more to do so!

Take a look at this simple infographic below to see how much those costs can start to become larger — when given a budget for a particular project or business venture, every penny counts!

With the money saved by using an on-prem solution, you can potentially even hire more staff to further advance your research and special projects!