An analysis of how to choose a cloud storage vendor's security articles

When choosing a cloud storage vendor, it depends to a large extent on your environment and the goals you want to achieve. Small businesses want to use the cloud to provide file-sharing IT services, while larger companies want to use cloud to enhance cloud backup. Despite differences in requirements, security, availability, and flexibility are indispensable. Let's discuss the security issues in the cloud.

Cloud storage refers to a system that integrates a large number of different types of storage devices in a network through application software, and provides external data storage and service access functions through cluster applications, grid technologies, or distributed file systems. . Cloud storage providers (CSPs) usually come in two forms. Some vendors provide a complete delivery system that not only provides applications that migrate data to the cloud, but also manages resources in the cloud and provides physical storage space.

Other providers only provide physical storage resources in the cloud. You can connect directly, or through a third-party application software, or a hardware device application connection. In this case, you usually choose the cloud service provider to which you need to connect.

There are some third-party applications that use only a single cloud storage resource provider. In other words, they look like a delivery solution, but they themselves outsource backend storage.

There are no good or bad CSP forms. Choosing a valuable provider depends on the security, availability, and flexibility provided by the CSP and whether it can meet the company's needs.

Security is critical for businesses of all sizes and for most users who use cloud storage. Encryption is a common security solution, but it is important to know when and where to encrypt. At the very least, you want to encrypt data stored in the cloud. The main purpose is to ensure that if the CSP of the hosted data accesses the data according to law, its own data cannot be read.

Storing encrypted data in someone else's facilities will ensure data security even if the facility is in the legal investigation stage. In short, although encryption alone does not protect you from legal review, you can at least control the data from being seen.

When data is transferred to remote cloud storage, most enterprises consider data encryption in addition to infrastructure encryption, which can be achieved through software or hardware connected to the cloud. Encryption can be at the expense of a small percentage of performance, especially through software-based application transfers. But for most people, the loss of performance based on increased security is well worth it.

Most cloud storage applications use local storage cache data because it can move back and forth between CSPs. This type of local storage should also be encrypted. Local encryption provides protection if the hard drive needs to be processed. Unlike a RAID system, although it is still readable, reading data from discarded drives is somewhat difficult. These caches can be stored on a single hard drive and are easier to read without encryption.

In fact, absolute security cannot be achieved under current technological conditions. Choosing a cloud storage vendor in this situation should be done in a risk-based approach.