What Is Online File Storage? Types and Benefits of File Storage

There once was a time where file storage meant boxes piled around offices and conference rooms filled with important documents.

Now, the concept of storing files is done almost entirely online, making both storing files and sharing files easier than ever. No matter what sort of device you regularly use, saving files, from music to pictures and even important work documents, is a form of file storage. Organizations and individual users rely on different storage management solutions, including cloud file storage systems, to store data using on-premise infrastructure or on the cloud.

Files are stored in either a selected location on your device’s hard drive or in the cloud and can be accessed at any time. Not only will all data be stored as complete files, but there’s also the benefit of your files located in a folder structure or hierarchy of directories that can be found and organized through a specific click-path.

Data stored within these files is organized and retrieved using a limited amount of metadata, which will tell your device exactly where the file is kept. Just like an old-school file cabinet, file-based storage can only scale so far, which is why it’s a good idea to know more about what different types of online file storage can offer.

Types of online file storage

There are six types of online file storage. The type you choose will depend on your device's speed and performance requirements and the kind of files you need to store.

1. Traditional file storage

A traditional file storage or file processing system stores and manages digital data using physical storage devices such as magnetic tapes, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disk drives, and solid-state drives. 

For decades, file storage has been a popular storage method for every computer user. It’s the go-to method for storing and organizing any transactional or managed structured data that can be organized on a single server or a disk drive.

Traditional file storage systems provide businesses with high capacity, physical control over data, and low-cost data storage. However, these solutions require manual backups, have scalability issues, and are more prone to failure. Traditional file storage, unlike cloud storage, requires physical device access for users to be able to access data.

Because some businesses have struggled to manage increasing amounts of web-based digital content, as well as large amounts of unstructured data, other file storage techniques are needed to access data in a different way.

2. Block storage

Block storage uses fixed-size data blocks to store data in independent storage units. It works by works by breaking a file into equally sized parts, or blocks, of data and storing each of these blocks separately under a unique address or identifier.

Instead of utilizing a folder structure, blocks can be housed anywhere in the storage system. When you’re looking to access these files, the operating system within the server will use that unique address to pull the blocks back together into the file, sort of like putting together a puzzle.

Since block storage isn’t reliant on a single path to the data, like regular file storage, blocks of files can be retrieved quickly. This type of storage works well for critical business applications, virtualization platforms, databases, email servers, and anything that requires minimal delay.

Block storage solutions have some downsides, one being that it can be expensive for organizations to implement. It also has limited capabilities regarding handling metadata. Block storage also requires storage architecture, configuration, and optimization expertise for efficient data storage environment maintenance. 

3. Object storage

Object storage is a data storage architecture that uses objects instead of files or blocks to store and manage data. Objects are individual units of data that are stored in a flat data environment. In this case, there are no folders, directories, or complex hierarchies. 

Each object being stored consists of a simple repository with a unique identifying number, data, and metadata. All of this information together makes it possible for applications to locate and access the object.

With object storage, data can be stored locally but typically within cloud servers, making them accessible from anywhere at any time. It also provides customization possibilities and flexibility, such as moving objects to different areas of storage, deleting objects you no longer need, and customizing metadata.

Consider choosing object storage software, also known as object-based storage, for archiving and backing up digital communications, unstructured media, and web content. It’s ideal for data that doesn’t change often, like music, image, or video files.

Object storage is also ideal when growing companies consider scalability. Scaling object architecture by adding new nodes to the storage cluster can be simple, meaning you won’t run into capacity limits that can restrict other traditional storage systems. Common use cases for object storage include big data, multimedia files, web applications, and backup archives.

While object storage is ideal for large-scale data access, it isn’t suitable for workloads that don’t need to access data blocks frequently. Moreover, organizations using object storage solutions may experience eventual consistency and high data retrieval latency in distributed computing environments. 

4. Cloud-based file storage

Cloud storage is the service model where data is maintained, managed, and backed up remotely. It is available to users over a network, like the internet, and has become incredibly popular as a way to share and store files.

Cloud storage systems store data on remote servers instead of storing files locally or on physical storage devices. As a result, it becomes easier for companies to ensure efficient data synchronization, collaboration, and scalability. 

This low-cost method of file storage reduces a company’s on-site IT infrastructure by ensuring data is always accessible whenever you need it. This is because you no longer will have to refresh your storage hardware every couple of years or budget for maintenance of this hardware. Instead, you’ll be subscribed to cloud file storage software that offers data protection for a monthly or annual fee.

Popular use cases for cloud file storage include web serving applications, content management systems, big data analytics, and certain media and entertainment.

While cloud storage solutions offer many benefits, they also raise data security and privacy concerns among users. Moreover, users can’t access data from these systems when there is no internet connectivity. 

5. File hosting services

File hosting services, or file storage services, are cloud-enabled platforms that facilitate the upload, storage, and sharing of files with others using the internet. These file storage systems allow organizations and individuals to share digital files, videos, documents, and other data types. 

Users don’t have to worry about the underlying infrastructure while sharing data. As a result, these solutions are more cost-effective. Moreover, organizations enjoy scalability with these solutions as they can increase or decrease their storage capacity. File hosting services are also ideal for storing data on the cloud for future usage in case of data loss or hardware failure.

File hosting services require both sender and receiver to have internet, without which they won’t be able to share or access data. Plus, users may incur additional data ingress and egress costs while transferring large data volumes. Customer-facing organizations must adhere to data protection regulations and compliance requirements while storing customer data in cloud environments. 

6. Backup services

Data backup services enable organizations to create and store data copies they can use in case of data loss, file corruption, and unauthorized data access. Organizations rely on backup services to store data copies or backups in secure locations like off-site data centers, on-premises backup servers, and cloud storage for easy data recovery in the event of data breaches or cyber-attacks. 

These services provide organizations with different backup options. Full backup involves copying all system data, whereas incremental backup is the process of copying additional new data since the last data backup. Some organizations also execute differential backup, which essentially backs up all data that has changed since the last full backup. Other companies prefer continuous data protection, which backs up data in real-time or near-real-time.  

Backup services are ideal for small and medium businesses, large organizations, and data center managers looking to protect important data from unauthorized activities, implement backup policies, and strengthen data recovery capabilities. 

Despite offering many benefits, data backup solutions can be expensive and complex. Moreover, organizations require significant system resources and network bandwidth to fully restore lost data using backup systems. 

Choosing a type of online storage

Once you understand the different types of file storage, how do you choose the right one for your needs?

Regular file storage or block storage would be useful when dealing with a lot of data that members of your team need to change often. Block storage would be right for you if you need to store an organized collection of data that can be accessed quickly.

On the other hand, if you need highly scalable storage units for unstructured data, it’s best to go with object storage.

Benefits of file storage

When your business is in need of a centralized location for all of their files and folders, that can be accessed at any time, file storage is the right approach. There are many benefits that you’ll encounter when turning to online file storage.

• Simplicity: First and foremost, file storage is simple and easy to use. This straightforward approach to organizing files on a hard drive and storing them in folders means it isn’t necessary to write code to access any of your data. If your needs for file storage are generally clear, such as storing and sharing files with team members, the simplicity is bound to come in handy.
• File sharing: When all of your files are in a centralized location, they can be shared with anyone within the network that has appropriate permissions, which makes collaboration and teamwork easier than ever.
• Data protection: Storing files on individual devices or within the cloud offers a level or protection if your computer were to experience a network failure. With data protection and disaster recovery, cloud file storage can replicate certain files across multiple data centers, so nothing is ever completely lost.
• Affordability: No matter what type of file storage you go with, all are inexpensive methods with minimal maintenance and operation costs.
• Accessibility: Thanks to online file storage, file sharing, and syncing, you can access your files from no matter where you are or what device you’re using.

Limitations of file storage

Organizations must consider the following limitations while implementing file storage strategies.

• Scalability issues with growing data volumes: Most file storage systems attach hierarchical locations and permissions to files. This granularity consumes resources and impacts performance, especially in organizations with growing data volumes. Moreover, file systems like file allocation table (FAT) and new technology file system (NTFS) have limited storage capacity, directory size, and maximum file size. Scaling these systems can turn out to be expensive and time-consuming.
• High latency in performance-intensive workloads: Applications requiring rapid data processing may result in high latency, especially if you use traditional file storage architectures in multi-user environments. Organizations looking to avoid such performance bottlenecks must use parallel or distributed file systems. 

A place for everything

While using file cabinets as a way to organize documents worked in the past, there’s a better way to store our files. From work documents to our favorite photos, making sure that our most important files are stored properly is easier than ever.

Discover the best free cloud storage products to start streamlining your file collaboration abilities in a centralized online space.

This article was originally published in 2020. It has been updated with new information.