Movement towards cloud storage

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Maybe you don't understand.

Some people *don't trust the cloud*, and/or don't want to depend on any service, and I'm one of them. Price doesn't even enter into the equation.

Maybe you do not understand.

But I was commenting on #3 in the thread that said something about price. So in this thread there was comments were price entered the equation.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by tompe

Maybe you do not understand.

But I was commenting on #3 in the thread that said something about price. So in this thread there was comments were price entered the equation.

At the monthly going rates of Crashplan, an external 2 or 3 TB hard drive is still cheaper, at least in the Netherlands. It's only the photographers, musicians, and video editors that routinely juggle terabytes of data around on a daily basis (and the compulsive downloaders). Most 'normal' people don't have enormous amounts of data.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

At the monthly going rates of Crashplan, an external 2 or 3 TB hard drive is still cheaper, at least in the Netherlands. It's only the photographers, musicians, and video editors that routinely juggle terabytes of data around on a daily basis (and the compulsive downloaders). Most 'normal' people don't have enormous amounts of data.

I have 3 1T drives on 3 systems (1 is in a USB enclosure).

They are only partially filled. In many cases, the bulk of that is backups of the other drives data.

1T (internal) drives go for about US$60

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

At the monthly going rates of Crashplan, an external 2 or 3 TB hard drive is still cheaper, at least in the Netherlands. It's only the photographers, musicians, and video editors that routinely juggle terabytes of data around on a daily basis (and the compulsive downloaders). Most 'normal' people don't have enormous amounts of data.

I confess, I'm not normal!!! But those pictures have got to go somewhere.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

At the monthly going rates of Crashplan, an external 2 or 3 TB hard drive is still cheaper, at least in the Netherlands. It's only the photographers, musicians, and video editors that routinely juggle terabytes of data around on a daily basis (and the compulsive downloaders). Most 'normal' people don't have enormous amounts of data.

It is $5 per month for unlimited storage. Seems to me that an off site disk is more expensive and more trouble. I assumed a disk last 2 year or so.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by tompe

Crashplan is cheaper than buying a disk and place it off site.

Due to my circumstances I could only use it 6 months of the year. The potential frustration of needing it and not being able to access it is not something I want to pay for.

And I am not 100% confident in the cloud, or my hard drives for that matter, but I am reasonably content with what I do now so I don't see it changing soon.

And what is the worst that can happen? I lose my media, books, backup games etc. People have lived for centuries without this so I expect I would survive.

Helen,

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

And what is the worst that can happen? I lose my media, books, backup games etc. People have lived for centuries without this so I expect I would survive.

In my case, I just backup to an external drive. After 2-3 months, I put that drive at my mom's home, and pick up the one that is there and update the backup on it. Rinse-Repeat. If there's really important stuff that I can't lose (mostly a document or something) I zip it up into a password-protected and encrypted archive and put it into the non-public part of my webspace.

So the very worst that could happen is that I lose two, maybe three months of backups if my house burns down. I think that's an acceptable risk.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

In my case, I just backup to an external drive. After 2-3 months, I put that drive at my mom's home, and pick up the one that is there and update the backup on it. Rinse-Repeat. If there's really important stuff that I can't lose (mostly a document or something) I zip it up into a password-protected and encrypted archive and put it into the non-public part of my webspace.

So the very worst that could happen is that I lose two, maybe three months of backups if my house burns down. I think that's an acceptable risk.

Yes and if the global apocalypse does occur, well we won't be worrying much about the data and media for at least a week or two

I'm with you though. My backups at my sister's, my double backups at home and the odd thing I have encrypted and stored elsewhere are IMO adequate. And if most of it was destroyed, leaving the rest of the world untouched, most is replaceable at a reasonable or often no cost these days.

And how much would I want to replace? Old TV series I have watched, books I have read, games I have finished? I think I would replace them if and when I actually had an urge to replay, reread or rewatch. Seldom.

Sometimes I do that now. Rebuy or re-download an older game because the one I have needs to run on XP and I would prefer it to run on Windows 7.

Pretty sure I am over backing up already

Helen

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Sometimes I do that now. Rebuy or re-download an older game because the one I have needs to run on XP and I would prefer it to run on Windows 7.

Ow yeah. I've rebought everything I have at GOG.com.

If I want to install a 10-15 year old game, designed for XP or even 98, I often have to go through 4-6 CD's, then install the (incremental) patches and then apply an (unofficial) no-CD crack. That is, if the game runs straight out of the box, on Windows 7 x64. If not, one needs to do additional tweaking and/or file hacking. (And I haven't even touched expansions: do it all over again!)

GOG.com did all of it already, packing the games into a nice installer, including ALL expansions, patches, and tweaks, to make the game run immediately after installation, requiring no CD or internet connection. Best of, all, they include art, manuals, and soundtracks; they even started including them in FLAC format recently. (I must see if they are updating earlier releases in this regard.)

Yeah, I'll rebuy a game again for $5 to $10 for all that convenience and extra stuff. I did, and gave all my old versions away. Actually, a few days ago, Jade Empire was on sale, and being one of my favorite action-RPG's, I've replaced my 2007 DVD version.

The games are stored at GOG.com for download at any time, but I also download and backup them to my own computer and hard drives. This means that, as long as I have a computer that runs Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8, I can run these games... forever.

[Snow Sciles]

It encourages cloud hoarding imo. I've had a few computers fail on me and I had to start from scratch. After the initial annoyance, it can be quite liberating.

[DiapDealer]

I don't trust the cloud 100% either. Nor do I trust my various external backup drives (onsite or off) 100%. But taken together as a whole ... I'm pretty confident my data is fairly safe. The cloud's convenient for glitches--like if I just forgot to put a file on my laptop/tablet before I left the house.

If my house burns down and I have to go pick up an offsite physical backup (and a new PC to put it on), so be it. I accounted for that. In the meantime, if I accidentally delete a file on my laptop/tablet, and I'm out and about and want to show somebody something, I'll download it from the cloud and be happier than a hog in mud that I didn't have to go back home (or wait until Uncle Jimmy got back from the Ren Fair [or wait for the bank to open so I could get to my safety deposit box]) before I could access a physical backup of it.

It's not like it's an either/or proposition. Some use one, some use the other, many use both. That you (rhet.) don't like the idea of cloud storage is hardly relevant to whether or not cloud storage is useful as part of a backup/remote access plan. It is. Undeniably so.

[crossi]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's not like it's an either/or proposition. Some use one, some use the other, many use both. That you (rhet.) don't like the idea of cloud storage is hardly relevant to whether or not cloud storage is useful as part of a backup/remote access plan. It is. Undeniably so.

I do like both but I dislike when the cloud becomes neccesary. I don't like Steam games because I've had trouble accessing my games sometimes. I play fine one day the next the game won't open. Same computer same everything. It's happened more than once and it's a pain sometimes to get it going again, especially unlike Amazon there is no HELP button to get immediate help with the problem and they don't even respond to emails.

I don't like the decrease in onboard memory for the newer kindles forcing you to keep more of your books in the cloud instead of in your kindle.

I wouldn't buy Office Online. When I need an Office program I need it. I don't want it unavailable just because my modem or internet provider is having problems.

The cloud's great for emergency backup or transfering files and remote access but I don't want to need it for routine use.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by crossi

I don't like the decrease in onboard memory for the newer kindles forcing you to keep more of your books in the cloud instead of in your kindle.

Simply not true. There is no "forcing" going on. You can keep copies of all your books on your PC/external drive/flash drive/whatever and stay completely cloud-free. Transferring books via USB as needed. I only ever download my kindlebooks from Amazon once. The decrease in memory only forces you to choose what books you want to keep on your Kindle at any one given time. That's a different issue entirely.

[cfrizz]

A lot of people seem to have a phobia about using their pc's for downloading & storage.

I got the 32gb Nexus 7 2012, it is highly unlikely I will run out of storage space with that especially since all I store on it is books & music. It's holding all of it with plenty of room to spare.

I figure between having copies of everything on my pc, a 1TB ext hard drive, phone, mp3 player and and tablet, I have plenty of back up without needing the cloud.

There are ALWAYS work arounds for just about everything. It's up to you to choose which work around you want to use. Rather than sit around bemoaning the fact that these companies aren't doing what YOU want them to do.

[Tarana]

I'm a fan of the cloud, but I would never consider it a 'backup.' I use it as a convenience. There has already been one major cloud service to close up overnight taking their client's files with them. Use it for convenience, but do not rely on it to be there 2 months from now because it may not be. There is always the possibility that your information could disappear due to a faulty server and insufficient backup by the company. O a demand by some publisher to remove all access to an ebook you bought. Or financial circumstances force you to drop wifi access or even computer access. I know a couple of elderly people who sold their home to move into a retirement community - there is no wifi.