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Cloud file storage provides the flexibility to support and integrate with existing applications, plus the ease to deploy, manage, and maintain all your files in the cloud. These two key advantages give organizations the ability to support a broad spectrum of applications and verticals. Use cases such as large content repositories, development environments, media stores, and user home directories are ideal workloads for cloud-based file storage. Some example use cases for file storage are as follows.

The need for shared file storage for web serving applications can be a challenge when integrating backend applications. Typically, there are multiple web servers delivering a websites content, with each web server needing access to the same set of files. Since cloud file storage solutions adhere to common file-level protocols, file naming conventions, and permissions that web developers are accustomed to, cloud file storage can be integrated into your web applications.

A content management system (CMS) requires a common namespace and access to a file system hierarchy. Similar to web serving use cases, CMS environments typically have multiple servers that need access to the same set of files to serve up content. Since cloud file storage solutions adhere to the expected file system semantics, file naming conventions, and permissions that developers are accustomed to, storage of documents and other files can be integrated into existing CMS workflows.

Analytics can require massive amounts of data storage that can also scale further to keep up with growth. This storage must also provide the performance necessary to deliver data to analytics tools. Many analytics workloads interact with data through a file interface, rely on features like file locks, and require the ability to write to portions of a file. Since cloud-based file storage supports common file-level protocols and can scale capacity as well as performance, it is ideal for delivering a file-sharing solution that is easy to integrate into existing big data and analytics workflows.

Digital media and entertainment workflows are constantly changing. Many businesses use a hybrid cloud deployment and need standardized access using file system protocols (NFS or SMB) or concurrent protocol access. These workflows require flexible, consistent, and secure access to data from off-the-shelf, custom-built, and partner solutions. Since cloud file storage adheres to existing file system semantics, storage of rich media content for processing and collaboration can be integrated for content production, digital supply chains, media streaming, broadcast playout, analytics, and archive.

The use of home directories for storing files only accessible by specific users and groups can be beneficial for many cloud workflows. Businesses looking to take advantage of the scalability and cost benefits of the cloud are extending access to home directories for many of their users. Since cloud file storage systems adhere to common file-level protocols and standard permissions models, customers can lift and shift applications to the cloud that need this capability.

Backing up data using existing mechanisms, software, and semantics can create an isolated disaster recovery scenario with little locational flexibility for recovery. Many businesses want to take advantage of the flexibility of storing database backups in the cloud, either for temporary protection of previous versions during updates, or for development and testing. Since cloud file storage presents a standard file system that can be mounted from database servers, it can be an ideal platform to create portable database backups using native application tools or enterprise backup applications.

Development environments can be challenged to share unstructured data in a safe and secure way as they are collaborating to develop their latest innovations. With the need to share code and other files in an organized way, using shared cloud file storage provides an organized and secure repository that is accessible within their cloud development environments. Cloud-based file storage delivers a scalable and highly available solution ideal for collaboration.

Containers are ideal for building microservices because theyre quick to provision, portable, and provide process isolation. A container that needs access to the original data each time it starts may require a shared file system that it can connect to regardless of which instance it's running on. Cloud file storage can provide persistent shared access to data that all containers in a cluster can use. You can increase agility with serverless cloud computing while spending less time focusing on the security, scalability, and availability of your applications. For example, you can run large-scale and mission-critical serverless applications on AWS Lambda. Cloud file storage can provide highly available and durable serverless data storage for data sharing that needs to persist beyond and between executions of Lambda functions.

End user computing (EUC) is a combination of technologies that gives your employees secure, remote access to applications, desktops, and data they need to get their work done. Modern enterprises use EUC so their employees can work from wherever they are, across multiple devices, in a safe and scalable way. EUC technologies like persistent desktops and document management systems require secure, reliable, and scalable file storage systems.

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What is Cloud File Storage? - Cloud File Sharing and Storage ...