What are the best online storage options?

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What are the best on-line storage options?

I have been using Just Cloud for my on-line storage. However, I think it is a scam trying to force users to buy more expensive options.

I need at least 100 MG storage, perhaps unlimited. I am thinking about Crashplan + I like that option because it would include storage for multiple computers –that I have with my children.

However, at some level, I don’t think I should trust anyone with all these files unless it is an established company such as Google, Microsoft, Norton or Dropbox. However, they aren’t as inexpensive and don’t have as many options.

Any ideas?

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I have been happy with Sky Drive for the limited usage I have used it for. I have put files that I share with others, but do not feel comfortable putting secured files there.

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Sky Drive and Drop Box are popular (there are, of course, others but I do not have experience of them): In all cases, I believe one should not save secure/sensitive data in the cloud.

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Depends. Some storage places have you download a client or browser plug-in that encrypts your files before sending them – you only have to decide if you trust the company, and let’s face it, a company that peeks into people’s files isn’t going to be around long.

Else encrypt the files yourself before uploading them. This works fine if you don’t want to share them or sync across several devices. http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-file-encryption-utility.htm seems a good place to start finding a useful utility.

Also, for years, long before they renamed themselves “snapfiles”, I’ve been using that site for useful, dependable, editor- and user-reviewed programs. Most, if not all the downloads and installers are clean – no hidden riders. http://www.snapfiles.com/ has free and paid programs. I’ve found them to be almost always better than, say, cnet or many of the other Windows download sites. An exception is Major Geeks, they’re usually pretty good also.

If you just need 5GB or so of storage, there are several places – “copy” is one.

I use Drive, copy, and Crashplan which work well for my needs. Lately I’ve been using Seahorse on my Ubuntu desktop for PGP. I don’t have anything on my XP vm that needs any of this, at least right now.

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Thank you for this. I need a sginificant size for storage. I have read quite a bit about Crashplan. Several commenters have said the upload of files is extremely slow. Has that been your experience?

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I have used and still do use several cloud storage services. They vary from free to $100/year. However, for “bang for the buck” I recommend Bitcasa: http://l.bitcasa.com/4y1cSIYK (yes, that is a referral link…;))

They give you *unlimited* storage for $99/year. I started using it when it was still beta. It’s not the fastest client because it encrypts your data locally before uploading it. It doesn’t intend to be another DropBox. It’s intended primarily for archival storage when you need lots of space for a reasonable amount of $$$.

One account can be used with multiple computers and it has two methodologies:

1) It works in either a “mirroring” mode which is like like DropBox. You put files in a folder and it keeps that folder mirrored.

2) It can work like a “virtual folder”. What this means is that you specify the folder you want to “extend” and from that point forward, any files you put in it are actually stored on the web, not your local PC. The file system thinks it’s local, but it is actually stored in the cloud and transferred as needed when you use it. Yes, this can and likely will cause lag, but for storage purposes it serves it’s intention….plus this option means you don’t need more physical HDD space!

I currently have several TB of data stored in mirrored folders and have been using it almost 2 years, when the beta started. So far so good!

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…let’s face it, a company that peeks into people’s files isn’t going to be around long.

Well, that just about wraps it up for Google, then.

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Quote Originally Posted by kermidge View Post
…let’s face it, a company that peeks into people’s files isn’t going to be around long.

Well, that just about wraps it up for Google, then.

And a lot of other Cloud Storage vendors. Read the terms CAREFULLY before uploading anything sensitive, even if you encrypt it yourself first.

-- rc primak

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Just a question:

Where is the Cloud? US, EU, or maybe even China or India! How would you ever know?
Your data is NOT SAFE, unless you know for sure where it is and who is in charge of it. Eh?
User info has been stolen from very large companies, like AOL, which you’d normally think was safe.
It’s only really safe if it’s in YOUR possession.

I want to keep all my personal info CLOSE, and so I use a 1TB external drive and a 32 gig Flash drive, to back up all my important files.

I added a Five-Port, USB-3 card to my desktop PC, so I could use USB-3 devices, (much faster than USB-2)
Both of my backup drives are USB-3. Backups only take a few seconds and I don’t even have to be on-line.

Just a suggestion!

The Doctor 😎

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As of a week ago AT&T was still running a promotion where you could get 50 GB of cloud storage free, as described at http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57594103-233/get-50gb-of-at-t-locker-cloud-storage-for-free/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Secure enough if you encrypt it reasonably. Probably safe enough if you also store it in a second independent location.

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As of a week ago AT&T was still running a promotion where you could get 50 GB of cloud storage free, as described at http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57594103-233/get-50gb-of-at-t-locker-cloud-storage-for-free/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Secure enough if you encrypt it reasonably. Probably safe enough if you also store it in a second independent location.

Android App or iPad App only. this is not Cloud Storage. It is Tablet Storage in The Cloud. There’s a difference. It was also buggy when tested.

-- rc primak

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I use Cubby (around $48 for 100 GB + 5 they add free). Works very well and I don’t find it slow. Cubby is from LogMeIn, a well known, US company.

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I recommend Carbonite. http://www.carbonite.com/. $59.99/year gets you unlimited GB and even comes with its own software (like many others) to automatically backup to the cloud.

When I decided to go with Carbonite I also looked at some of the competion. http://www.thetop10bestonlinebackup.com/cloud-storage

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I recommend Carbonite. http://www.carbonite.com/. $59.99/year gets you unlimited GB and even comes with its own software (like many others) to automatically backup to the cloud.

When I decided to go with Carbonite I also looked at some of the competion. http://www.thetop10bestonlinebackup.com/cloud-storage

Carbonite is sold for backup only, not for general-purpose use. And it is reported to be slow as molasses.

-- rc primak

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Lot of good posts, great!

Cloud = other people’s servers. Speeds tend to be slow and slower.
Treat storage kinda like backup – local, external, off-site, protected off-line site.
Anything you don’t want someone reading, encrypt.
I use the free GBs offered here and there because that’s what I can afford right now.

I’m down to a small external drive, need a couple of TB really (I’ve got over twenty years’ accumulation of stuff that I swear I’m going to winnow Real Soon Now), but budget is tight. I’d feel better having an external enclosure I could grab if the house is burning or something.

Along with a portable OS and a raft of utilities, for the nitty-gritty really truly needful private stuff, password cache and one-time logins for LastPass and Google, financials, along with a copy of my will and such, I’ve got a thumb drive on a lanyard worn around the neck.

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Carbonite (http://www.carbonite.com) provides (I think) good value for money if you simply want online archiving. It provides unlimited storage for a fixed price but the license is for a single computer. I swear by SpiderOak (spideroak.com) for a complete solution. It is not as cheap per GB, you pay for 100 GB blocks. But it provides a robust, secure service. As well as storage, you can use it to sync between computers (which it does brilliantly) and share files with others. You can install it on as many devices as you want, so multiple people can backup to the same account. I have found it to work flawlessly so far (~ 1yr) which is not the case for other services I have tried.

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I don’t recommend Carbonite because its default settings make it a system hog. I do recommend Mozy. It allows you to specify your own encryption password (DON’T forget it!) and it allows you to recover previous versions of documents (up to 30 days). Initial backup is SLOOOOW ( in your case, 100 GB+, probably WEEKS) because upload speeds are so much slower than download speeds. Subsequent backups take only minutes, however. And the default settings are set-it-and-forget-it. See my blog for more on this: http://blog.comphelpco.com/. Thank you.

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I also like Carbonite but would like to add that there are additional options beyond the $59/yr option. A little more money gets you backup of one computer plus one external hard drive, and for about $229/yr (I think) you can get the business edition that backs up all the machines on your network. Of course if you have the right wireless equipment you can back up everything in your network onto a large hard drive in one machine and back up that machine for $59/yr.

One thing I really like about Carbonite is that you can access and use, download or e-mail your files from any machine from carbonite.com or using a smartphone app.

Someone said Carbonite is a system hog. I haven’t noticed that. Can someone expound on it?

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I use several different cloud storage providers.

The most convenient is Dropbox, easy to set up, easy to share, easy to add more space by recommending others, you get 500MB free space for each new user added, and it is quick to sync. It is not one I use for high security as the encryption doesn’t happen until it gets to the cloud servers. I use it primarily to share folders with different groups/clubs. I have got about 18GB of free space but I am only using about 3GB with some of it shared with as many as 30 other people. One of the shared spaces is used by just 3 of us for the club accounts working copy while the backups are kept on the club treasurer’s PC as well as informal copies on mine.

SkyDrive I find OK for static stuff like picture sharing but I find it tediously slow to update. I put stuff there to archive and encrypt with TrueCrypt or Axcrypt sensitive/private files before uploading them. I use the same encryption for some files on Dropbox.

The most secure I use, but least flexible is Wuala by LaCie the Swiss manufacturer of backup/nas and Bluray/DVD drives. Storage is in Switzerland and subject to strict Swiss privacy laws that make EU and US privacy look weak. All encryption is done on your PC so if you loose/forget your password you loose your data. You get 5GB free. This one is set up just to look like another hard drive on your PC but it can’t be mapped to a folder and unless you load it automatically at boot up, it sometimes doesn’t use the same drive letter which makes it difficult to use in automated scripts.

Another I have tried but didn’t find as convenient is SpiderOak and is expensive for more than the free 2GB and is clearly targeting business users.

One of the most useful features of cloud storage I find is getting access to the information from multiple devices including smart phone and tablet when I’m away from home, for this Dropbox and SkyDrive are the easiest to use. Also for sharing large files that exceed the size limit for some email servers (which can be as low as 1MB and often 5MB).

As has been said before you generally don’t know where your data is being stored, even which country, you don’t know who has access to the encryption keys/passwords and you don’t know how long they might be in business. Wuala is the only one where you have the only encryption key and data is stored in Switzerland. Make sure that you keep copies of everything within your own systems, but don’t get paranoid. The cloud is a convenience if you are aware of its limitations.

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Trusting the ‘cloud’ to secure and protect your documents is like giving your bank account to a friend of your neighbors cousin because they promised to keep it safe for you.
But hey… maybe they actually will.

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Dropbox is now one of the “industry standards”. A lot of people use it, and I use it also. However, my very favorite is SugarSync (http://www.sugarsync.com). It places a folder on your desktop called Magic Briefcase. There is no going to the site, and figuring which files you want to upload or download. Files to be uploaded can be dragged and dropped into the Magic Briefcase folder. To delete a file, you simply delete it from the folder. When you log into another computer that has your SugarSync account installed on it, all contents of your Magic Briefcase folder are automatically updated. So you always have files that are kept updated on all of the computers where you have installed it. If you want to share files with other people, Dropbox is easier. If you are looking to have all of your files updated on all of your computers, I think SugarSync is the best option. Both offer 5GB of free storage.

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Dropbox is now one of the “industry standards”. A lot of people use it, and I use it also. However, my very favorite is SugarSync (http://www.sugarsync.com). It places a folder on your desktop called Magic Briefcase.

Dropbox’s “Dropbox” folder works just like Magic Briefcase. Put a file in it, and that file replicates to the cloud and to all your machines with Dropbox installed on them.

For backup, use both local external hard disk and cloud storage. Redundancy is good.

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I suppose that keeping your money under your mattress is safer, but it lacks a good ATM….

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I think that first, you should identify what you want. Several people have commented about various syncing tools. These include Dropbox, Cubby, Skydrive, Spideroak, Box, etc. The syncing services keep a folder online in sync with one on your computer. In addition, you can join a second computer to that same folder. This allows you to have a copy on your laptop, get it into the cloud, and have it sync to your desktop. These services tend to sync relatively quickly because they are used by people to keep their files in sync in real time.

Back up services like Carbonite, Crashplan, etc are designed for files to be backed up online. The assumption is that you run it in the middle of the night and don’t care about speed as long as it gets done. These services are not designed for sync. It’s more like disaster recovery only. These services are usually less expensive than the syncing tools and they have a different set of options.

You should decide what you need before you get started. Microsoft offers 7G of SkyDrive free. I think that this is the largest free offering from a major vendor. Most of the others are 2-5 Free. There is a free trial for CrashplanPro. Try them both and see what fits your needs.

As far as your machine being more secure than the cloud, well it is. But, I do my banking online. I have all of my credit cards online. Every bill I pay, I do it online. I suppose that someone could hack my Skydrive or Dropbox account and read my work documents but I don’t work for the CIA. I probably wouldn’t upload a list of all my credit cards with all of their usernames and passwords, but for my regular work files, I don’t really care. Those of you that say that you will not use the cloud should also be mailing paper checks to pay bills, and avoiding setting up any online access to your credit cards. I suppose that you can live that way but I choose the convenience of having that data
available to me on all of my devices, in perfect sync, all of the time. I also like the ability to log into any account and review statements and pay bills.

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Dropbox is now one of the “industry standards”. A lot of people use it, and I use it also. However, my very favorite is SugarSync (http://www.sugarsync.com). It places a folder on your desktop called Magic Briefcase. There is no going to the site, and figuring which files you want to upload or download. Files to be uploaded can be dragged and dropped into the Magic Briefcase folder. To delete a file, you simply delete it from the folder. When you log into another computer that has your SugarSync account installed on it, all contents of your Magic Briefcase folder are automatically updated. So you always have files that are kept updated on all of the computers where you have installed it. If you want to share files with other people, Dropbox is easier. If you are looking to have all of your files updated on all of your computers, I think SugarSync is the best option. Both offer 5GB of free storage.

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I use spideroak, I believe it is absolutely secure and reasonably priced.

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Not yet mentioned here is LiveDrive. I have 100Gb currently stored with them, against an unlimited quota (but possibly a 2Tb fair use clause), from 2 computers. First computer costs £3/month on a 2 year contract so that’s £72 up front – about the same as a hard drive. Second computer is just £1/month. As far as I can tell the data in encrypted on their servers and the uplink can be encrypted, but that does slow it down a bit. The service is described as backup, but you can go on the cloud from any PC and retrieve files so it’s really cloud storage. Backup runs every hour as long as you’re connected to the net, and with my 20M down / 1M up cable connection it is pretty fast. Initial upload took several days, leaving the PC on 24 hours a day, so I speeded it up a bit by visiting a client who has a 500Mb connection one day. That option isn’t available to everyone, but my other PC never left home and that took maybe 3 days.

Compared to every other backup system I’ve tried it is streets ahead. Best bit is I (and my wife) don’t have to remember to back up, it just happens. And the cloud saves multiple versions so the good version is still there if it has already backed up the bad one.

Only issue of course is that you can bet disaster will strike in a way that takes out my web connection, so I do have an occasional Windows backup to USB drive that would get me to a point I could try and get the net back.

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rickcosby is right that it depends on what you want Cloud storage to do, but I’ll put in another plug for Dropbox.

For years, I tried to keep my three different computers (home and office desktops, including one Mac and one PC, plus a laptop) synched by carrying portable drives of one kind or another around with me, but it was a continuing pain. Dropbox has made my life much easier. I currently have just under 90GB stored on Dropbox, which has given me the best solution yet to making all that data accessible regardless of which machine I’m using . Dropbox works fast, so I can work on files directly in my Dropbox folder — which means they’re constantly synched to the cloud, but they’re also local, so I can keep working even if the net goes down. I keep local backups just in case, but I’ll probably never need them because I also pay Dropbox the $39/year for the “Packrat” service, which retains unlimited number of deleted files and older versions of changed files. Free would be even nicer, but the cost of Packrat + my 100GB of storage is more than worth it to me.

Is it totally secure? Probably not, so I don’t keep sensitive stuff like financial data in the cloud. Even if someone managed to hack into my account, there’s not much damage they could do. For me, the convenience of knowing that whatever file I want to work on will be there in its latest version easily outweighs the slight risk of a security failure.

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If you’re just looking for a straight backup with no need for frequent retrieval, look into Amazon’s Glacier service. $.01/GB/month for storage. I have all our photos and music (84GB) backed up there for less than $1/month. Retrieval can take up to 4 hours but this is just for catastrophic backup. For files that may need to be retrieved quickly, I use Amazon’s S3 service. I use SyncBackPro to do the nightly backups and the cost is still reasonable.

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Excuse the ignorance, what is the meaning of “100 MG storage”. I’ve never seen the abbreviation “MG” for data storage & my search engine doesn’t show it.

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Excuse the ignorance, what is the meaning of “100 MG storage”. I’ve never seen the abbreviation “MG” for data storage & my search engine doesn’t show it.

I wondered the same. I’m assuming the OP meant GB, not MB…

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If any of the files that you want to store in the cloud are sensitive, be sure that they are encrypted before they leave your computer (what Steve Gibson calls Pre-Internet Encryption) with the keys stored only on your computer(s) or not stored at all, just memorized. Most, if not all, of the cloud storage services also store the encryption keys in the cloud, making your data accessible to someone with enough incentive, or the NSA 🙂

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I do NOT recommend Mozy, I tried it a few years ago.

The first thing I do before using a backup service is upload several GB of data in some thousands of files, then recover the backup to another location and do a binary comparison with the originals.
When I tried Mozy some files were not equal to the originals. (approximately 10 of 3000, but still not acceptable to me). I repeated the test and got similar results (the problem was presented in other files, not the same as in the first test). (Note: the problem files were data files, and the recovered files were useless)
I was in communication with Mozy support, but apparently they never understood what a “binary comparison” is. Finally I looked for another backup service.

I currently use Crashplan, works great and encrypt my data before uploading it to the cloud.

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After having to pay for some data recovery a dozen years ago, I have become a fanatic about backing up. My desktop has two HDs, which Cobian backs up my personal data every night. I have an external drive, which I plug in for a weekly back-up. I also have a big Dell XPS17 laptop with dual 500GB hard drives, which also contains all my data, copied on a regular basis. I have two more laptops with smaller capacity (one older, one new w/SSD)that hold only the most important files. Lastly, there is a WD Passport external drive that I used to keep locked up at work. I’d bring it home monthly to copy added or modified files. So if my main computer blew up I wouldn’t have a problem. My only concern now is that I retired so I don’t have an off site back-up. Haven’t decided what to do about it yet; right now, if my home burns to the ground it won’t matter if I had 100 back-ups.

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After having to pay for some data recovery a dozen years ago, I have become a fanatic about backing up. My desktop has two HDs, which Cobian backs up my personal data every night. I have an external drive, which I plug in for a weekly back-up. I also have a big Dell XPS17 laptop with dual 500GB hard drives, which also contains all my data, copied on a regular basis. I have two more laptops with smaller capacity (one older, one new w/SSD)that hold only the most important files. Lastly, there is a WD Passport external drive that I used to keep locked up at work. I’d bring it home monthly to copy added or modified files. So if my main computer blew up I wouldn’t have a problem. My only concern now is that I retired so I don’t have an off site back-up. Haven’t decided what to do about it yet; right now, if my home burns to the ground it won’t matter if I had 100 back-ups.

You could consider a safe deposit box at a local bank or a home fireproof safe (http://www.consumersearch.com/fireproof-home-safes).

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Nobody seems to have mentioned i-Drive – $50.00 pa for 150Gb – $300 for a TB – single or multiple PCs and Devices.

http://www.idrive.com/index.html

Expensive, maybe but has some advantages over the rest in that it is not a cut price cheap as possible service. Data centre is in the USA – more business oriented than home hence the expense but bullet proof security and support.

https://www.idrive.com/ide_datasheet.pdf

They have a system where you can send data by secure post on a HDD (supplied by i-Drive) which saves upload bandwidth for the initial upload if you wish, once per year free transfer of up to a TB for pro home, and 3 times a year for business accounts. You can use several versions of encryption, the highest level being where only you have the decryption keys even i-Drive cannot unlock your files (the NSA probably can though). Most useful for me personally is that as a system builder I have a archive full of old and new software so I always have the version of whatever I need to hand. This archive represents an investment of thousands of dollars for me over the years – Carbonite does not allow backup of .exe files only photos and music which I don’t really care about. i-Drive does not care what you upload.

hth

Jonah

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Did anyone hear of Zoolz? https://www.zoolz.com/
Some time ago they offered 100GB free (for which I signed up for) but I do not hear anything anywhere about that service.

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Did anyone hear of Zoolz? https://www.zoolz.com/
Some time ago they offered 100GB free (for which I signed up for) but I do not hear anything anywhere about that service.

They went “Unlimited” some time ago.

https://www.zoolz.com/

-- rc primak

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Thumbs up on iDrive.
One other thing to pay CLOSE attention to is what providers mean by ‘backup’. In some cases, if you delete a file locally, the cloud copy goes poof in 30 days. If you’re interested in live copies of current files, then this is OK. If what you really want is a place to stash stuff and find it if you delete/kill it locally, this is a bad thing.
iDrive can sync if you want it or serve as a one way dump from selected folders on your various devices (Win, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Droid). I really like this service and you just can’t beat the price.

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I also have concerns with my data being elsewhere, as well as speed and cost, but security is foremost. I solved my problem by picking up an Iomega EZ Media and Backup Center. It also came with Iomega Personal cloud. It has a 2TB fast hard drive, and a built in server, in an enclosure the size of an external 3.5″ drive only. They clearanced them out for $149.99 when Iomega was bought out by Lenovo a couple of months ago just as I bought it. This gives me the capability to access 2TB of my music and other files with all my computers here at home via the dual band gig router. It is also a personal cloud I can access from any device when away. I just got it out and am starting to figure it out and it looks good so far.

My point is if you want storage and fast local backups, as well as online access from multiple devices, with as much security as you are willing to put into it, there are alternatives that cost far less once only, than slow remote servers that can change policies and prices or go out of biz with little or no notice. Granted, beginners may not understand it. But there is no rental for my very fast, very secure, 2TB of storage. They make larger.

If your goal is off site storage then these are not the answer. It plugs into my router with an Ethernet cable. If you want real time fast backups of select machines or all, and control of your own personal cloud then look into these kinds of devices. There are some awesome small servers like this that are great.

I do images to external drives. Backups after every Quicken home and biz session to SD card, and data to external drives in USB 3 docks and portable 2.5 drives. I currently have more than 12TB of 3.5″ drives in four 2TB drives and several 1TB and more 500GB drives. Then a 1TB, 500GB,and 320GB drives in USB 3.0 self powered enclosures. If I wanted off site storage I could store an image of the server in my portable office building out back which is finished out and climate controlled.

So regardless, most folks not into the tech will trust centralized storage to bail them out in a jam. If that server of mine were in my spare building and it burned down, where are my backups of my backups? Same issue with off site too. I used to keep my music and movies on analog books, CDs, and DVDs. Still do. Now retired my comments on places like this might be helpful. But my data? Only worthwhile to me. I and it just aren’t that important for quadruple backups. I just don’t like or trust others to manage my data externally. I even do local backups of my Outlook files, and am ditching all Google devices as soon as there is a Windows phone I like. I do not log into Windows and use local accounts. I am not interested in syncing them all. Nor do I use webmail or hotmail or G mail or Outlook.com. I am old school new tech.

Personal cloud storage is cheaper and very much faster.

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I also have concerns with my data being elsewhere, as well as speed and cost, but security is foremost. I solved my problem by picking up an Iomega EZ Media and Backup Center. It also came with Iomega Personal cloud. It has a 2TB fast hard drive, and a built in server, in an enclosure the size of an external 3.5″ drive only. They clearanced them out for $149.99 when Iomega was bought out by Lenovo a couple of months ago just as I bought it. This gives me the capability to access 2TB of my music and other files with all my computers here at home via the dual band gig router. It is also a personal cloud I can access from any device when away. I just got it out and am starting to figure it out and it looks good so far.

IOMega is a Chinese company. Your data are behind the Green Dam Firewall. I hope you can rest easy knowing this.

-- rc primak

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By now, all of us probably/already have at least a SkyDrive and/or a DropBox Account.
The following list (as of September 2013) provides the alternative players in the Cloud Storage wars.
One must keep in mind that there sure to be a shakedown in the industry and many of these sites will either merge, disappear or go belly up, along with your data (poof- gone)!
• Mega >> Notorious Kim Dotcom’s old MegaUpload fiasco with the US government and DMCA, has morphed his offering to a 50GB FREE cloud storage sign-up that is operated out of New Zealand (part of the FiveEyes agreement)
• 4Sync offers 15GB of FREE cloud storage with servers in both US and Netherlands
• CloudME from Sweden 3GB free (see also discussion of SaltDrive below)
• Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) To get the free 1-year account, you still need a credit card to register, as this is primarily for businesses. (I think SaltDrive (see below) uses this Amazon service as their backbone)
• Amazon Cloud Drive (5GB) Put your important files here and access them from any of your computers, your Kindle Fire, or online, for Windows and Mac.
• Asus Cloud Storage >> Get FREE 5GB and experience your own cloud today!
• SpiderOak (2GB FREE) started with privacy in mind. For sensitive documents, you’ll want to use SpiderOak, which advertises fully encrypted, zero-knowledge online data backup (and sync).
• Google Drive for Windows >> Access files on your computer from anywhere (need to install an app) w/upto 15GB FREE. Google Drive is your best bet if you need to edit a document online with one or more people.
• Ubuntu One This service, which offers 5GB of FREE storage and music streaming, is also available on Windows XP or higher and Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Ubuntu One is also available on both Android and iOS.
• Copy.com (15GB Free but also needs an app) Want to bring some files home? With Copy, they’re already there. Our apps keep files in sync between your computers and available on your mobile devices so you always have what you want.
• Bitcasa (10GB FREE but also needs an app) is your external hard drive in the cloud that never runs out of space. It works seamlessly with all your devices – your home computer, your work laptop, your phone, and your tablet – so you can access your stuff everywhere. Sending any file, even HUGE files, to friends and family is instant and simple.
• SugarSync (6GB FREE) cloud storage gives you instant and easy access to your data anytime, anywhere. Download free mobile apps to sync iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices. Online backup and automatic file sync for work files or personal files like photos, videos, and music.
• Box (formerly Box.net), is shoveling out up to 50GB of FREE space to new users in some cases, and you can still pretty easily find services and promotions offering tons of free space with Box just for signing up and downloading the client. It’s not new—it’s been around for ages.
• Cubby (5GB FREE) allows individuals, teams and entire workplaces to easily and securely work together, anywhere. Your files are always where you need them – stored in the cloud for anywhere access, shared with others publicly or privately, or even directly synced between your devices without using the cloud. Now you’re free to work when, where and how you want, with the peace of mind that all business information is safe and sound.
• Tresorit (5GB FREE) In May 2013, Tresorit’s hacking contest tasked hackers with breaking open an encrypted tresor for $10,000USD. Even after a month of attempts, the bounty was still unclaimed, even though hackers have full access to the storage server. 1)Easy access to your files >> Upload files and folders to the cloud with a few clicks. Share them with anyone in seconds. We sync and update files automatically. 2)Client-side encryption >> Tresorit secures your files and folders on your computer, before uploading to the cloud. Your encryption keys never leave your computer. This means no one can access your content if you don’t permit them, not even Tresorit. 3)Complete privacy >> Security is not the only concern for cloud adopters – as long as your storage provider or an administrator can peek into your sensitive data, your privacy can be violated. This isn’t possible with Tresorit’s technology: your privacy is guaranteed.
• Carbonite (probably a FREE thank you note upon payment)

An alternative to a cloud storage site and/or if you want to use a different tactic (somewhere from the left field):
1) A really nice, somewhat unknown Do-It-Yourself syncing option is (Bittorrent) BTSync . It’s surprisingly easy to set up, your computers tend to find themselves through strange voodoo magic and sync without using a central server. It’s great because there’s never that risk that your data will suddenly disappear on you if the cloud storage people vanish into a puff of slow economy. The syncing works without a connection to the internet (as long as the computers can see each other over LAN) and there’s no data cap other than what you impose yourself. It’s an option, not really a replacement for something as easy to use as Dropbox (esp. when it comes to the sharing features of all the services mentioned here) but it’s ideal for sharing really large (or somewhat sensitive; it’s encrypted) folders of data.
2) BTSync is altogether more secure than Bittorrent, as BT is designed for general distribution, while BTSync is designed for closed distribution.
3) Well you could actually use BitTorrent without the propriatery “Sync” but with any proper BitTorrent client and an open and free “Tracker” (like Openbittorrent ) to pretty much ‘roll your own’ cloud service w/o and cap on storage! It only needs setting up at the sender’s side. (Creating the torrent file with the client, with the tracker’s url, setting up the client to only accept encrypted connections.) The receiver just accepts the torrent file, and starts downloading with his (also completely normal) BitTorrent client from the only peer out there, which is the sender. (Creating the torrent file with the client, with the tracker’s url, setting up the client to only accept encrypted connections.)
If you don’t speak BitTorrent or are forbidden to do so by your ISP, or just plain old scared of BT; may I recommend the following:
• SaltDrive part of CloudMe which uses a USB drive WITH cloud storage but not free FREE. SaltDrive links your USB flash drive with the internet, creating a cloud-enabled device to give you the best of both technologies. SaltDrive solves the problem of the lost or damaged USB drive. The software is ready to use by simply installing onto your USB flash drive. To use your SaltDrive, just plug your USB flash drive into a computer running Windows, Apple Mac or Linux and launch SaltDrive from the USB. A log-in password protects your data on your drive. If you lose your drive just install SaltDrive on a new USB flash drive and SaltDrive will automatically down-sync your files from your existing cloud.me account. SaltDrive is the first product we intend to release that connects to cloud.me Your use is free during the beta trial plus a further 6 months.

If just a single Cloud Storage is not enough server space for you, then you may need one of these following applications:
• FolderSync LITE is an application that enables simple sync to cloud based storage to/from local folders on the device memory card. It currently support multiple SkyDrive, Dropbox, SugarSync, Ubuntu One, Box.net, LiveDrive, HiDrive, Google Docs, NetDocuments, Amazon S3, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV or windows share (Samba/CIFS) accounts, and support for more platforms are planned. Read-only access to protected file-system also supported – requires root. Effortlessly sync your files. Backup your music, pictures and other important files from the phone to your cloud storage or the other way around. FolderSync also contains a full file manager, that enables you to manage your files locally and in the cloud. Copy, move and delete your files in your cloud/remote accounts. Support for creation/deletion of buckets in Amazon S3. Upload and download files from the phone.
• CloudCube (Android ONLY?) is the powerful management tool for for browse and sync data with your cloud storages. Added new storage’s types: Ubuntu One, Cubby, Mediencenter.
• ES File Explorer is a FREE, full-featured file and application manager for Android. It functions as all of these apps in one: file manager, application manager, task killer, cloud storage client (compatible with Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box.net, Sugarsync, Yandex, Amazon S3, and Ubuntu One), FTP client, and LAN Samba client. It provides access to pictures, music, video, documents, and other files on both your Android devices and your computers. ES File Explorer allows Android users, no matter where they are, to manage their resources for free. You can see and access all of your files from your mobile device and share them with others.

If you could care less about privacy/security or feel that you have nothing to hide or you don’t mind doing business somewhere out of hazy and smog-ridden China (but want the bragging rights for the largest size (of storage)):
• Chinese tech giants Baidu and Qihoo360 are currently courting users with 1TB of free space. Another Chinese tech company Tencent has upped the game, offering a jaw-dropping 10TB worth of free storage. Yes, that’s a whopping 10 times more than the already-shocking 1TB being offered by the other 2 Chinese lures.

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Nice list, thanks for your insights.

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There’s an editor’s review here:
http://www.bestbackups.com/blog/3028/zoolz-cold-storage-review/

Click on the user review tab for user reviews.

Jerry

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I’ve been using Copy.com (from Barracuda Networks who is a very reputable company) to backup all my pictures and home videos. Features are a bit basic, but you can’t beat it from a space standpoint (and it is free). You get 15Gb free (20Gb if you sign up from a referral link) plus you get an extra 5GB per person you get to sign up (promo going on for a limited time). That person does have to install the app (phone/tablet/computer) for you to get the extra 5GB, but it is real easy to accumulate a lot of space very quickly (I have about 200GB so far). The person signing up also gets an extra 5GB so it is a win-win.

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I found this article from Fraunhofer (pdf download) that discusses client-end and communication security, but does not discuss penetration (of the server) security, nor the reliability of the companies.

Personally I’m a little tired of hearing about how unsafe the cloud is. Certainly there are some providers with little or no reputation – maybe some of them have motives for “snooping” in your data. Don’t use them.

Well established companies with a reputation (even Google) do not fall into that category. Look at it this way – Google already made $50B last year on legally knowing everything there is to know about you. Why would they jeopardize that by doing something illegal (like stealing your credit card number)? If you think that the automatic snooping that helps them choose what advertising to show you is done by a human who might see what you wrote in your love letters – you have no idea of the scope involved. There is A LOT of data – it is done by algorithms, not people.

What about the likelihood that a hacker will break in – these companies are pretty big targets, and I’m sure they are fending off attacks every day. The pessimist says some day the defenders will fail and an attack will succeed. I say the crooks are better off attacking each of our accounts individually because time after time studies prove that people use poor passwords, or don’t even turn on/use security tools in the first place.

There is stuff I don’t put in cloud storage – but it is the same stuff I’m not willing to put in an e-mail or even store on my local hard drive.

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JavaJim, I could not disagree more strongly about Google…..they are likely the worst data snoopers ever!

Certainly there are some providers with little or no reputation – maybe some of them have motives for “snooping” in your data. Don’t use them. Well established companies with a reputation (even Google) do not fall into that category.

Snooping data is exactly how google annoys me! They created and monopolize that category!

Googles own terms of service state:

When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.

from: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/terms/

Sure they do go one to say they only use it for “limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services”, but that’s waaaay to broad.

Google already made $50B last year on legally knowing everything there is to know about you.

I consider them as violating the laws on this one. They scan email on both send and receive, if the sender is a google user, then they have already agreed to the terms of service. However, if _I_ send an email to a google user, they still scan it, even though _I_ have not agreed to their insane terms of service. To me that is wrong!

The fact that _most_ of the snooping is automated is no consolation.
Their employees have also shown that they are the weak link.

brino

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Their employees have also shown that they are the weak link.
[brino

Do you have a source for that? I’ve not heard of any cases where google users’ data was revealed or stolen by their employees.

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Well, that just about wraps it up for Google, then.

JavaJim, I could not disagree more strongly about Google…..they are likely the worst data snoopers ever!

Snooping data is exactly how google annoys me! They created and monopolize that category!

Googles own terms of service state:

from: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/terms/

Sure they do go one to say they only use it for “limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services”, but that’s waaaay to broad.

I consider them as violating the laws on this one. They scan email on both send and receive, if the sender is a google user, then they have already agreed to the terms of service. However, if _I_ send an email to a google user, they still scan it, even though _I_ have not agreed to their insane terms of service. To me that is wrong!

The fact that _most_ of the snooping is automated is no consolation.
Their employees have also shown that they are the weak link.

brino

What you describe happens EVERYWHERE with email services. ANYTHING you get”for free” will scan everything you place up there, and you can prove this by posting something, and then watch for new, targeted ads which magically appear within minutes. Google is nowhere near the worst offender. Yahoo is rapidly overtaking them in the mail-snooping business.

-- rc primak

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The one thing I would say is, use a service that is with a well known, established company. In this way, they (and your data) will be around for a long time.

Many of the antivirus companies are providing cloud storage. In some cases, cloud storage is included at no additional charge when you buy their full internet security package. I’d look in that direction if I was looking for this sort of service.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 8.1 running in a VM

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The one thing I would say is, use a service that is with a well known, established company. In this way, they (and your data) will be around for a long time.

Many of the antivirus companies are providing cloud storage. In some cases, cloud storage is included at no additional charge when you buy their full internet security package. I’d look in that direction if I was looking for this sort of service.

Oh yeah that’s a good idea, like Symantec or Mcafee suites for instance and get free online backup, plus a ton spurious errors, a PC running in treacle and a million nag screens. I can hear all the teccies cringing from here. Symantec – Mcafee etc are the very first thing l ditch from a badly behaving machine. Besides which these two charge far too much for their bloatware in the first place and they both auto renew on your credit card which in my opinion is vile behavour for a major corporation.

Surely the poster does not advocate the use of bloatware security suites that need to offer online backup for free to sell their main products, and indeed pay a fortune to pre-install them on OEM machines with “buy me nagging” because anybody with a shred of PC savvy would not install them of their own free will if paid to do so; maybe there are some reasonably good suites that offer free backup, if so which would be recommended?

For the record I use NOD32 AV (but a via DSL linux server / av / firewall and web filter system which means I only use the NOD av engine on the windows machines not the full suite). It does not include anything but good solid AV and Rootkit scanning but the linux server stops 99% of malware anyway.

Jonah

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Surely the poster does not advocate the use of bloatware security suites that need to offer online backup for free to sell their main products, and indeed pay a fortune to pre-install them on OEM machines with “buy me nagging” because anybody with a shred of PC savvy would not install them of their own free will if paid to do so

No, the poster isn’t advocating all of that. He’s only advocating going with a service that is with a well known, established company that will likely be around for a long time, so that your data also is around for a long time.

And since antivirus companies focus on security, the poster thought that perhaps they would be worth looking at from a security point of view, i.e., keeping your data secure.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 8.1 running in a VM

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Well, that just about wraps it up for Google, then.

No, the poster isn’t advocating all of that. He’s only advocating going with a service that is with a well known, established company that will likely be around for a long time, so that your data also is around for a long time.

And since antivirus companies focus on security, the poster thought that perhaps they would be worth looking at from a security point of view, i.e., keeping your data secure.

Non-sequitor on the idea that a security company’s Cloud Services will be secure. They don’t operate that way.

What is attractive about these services is that you aren’t paying extra for them. One-stop shopping. But you already have that with Skydrive, which is included with Windows 8.

-- rc primak

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No one has mentioned Backblaze. They are the most inexpensive cloud based, large capacity backup I know of. My backup is like many: I keep multiple copies locally. I use Backblaze for the disaster that consumes my home and perhaps my fireproof safe. Easily secured with your own private key. I’m backing up about 170 GB for $50/year. I can back up a few TB for the same price. I also have access to my data via the web remotely if I should need it. I’ve used them for over a year now and the product has been rock solid. I test limited restores occasionally just because I’m that kind of person :^). BTW, I’m not so concerned about their reliability – they provide the last hope after a disaster. One copy in their data store is OK for me. They also provide 30 day versioning. The versioning has allowed me to make my spouse very happy a couple of times. That alone is worth the Backblaze fee!

(For those of you who find the technology interesting, look at their blog about how they provide cheap backup. They have a model that I find very interesting.)

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No one has mentioned Backblaze. They are the most inexpensive cloud based, large capacity backup I know of. My backup is like many: I keep multiple copies locally. I use Backblaze for the disaster that consumes my home and perhaps my fireproof safe. Easily secured with your own private key. I’m backing up about 170 GB for $50/year. I can back up a few TB for the same price. I also have access to my data via the web remotely if I should need it. I’ve used them for over a year now and the product has been rock solid. I test limited restores occasionally just because I’m that kind of person :^). BTW, I’m not so concerned about their reliability – they provide the last hope after a disaster. One copy in their data store is OK for me. They also provide 30 day versioning. The versioning has allowed me to make my spouse very happy a couple of times. That alone is worth the Backblaze fee!

(For those of you who find the technology interesting, look at their blog about how they provide cheap backup. They have a model that I find very interesting.)

What is different about their technology, compared with anyone else?
http://www.backblaze.com/internet-backup.html?gclid=CIf2oaPwy7kCFZFFMgodpSgAJw
Shows nothing different from anyone else at this site.

-- rc primak

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What is different about their technology, compared with anyone else?
http://www.backblaze.com/internet-backup.html?gclid=CIf2oaPwy7kCFZFFMgodpSgAJw
Shows nothing different from anyone else at this site.

See, e.g., http://blog.backblaze.com/2013/02/20/180tb-of-good-vibrations-storage-pod-3-0/ . They have focused on inexpensive in a more unusual way. I also like their remarkable openness on their blog. I’ve built out 100TB’s of storage – expensive storage. This model is quite different.

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I would heartily recommend Pogoplug (http://www.pogoplug.com) which is a US company – they offer 5Gb totally free but are currently running a promotion for Unlimited storage for $29.95 pa.

I have used them for 3 years with nary a problem – nice web interface with a built in slideshow viewer – folders can be either set to be completely private, private link (to send a link to your family) or completely public. Files/photos are easily downloaded if required – there is also an online .pdf viewer but is not available in public folders

The upload speed is good (but rather depends on your personal send rate) – remember most domestic customers have ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) which means that which you may have 8M/bits (or possibly much more) when downloading your upload rate may only be 256/512/768M/bits – or, more rarely, faster!

So it is pointless taking note of others saying that ‘the upload speed’ is slow without knowing what actual upload rate they have personally with their ADSL link

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I’ve read te comments to this point. There’s some paranoia out there.

I went with Carbonite about two years ago. Someone above noted it’s a resource hog but I only found that a problem on start-up, a long process taking over a week. Since then, no problems. Carbonite does not back-up videos (size issues or copyright issues?) and the files ‘revolve’ so you can’t get to a file you changed or eliminated after about 30 days. I’ve had some trouble recalling a protected file. Carbonite does allow back-ups to be accessed by a smart phone. As to safety, I figure Carbonite makes cloud storage a business, not a sideline, a ‘gift’, or a feature. Nothing is truly secure but Carbonite is probably more secure than a portable computer with sensitive files.

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I’ve read te comments to this point. There’s some paranoia out there.

I went with Carbonite about two years ago. Someone above noted it’s a resource hog but I only found that a problem on start-up, a long process taking over a week. Since then, no problems. Carbonite does not back-up videos (size issues or copyright issues?) and the files ‘revolve’ so you can’t get to a file you changed or eliminated after about 30 days. I’ve had some trouble recalling a protected file. Carbonite does allow back-ups to be accessed by a smart phone. As to safety, I figure Carbonite makes cloud storage a business, not a sideline, a ‘gift’, or a feature. Nothing is truly secure but Carbonite is probably more secure than a portable computer with sensitive files.

I have to ask why you bother with Carbonite? – it charges you money then dictates what you can and cannot upload / download plus it is no more secure than any other cloud backup service. Just because Leo-Laporte plugs it on the Twit network does not mean it is any good, merely popular.

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I have to ask why you bother with Carbonite? – it charges you money then dictates what you can and cannot upload / download plus it is no more secure than any other cloud backup service. Just because Leo-Laporte plugs it on the Twit network does not mean it is any good, merely popular.

I’ll answer that. Carbonite removes the user from the equation when scheduling/accomplishing backups. I usually backup to my external hard drive weekly, which is reasonable. However, after making a ton of changes during mid-week, I had an outage and lost all my work. Fortunately, Carbonite had automatically backed up my work, without any action on my part, and saved my bacon.

If your data is important to you, back it up locally and use Carbonite or some similar service. Also, never forget that any local backup can be stolen right along with your computer, leaving you with nothing. Or it can burn. Carbonite is worth the small amount it costs.

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I’ll answer that. Carbonite removes the user from the equation when scheduling/accomplishing backups. I usually backup to my external hard drive weekly, which is reasonable. However, after making a ton of changes during mid-week, I had an outage and lost all my work. Fortunately, Carbonite had automatically backed up my work, without any action on my part, and saved my bacon.

If your data is important to you, back it up locally and use Carbonite or some similar service. Also, never forget that any local backup can be stolen right along with your computer, leaving you with nothing. Or it can burn. Carbonite is worth the small amount it costs.

I don’t like being removed from my backup equation, thank you.

My computer is MY computer, and I will maintain and back it up any way which suits ME, not my Cloud Vendor.

-- rc primak

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I apologize if the following has been already posted >> I did a brief search and did not see it:

How to get an extra 10GB of Google Drive space for free
Google gives all comers 15 gigabytes’ worth of free storage across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Plus Photos. Not a bad chunk of space just for having a heartbeat.
Of course, more is always better, especially when you don’t have to pay for it. And Google is now offering exactly that, though there are a couple small catches.
From now through Sept. 26, you have the opportunity to score an extra 10GB of Google Drive space, no extra charge.
The requirement: Install the new Quickoffice app for Android or iOS–which, incidentally, is also now free. Then sign into your Google account via that app. Presto! You get another 10GB of gratis storage.
What’s the catch? First, it won’t appear right away; Google says to look for the space increase “in the next few weeks.” Second, this isn’t a permanent bump, though it is a lengthy one: you get the freebie for the next two years.

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TechHivehad a big expose on available cloud (storing/sharing/synching) services, that I felt compelled to include herein, for other loungers to review.
SugarSync was their justified favorite… and maybe even yours…:confused:

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TechHivehad a big expose on available cloud (storing/sharing/synching) services, that I felt compelled to include herein, for other loungers to review.
SugarSync was their justified favorite… and maybe even yours…:confused:

The review is more than 1 year old… The SugarSync site is also one of those dumbed down things where very little information is available, other than generalities. Amazing how the techhive article can provide more info than the sugarsync site itself.

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cubby offers cloud storage, but I use the pc to pc component. This syncs my office pc with my home pc.

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I haven’t weighed in on this topic, primarily because I don’t use “the cloud”. But after reading through this thread a couple of times, I’ve decided that I do have a couple of observations to make which may or may not be relevant.

I have ADSL, and my bandwidth usage is unlimited up/down or total. There is only a maximum speed limit both ways. My only other restriction through my ISP is a prohibition on web hosting (which I wouldn’t really want to do, anyway – I want all my bandwidth for my household). Others have other restrictions, however, as mentioned in this thread. And one of the things about ADSL is that the upload speed is a fraction of the download speed, which is reasonable in view of the fact that most upload traffic amounts to little more than sending page requests.

For me, there’re just too many things that get in the way of cloud storage. I wouldn’t want to put anything in “the cloud” without first using some strong encryption on it. Nevermind that some services encrypt one’s stuff as part of the service, I just don’t trust that. So there’s two extra steps, encryption up and decryption down. And then the problem with encrypting it on my end is that were I to have some massive failure on my end, I may well not be able to decrypt my own stuff for recovery from “the cloud”. So I need a drive image anyway, in order to have my encryption key(s) available if I want to retrieve my stuff. This makes “the cloud” (for me, anyway) just offsite storage with extra steps.

So I have a speed issue, and an encryption issue, notwithstanding that one usually has to pay a rental fee for storage in “the cloud”. So I’m looking at it through 3 negatives from the git-go. And when it comes down to the simple reality of things, I’ve already survived a house fire using the backup regimen that I’ve developed over the years, so I’m fairly confident in it; proof’s-in-the-pudding sort of thing. My email and my financials are the only two parts of my data that I am particularly cautious about. I backup my financials to DVD every time I update them, and I have multiple copies in multiple places. I have a number of email accounts, a couple are online and only used for spam magnets, and there are two that I use regularly.

My primary email account is provided by my ISP, and comes with unlimited storage. I use that one for business as well as personal, and I get the Windows Secrets newsletter through that account. Yes, I’m paying for it, but it’s part of the DSL package. The other regularly used email account, the one I use for Windows Secrets Forums notifications, is through my website from my web hosting company. That one has unlimited storage, as well. I use Outlook for my email client, and I have my accounts setup to leave a copy of my email on the server.

So my Outlook pst files are backed up in my drive images, but all my email is also readily available simply by checking my mail – it’s all on the ISP and webhost servers. That’s the extent of my storage in “the cloud”. But maybe not.

Storage in “the cloud” amounts to your stuff being on a network server somewhere. Well, copies of all my drive images are on a server, as well. I have other copies on a dedicated 1TB internal HDD. My server is a Seagate GoFlex Home 3TB NAS (Network Addressed Storage) connected via Ethernet to my router. I don’t use the Seagate software; I didn’t even install it. The firmware makes it visible and accessible on my network, and that’s all I need. My router is a gigabit Ethernet/WiFi combo with a hardware firewall, and the GoFlex has a gigabit Ethernet capability. It has a USB option, but that’s much slower. It also has a USB port, so an additional USB external can be attached; but I don’t use that, either. It’s fast on Ethernet. A drive image to or restore from my NAS takes no more time than a drive image to my dedicated internal 1TB HDD.

One other circumstancial advantage to my particular network storage arrangement is related to my ISP’s prohibition on web hosting. I can take my laptop to a WiFi hotspot, target my home ISP address specifically, and get nothing more than a 404 error. Knowing all the passwords doesn’t help me at all. My ISP simply firewalls targeted incoming traffic that is not the result of an outgoing request from my network. This does interupt a feature of the Seagate GoFlex which is free network access from anywhere. My ISP blocks that, too. But then, I don’t really need that particular feature.

Bottom line, my alternative for storage in “the cloud” is get your own cloud. Get a NAS and put it on your home network. There are a number of options available, and mine cost little more than a 3TB USB external HDD. Sale pricing makes them even more attractive.

Of course, YMMV. I don’t do incremental backups of anything other than my financials. I use copying across drives for my data and frequent drive images. I don’t use any backup software (not even Windows own limited backup), only Image for Windows drive images. Of course, any imaging software that can address NAS would most likely work similarly.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

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One of the big issues with online storage or online backup is how long they are going to be around.I was using Comcast secure backup and was notified that the service is going to be discontinued 1 December. That raises the question of just how reliable are the services. It is not uncommon for “the new trend” to fold their tents and leave the user out in the cold.Luckily, I also have Carbonite, but if I were a business that use a lot of the cloud stuff and have a lot of data stored there, I would get really anxious about not only what happens to my data from a security standpoint but also when I have to restore that data to my system when the services discontinued, and I have a lot of data, this is going to be a problem.

I have always considered this to Achilles heel of a lot of “bright new ideas” because businesses need consistency and can’t afford to be swapping standards and protocols on the whim of the shareholders.

For the average user, it is a lot easier to simply click the button and have everything taken care of and even hooking up an external hard drive can be a little hassle since it involves a lot more than simply clicking the button.

I also use Google docs which converted to drive and sky drive which used to be called something else but if I were a company that had a lot of data, this option to be a lot more expensive than the PC journals make them out to be. Even services that boast unlimited storage, still have the risk of going poof when you need them. Certainly, the advantage of cloud storage is that you can retrieve your data from any number of locations and this is not a minor convenience. However, if I had large amounts of data, I would also have an alternative that I could touch.

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@MQG1023

There are a number of commercial enterprise backup companies. They aren’t cheap, but for doctors, attorneys and small businesses, they are efficient and reliable. The average user won’t even see any information concerning such companies, but they are out there, and have been for a long time. They aren’t in the “consumer” space at all, and the average user would likely forego such expense.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

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@MQG1023

If cloud storage is used as an additional option to local backups, even the replacement of a provider need not be nothing other than a small hickup. You can find professional grade options that can even be rather economical and with providers that look as solid as possible – Amazon, for example.

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Depends on what you want to store. I got 50 GB with Dropbox for free (forget how) and I’m using half that maybe. Also Flikr has 1 TB (terabyte = 1000 GB) available for free for photos and personally-filmed videos (like from your own cam or phone). Don’t know about you but I have a couple of hundred GP of family pics I wanna keep, but they don’t need encryption really at all. Anything sensitive you don’t want seen you should encrypt yourself, as many governments request (==”require”) cloud providers to give them a way to decrypt the cloud=stored files for law-enforcement purposes. Any back door can be malappropriated in my view.

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