Cloud Hosting

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

Youve heard of the cloud, you might even use it, but do you understand it?

I think its storage? said Phoebe Reckseit. And its up there?

Actually, the cloud isnt a cloud or even in the sky. In the simplest terms, it means storing and accessing data and programs over the internet instead of on your computers hard drive.

The cloud is essentially a backup of all your data, said Josh Barnes, general manager of Experimac.

The cloud is a series of servers based around the world, that you send your data to, and those servers send it to other giant, heavily guarded servers, which keep the data securely stored for you.

But many think it sounds sketchy.

Barnes said a majority of his customers dont understand the cloud.

I don't know where it goes, where it's stored so I don't want to use it, said Barnes.

And you may wonder why so many companies are pushing cloud computing.

For one thing, because its a huge business companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft are making hundreds of millions of dollars on their cloud platforms.

Barnes said another reason is it saves you, their customer, the agony of losing everything when your phone or computer crashes, breaks, or is lost.

Especially pictures. If you lose them it's devastating, and most people don't back up their stuff, said Barnes.

But if your data is stored in the cloud, it can be retrieved. Everything from your contacts, your documents, to your prized photos, can all be restored.

Still, some are confused about how to actually use the cloud.

Barnes said it actually is fairly simple, but most people need someone to walk them through the setup.

Basically, you go to settings on your computer or device and click on the iCloud or Cloud icon.

With Apple devices, or on iTunes, you sign on with your Apple ID email, and then create a cloud password.

Its important that you use that same password for every device you want to sync with photos and information.

Then you turn on all the items you want to sync and save to the cloud, such as contacts, notes, photos and the like.

Youll probably want to upgrade your cloud storage, too. Apple gives you five free gigabytes, but most people will need 50 gigs to both backup their phones and to store their photos.

Apple charges 99 cents a month for 50 gigs, and pricing goes up from there for larger amounts.

You need to turn on all the same settings on all your devices.

Once youre set up, all your pictures and other items should sync automatically with each device.

One warning even though Apple says its storing your data, if you delete something on one device, such as pictures on your phone they do not remain in the cloud but are also deleted.

So if you run out of storage on your phone, you will still need to save photos and other items on either a hard drive, or a dedicated cloud storage.

Some, like Flickr, are free for basic storage. Others charge from $5 to $10 dollars a month on average depending on how much you need to store.

To find your contacts, mail and other information, log into icloud.com on the web.

Music remains on iTunes.

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Android phones have similar set-ups.

There still remains the question, though is your stuff safe?

Experts say because your data is encrypted when you send it to the cloud, and then is stored in guarded warehouses in remote locations, its probably safe from hackers, or at least more so than your home computer.

But the government could legally ask to see your data once its in the cloud, and its up to the cloud providers to say yes or no.

Still, many say the benefits of up to unlimited storage, easy backups and syncing information outweigh the concerns.

Yes, absolutely, I use it myself and I wouldn't want anyone getting into my stuff, and I use it for everything, said Barnes.

You can find many online comparisons of cloud storage outlining the benefits and costs of each.

And if you still dont quite want to send your information up there you can rely on the old fashioned external hard drives and back up all your devices to those.

WEBVTT T MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER?AND JUST HOW DOES IT WORK?TERRI: DO YOU USE THE CLOUD?>> YES.TERRI: AND DO YOU UNDERSTAND IT?>> NO.>> IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.IT'S THERE AND YOU NEED TO HAVEMORE STORAGE AND YOU NEED MORESTORAGE AND YOU HAVE TO PAY FORMORE STORAGE.>> I THINK I USE SOME SERVICESTHAT USE THE CLOUD.I USE A CLOUD SERVIC>> I THINK IT'S STORAGE.TERRI: YOU THINK?>> I THINK.TERRI: YOU DON'T KNOW?>> WELL, EVERYTHING GOES TOICLOUD, SO THAT'S LIKE A CLOUDOF STORAGE.TERRI: THE CLOUD ISN'T REALLY ACLOUD.>> IT'S UP THERE.TERRI: NO, IT'S NOT EVEN IN THESKY.IN SIMPLEST TERMS, IT MEANSSTORING AND ACCESSING DATA ANDPROGRAMS OVER THE INTERNETINSTEAD OF ON YOUR COMPUTER'SHARD DRIVE.THE CLOUD IS THE INTERNET.>> THE CLOUD IS ESSENTIALLY ABACKUP OF ALL YOUR DATA.TERRI: THE CLOUD IS A SERIES OFSERVERS BASED AROUND THE WORLDTHAT YOU SEND YOUR DATA TO ANDTHOSE SERVERS SEND IT TO OTHERGIANT, HEAVILY GUARDED SERVERS,WHICH KEEP THE DATA SECURELYSTORED FOR YOU.BUT MANY OF US THINK IT SOUNDSSKETCHY.THAT'S WHAT CUSTOMERS TELL JOSHBARNES AT EXPERIMAC.>> I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT GOES,I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS STORED,I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ONWITH THAT.SO I DON'T WANT TO USE IT.TERRI: AND YOU MAY WONDER WHY SOMANY COMPANIES ARE PUSHING CLOUDCOMPUTING.WELL, FOR ONE THING, IT'S A HUGEBUSINESS.COMPANIES ARE MAKING HUNDREDS OFMILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THEIRCLOUD PLATFORMS.BARNES SAYS ANOTHER ANSWER IS ITSAVES YOU, THEIR CUSTOMER, THEAGONY OF LOSING EVERYTHING WHENYOUR PHONE OR COMPUTER CRASHES,BREAKS, OR IS LOST. >> IF YOU LOSE THEM, IT'SDEVASTATING.MOST PEOPLE DON'T BACK UP THEIRSTUFF.TERRI: IF YOUR DATA IS IN THECLOUD, IT CAN BE RETRIEVED.FROM YOUR CONTACTS, YOURDOCUMENTS, TO YOUR ALL IMPORTANTPHOTOS.SO THAT'S ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUTSOME OF US ARE STILL CONFUSED.>> IT AUTOMATICALLY BACKS UP,BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET TOIT.TERRI: LET'S TAKE A LOOWE'LL USE APPLE'S VERSION -- THEICLOUD.>> THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS YOUGO INTO SETTINGS, RIGHT HERE.TERRI: CLICK ICLOUD THEN SIGN ONWITH YOUR APPLE I.D. EMAIL, ANDCREATE A PASSWORD.AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.>> IF YOU WANT TO USE THE SAMEDATA ACROSS ALL DEVICES IT HASTO BE THE SAME LOGIN.TERRI: THEN YOU NEED TO CHECKALL THE THINGS LIKE CONTACTS YOUWANT STORED AND SYNCED IN THECLOUD.AND ONCE YOU DO THAT ON YOURCOMPUTER, YOU NEED TO MAKE THESETTINGS ON ALL YOUR DEVICES THESAME.YOU'LL PROBABLY WANT TO UPGRADESTORAGE, TOO.APPLE GIVES YOU FIVE GIGABYTES,BUT MOST PEOPLE WILL NEED 50 TODO A BACKUP AND PHOTOS.APPLE CHARGES $0.99 A MONTH FOR50 GIGS.ONCE YOU'RE SET UP, EVERYTHINGSYNCS AUTOMATICALLY.>> WE GOT BOTH PICTURES RIGHT ONTHERE.TERRI: YOUR PICTURES ON YOURPHONE ARE NOW ON YOUR IPAD, ANDIN THE CLOUD.SO ARE YOUR DOCUMENTS, CONTACTSAND APPS.BUT WHERE IS THAT CLOUD AGAI>> I HAVE IT JUST SO THAT ITGOES AUTOMATICALLY.BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACCESSIT.TERRI: JUST GO TO ICLOUD.COM.THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT ALL.ANDROID PHONES HAVE SIMILARCLOUDS THAT STORE YOUR DATA.AND THAT BRINGS US BACK TO THEQUESTION OF IS MY STUFF SAFE?EXPERTS SAY BECAUSE YOUR DATA ISENCRYPTED AND STORED IN GUARDEDWAREHOUSES, IT'S PROBABLY SAFEFROM HACKERS.EVEN MORE SO THAN YOUR HOMECOMPUTER.BUT THE GOVERNMENT COULD LEGALLYASK TO SEE YOUR DATA ONCE IT'UP IN THE CLOUD AND THEN IT'S UPTO THE CLOUD PROVIDERS TO SAYYES OR NO.STILL, MANY SAY THE BENEFITS OFUNLIMITED STORAGE, EASY BACKUPSAND SYNCING INFORMATION OUTWEIGHTHE CONCERNS.>> YES, ABSOLUTELY.I USE IT MYSELF AND I WOULDN'T

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Understanding the Cloud and making it work - WPBF West Palm Beach