The hottest wave in the world of technology is
the growth of Cloud Computing. Mobile Cloud
Computing is shortly going to be the future of communicating and conducting
business all over the world. Cloud Computing is a new form of accessing data (applications, documents,
music files, video files, pictures, and so forth) from anyplace in the world
without the need of actually carrying the data with you thru the use of memory
cards, hard drives or flash cards, The main advantage of such a technology is
that it frees individuals from their desktop and allows
them to access their data anywhere and anytime. By hosting everything on
a ‘cloud’, users no longer have to worry about leaving home without having all
their information accessible to them.
Currently throughout the world, there are more
“feature” mobile phone users than “smart” phone users and since “feature”
mobile phones do not have enough processing power or memory to support huge
amounts of data, Cloud Computing seems to be the ideal solution for those
“feature” mobile phone users. Cloud computing will allocate these “feature”
mobile phone users to have the same amount of data access available to them as
“smart” phone users except for the simple fact that “feature” phone users will
not physically have their data stored onto the phone (due to the low
processing/memory capabilities), it will be on their cloud and accessible to
them when required. This extra advantage of Cloud Computing allows
developers and mobile industry companies to start targeting a larger market
than only “smart” phone users, which in turn will give
Cloud Computing more thrust going into the future.
When it comes to working with data and files on
mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, one of the most
crucial issues concerns data storage – where and how the data is going to
be stored, accessed, updated and backed up. In a mobile
cloud computing scenario, both mobile apps
and data are stored and run directly from the cloud, increasing the relevancy
of network servers, data center infrastructure and efficient network delivery
while decreasing the importance of the storage capacity and processing power of
the end-user device itself.
Cloud storage providers and online
data backup intermediaries
There are many service providers
offering cloud-based storage solutions, most of them already providing IaaS
and/or PaaS services in the first place. These include the Amazon S3and Rackspace
CloudFiles storage services on the enterprise level and Google Docs and
Microsoft SkyDrive for use by SMEs and individuals.
A number of intermediaries have built user-friendly services and interfaces
that provide access
to cloud data storage and backup from multiple devices, fixed and mobile.
Some of the most notable include Box.net, DropBox, JungleDisk and SugarSync. These
often utilize the storage space provided by the large cloud storage service
providers, such as Amazon and Rackspace, and provide a range of applications
and interfaces for accessing and manipulating the stored data.
Players
Services such as Google's G-Drive , Microsoft's
SkyDrive, Ubuntu One, Apple iCloud, Amazon CloudDrive and others like
the widely popular DropBox (a five-year-old start-up that leads the pack
in this field), SugarSync and SpiderOak, have already carved various
niches for themselves in the market.
Online cloud-based data storage and
backup services
In a 2011, the three online data backup services that received the highest ranking are:
- SugarSync (5 GB) – the overall winner with the most features and
options. Possible to sync and share data across multiple devices and
supports a range of mobile devices including iPad, iPod, Blackberry,
Android, iPhone and Symbian. SugarSync uses SSL encryption for secure file
transfer and 128-bit AES encryption on stored data as well as backing up
customer data in two separate data centers.
- DropBox (2 GB) – has most of the required functionality except the
ability to configure idle backups. Offers a free version of 2GB and Pro
versions for 50 and 100GB. DropBox uses the same security features as
SugarSync as well as support for mobile handsets.
- IBackup – takes the third place and is also an excellent
choice for both home users and business users, offering plans with up to
1000GB storage space. IBackup offers encrypted transmission and storage
and geo redundant storage. However, IBackup lacks some of the smartphone
features offered by the others.
Apart from the above list few new name aslo got introduced recently in terms of mobile cloud computing , such as,
- iCloud (5GB) - iCloud is the latest branding of Apple's cloud computing services. It has previously been branded as iTools in 2000, .Mac in 2002, and MobileMe in 2008. iCloud allows users to back-up (iOS devices) online; they can be restored from backup without connecting to a computer.Each account has 5 GB of free storage for owners of either an iOS device using iOS 5.x or a Mac using OS X Lion 10.7.x.
However certain content purchased from Apple's iTunes Store (currently
this includes music, apps, audiobooks, and music videos, but doesn't
include movies) does not count towards the included free 5 GB limit, as
it is separately linked from Apple's iTunes database of content to the
users' connected Apple ID. This means that any content previously
purchased via iTunes
can automatically, or manually if preferred, be downloaded to any
registered device (i.e. iOS devices, and computers). Also, when a user
registers any new device, all previously bought iTunes content can be
downloaded from the iTunes servers, or non-iTunes content from the
iCloud servers. iCloud requires a device running iOS 5.x or a Mac running Lion to create a new account.
- G-Drive (5GB) - That Google Drive offers integration with their office application suite
Google Docs, social networking service Google Plus and offers the
ability to open and view several more types of file formats (all from
the comfort of your browser) is certainly a plus. Google Drive is a
significant upgrade in utilities as well as appearances from the G-Drive
service, that Google started in 2004, simply because Google has since
added many more useful services.As an initial offer, Google offers free online space of 5 GB.
- SkyDrive (25GB) - SkyDrive (officially Microsoft SkyDrive, formerly Windows Live SkyDrive) is a file hosting service that allows users to upload and sync files to a cloud storage and then access them from a Web browser or their local device. It is part of the Windows Live
range of online services and allows users to keep the files private,
share them with contacts, or make the files public. Publicly-shared
files do not require a Windows Live ID to access.
The service offers 25 GB of free personal storage for new users. Additional storage is available for purchase. The service is built using HTML5 technologies, and files up to 300 MB can be uploaded via drag and drop into the web browser, or up to 2 GB via the SkyDrive desktop application for Windows and Mac OS X.
Assess the benefits and limitations
of cloud storage and backup
Although online data backup services in the cloud offer many conveniences,
they have their limitations as well. When it comes to backing up large amount
of data (100GB or more) using an average internet connection for uploading the
data becomes costly and time consuming. Therefore, some
service providers offer so called “seed-load” of initial data backup. The
service provider will either send a hard drive, or accept a removable hard
drive to “seed” the backup account. The hard drive is then shipped to the
provider who loads it into the server and from there on the user only needs to
remotely backup additional files and changes.
Overall, the benefits of online data storage backup seem obvious, especially
for home users and SMEs, both from an economical and security point of view –
assuming that users verify the amount of data needed to be stored or backed-up
and select the most beneficial way.
List of backup software:
Backup Software
