
Cloud storage is a practicable option in our age of ‘big data’ and snowballing cybercrime vulnerabilities. Companies and individuals are seeking platforms and applications (apps) to keep their data secure. Cloud storage comprises the remote maintenance, management and backing-up of data made available to users over a network, typically the Internet. Specifically, cloud storage includes a virtual infrastructure with accessible interfaces, near-instant elasticity and scalability. There are three main cloud-based storage architecture models, including public, private and hybrid. Public cloud storage services deliver a multi-tenant storage environment suited to unstructured data. Private cloud, or on-premises storage services, is a dedicated environment protected behind an organisation’s firewall. Hybrid cloud storage is a fusion of private cloud and third-party public cloud services with transposition between the platforms allowing effective data management. The most common uses include cloud backup, disaster recovery and archiving infrequently accessed data. A greater number of users also use cloud storage services for the duration of development and terminate services when a project is completed.
Cloud storage is efficient, more convenient than carrying a hard drive around everywhere and is easier to share files with other people. The cloud-based storage market is dominated by Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft Azure, but traditional storage vendors like EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM and NetApp also operate in the space with products for both enterprise and small business owners that include self-service portals.
Selecting a best suited app and platform can be bewildering. What follows is a description for some of the best cloud storage services and apps for Android available to companies and individuals alike.
Amazon Drive
Amazon Drive, formerly known as Amazon Cloud Drive, is a cloud storage application managed by Amazon which offers secure cloud storage, file backup, file sharing, and Photo printing. Every Amazon customer gets 5 GB of free storage to save, organise, share, and access files on desktop, mobile, and tablet. The Android app allows the preview of documents, spreadsheets, presentations and photos. Users can also upload, share and play videos and music, photos, videos and files from a smartphone.