Cloud storage - Who to use? 1TB+

[Chrisgti6]

So, i'm in need of some cloud storage, mainly to back up important docs, photos, wedding pics and videos etc.

Would be good for something multi platform, Windows PC and iPhones mainly. 1TB should cover it, but happy to have more.

I was going to put a couple of 2TB HDD in my current PC in RAID1, but as RAID isn't really a back-up platform i'd be better with Cloud I think.

So, who's best to use, reliable, good price etc

Chris

 

[Addicted]

Google offer 1Tb on their drive, iirc its not too expensive, depends what you need/want it for I guess. Drive can store other stuff than just Word/Excel docs :smile:

If you use Android a lot I'd probably go with that, just for the integration!

 

[jam.]

Dropbox? I'm sure there are better alternatives, but I've been using it for years and it has done me well, syncs all devices, phones etc.

I'm just on the basic account for 2GB, but you can get 1TB for £7.99 a month, or unlimited for £11.

 

[JonnyK]

office 365 ?

 

[CrippsCorner]

I use a combination of Photobucket & OneDrive.

 

[jonno_c]

office 365 ?

Defo office 365. If you pay for the better one you also get the Office package as well on a monthly basis and can use it all online if needed.

 

[Chrisgti6]

Sorry - I forgot i'd made this thread.

The Office 365 looks like it could be a winner. 1TB for £7.99/m inc Office seems a good deal. 1TB would be plenty of storage anyway, I can't see me needing more anytime soon and 1TB is going to take long enough to upload!

 

[charltjr]

Yep Office 365 is the way to go, it's actually unlimited cloud storage space now but you have to apply for it. Uploads are (deliberately) slow however so yes it will take a long time to transfer a TB.

 

[Jack!]

Do you really need what cloud offers? Are you accessing things on the go, away from one usual location?

After a year, you'd have spent almost £100 on cloud storage... and then onwards from there - when it doesn't sound like you're doing much more than basic backing-up?

Could use a NAS at home if you want to just pay a one off cost, can be accessed by multiple devices (PC, OS X, iOS, Android etc).

 

[Chrisgti6]

Do you really need what cloud offers? Are you accessing things on the go, away from one usual location?

After a year, you'd have spent almost £100 on cloud storage... and then onwards from there - when it doesn't sound like you're doing much more than basic backing-up?

Could use a NAS at home if you want to just pay a one off cost, can be accessed by multiple devices (PC, OS X, iOS, Android etc).

Even a NAS would be overkill for what I need, however storage at home isn't safe enough imo. The data I want to back up could still easily be lost through fire, theft etc.

I need safe and secure, with as little chance as possible of losing anything.

 

[charltjr]

None of the cloud providers really offer protection from data loss, you need to move up to more expensive business grade services for that. They're not backed up so any data that is deleted or lost from the cloud service is gone.

A big USB disk kept at work/relatives/friends and brought home once in a while to refresh with any new data is probably the cheapest solution.

 

[Keydogg]

I agree with Charl, Office 365 (and Google Drive, etc) aren't really what you would call a backup service. They're more of a syncing service.

For example if you edit a word document, delete everything and press save then it syncs, there's no way you can find the previous version in the cloud, only the current version. So if it was done unintentionally or you felt instant regret, you have no chance of going back.

At least with a NAS (or a proper online backup service) you can say do daily backups and keep the last x days so that if you f**k something up you can restore it from yesterday, or last week, or whatever.

 

[Jay_A]

As a Security Manager, something else to consider when storing your data in the cloud is ensuring you use a complex password (15 character +). Also 2 factor authentication is best, if available. It just reduces the risk of your account getting hacked and loosing any sensitive data.

Products like Dropbox allow you to implement 2 factor by using an app on your phone which provides a 6 digit code after logging in with your password.

If you're putting any data out there on the internet, make sure its secure

 

[C.J]

Cloud is definitely my preferred choice, but locally is just as important (worst case: HDD is fried, and there's no internet to download all of the cloud files).

I use Google Drive for important files or files I may need to give shared access to.

I use Flickr for all photos (you get 1TB for free - you can mark all uploads as private).

I also have every PC in the office backup every 24 hours to 3 locations (once to a server, once to an exernal HDD, and once to a portable HDD that comes home with me every night). So I have 4 copies of every file, and each backup stores the previous versions of the files too should they be deleted by the user. I use GoodSync for this (I prefer it to anything else I've tried).

I agree with Charl, Office 365 (and Google Drive, etc) aren't really what you would call a backup service. They're more of a syncing service.

For example if you edit a word document, delete everything and press save then it syncs, there's no way you can find the previous version in the cloud, only the current version. So if it was done unintentionally or you felt instant regret, you have no chance of going back.

Google Drive does keep previous versions of a file for 30 days. It's under the manage versions tab.

 

[Keydogg]

Cloud is definitely my preferred choice, but locally is just as important (worst case: HDD is fried, and there's no internet to download all of the cloud files).

I use Google Drive for important files or files I may need to give shared access to.

I use Flickr for all photos (you get 1TB for free - you can mark all uploads as private).

I also have every PC in the office backup every 24 hours to 3 locations (once to a server, once to an exernal HDD, and once to a portable HDD that comes home with me every night). So I have 4 copies of every file, and each backup stores the previous versions of the files too should they be deleted by the user. I use GoodSync for this (I prefer it to anything else I've tried).

Google Drive does keep previous versions of a file for 30 days. It's under the manage versions tab.

I wasn't aware of this! Has this changed? I'm sure that wasn't the case a couple of years back but I could be wrong. Makes me want to look at that as a solution again.