Reply With QuoteI have no issues with Dropbox and bought/rented 1TB space. All my camera pics go there lossless, unlike Amazon Prime's free photo account. It also holds a fair bit of other data I don't want to lose either.
I’m starting to think of subscribing to a cloud storage provider and wondered if anyone had any recommendations.
I would mainly use this for photo storage and I think I would need around 100GBs. I currently have all of my photos on my Macbook and I have a backup hard disc that I try to update every couple of months and leave at my Mum and Dads but I still worry that if my laptop was to be stolen and the hard disc failed then I would lose them all.
I have no issues with Dropbox and bought/rented 1TB space. All my camera pics go there lossless, unlike Amazon Prime's free photo account. It also holds a fair bit of other data I don't want to lose either.
Don't rely on it. It's good to have a copy in the cloud but you also want a copy on hardware that you control.
Thanks, I'll check out Dropbox. I imagine a large company like that would have robust backstops in place so them loosing your data would be almost impossible.Originally Posted by Glamdring
This is true so my cloud storage is one of three backups I have. It also allows me to access files or images wherever I go. None of that guarantees I will be able to find such and such a file when I need it!
How do other storage media compare in the reliability stakes? Are flash drives more robust than traditional HDDs?
Not at all, there is no guarantee they won't lose your data, which is why you should have a third copy somewhere.
Don't underestimate the time taken to upload your data. Depending on your internet connection it could take a few days.
Google may be your friend on this but my gut feeling is that hdd is a better long term bet than flash. All backups should be checked from time to time and you should probably 'life' your devices and chuck them out (or at least stop relying on them) after, say 4 years.
I'll say it again, storage is cheap compared to your data, you can't have too many backups in multiple locations.
Thanks, I think I get about 10 mbps upload after finally getting fibre out to our exchange in the sticks so it might take a while!
Flash drops bits far more than HDD and is inherently unstable although I expect it is getting better. Data centres actually use cheap consumer flash as they have sufficient redundancy and prefer the cheaper more failure prone consumer SSDs to the enterprise class ones. All the cloud is run on tape as that gives the long term reliability with the cheap per GB cost that is demanded.
For the end user a local copy and a cloud copy should suffice but as others have said choose your cloud provider carefully if it is to be your only copy or stick with a very established player who won't go bust overnight (eg http://www.2e2.com/docs/jacqui/lette...r.pdf?sfvrsn=2)
Problem is - people are talking about Sync software - Back-up is different and has a different function.
As for Dropbox - they use amazon storage (or at least they did the last time I checked).
Myself - I have dropbox (syncs across 5 machines so five local copies) and one of the machines also syncs to an external drive connected to router.
Then finally - once a month, I drop my dropbox into onedrive.
Backing up is not the issue - there are loads of options.
The most important thing is the reliability and ability to restore.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Amazon leases their servers to many companies. That doesn't mean those services are the same as Amazon's own offerings.
Dear OP
If your photos are on your Mac Book have you not considered using iCloud?
hd's are cheap, the speed of flash memory isn't really needed for archiving, you can buy them for less than £50. I back-up in 3 places (2 on-site) plus another copy in my parents safe and then online. I use box.net and have 100gb storage on there for around £5 per month.
I also use it for file delivery to clients (I'm a professional photographer).
One way of doing it if you don't generate lots of data is a time machine back-up to a portable HD of the same size as your Mac and then 2 more externals that are bigger and will store the next few years of content, one of these is off site. You can then also have a cloud back-up.
Sounds excessive until something gets stolen/fails.
Worth checking out these guys too...
http://www.code42.com/crashplan/
I've used it on a Mac and once installed it's pretty seamless, as it just backups continually in the background without you having to think about it.
There's a cost to the service, but as with all these things, you pays your money and you takes your choice.
Google drive I believe comes with 15GB for free, again syncs with all of your devices - can't go wrong
Alan already mentioned it, but it is worth reiterating that file syncing is not backing up.
A backup is a point in time copy of data that can be used as a regression point in case of disaster/corruption etc.. File syncing will replicate changes across the data estate meaning that deletions/additions or indeed corruption is echoed, more or less real-time. It doesn't therefore give a regression capability for data restoration purposes.
Rich (MBCI.)
Posting Permissions