Cloud back up and storage

DrFroggies

Hi guys,

Just wondering if any of you know much about cloud storage and functionality. I know very little about it myself but when i was in pc world the other day one of the guys in there mentioned it as a possible option (was looking at external harddrives but can't afford one the moment and need to back up some files urgently this is only €40 for a year and apparently can be accessed from anywhere) Here's the thing pc world are offering (i'm not looking at the 5yr 1tb option they are advertising here...I'm looking at 500gb for 1yr but i'd imagine the specs are the same)

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/KNOWHOW-Cloud-Backup-and-Share-1TB-5YR/309754/2.11

The things i'm wondering about are pretty basic but just to be sure:

1. It says 3 computers but does that mean that you can only back up...up to 3 computers but can access from any computers anywhere at anytime?

2. I would be backing up from my home computer which is a PC but would want to access files on my college computers which are MACs is this possible?

3. Can i work on files within the cloud (ie. allow my other computer - my laptop which is also a pc to run more smoothly since less of its storage is in use)?

I know these might seem like stupid and obvious questions to you guys but I just want to be sure i understand what i'm potentially getting into before i pay for anything as money is pretty tight at the moment (as it is for everyone).

Anyway I'd appreciate any feedback on this!!
Thanks
DrF ;-)

AlmightyCushion

1. The version you are looking at only backs up one pc. The files it backs up though are available on any computer connected to the internet. When installing the software you get to choose a custom .livedrive.com address (e.g. mrfroggies.livedrive.com). When you go to this address, you login and all your files are there.

2. As long as the computer supports those file types then yes that will work. For example if you upload a word document, when you download that file as long as the computer has a program installed that supports word documents it will work fine.

3. You'd have to download the files to the laptop everytime you want to use it so it would work but it's not very practical. Having things stored on your laptop doesn't slow it down much unless the hard drive is nearly full, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

harrywilsoken

Try the dropbox which is based on the cloud storage will provide 50GB to provide back up for your files. It just costs $19 a year.

AlmightyCushion

harrywilsoken wrote: »

Try the dropbox which is based on the cloud storage will provide 50GB to provide back up for your files. It just costs $19 a year.

Where do you get it at that price? It says it's 99 dollars a year for me.

Capt'n Midnight

More details on the UK page
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/knowhow-cloud-1tb-backup-share-service-11264362-pdt.html

check your cap with your ISP , some may charge you if you use a lot of data


remember that clouds mean that you could loose all your data if the company goes bust , and in most cases that means the company they are outsourcing to , or acts of God etc (data centre fire)

if you didn't need so much space you could mix and match with the free products from several free vendors, like moxy

for slightly more storage you can get utilities that can dump files to amazon or gmail but would be more for backups you have made your self since it's not really a file level thing

or you could get something like this and leave with one of your relations
http://go.iomega.com/en/products/network-storage-desktop/home-network-hard-drives/home-media-cloud/?partner=4725#where_to_buyItem_tab

ScumLord

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

remember that clouds mean that you could loose all your data if the company goes bust ,

That would mean going with the likes of Microsoft or google is probably a safe bet.

Microsoft do a cloud service something like dropbox and I'd assume there'd be some sort of office support. I don't have much experience with the microsoft service other than a shared folder on my home and work PCs. I've switched to dropbox though as microsofts was very lazy at transferring files.

I find myself using google docs more and more, it works on any platform (even smart phones) you can share files with other google users and it's available from anywhere.

Capt'n Midnight

ScumLord wrote: »

That would mean going with the likes of Microsoft or google is probably a safe bet.

you'd think that

but we have no idea what the future will bring
copyright laws would block a lot of stuff
net neutrality wars ?

vendors have pulled out of sections of the market before, check the small print in case it says "we can tell you to get lost anytime if we give you back any outstanding charges"

best to have another backup somewhere else as well

ScumLord

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

vendors have pulled out of sections of the market before,

I don't think anyone will be pulling out of the cloud market. They might come up with a different service but in terms of compatibility I'd have to assume switching from one Micrososft service to another would be pretty painless.

I don't think they have the best service or anything I'm just working on the assumption Microsoft will be around for a while yet.

Capt'n Midnight

In some cases the company will get bought out, or they will sell that product line to another company and always with the promise that nothing will change, and then it can be a death of a thousand cuts as the terms and conditions are gradually eroded.

It's not that likely but it is something to think about so you are prepared.


Realistically hard drive and broadband prices per byte are set to go down for the foreseeable future. As long as people don't use encryption there is a good chance storage costs can drop further by deduplication especially with any the search engine providers who already have large chunks of the internet backed up