
Can we really trust the cloud? - hoag
http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/31/cloud-trust-egypt-canada-internet/
======
hoag
I'm a little puzzled by peoples' fears about "the cloud." Frankly, I'd far
rather store my data in a distributed system, accessible by all my devices,
rather than storing everything in a single losable/stealable/breakable device
like a laptop. It's the whole "don't put all your eggs in one basket" maxim,
really.

Also, I do believe this article makes a critical error citing the failure of
cloud services when events like Egypt's internet shut-down rendered Dropbox
and like services useless: as far as I can tell, Dropbox stores a unique
instance of every file both in the cloud and off-cloud alike. I.e., I can
still access my Dropbox files even when without an internet connection.

Similarly, should my laptop be stolen or lost, I can easily wipe the instanced
data on the laptop by accessing my Dropxbox account via dropbox.com from any
other device.

Besides, if the fear of cloud storage is that data may be compromised, wasn't
it even more of a risk back in the day to carry papers and documents in
briefcases? Or to transmit important documents by train? Frankly, I think
cloud solutions are far _less_ risky than their offline counterparts.

So... am I missing something?

~~~
octopus
People fear of losing control of their data, as simple as that. On your own
computer you will fear only of a hardware failure or a nasty virus.

On the cloud ... well you are at the mercy of a provider, of a Government or
of any organization that can stop you access your own data.

(Personally I use Dropbox for storing some software projects.)

~~~
hoag
I agree with you that many people have this fear. But it's a logically
inconsistent fear:

(1) As I mentioned, inability to access the cloud with Dropbox and like
services -- or government/organizational intervention thereof -- does _not_
impede your access to your data: all synced devices have separate, local
instances of the data that are as up-to-date as the last time such device was
online.

(2) In any event, how is storing data "in the cloud" any different to storing
email? It's all "up there" too. I don't see the distinction. My email is
"online" and my cloud-stored data is online. What's the difference? And one
could argue that email is -- at times, at least -- even more sensitive than
actual data.

(3) To fear "only ... a hardware failure or a nasty virus" is shortsighted:
failure to maintain multiple instances of data, both on- and off-line alike,
is far more risky indeed.

