{"id":8077,"date":"2021-06-01T16:02:42","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/?p=8572"},"modified":"2021-06-01T18:15:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T23:15:51","slug":"what-is-the-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cloud\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Cloud?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>People talk about \u201cthe cloud\u201d all the time these days, but what do they really mean? There\u2019s no agreed-on definition, which can render some conversations nearly inscrutable. We can\u2019t pretend to have the final answer\u2014if there will ever be such a thing\u2014but here\u2019s how we think of \u201cthe cloud.\u201d (And now we\u2019ll stop quoting it.)<\/p>\n<p>At a basic level, many people seem to equate the cloud with anything that\u2019s online or with the Internet as a whole. That\u2019s not incorrect, since everything in the cloud does take place online and is on the Internet, but it\u2019s also not helpful.<\/p>\n<h3>Cloud Services Replace Local Hardware and Software<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s more useful to think of the cloud as a way of referring to services made available over the Internet as a replacement for hardware or software on your Mac. These services largely fall into three broad categories: storage and backup, data syncing, and apps.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Storage and backup:<\/b> To add storage directly to your Mac, you\u2019d connect an external hard drive or SSD. Cloud-based services like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dropbox<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/drive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Drive<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/HT204025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iCloud Drive<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/onedrive\/online-cloud-storage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OneDrive<\/a> all provide the same basic function\u2014more space to store data. Of course, they also go further, providing syncing between your devices and sharing with other people. Plus, just as you probably use Time Machine to back up to an external drive, you can use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/cloud-backup.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Backblaze<\/a> to back up to the cloud.<\/li>\n<li><b>Data syncing:<\/b> Before the cloud was a thing, syncing your contacts, calendar, and email between two Macs generally required either special software (like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.econtechnologies.com\/chronosync\/overview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ChronoSync<\/a>) or going through the export\/import dance. Cloud-based services for such bits of data\u2014including Apple\u2019s iCloud syncing for Calendar and Contacts and Google Calendar\u2014make it so the same information is available on all your devices all the time. They often provide a Web-based interface as well so you can access your data from someone else\u2019s computer.<\/li>\n<li><b>Apps:<\/b> An app like TextEdit runs on your Mac, but cloud-based apps like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/docs\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Docs<\/a> provide app-like functionality while running in a Web browser. These days, many things that can be done directly on a computer can be done in a Web browser: word processing, spreadsheets, image editing, video streaming, video chat, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Cloud Services Rely on \u201cCloud Computing\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Apps on your Mac use its processor and memory. You might also have used a network server; you use the apps on the server over the network, but they\u2019re running on that particular server. In contrast, cloud services run on massive clusters of computer resources spread across many computers and even multiple data centers. When you\u2019re typing into Google Docs, the processing resources that make that possible don\u2019t come from a single computer dedicated to you\u2014they\u2019re provided to you and millions of others simultaneously by Google\u2019s worldwide computer clusters.<\/p>\n<h3>Pros of the Cloud<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot to like about the cloud and what it makes possible:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>It\u2019s accessible from nearly anywhere:<\/b> As long as you have a high-speed Internet connection, you can access cloud-based services from anywhere in the world. And while not everywhere in the world has high-speed Internet access, it\u2019s becoming more widely available all the time. Heck, you can now use the Internet on many commercial airplanes.<\/li>\n<li><b>It\u2019s somebody else\u2019s problem:<\/b> That\u2019s not entirely true, of course, but using a cloud-based service means the staff of the data center deals with failing computers or hard drives, network problems, and other maintenance. You just need a functional computer and Internet connection.<\/li>\n<li><b>It\u2019s easy to switch devices and even platforms:<\/b> Moving to a new iPhone or iPad is nearly trivial these days, thanks to being able to restore from an automatically created iCloud backup. And if you use Gmail, for instance, it would work just the same if you wanted to switch from an Android phone to an iPhone.<\/li>\n<li><b>It\u2019s more flexible:<\/b> If you decide to try a cloud service, it\u2019s usually just a matter of setting up an account or signing in with an existing one. There\u2019s no need to download and install software, or to clean up after the installer. Plus, if you need more storage space or additional features, it\u2019s usually just a matter of upgrading an account and paying more\u2014you don\u2019t have to buy another hard drive or a whole new app.<\/li>\n<li><b>Costs are lower and more predictable:<\/b> Many cloud services are entirely free, like Gmail and Google Docs, whereas others rely on monthly or annual subscriptions. Generally speaking, such subscriptions cost less than buying equivalent desktop software and all their upgrades. Whether or not a cloud app is cheaper, it\u2019s a predictable expense you can build into a budget.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Cons of the Cloud<\/h3>\n<p>Of course, not everything about the cloud falls into the silver lining category. Some problems include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>You can\u2019t control when apps are upgraded:<\/b> With desktop software, you can pick and choose when to upgrade, at least to some extent. Cloud apps, on the other hand, are upgraded whenever the developer wants, sometimes at inconvenient times or in major ways that might be hard for you to use. On the other side of the equation, you don\u2019t have to spend time downloading and installing upgrades, or even thinking about whether to install them.<\/li>\n<li><b>You have limited control over your data:<\/b> Although well-run cloud services are significantly less vulnerable to failure, damage, or theft than your Mac is, there\u2019s no avoiding the fact that you can\u2019t do much to prevent such problems. Backing up cloud-based data can be challenging, as can exporting it for use elsewhere.<\/li>\n<li><b>Subscriptions can add up:<\/b> Any one cloud service may be reasonably priced, but if you end up with 10\u201315 subscriptions, the total annual cost may seem exorbitant. To be fair, major software packages used to cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and we all use many more apps and services than we did in the past.<\/li>\n<li><b>Security is a concern:<\/b> While cloud providers may do a better job than you could of guaranteeing uptime and even backing up data, the fact remains that everything on the cloud is protected by passwords. If you reuse passwords or rely on weak ones, you could be in for a world of hurt. That\u2019s why we always bang the drum for relying on a password manager for strong, unique passwords and turning on two-factor authentication whenever possible.<\/li>\n<li><b>Privacy can be a problem:<\/b> Many free and ad-supported cloud services\u2014most notably Facebook and Google\u2014make their money by collecting data about you and using it to sell advertisers access to you. One reason to pay for a cloud service is that then you\u2019re the customer, and as the saying goes, if you\u2019re not the customer, you\u2019re the product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We\u2019re not here to sell you on the cloud in general or scare you away from using it. In today\u2019s world, there\u2019s almost no way to avoid it, nor should you try to do so. Hopefully, now that you have a better idea of what the cloud really is, you can make more informed decisions about which cloud services can improve your technological life and which ones won\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>(Featured image by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@jlcruz_photography?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jordan M. Lomibao<\/a> on<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/cloud-computing?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Unsplash<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People constantly talk about something being in \u201cthe cloud,\u201d but what do they mean? In this post, we look at the features that uniquely describe cloud-based services, along with the pros and cons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,69,106,73,112,185],"tags":[992,1003,74],"class_list":["post-8077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-apple","category-apple-consulting-ct","category-apple-support-ct","category-icloud","category-mac-support-ct","category-mactech","tag-cloud-services","tag-cloudstorage","tag-icloud-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8084,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077\/revisions\/8084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}