Q: “There is a lot of talk surrounding the issue of cloud security. Is it true that cloud servers are not as safe as having servers physically located on our own premises?”
A: No, a cloud server is just as safe, and can even offer more security than a server located onsite. Your concerns are based on incorrect (but commonly held) assumptions. There are several reasons why cloud servers are more secure than those in your own server:
- Many cases of data theft or disruption of computer systems are initiated from within the organization via people who have the authority to log in and view vital information. In this case, it makes no difference where the servers are located. HektaByte’s cloud services can protect you from such attacks, adopting safety features that are easy, quick and cost-effective to implement when using a cloud infrastructure, as well as provide security consulting.
- Hacking into an organization’s computers from outside is done the same way regardless of the physically location of the server, by finding a security hole such as a common named user with a weak password. Such security holes are the result of accepted practices in the organization’s security procedures and has nothing to do with where the server is located, so a cloud server is no more vulnerable than a physical one.
- Physical security: Most people would agree that their money is safer in a bank than in their home. When they take a vacation in certain parts of the world, they are advised to leave their cameras locked up in their hotel room rather than around their neck or in their bag when in the street. Both examples show how a purpose-built environment can be more secure than keeping valuables in-house. Modern data centers are high-security facilities, employing considerable means to ensure the safety of the data and systems they contain. They employ extreme security measures, likely to be higher than your own, to protect your cloud server hardware because that is their core business. Similarly, purpose built data centers are less vulnerable to terror, natural disasters and other large scale threats as buildings are designed to resist them.
- Hackers could once ‘listen in’ to data being transferred from one place to another, but encryption has long since become the standard for all forms of sensitive communication in the digital world. Here too, there is no difference between the cloud server and the office-based server. You can implement encryption in data transfers in both cases.
- With your own server infrastructure, keeping security up-to-date is an ongoing task which requires human and financial resources. With HektaByte’s cloud server services, you do not have to pay attention to software updates, install additional security features and monitor your system in the same way: The user-friendly cloud system allows you to add features such as a cloud firewall at the touch of a button. If you employ HektaByte’s managed cloud service, we can do this all this for you, ensuring that your cloud infrastructure is always maintained to the highest security levels, at a significantly lower cost than employing your own security administrator.
Q: “What about the performance of cloud servers? They are virtual in nature and share resources, so surely they cannot compete with dedicated servers?”
A: Yes, cloud servers are virtual in nature but they certainly are not a shared resource. The main computing components - CPU, main memory, disk space - are allocated from a pool to the cloud customer but once allocated, they are at the disposal of the system owner only. The virtual part just means you can allocate more or less resources immediately.
Within the data center, there are indeed joint channels of communication, but these are faster than any communication channels that may connect your office server to other devices. Add to that cutting edge communications technology, incorporating complete redundancy that ensures the fastest and most reliable connection between server and users and the cloud wins hands down when it comes to performance.
Q: “How can a cloud server work for an enterprise application? Isn’t it something just for web applications?”
A: You can put any application on a cloud server, from mainframe to web. HektaByte offers Linux and Windows systems and you install your existing apps in just the same way that you would do on any regular dedicated server. Your clients connect to the cloud server using the same connection, except that it is to an IP address outside of the local network. Connection can be via VPN or directly, using http with or without SSL.