What's a Cloud?

[pornofan]

Previously posted in what must be the wrong forum because there was not a single answer to any ridiculously stupid newbie questions. Maybe it was my irritatingly ornamental prose. Anyway, please, won't someone offer a clue? Here's what I posted:

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
    From up and down and still somehow
    I really don't know clouds at all.
                                      –Joni Mitchell

Would someone please explain how this whole cloud thing works? I don't mean "where in the multiverse is my data?" I mean, as a practical matter, how does a cloud
work. I have a home computer, not a tablet, smart phone, or portable. Just an ordinary little tower with a display screen etc. etc. And I have massive amounts of data that is in danger of being lost.

So:

How do I put all this stuff onto the cloud?

Can I watch a video or listen to music directly from the cloud on VLC without having to download each item first?

Can I refer all torrents from their current physical location to their cloud location so I can seed 24/seven?

Can I delete stuff off the hard drive because it will stay securely available via cloud?

If my VPN protects me when files have a physical location, what happens when they move to cloud backup or even cloud existence without a physical location?

If slithering copyright terrorists come around in hopes of getting rich by abusing me, can they see my cloud possessions?

Will a VPN thwart their nefarious plans to threaten some potential victim of their profitable poutrage?

Or is a VPN even needed for cloud contents because profiteering villains can't peep through the keyhole to begin with?

Does the cloud prevent seeding? Can something be leeched (DOWNloaded?) directly to a cloud?

Or is this mostly silly, ignorant stuff because torrents and clouds are incompatible and don't work together, the cloud only being useful for backup?

Some of these questions maybe amount to trying to "compare and contrast" (as schoolteachers at least used to say) clouds with lockboxes.

Supposing I love cloudcuckooland (Νεφελοκοκκυγία, Nephelokokkygia) and decide to homestead:

--How much does it cost?
    --Are all companies providing access equally safe, reliable, private, competent?
    --Is there a size limit? I mean, it's not like the entire Internet is up there, right? Or that Microsloth is an eleemosynary institution, right?

There may be a forum for general computer/Internet questions, answers, and discussions, but like a lot of other things, it is unknown to me. However, since a major point of all this puzzlement is not just for me to obtain backup, but to be able to seed more and longer and more safely, so perhaps this forum is not a bad choice anyway.

No doubt those who have no good answers or lack enough patience to deal with a sea of ignorance so broad and wide as displayed in this post, will let me know my mistake. At least that way I will know that while my sins are scarlet, my posts are read.

[gaypraha2]

a cloud is a fancy marketing name invented for people with absolutely no knowledge in internet services and protocols..

It's about any service that is used to host off site datas.. that's just it really. Then some companies create an interface for people who dont dont know how to setup remote directories and such..
Basically if security is your number 1 problem then rent a dedicated server, install different virtual servers on it, and then you'll be able to "cloud " anything there. I do that for all my very important stuff, as I have optical fiber connection at home, my servers can upload and download almost as fast as an external usb2 drive. Data is administered only by me, not available outside strong rules, encrypted / decrypted on the fly, backup. with this I can store and retrieve data / stream from my phone and android tablets via secure (ssl) protocols , but also for friends when I want to share some stuff I can set some directories with public access on some special virtual servers.

Same thing as VPN or EMAIL: you can also get a provider that will do all setup/maintenance for you but that will probably not exactly fit your needs and it's more expensive. besides that's quite unsecure to give your datas to companies you know nothing about, or you know that they will search inside your datas.. From what I read you would choose this option as you dont now how to setup your own server.. well..that's a pity … so
Can I watch a video or listen to music directly from the cloud on VLC without having to download each item first?
-Yes as long as your server (cloud) and you , have a good bandwidth. I do it with my connection without problems ( my servers are about 300mbps up my home connection is 500 down 200 up).
Can I refer all torrents from their current physical location to their cloud location so I can seed 24/seven?

• it depends of the protocols your cloud provider allows, but me, yes I can : I use a virtual remote hard drive
  Can I delete stuff off the hard drive because it will stay securely available via cloud?
• you can but there is a risk that all data from the server ( cloud) can be destroyed or hacked. Even on your own server. If you choose a "cloud" provider, read the contract: there is usually no guarantee data cant be destroyed.
  If my VPN protects me when files have a physical location, what happens when they move to cloud backup or even cloud existence without a physical location?
  ?? didnt understood that one. I guess you mean, if I put a utorrent on cloud how is it identify? well it's basicly a server, so copyright guys will see the IP from your provider. you have to check with them if they provide torrents or not and in what country their server is, because they will be able to ask your provider to ask: ' who used this ip at xxx time ?" ..to be honest companies that look for copyright infringement , if the ip is not a local DSL user, but a data center, they most of the time just give up.  I supposed you can put a vpn on top , depends if your provider allow it.

If slithering copyright terrorists come around in hopes of getting rich by abusing me, can they see my cloud possessions?
It's very unlikely, that would require them to access your computer, then crack your password for accessing your cloud and I'm pretty sure they arent allow to to that anyway and as said above if your torrent services are not host on your local computer thats impossible. (unless they are hackers, but they arent they must follow legal procedures).

Does the cloud prevent seeding? Can something be leeched (DOWNloaded?) directly to a cloud?
You can either, use for instance utorrent from your own computer, but ask it to save/read from a file that is on your server (cloud): in that case it's your IP that will show up when seeding/leeching, unless you use a VPN.
If you want to seed even if your computer is off, then the utorrent client needs to be installed on the server ( aka seedbox). maybe some cloud provider will setup torrent services on their "cloud".. you have to check with them but then again if you had your own personal servers you could setup that easily as long as many other feature speciallly in security that a generic "cloud " provider wont install for reasons that security is something that must be custom tailored made.