Difference Between Cloud Storage and Cloud Backup

Published on 07-May-2023

Feature	Cloud Storage	Cloud Backup
Data Protection	Generally not guaranteed	High level of protection
Purpose	Access and share files	Protect data from loss
Data Versioning	May or may not be available	Usually supported
Recovery Point Objective	Not applicable	High (RPO of minutes to hours)
Recovery Time Objective	Not applicable	High (RTO of hours to days)
Backup Schedule	Not applicable	Scheduled and automated
Data Encryption	Optional and not automatic	Automatic and mandatory
File Syncing	Automatic and real-time	Not applicable
Cost	Usually based on storage	Based on storage and backup frequency
Accessibility	Available on multiple devices	Usually not accessible from all devices
Retention Policy	Usually not defined	Defined and enforced
Disaster Recovery	Not applicable	Key component of strategy
Recovery Testing	Not applicable	Regularly performed
Data Center Locations	Multiple locations offered	Multiple locations offered
Service Level Agreement	May or may not be available	Usually guaranteed
Collaboration	Supported	Not applicable
Data Sharing	Supported	Not applicable
Compliance and Regulation	Adherence is optional	Adherence is mandatory
User Management	Optional and limited	Usually supported