Choose your cloud solution: determine whether cloud computing or cloud storage—or both—is right for you.
Cloud computing and cloud storage play key roles in building a modern technology stack. Cloud computing provides the processing power needed for analyzing data and managing applications in real time. Cloud storage, meanwhile, gives you unlimited amounts of space to store your data, making it accessible quickly and from anywhere.
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According to Gartner's 2025 forecast, worldwide public cloud spending will reach $723 billion, with infrastructure services (IaaS) and storage representing the fastest-growing segments. Understanding the distinction between cloud computing vs cloud storage is essential for making smart infrastructure investments.
The cloud is not just about technology—it's about agility. Cloud computing gives you the power to process and analyze; cloud storage gives you the foundation to preserve and access. Most modern businesses need both working together. Satya Nadella, CEO @ Microsoft
If you want to streamline your data management, enhance data accessibility, and establish scalable processes without compromising security or performance, you'll want to understand the nuances of these services.
Contact our team to learn how unlimited Telnyx Cloud Storage can support your business’s data-driven strategies.
This post will help you explore and understand each technology, and determine how they can help your business. We'll explore what cloud computing and cloud storage are, the benefits they offer, and how they differ. By the end, you'll have a clearer idea of how these technologies can fit into your business operations, enhancing data management and infrastructure scalability without sacrificing security or performance. Read on to learn more about these technologies and make the right choice for your organization's growth and innovation.
Cloud storage is a technology that enables data storage on remote servers that are accessible via the internet. This technology eliminates the need for physical storage devices, making it popular among businesses and individuals. You can use cloud storage for various purposes, including disaster recovery, document backup and sharing, and storing personal media files and emails. Popular cloud storage services include Backblaze, AWS S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud.
Understanding the core advantages of cloud storage over traditional storage solutions is key to recognizing its value.
Various cloud storage options are available:
Each type of cloud storage serves a specific purpose and caters to different needs in data management.
Cloud storage offers several advantages over traditional storage methods, such as virtually unlimited storage space, allowing for extensive data storage without capacity concerns. This scalability is often more cost-effective than traditional in-house storage solutions, as it removes the need for initial investments in physical hardware and its maintenance.
Cloud storage enhances accessibility and safety; it enables users to access their data from anywhere with an internet connection, supporting effective collaboration and remote work. It also offers robust backup and disaster recovery options, ensuring data remains secure and retrievable in the face of hardware malfunctions or natural disasters.
Now that you understand the basics of cloud storage, let’s dive into cloud computing, which encompasses a wider array of services beyond storage, offering scalable and flexible computing resources on demand.
Start storing today with S3-compatible APIs for simple, low-cost, AI-ready storage.
The term "cloud computing" refers to the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. It allows users to access and utilize powerful computing infrastructure without the need for on-premise hardware.
While cloud storage can serve personal and professional purposes, cloud computing focuses primarily on business needs. It’s commonly used for tasks requiring significant processing power, such as data analysis, application execution, and machine learning.
Exploring different cloud computing models helps clarify its broad applications and how businesses can leverage them.
Cloud computing provides a few different models:
These models are available on cloud platforms for efficient access to various services.
A primary advantage of cloud computing is its scalability. Cloud providers offer flexible computing resources that businesses can easily scale based on demand. This flexibility enables businesses to allocate computing resources efficiently and pay only for what they use, resulting in cost savings.
Cloud computing also enhances mobility, allowing users to access computing resources from anywhere with an internet connection. This feature facilitates remote work and collaboration among team members in various locations.
While both cloud computing and cloud storage are foundational components of modern IT infrastructure, they serve very different purposes and offer distinct capabilities.he primary difference between cloud computing and cloud storage is their functionality. Cloud computing allows users to run applications and software without owning physical infrastructure. Cloud storage focuses solely on data storage and backup, enabling users to access data from anywhere, thus eliminating the need for physical storage devices.
Your business can use both of these cloud technologies to get the most from your stored data and deliver real-time insights. This synergy enhances efficiency, scalability, and data accessibility.
Here’s a quick overview of the differences between the two:
Your decision between cloud computing, cloud storage, or both hinges on your business's specific needs, including the focus of your operations, the volume of data you handle, and your computational requirements.
Companies managing large volumes of data, like digital archives, might mainly need cloud storage but can also benefit from cloud computing for advanced search capabilities or data analysis.
Enterprises providing SaaS products or mobile apps may primarily utilize cloud computing for managing applications, supported by cloud data storage.
Businesses pursuing digital transformation, particularly in sectors such as fintech, healthtech, or edtech, will likely integrate both cloud computing and cloud storage. This approach ensures scalability, efficient data management, and robust computational capabilities.
Accurately identifying your business requirements will guide you in choosing the appropriate cloud services to support growth and innovation.
Once you’ve determined whether your use case calls for cloud computing, cloud storage, or both, it’s time to choose a cloud provider. You’ll want to invest in a robust, adaptable solution that evolves alongside your business.
Telnyx Storage is a powerful ally for cloud storage, tailored for companies aiming to streamline their operations and reduce costs. Additionally, Telnyx Inference can help businesses get insights from their data, supported by dedicated GPU infrastructure for fast, contextualized inference, making it a vital tool for those looking to leverage data analytics and machine learning.
Once you’ve determined whether your use case calls for cloud computing, cloud storage, or both, it’s time to choose a cloud provider. You’ll want to invest in a robust, adaptable solution that evolves alongside your business. Telnyx Storage is a powerful ally for cloud storage, tailored for companies aiming to streamline operations and reduce costs. Meanwhile, Telnyx Inference—part of our comprehensive cloud computing suite—can help companies get insights from their data, supported by dedicated GPU infrastructure for fast, contextualized inference. This dual offering ensures your data is securely stored and actively working for you, delivering valuable insights that drive decision-making.
Telnyx eliminates the need for physical storage infrastructure, directly impacting operational expenses by removing the costs of purchasing and maintaining hardware. With competitive pricing that’s 70% cheaper than AWS S3, Telnyx Storage immediately stands out for its cost-effectiveness. But those low prices don’t mean you have to sacrifice quality.
Scalability is at the core of Telnyx Storage, allowing businesses to flexibly adjust their storage requirements in line with their growth or the fluctuating demands of their operations. This adaptability ensures you only pay for the storage you need when you need it, which is especially valuable for businesses with variable data storage requirements.
Telnyx's distributed network enhances data accessibility, ensuring that data is always within reach from any location. This feature is crucial for businesses operating in a dynamic digital environment where speed and reliability in data access are paramount.
Telnyx Storage’s S3-compatible API makes transitioning data to the cloud straightforward, enabling businesses to migrate their data without altering their existing applications. This ease of integration is particularly advantageous for those looking to adopt cloud storage solutions without the hassle of significant system overhauls.
Telnyx Inference further amplifies the value of Telnyx’s cloud solutions by offering businesses the capability to gain real-time insights from data within a cloud computing framework. Using dedicated GPU infrastructure, Telnyx provides fast, efficient, and contextualized inference that lets companies extract value from their data, facilitating informed decision-making and strategic planning. Whether predicting customer behavior, optimizing operational efficiency, or innovating product offerings, Telnyx Inference is a powerful tool for leveraging stored data in meaningful ways.
Together, Telnyx Storage and Telnyx Inference represent a comprehensive suite of services that support not just data storage but also the intelligent analysis of that data through cloud computing. This synergy allows businesses to manage their data more effectively and extract actionable insights that can bring significant competitive advantages. By combining secure, scalable, and cost-effective storage with advanced analytics capabilities, Telnyx provides a robust platform for businesses looking to thrive in the digital economy.
By combining secure, scalable, cost-effective storage with scalable compute capabilities, Telnyx provides a powerful stack for businesses aiming to enhance their operational efficiency, drive customer engagement, and innovate their product offerings in a data-driven marketplace.
| Feature | Cloud computing | Cloud storage |
|---|---|---|
| Primary function | Provides on-demand computing power and resources for processing, analyzing data, and running applications. | Offers secure, scalable storage for data, making it accessible from anywhere. |
| Use cases | Data analysis, application hosting, inference, model training, machine learning. | Data backup, archiving, document sharing, media storage. |
| Benefits | Scalability, flexibility in processing power, cost-efficiency in managing computational resources. | Scalability, accessibility from any location, disaster recovery, cost savings on physical storage solutions. |
| Ideal for | Businesses requiring significant computational resources that can be adjusted on-demand. | Businesses needing to store large amounts of data securely and accessibly, with minimal physical infrastructure. |
| Example services | AWS EC2, Google Compute Engine, Azure Virtual Machines. | Google Drive, Backblaze, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Telnyx Storage. |
What is cloud computer storage?
Cloud computer storage saves your files on remote servers and lets you access them over the internet with on-demand scale and durability. Many services are built on object storage, which handles large, unstructured data efficiently.
What are the 4 types of cloud storage?
The four deployment models are public, private, hybrid, and community, which describe who owns the infrastructure and how access is managed. These models are different from types of data storage like object, file, and block that define how data is organized and accessed.
How much does 1TB of cloud storage cost?
Consumer plans for 1 TB typically range from about 5 to 13 dollars per month depending on features and billing terms. Pay-as-you-go object storage often prices capacity near 6 dollars per TB per month, with additional fees for egress and API requests.
Do I really need to pay for cloud storage?
Free tiers are fine for light use, but paying makes sense when you need more space, automated backups, or collaboration features. Consider the total cost and your risk tolerance before upgrading, and weigh alternatives like external drives or a NAS.
What is the difference between cloud storage and local storage?
Cloud storage is offsite and internet-accessible, while local storage lives on devices you own such as PCs, external drives, or a NAS. The choice comes down to local vs cloud storage tradeoffs in cost, control, performance, and accessibility.
Is cloud storage secure?
Security depends on encryption in transit and at rest, strong identity and access controls, and sound backup policies. Look for features like MFA, audit logging, and regional data residency to meet your compliance needs.
What type of cloud storage is best for backing up a computer?
Object storage with versioning, lifecycle rules, and immutability is typically best because it scales affordably and protects against accidental deletion or ransomware. A 3-2-1 approach works well, where one copy lives in the cloud following common cloud storage backup patterns.
