Choosing Cloud option for your files and security is paramount to your success in defending network files and data.  There are three options available to the consumer and business marketplace and we will be discussing the benefit and disadvantage of each;

1. Public Cloud – Shared files or folders like “Box.com, rackspace, justcloud, amazon cloud, Google cloud, and dozens of others”
2. Private Hybrid Public Cloud – Shared Files, Applications accessible to employees from anywhere in the world with and internet connection.
3. Private Internal Cloud – Shared Files Applications only available to employees within a private LAN and not accessible outside ISP’s

Public Cloud is the most popular and its popularity stems from it’s convenience.  It’s very nice to not manage any hardware systems and simply copy everything to an unknown web hard drive somewhere that allows you access 24/7.  The problem is it’s your data, your gold, your work and it’s being sent to a server with hundreds or thousands of other people.  With NSA spying, hackers and simple mistakes your data easily falls into the hands of those you may not want to see your information.  There’s always a great saying that an office is secure as long as you trust every vendor, janitor, employee that is in it. The public cloud has a massive disadvantage that people forget – We do not know who is on the other side of the keyboard in a private cloud.  How many people have admin access to those servers?  Do you trust them?  The sad truth is the data is almost in the open once uploaded to the cloud as there are huge amounts of people that work there or are contractors there that could get the data. The problem is compounded by the service offering that says they back it up to different data centers all over the world meaning you would have to trust all those people.

Private Hybrid Public is excellent for convenience as you can still not only access your files from anywhere like public cloud offers, but you also have access to application execution, a feature cloud providers don’t touch.  Private hybrid consists of you acquiring a virtual workstation software, making your own server that you control the host for your users.  This way you control the data, the security and more.  The disadvantage is some maintenance and setup along with the usage of a dedicated or virtual server to run the software 24/7.  For those with some technical knowledge the private hybrid allows the best of both worlds of immense security and control, while providing users convenience.

Private Internal Cloud is identical to Private Hybrid Cloud with one exception – that users can access the files only when connected to a Local Area Network or Wifi the company offers.  This private Internal Cloud options still requires you dedicate a server to the hosting tasks, but gives the added layer of security that only internal users may participate.  This option works well for individuals that want to bring their own device BYOD to work and utilize different systems, laptops and even ipads, which are increasingly being used at work.  Private Internal cloud is the most secure but convenience of remote access suffers.