Introduction

People born in the 1980s (and yes, pretty much proud of it) belong to a time when data storage and security were just a sub chapter or listed as a disadvantage with the kind of storage devices we had. Those were the times in schools when people had to work on box shaped PCs whose configuration was not even equal to the Nokia 3310.

What’s more, whatever stuffs people used to write or create, the best storage was either to save it in a floppy (Google about it, Those were hard times.) or way better, take a printout, buy a file and store it. And it was not about 1 or 2 pages… it could be published as a novel all set to be a bestseller better than Harry Potter.

Then came CDs and DVDs, and people would talk about how they use to compete with each other in terms of storage. There came the time of GB, and not MB. The person with a 4.7 GB disk was the king in the group, the one with more collections of movies and music.

And as if dethroning a king was not out of fashion, came the advancement of re-writable disk and pen drive….and yes, double the show off. However, understand one thing about development… there is always a bigger fish.

How It all changed

We have gone beyond all these devices now. We are in an era where the emergence of hi-end server systems, smartphones and tablets have taken storage and security to a whole new level.

Let me explain with an example. As a writer and blogger, I don’t really have a fixed spot to write. Modern writers will agree with my words for we are constantly writing… either on our mobile or on our laptops… or even on a notebook if we have a pen in handy. Our tension, if there is any, is that our work not only needs to be saved but also needs to be readily accessible whenever we need.

Every writer on this planet have at least once in their lifetime complained or cried over their documents or files going missing on their computers or getting accidentally deleted… worse, infected with virus to the point of no return.

We try all our best saving the file on a CD, hard disk, or pen drive but those things only help in storage and if we lose one of them… Disaster. However, things became easier when I installed Microsoft Word and in turn logged in to Microsoft OneDrive.

Be it a blog post or a story, as I wrote and saved my files, all my works became easily accessible not only on my mobile but also on my laptop. Now, whether I am at my home sitting with my laptop or on my mobile while going to work, I have no tension retrieving my files and working on them.

My novel ‘Resilience -Unearthed’ was completed partly on my laptop and substantially on my mobile thanks to OneDrive. Close to 30000 words, safe and secure, and published in record time…  I owe it all to Microsoft OneDrive. What’s more, it is connected to your google account. If you have an important document like a project or a resume saved on your mobile, and you need to access or send it too someone immediately, all you need to do is open OneDrive, access the document and open it as an attachment in Gmail. You can then send the file to the concerned person without any hassles.

This is a service provided by Microsoft and is readily available in current computers that come with Windows 10. You need to create an account on outlook to access it. There are other online storage services too and as per the current scenario is the safest option for there is no risk of your files or documents getting corrupted or lost.

Here are the top 10 online services that you must try out –

1. Google Drive – provides excellent free storage of up to 15 GB
2. Dropbox – Initially 2 GB of storage but has different plans that can be accessed to increase storage according to your convenience
3. Amazon Drive – 5 GB of storage
4. OneDrive – 10 GB of storage, pre-installed with Windows 10
5. pCloud – 10 GB of storage initially but has options to increase storage till 2 TB
6. Media Fire – Initially provide 10 GB of storage but can be increased to 50 GB
7. Mega – 50 GB of storage
8. Next Cloud – free storage that also ensures protection and back up of data
9. iCloud – for Apple users, comes with 5 GB of storage
10. com – up to 5 GB of storage, has the ability to retrieve deleted files with ease

Importance of Cloud Computing

Every now and then, we are coming across alarming news about how our earth is being affected by environmental problems due climate change, water shortage and… Deforestation. Do you know how many trees are cut down every year for the production of paper? Newspapers, books, documents… every single item requires paper which means more number trees cut down.

Situations have changed, governments and top businesses have taken seriously of this matter and has worked on multiple solutions to counter this problem. One of them being the installation of hi-end and powerful servers that can help in storing high volumes of data that can be retrieved in seconds.

What’s more, a number of laws have been passed in regards to this not only enabling the usage of servers but making sure that every organization is following the rules and regulation pertaining to not just storage but also, data protection to avoid any security breach and access of confidential data and back up facilities to retrieve any deleted file, which can be harmful for an individual and organization if misplaced. Having important documents saved in highly secured servers also helps in less usage of paper, a convenience that can help reduce office space and unnecessary clutter.

As an individual, it is our duty and responsibility to help in the survival of our planet. Utilizing the power of cloud computing in our everyday life can also help in reducing the use of paper. We do not have to worry about saving important documents, taking printouts or copies and saving them in files. We can avoid this clutter by utilizing our computers and mobiles in saving those important documents by utilizing the cloud computing feature.

Important documents like contracts, deeds, resumes etc can be saved and retrieved whenever required and these files will be accessible for time immemorial unlike paper which is liable to lose its value and importance after a certain period of time.

Cloud computing is the future for storage solutions and it is time we embrace it to its maximum potential.