Cambridge O Level Computer Science · Syllabus 2210 · Hardware
Cloud Storage
What is Cloud Storage?
Storage in which data is held on physical servers owned and maintained by a provider and reached remotely over a network or internet connection, rather than on storage attached to the user's own device.
This definition is part of the Hardware chapter in Cambridge O Level Computer Science.
Cloud Storage in context
Topic 3 is one machine seen from four distances. Up close, the CPU repeats a single loop — fetch an instruction, decode it, execute it — using named registers and three buses. Step back and the CPU is only useful because input devices and sensors turn physical things into data and output devices and actuators turn data back into physical things. Step back again and nothing survives a power cut unless storage holds it: RAM while the machine runs, secondary or cloud storage afterwards. Step back once more and the machine needs network hardware — a NIC with a MAC address, an IP address and a router — before it can be found and reached by anything else.
Common mistakes with Cloud Storage
- 23. “Cloud storage has no physical hardware.” Why wrong The word “cloud” describes where the data is from the user's point of view, not what it is made of. Correct model Cloud storage keeps data on physical servers in a data centre, owned and maintained by a provider, and reached over a network or internet connection. Exam-safe “Cloud storage stores data on remote physical servers, which are accessed over a network or internet connection.” Check: give one disadvantage of cloud storage that follows directly from it being remote.It cannot be reached without a network connection; transferring very large amounts of data can also be slow.
Examiner tips on Cloud Storage
- Apply, do not list. A comparison question is marked on whether each point is applied to the scenario in front of you. “Cloud storage can be accessed remotely” is a fact; “the photographer travels between locations, so cloud storage lets them reach the files from a laptop on site rather than only from the office computer” is an answer. Take one detail from the scenario into every point you make.