CLOUD COMPUTING: THE HUB OF STORAGE SPACE

• Its like third party database to store your information.
• Can support any type of information... audio, video etc.
• Cloud is nothing but the collection of various computers, servers and data storage systems
• Examples : Box, Google Drive, DropBox etc.

Cloud computing refers to saving data to an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. Instead of storing information to your computer's hard drive or other local storage device, you save it to a remote database. The internet provides the connection between your computer and the database.
On the surface, cloud storage has several advantages over traditional data storage. For example, if you store your data on a cloud storage system, you'll be able to get to that data from any location that has Internet access. You wouldn't need to carry around a physical storage device or use the same computer to save and retrieve your information. With the right storage system, you could even allow other people to access the data, turning a personal project into a collaborative effort.

Some cloud storage systems are small operations, while others are so large that the physical equipment can fill up an entire warehouse. The facilities that house cloud storage systems are called data centers.
At its most basic level, a cloud storage system needs just one data server connected to the Internet.
Client when wants to store information on server send data over the server through web based interface and can access the same stored information whenever, wherever required through the same web based interface indeed there in an internet connection. Its like client interacting with the database being maintained by the third party at some distant location but all the access authorities are with the client itself.

Cloud is nothing but the collection of various computers, servers and data storage systems that create the "cloud" of computing services.
So the client side system ,be it is the desktop, laptop or even the phone serve as the front end and the back end is the “cloud” the third party database i.e. servers, systems where all of your data is getting stored and this front end and back end are connected via internet called middleware.
Implementing cloud computing requires lots of space as the owner of the backend need to ensure the availability of data of the client at any required point of time. These backend servers can also fall prey to the technical failure so to avoid losing data ,client’s data is stored over multiple servers also known as redundancy so that if one server fails, the client can still successfully retrieve data .

5 of the best free cloud storage and their features:

Google Drive: 
Free storage: 5 GB
Max file size allowed: 10 GB
Desktop apps: Windows, Mac
Mobile apps: Android, iOS coming soon

DropBox :
Free storage: 2 GB (Get more space through referrals.)
Maximum Storage: 18GB to 32 GB
Max file size allowed: 300 MB via browser, unlimited via desktop
Desktop apps: Windows, Mac, Linux
Mobile apps: Android, iOS, BlackBerry


Apple iCloud:
Free storage: 5 GB
Max file size allowed: 25 MB for free users, 250 MB for paid users
Desktop apps: Windows, Mac
Mobile apps: iOS only

Microsoft SkyDrive:
Free storage: 7 GB
Max file size allowed: 2 GB
Desktop apps: Windows, Mac
Mobile apps: iOS, Windows Phone

Box:
Free storage: 5 GB
Max file size allowed: 25 MB
Desktop apps: Windows, Mac
Mobile apps: Android, iOS, BlackBerry