For anyone not familiar with the term "Cloud Storage," it applies to storage of data anywhere on a network.
The advantage being that, in the event of a failure of hardware you have a backup of your precious data. Another advantage is access to that data from anywhere with almost any device capable of connecting to the web.
Lets say I want to work on that great novel I'm writing and it's not on my tablet that I brought out with me. I can access it by accessing my cloud storage that backs it up automatically from my notebook or home computer .
Many of the big providers are offering sizable chunks of online storage for free. if you are a Google or Hotmail/Outlook subscriber, you already have an online storage option you can take advantage of right away called Google Drive and SkyDrive.We'll get to that later on.
In 'The Cloud' you can access your files, big or small, on the go; or make a back up; or share it with millions of others. All thanks to cloud storage services, you can do all these things and more. As this technology already has been catching up with the consumers, lately there has been a sprout of many such services. But which among them are best? Here is the list of 10 best cloud storage services to date.
Mega is a file hosting service and successor to Megaupload. The website was launched on 19 January 2013, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the seizure of Megaupload. After Gabon denied the new company under the domain name me.ga, Kim Dotcom announced it would instead be registered in his adopted home of New Zealand under the domain name mega.co.nz.
It offers a 50GB free storage, and for security purpose, the service will be encrypted client-side using an advanced AES algorithm. A way to beat what happened to Megaupload.
Apparently you can't buy extra storage through Mega. You have to rent your storage space via a Mega reseller. Prices start at 10 euros per month for 500GB of storage.
Ubuntu One is the personal cloud that brings your digital life together. It includes storage, sync, sharing and streaming – so that you have immediate access to your music collection, favorite photos, videos, important documents and more, at any time and from any device.
It offers 5GB of free storage and music streaming, and if you soared the word about it, you can earn up to 20GB extra free cloud storage with its referral program. Buy any track from its Music Store and it will be there in cloud for 6 months, which includes 20GB of cloud storage absolutely free. You can get more storage on Ubuntu One with a flat fee of $3.99, or $29.99 a year for each additional 20GB of storage. If all I needed was a simple storage service that also included music streaming, for $3.99 a month, I'd be fond of Ubuntu One. For me, though, there are better services.
Ubuntu One is available on Windows XP or higher, Mac OS X 10.6 or higher, Android and iOS.
SpiderOak can be used to back up, share, sync, access and store data using an off-site server. It allows the user to back up any given folder from his/her computer. One of the most defining features of this cloud storage service is that, it uses encrypted cloud storage and client-side encryption key creation, so even employees of SpiderOak cannot access users' information.
SpiderOak offers two account types, a free 2 GB version and a paid subscription for capacity above the free account limit. Users can also create a referral link, and each time the link is used to sign up for an account, an extra 1GB will be allotted to both accounts. The maximum account size that can be attained in this manner is 10GB. And it will cost you $10 a month for 100GB of storage.
It is accessible through an app for Windows, Mac and Linux computer platforms, and Android, N900 Maemo and iOS mobile platforms.
It was previously known as Windows Live SkyDrive and Windows Live Folders. It allows users to upload and sync files to a cloud storage and then access them from a Web browser or their local device. It is part of the Windows Live range of online services and allows users to keep the files private, share them with contacts, or make the files public. Publicly shared files do not require a Microsoft account to access.
The service offers 7 GB of free storage for new users and, for one year, an additional 3 GB of free storage to students. Additional storage is available for purchase. If you want 20GB more, it will cost you $10 a year. 50GB is $25, and 100GB is just $50 annually. The service is built using HTML5 technologies, and files up to 300 MB can be uploaded via drag and drop into the web browser, or up to 2 GB via the SkyDrive desktop application for Microsoft Windows and OS X.
MediaFire is a free file and image hosting web site. It includes up to 50 GB of storage, starting at 10 GB then increased by as much as 40 GB if various activities like sharing on Facebook and Twitter are done. MediaFire provides users with the ability to create image galleries from folders of images and view and share common document, presentation, and spreadsheet file types inside the web browser. MediaFire's free account service does not require download activity in order to preserve files, and is thus often suitable as a temporary or secondary backup solution although MediaFire does not officially support free data warehousing. There’s a limit of 200 MB per file.
These restrictions go away with the subscription versions. These start at a $1.50 a month with a year's subscription. This level doesn't add any storage, it just frees you of some of MediaFire's restrictions. The other plans, Pro for $4.50 a month, and Business for $24.50 a month, gives you 250GB and 1TB of storage respectively.
MediaFire supports Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows on the PC side of life, and Android and iOS on devices.
Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service by Google. It is now the home of Google Docs, a suite of productivity applications that offer collaborative editing on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more.
Google Drive gives all users 5 GB of cloud storage to start with. A user can get additional storage, which is shared between Picasa and Google Drive, from 25 GB up to 16 TB through a paid monthly subscription plan ($2.49 US per month for 25 GB).
Gmail is well integrated with Google Drive. Just sign in to your email account and click 'Drive' on the top bar. Select the files you want to share (multiples possible), add email addresses and click send.
Also, like Dropbox, it integrates with Windows and Mac file systems, Chrome OS, Android, and Apple's iOS.
Dropbox offers cloud storage, file synchronization, and client software. It allows users to create a special folder on each of their computers, which Dropbox then synchronizes so that it appears to be the same folder, with the same contents, regardless of which computer is used to view it. Files placed in this folder also are accessible through a website and various mobile applications. Dropbox provides client software for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, BlackBerry OS and web browsers, as well as unofficial ports to Symbian, Windows Phone and MeeGo.
Dropbox only comes with 2GB of free storage, but you can get more storage by bringing new users to Dropbox. If you want more room, Dropbox charges $9.99 a month, or $99 annually for 100GB, and similarly priced deals for up to 500GB.
It is more of a business-collaboration and work-flow solution for enterprise companies than a storage service; but if you are looking towards something like this, then Box fits the bill perfectly. The company has adopted a freemium business model, and provides 5 GB of free storage for personal accounts. A mobile version of the service is available for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, WebOS, and Windows Phone devices. The personal editions also offer 25GB for $9.99 a month and 50GB for $19.99. Business edition starts at $15 a month for a whopping 1,000GB of storage.
You can use it for the business purposes since it provides amazing features like- Invite others to view, edit and move; Track file versions; Post comments and discussions; Assign and manage tasks; Real-time activity feed; Google Docs integration. In addition, the service also includes Box OneCloud, for improved mobile work-flow, and Online Workspaces. There are also a variety of business-specific apps included within the service.
iCloud is a cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple, and comes with 5GB of free storage. The service allows users to store data such as music and iOS applications on remote computer servers for download to multiple devices such as iOS-based devices running iOS 5 or later, and personal computers running OS X 10.7.2 "Lion" or later, or Microsoft Windows (Windows Vista service pack 2 or later). It also replaces Apple's MobileMe service, acting as a data syncing center for email, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, notes, reminders (to-do lists), iWork documents, photos and other data. The service also allows users to wirelessly back up their iOS devices to iCloud instead of manually doing so using iTunes.
Apple iCloud works hand in glove with iTunes Match. Match, which is built into the iTunes app, lets you store your entire music collection, no matter where you get your tunes, for just $24.99 a year. Even if you didn't buy the music from Apple, it doesn't count against your storage limits. There is a 25,000 song limit though.
Additional space is priced at $20 per year for 10GB, $40 per year for 20GB, and $100 per year for 50GB.
* Important Note: Apple iCloud users who use Alternate or Microsoft applications instaed of iWork Apps to edit documents may find it difficult to work and share on your different devices using your favourite applications within Apple's iCloud structure. Additional software may be required at an additional cost. The integration to Apple applications is very tight and narrow minded in my opinion.
“Never worry about losing a precious memory or not having access to your important files on the go. Amazon Cloud Drive makes storing your photos, videos, documents, and other digital files in the Cloud quick and easy,” the Amazon Cloud Drive page states.
Its storage space can be accessed from up to eight specific devices. The devices can be mobile devices, different computers, and different browsers from a single computer. The device limit are reached even if web browser cookies are not stored, or are deleted. The first 5 gigabytes of storage is free; additional space costs $USD 0.50 per gigabyte per year.
Users can opt in to store their purchased music to Amazon Cloud Drive by making a purchase via Amazon MP3 store, either on a website or via Amazon MP3 application for Android (version 2.0 or later). The music purchased through Amazon MP3 store does not count towards the storage limit.
if you are in the Toronto area and have questions regarding these options and how to implement them in your home or business, Please feel free to contact us www.torontopcrepair.com Your Technology Solutions Provider.
I'll be talking about gaming systems in our next article.
No comments:
Post a Comment