Cloud basics: how does storage work in the cloud?

Simon Edward • 7 February 2025

Consumers and enterprises rely on the cloud for storage. But how does it work? Get to grips with the basics.

In 2025, most people know about cloud storage – or, at the very least, use it. If you have a smartphone, your photos are usually saved to the cloud by default.

At work, many people collaborate on documents, access files and folders and upload work to the cloud. It's become as normal a part of the working day as a break for lunch.

But how does it all work, exactly? And how is it different for enterprises with large amounts of data?

To answer that question, we first need to distinguish between two types of storage: ephemeral storage and persistent storage.

What are the two main types of cloud storage?

Different types of data have different storage needs. It's no different in principle from storage at home. Knives and forks go in the drawer, your tins and packets go in the cupboard, and so on.

In cloud storage, a distinction is made between ephemeral storage and persistent storage.

Ephemeral storage refers to storage that exists only when your virtual server is up and running. If you cancel your subscription or the host crashes, the ephemeral storage goes with it.

This makes ephemeral storage ideal for scratch discs, local discs and as a temporary home for log files. It gives you high performance at a low cost. Typically, it's physically attached to the host that the virtual server runs on.

Persistent storage, by contrast, continues to exist even when disconnected from the virtual server. This is the type of storage we typically think of when we talk about "cloud storage", whether as a consumer or as an enterprise.

What are the different types of persistent storage?

There are lots of different types of persistent storage. The three most common, however, are block storage, file storage and object storage.

These mount to devices in different ways. Generally speaking, block storage is attached to a virtual server via the hypervisor. File storage is generally mounted via a mount point directly to the virtual server. Object storage, meanwhile, doesn't mount at all. Instead, it interacts with the virtual server via an API.

Object storage is great for "buckets" of items such as videos, text and icons. These are all types of data that don't need to be "run". For this reason, object storage isn't as highly performant as other types of storage. You wouldn't, for instance, run a database on object storage because it wouldn't give you the responsiveness you need.

How is cloud storage billed?

Cloud storage is billed in two ways. One is the way we're all familiar with. You pay a certain amount per month for a fixed number of gigabytes of storage. If you want more or less, you simply change tier. This scalability is one of the key selling points of cloud storage as opposed to external hard drives or on-premises servers.

However, you're also paying for performance. The more bandwidth you need, say, the more expensive the storage will be.

Enterprises are always looking to balance these two expenses: on the one hand, the performance needs of their apps and website and, on the other, the cost involved in running the necessary infrastructure.

At an enterprise level, object storage is priced according to another metric, too: how often you add and retrieve data from your buckets and the level of availability you require.

Many object storage providers offer cold storage. This is a type of storage where you can place data you're legally required to hold onto but rarely, if ever, need to access. This is offered at a dramatically lower rate than storage that needs to be frequently accessed.

How is consumer cloud storage different?

Consumer cloud storage is now a familiar feature of our daily digital lives, be it Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive or another platform.

These are web applications that give you a place to host your files and photos and keep your devices in sync with one another.

Picture of a smartphone next to a laptop.

They look like file browsers – the kind you have built into your computer. But under the bonnet, these platforms all use object storage, just like enterprise solutions.

What are the advantages of cloud storage?

The key advantage of cloud storage for consumers is that it gives you a place to store your files and photos. But for enterprises, there's a whole host of other benefits.

One relates to modern-day work life. Gone are the days when a team would all sit in the same office. Today's teams are scattered, international and often online.

Cloud storage allows remote and hybrid work patterns to exist. It enables staff to access the documents they need in a secure, easy-to-use online environment. It also enables them to collaborate on documents from any device in any location.

And on top of all that, it saves enterprises money. If you're maintaining your own on-premises server, you're responsible for patching, upgrading and replacing your hardware.

But with public cloud storage, that infrastructure is the domain of the provider. If there's an outage, it's their job to provide failover.

This reduces the burden on IT teams, who now are responsible for security and core tasks rather than costly and time-consuming repair jobs.

Finally, cloud storage provides flexibility and scalability in a way that private hardware doesn't.

Businesses are dynamic and changeable. They don't always need the same resources, either because of growth or strategic scaling back. Cloud storage can be augmented and reduced as and when.

Enterprises can also avail themselves of multi-cloud environments. This involves cherry-picking services to provide the most cost-effective solution across multiple platforms.

All in all, cloud storage unlocks cost savings and efficiencies for businesses and consumers alike. We hope this article has helped you unpick the science behind the services.

Are you looking for expert cloud transformation solutions? At Ascend Cloud, we've handled more than 400 cloud migrations and counting. Get in touch with our specialists today to book a free discovery call.

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