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QUINCY, ILL. -- Clouds can hold a lot of moisture. As we just saw in the last week, several feet of snow fell over the Midwest.

Cloud storage can hold a lot of ... files, music, and video.

Cloud based storage seems to be all the rage these days, but it's nothing new.

What is new is the way you go about getting it.

But is the cost worth it?

"The cloud is basically saying you're taking a bunch of things you have been doing locally on your network and moving them out onto the internet," Chris Stegner, an I.T. professional said.

And there are many ways of doing that. Perhaps you've heard of the iCloud. Maybe even Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft Skydrive. These are all companies willing to store your stuff on the internet for free. Does this work for you?

"The safety is in how much you trust your service provider. The data back and forth is almost always encrypted nowadays, so the traffic is fairly safe," Stegner said.

Many companies find it cheaper to house their stuff on the cloud because they don't have to pay for and maintain a system of servers to hold the data.

The cloud itself is kind of a catch phrase that's gained in popularity. Cloud based storage has been around for awhile. Do you have a Gmail or Yahoo account? Even Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are cloud based applications. All that information is stored on the internet so you can access it anywhere in the world.

Now you can do the same with any file whether it's a word document or a home video. But be careful, because storing certain things on the cloud could land you in trouble.

"The laws that that dictate the internet and cloud are still fairly vague. Let's say you accidentally uploaded a pirated video or piece of music. Now you're opening yourself up to somebody else who can see that and they can come after you," Stegner explained.

What are the chances that will happen? Depends on who you ask. Thursday night at six, I'll take you inside the legal workings of digital piracy and show you if you're breaking the law.

I.T. professional Chris Stegner reminds you if you do use the cloud, if your internet goes down, you won't be able to access your files on the cloud.

Are you a fan of the cloud? Share your stories - good or bad - with us below or on our Facebook page here.