Cloud Storage Isn't Really 'Unlimited' - Here's Why

Given its prevalence in modern life, it'd be easy and fair to assume that the cloud is an unlimited means of storing data for easy access. Of course, nothing in this life is truly unlimited, and cloud storage is no exception. Rather than being literally unlimited, it may be more accurate to say that cloud storage is "realistically" unlimited, as it has enough capacity to store a typical amount of data from the average user, specifically in a frequent-use scenario.

Cloud storage doesn't work like you might think, it's not some magical, ephemeral space where data can be stored endlessly. Instead, it's made up of massive quantities of real, physical servers, constantly keeping your data in a readily-accessible state. It may not be that hard to get up to several terabytes of storage on a tiny drive, but when millions of users around the world are storing and retrieving files simultaneously, even hundreds of terabytes isn't enough. This is why, while cloud storage services do offer plans with large quantities of space, they aren't truly unlimited, and why older storage formats like disc-based hard drives are still used to store data long-term.

Several major providers of cloud storage services like Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox used to offer "unlimited" plans, mostly for large organizations that needed room for ever-growing repositories of files. However, both services axed their unlimited plans in 2023, capping even the highest-tier subscriptions at between 1 and 5 terabytes. 

Cloud storage is facilitated via physical data servers, usually located within massive server farms networked with other facilities around the world. This is considered "elastic" storage because it's relatively easy to scale up. If a provider needs more space, it buys more drives and servers. However, millions of users the world over are accessing the servers at any given moment, and that is an incomprehensibly massive quantity of data to be moving around at once. While a sufficiently well-funded service could, in theory, keep scaling up to meet evolving demands, sooner or later, they'll run out of space for all those servers. 

This is why consumer cloud storage services are usually capped at several terabytes per user. A single user, realistically, won't use that full storage capacity, so it's effectively "unlimited," while the provider maintains plenty of extra space to store and back up other users' data. On this front, it's important to avoid these five common mistakes made when using cloud storage.

Data sent to consumer-grade cloud storage is usually stored in high-speed solid state drives, which can be quickly accessed at a moment's notice. This is known colloquially as "hot" storage. However, not everyone stores their data with the intent of accessing it every day. Keeping files that haven't been touched in months or years in hot storage would be inefficient, so providers offset the cost by moving older files to "cold" storage.

In this case, providers may move data off of high-speed drives and onto an older hard disc drive. These HDDs can be disconnected from power and the internet, so they don't place as much burden on the system. Typical user files are usually kept exclusively in hot storage, as a random person being unable to access their stuff would be a bad look for the provider. But cold storage might be used with backups for large organizations to avoid siphoning space from the critical servers. There are, of course, some files you should never upload to the cloud, but in either case, cloud storage isn't really unlimited.