Cloud computing has become inescapable in our lives. Whether for professional or personal use, all of us utilize the cloud in some way. As well as allowing employees to connect to business networks remotely using cloud technology, many businesses also require their workers to use a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to their networks. These two technologies go hand in hand. In fact, they are often confused with one another.
What Is a VPN?
A VPN is a piece of software that creates an encrypted communications tunnel between your device and a VPN server. Any data exchanged between your device and the VPN server will be secure and encrypted. This way the VPN server acts as a safe access point to the internet for your device.
Many individuals use VPNs, especially those who regularly connect to the internet through public Wi-Fi networks, as a way of giving themselves more privacy and anonymity online. Businesses use VPNs to ensure that any data exchanged between their network and employees is encrypted and cannot be snooped on.
Of course, many people use public Wi-Fi networks for accessing their work networks remotely. In such case using a VPN benefits them personally, as well as the corporate network they are connecting to.
Many businesses keep their most sensitive databases off-limits to anyone connecting from outside their internal firewall. Putting a VPN server between the users and the network means that remote workers can connect to the VPN server, and from there, join the internal network.
With cybercrime rates at an all-time high, and most public Wi-Fi hotspots offering nothing in the way of protection or encryption, using a VPN makes more sense than ever. This is a basic yet effective preventative measure that keeps individuals and networks safe from a variety of different threats.
There are numerous VPN providers out there, depending on your individual needs. For example, some VPNs focus on maximizing user privacy whereas others are designed to offer optimal performance for gamers. There is no single VPN service that serves all the users best. Thus, you will need to do a research based on your requirements and hardware setup.
Cloud Computing
Perhaps, more people will be familiar with cloud computing rather than with VPNs. Cloud computing allows computers and networks to share resources by facilitating remote access of machines and servers. The most familiar application of cloud computing is in the form of storage. Smartphones offer cloud storage of photos and other data, while many people again utilize cloud storage in their professional lives.
As well as acting as a remote storage device, cloud computing can also be used to offload intensive tasks. With a VPN, when the user wishes to access the internet, they send a request to the VPN server. The server then fulfills the request and returns the result to the user. This means that, while the user has the same experience of loading a website like anyone else, the device they are browsing with doesn’t interact directly with the website.
Similarly, a user can send a request to a cloud computer, asking it to perform a particularly difficult task. The cloud computer can then carry out this task and return the result to the user. Again, the user will have the same experience (in most cases) as if they had executed the task locally.
In this way, cloud computing can make both storage volumes and computing power that would otherwise be out of reach available to the average user. This often means providing access to resources that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. This is a large part of the reason why cloud computing has proven to be so revolutionary. As security is such a prominent concern for cloud service providers, the cloud often represents the most secure way businesses can store sensitive data and access various applications.
As well as making otherwise expensive hardware and infrastructure available to smaller businesses through a pay-as-you-go model, cloud-based applications also offer the possibility to work with a wide range of different apps.
Conclusions
Online privacy and security are the issues lots of people didn’t take seriously until quite recently. However, we have witnessed many high-profile data breaches in recent years that show the lengths cybercriminals are willing to go to in pursuit of people’s personal data. Both businesses and individuals can benefit greatly from the use of a VPN to enhance their privacy. If your business isn’t currently using a VPN, you should definitely consider it.
