Is Everything is Safe in the Cloud ?

Is Everything is Safe in the Cloud ? We are representing here few popular systems and highlighting especially the security aspects of the Public Cloud services. There is actually nothing new to be said in this article on Is Everything is Safe in the Cloud, we talked about Cloud Computing Security within this website many a times, still there are things which will be said in this article named Is Everything is Safe in the Cloud, with practical examples with usage.

Is Everything is Safe in the Cloud : Introduction

For small and medium businesses as well as for the home offices proper IT setup is essential today; particularly critical important data which are need to bw quickly and reliably available – even after a system crash, power failure or other unforeseen events. But a regular backup requires not only time and effort but also additional hardware – and software. So why not pass that responsibility to a provider on the Internet – who securely stores and restores the backups as per need ?

Is Everything is Safe in the Cloud : Different Approaches

For this guide we have tsted different vendors as providers for the appropriate action in this context. They are Microsoft, Mozy, Dropbox and Rackspace Cloud Backup with their products. We are focusing on the deals that can be used readily and easily for users in small companies or freelancers. There may be by no means exhaustive, as new services and offers on the market.

We have also thrown a look at how the provider gives importance of the security. We have focused on two important criteria : With the provider is option to encrypt the data by the customers / users is used ? And in which country they hosts the server.

 
Microsoft Skydrive for the end user
 

Microsoft provides space on the web under the name Windows Live Skydrive. This solution should not work with the professional cloud services platform from Azure environment  or even the new Office 365 which can be confused where it comes to the deployment of applications and infrastructures. Skydrive is a free space available openly and is intended mainly for the end users.

Advantages of using Skydrive is that it just seems to be attractive to the small firms and self-employed persons, the amount of space that each user gets free provided: 25 GB. The only requirement is that they have a so-called ” Windows Live ID “, which can also be created for free. Also the overall management and use of space on the web interface in the browser just after a recent update and was structured fairly well.

But far more serious are the limitations in terms of security. Basically, the user has no built-in encryption. Encrypted data is not stored on the server itself with a solution such as TrueCrypt , so they are stored unencrypted. We do not recommand this SkyDrive for the usage. Those who want to try out an online storage solution once free, can use Skydrive to good and outsource less critical data on it – it is enough space available for this purpose. For the regular data backup and a backup, this solution should not just by the lack of input and connection to relevant solutions.

 
Mozy: Backup and Encryption
 

Our next candidate is Mozy. The company is founded in 2005 and is a part of the corporate conglomerate of storage giant EMC . This solution also takes up space in the network. Home users can download a free version of this variant “MozyHome” with 2 GB free usage quota. Advantages of using Mozy is that, EMC has made this solution consistently focused on the use of a backup solution. This provides a client application for Windows and MacOS systems that performs automatic backups of default directories or folders selected by the user. Installation and commissioning are simple and well thought out. Encryption is provided.

Anyone looking for a pure backup and backup solution that is automatically encrypted and need to look at this solution. Especially since it is possible to test it first with the free access.

 
Dropbox : Easy Storage in the Cloud
 

Anyone who deals with the cloud storage will pass this service – Dropbox. Advantages of using Dropbox are, Dropbox client software is available for a wide range of operating systems and also for mobile phones. Tight integration of the Dropbox client and system makes things working with this software very easy and enjoyable.

Data transmission and stored data is encrypted. It is possible that data on the Dropbox account to create, for example in a Truecrypt container – but the speed of transmission is reduced considerably, as always, the entire container must be transferred.

Those who want to access easily via mobile platforms and operating systems, will find this as the right solution. However, user must be always think of all the consequences.

 
Rackspace Cloud Backup : Perfect for Server Backup
 

The high quality support and up to date security patches makes Rackspace Cloud Backup a definite choice for their users. Possibly this the only solution where the provider has clearly shown the workflow through diagrams. Rackspace Cloud Backup satisfies our all criteria like Mozy. It has encryption, Compression and de-duplication and many features we have not noticed on other systems.

There is however no option for OS level agent based backup for users’ computer, because it is designed for server to restore your backed up data to any Cloud Server running Cloud Backup. That is possible if a great number of tweaks are configured using scripts. Rackspace possibly never launch typical desktop service via Application to keep their segment different.