Identify a characteristic that is a disadvantage of cloud-based hosting.
loss of control over data location
significant development effort
significant capital required
increased management requirements
ongoing support costs
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is:
loss of control over data location
Explanation:
Cloud-based hosting offers many benefits such as scalability, cost-efficiency, and flexibility. However, one significant disadvantage is the loss of control over data location. This refers to the fact that when an organization uses cloud services, its data is stored on servers managed by a third-party cloud provider, often located in different geographic regions or countries.
Why is this a disadvantage?
- Regulatory and Compliance Risks:
Many industries are subject to strict data protection and privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR in Europe, HIPAA in the U.S.). These laws often require data to be stored within certain geographic boundaries or under specific legal jurisdictions. When data is hosted in the cloud, the organization may not know exactly where the data physically resides. This loss of control can lead to non-compliance with regulatory requirements, risking fines or legal penalties. - Security Concerns:
Although cloud providers invest heavily in security, organizations must trust that their provider implements robust protections. When data location is unknown or spread across multiple data centers, it increases the complexity of securing sensitive information and managing access controls. - Data Sovereignty:
Some countries have laws requiring that citizen data must remain within national borders. If a cloud provider’s data centers are overseas, this may conflict with these requirements, potentially forcing the organization to avoid certain cloud providers or solutions.
Why not the other options?
- Significant development effort:
Cloud solutions often reduce development and deployment effort compared to on-premises systems, as infrastructure is pre-configured and managed. - Significant capital required:
Cloud hosting typically reduces upfront capital expenditure, converting it to operational expenditure (pay-as-you-go pricing). - Increased management requirements:
Cloud hosting usually reduces internal management overhead because the provider handles infrastructure maintenance. - Ongoing support costs:
While there are ongoing costs in cloud usage, these are generally predictable and can be lower than maintaining physical servers.
In summary, loss of control over data location is a distinctive disadvantage of cloud-based hosting because it creates challenges related to compliance, security, and data sovereignty that organizations must carefully manage.
