Need a resource to explain 'the cloud.'

[LAS14]

I've got One Drive in my file explorer. One kid uses Google docs. Another kid uses something else (I forget), or she gets to Google docs by a completely different pathway. I understand the file structure on my hard drive. I'd like to understand the structure of "the cloud," and which pieces of software get me to which locations. Is there a simple tutorial somewhere? I'm so confused...

tia
las

[quickesst]

1. you can try this

https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=Understanding+the+cloud+for+dummies

Lots of options.

[LAS14]

2. Thanks so much! One of these has got to be the ticket. nt

[quickesst]

5. from doing a brake job on a specific car....

.... to helping me with computer tech, I can usually find it on a YouTube tutorial. I'm grateful there are people out there who will give their time to help others. Hope it helps.

[Skittles]

3. it's......someone else's computer

[better]

4. Let me try to just explain it simply

Skittles is not wrong describing it as "someone else's computer".

"The cloud", whether we're talking about OneDrive/Google Drive or some other flavor, simply implies a centralized storage location that is independent of the computer/device from which you access it, as opposed to localized storage like your hard drive, which is only accessible from the physical computer to which it is attached, unless you share it.

There are many different kinds of "cloud" service, and many different ways to reach them. In the case of google drive, for example, you can navigate to it through a menu on Gmail, or you can access it directly via a dedicated domain name like drive.google.com.

And then there are some types of remote storage (cloud), like iSCSI, which can be mapped directly to a drive letter just like a regular hard drive physically present in your system.

The universal characteristic is that the cloud storage is completely independent of your computer or device. Lose your phone, and you lose the contacts that are stored internally, but not the ones that are on your Google/Samsung/whatever account. You can just plug your cloud credentials into your new phone, and there's all your stuff.

[LAS14]

6. Yeah, I got that the eseence is that the cloud is not-my-computer, but

"There are many different kinds of "cloud" service, and many different ways to reach them. In the case of google drive, for example, you can navigate to it through a menu on Gmail, or you can access it directly via a dedicated domain name like drive.google.com. "

This is the part that's making me crazy. What's the difference between Google Drive and One Drive and Google Docs and whatever else my kids are suggesting the family use. The first respondent gave me a bunch of youtube stuff. I bet I can get my answer there. But thanks anyway.

[better]

8. Well first off...

Let me say that I'm an IT guy, and I enjoy helping people, so feel free to PM me with any such inquiries. I really don't mind!

So to answer your question, the difference between OneDrive and GoogleDrive is that the former is owned by Microsoft and the latter owned by Google. Otherwise, they provide essentially the same service, it's just the "who" and "where" that's different, along of course with whatever differences there may be in their EULAs (end user license agreements).

Google Docs, on the other hand, is a combination of cloud service and SaaS (software as a service).

Google Drive is essentially only a virtual hard drive, and cares nothing about what's stored on it.

Google Docs provides the web applications similar to Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., and it can store its own documents, separately from Google Drive.

[LAS14]

10. Thanks. So...

... does Google Docs represent a third macro-location in the cloud? OneDrive, GoogleDrive and the home of Google Docs?

tia
las

[better]

12. On the logical level, at least, yes, I think that's a reasonable way to view it.

On the more technical level, Google Docs represents a web-based suite of applications that have their own compartmentalized storage, which it is possible actually resides within the same infrastructure associated with Google Drive. Kind of like the C and D drives on your computer. Technically different drives, but still both part of the same storage system of your computer.

[LAS14]

13. Super helpful. Thanks. So...

... is it possible to look for a Google doc by "location" instead of by "type"? The equivalent of scanning the C drive instead of looking at all my *.doc files?

[better]

14. Well, you can create folders. Is that what you mean? (nt)

[LAS14]

15. I was thinking more of the "location" that has all kinds of documents underneath it.

I guess that's just "Google Docs."

Thanks again

[CaptainTruth]

7. And, realize that anything stored on "the cloud" could end up in Russia, or China...

"For two hours Monday, internet traffic that was supposed to route through Google's Cloud Platform instead found itself in quite unexpected places, including Russia and China."

...

"ThousandEyes saw Google traffic rerouting over the Russian ISP TransTelecom, to China Telecom, toward the Nigerian ISP Main One. "Russia, China, and Nigeria ISPs and 150-plus [IP address] prefixes—this is obviously very suspicious," says Alex Henthorne-Iwane, vice-president of product marketing at ThousandEyes. "It doesn’t look like a mistake.""

One of the reasons I won't use cloud storage.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/story/google-internet-traffic-china-russia-rerouted/amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/story/google-internet-traffic-china-russia-rerouted/amp

[better]

9. That's conditionally true.

While it is true that traffic can be re-routed by a compromised DNS server, for example, it is also true that some cloud services have safeguards against such things. iSCSI, for example, can use credentials on both the server and client sides of the connection, such that unless the server to which the connection is made provides the identification that is correct for that specific user connection, the client will reject the server, and vice-versa.

[LAS14]

11. One of the reasons I stay away from the cloud unless my kids force it on me. But...

... Microsoft sure does require you to be careful so that your stuff doesn't end up somewhere on the cloud!! Very annoying.