Movement towards cloud storage

[crossi]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

The Kindle still has plenty of storage, for hundreds of books. How many do you need at one time?

Just one more than I currently have if the one book I'm looking for isn't currently on my Kindle.

[speakingtohe]

Nothing against cloud storage but I don't need it. And overall I actively don't want it.

I have about 5 TB of bizarre stuff collected since the 70's. Old games, books, OS, most of which I will never access. But I keep it as it fits in a couple of 4x8 hard drives with room to spare. Sure I could put it on a cloud server, but why? So I can access my stuff on a desert island that just happens to have an electrical outlet and an internet connection?

Maybe I would want all of my TV episodes in the cloud, but aren't there other ways of viewing them that are just as convenient?

Many things I can access online already and if not, well if my condo and my sister's apartment where I keep a backup of the very small amount of irreplaceable data burnt down the same day, chances are I would have other things more important to worry about.

Lose my books? Well I could re download them or borrow from library or buy another book.
Lose my movies/TV series. Maybe I would have to watch an actual TV for a week or so.

Nothing else I have I would even want on cloud storage, free or not.

Helen

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I have about 5 TB of bizarre stuff collected since the 70's. Old games, books, OS, most of which I will never access. But I keep it as it fits in a couple of 4x8 hard drives with room to spare. Sure I could put it on a cloud server, but why?

One reason would be so it's securely backed up. Hard disks die. I once had the unfortunate situation where TWO drives in a RAID5 array simultaneously got fried by a thunderstorm and I lost my data even though I thought I was safe with RAID5.

I too have multiple terabytes of data on external hard drives, but even though I have a "primary" and a "backup" of each drive, if Cloud storage ever falls to the level when I could afford to store it in the Cloud, I'd be happy to do so for security.

[soulfuldog]

Even if the cost of cloud storage was comparable to the cost of you storing a couple of copies of everything on traditional storage solutions, there are still positives & negatives for both. Ease of access and automatic remote storage is good but privacy is always the concern for cloud storage. You can automate a good part of your own storage solutions, and while remote off site storage and remote access isn't the same, you don't have any privacy concerns.

[HarryT]

Some people have privacy concerns, some don't. The stuff on my external drives is things like TV shows, photographs, etc. nothing remotely private. If anyone wants to look at thousands of photographs of Egyptian temples and hieroglyphic inscriptions, they've very welcome to do so .

[crossi]

It's not so much a privacy issue as a convenience issue for me. My books are in the archive I just don't use it. The archive was fine with 20 books. With 900 it's a nightmare to use to find the one book I'm looking for. I've got those 900 books condensed into 10 pages of catagories on my home page. Much more convenient than 90 pages of archive. Finding a nearby computer that I can use and using Manage My Kindle is not much better. That program is so klutzy I simply gave up on it long ago. Even assuming there IS a nearby computer I can use. My eyes aren't good enough to use the web access on my KK. At home I can use Calibre and I do, but I'm not always at home. Also there are a lot of problems with both Manage My Kindle and the Archive once your Archive grows much past a few thousands. Keeping Whispernet permanently off helps that problem. If I could use a SD card I could delete most of the books from my Archive/Amazon storage and just swap SD cards as needed and a large library would be no problem. Don't need Amazon for backup, I use Dropbox and a harddrive and a usb stick as well as my computer.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by rahulsh1986

You can build your own cloud storage using free open sourced softwares. That way you are in control of everything.

so you dont have to rely on anyone.

But you do have to rely on your own upload speed being adequate.

And your server being available 24/7.

Graham

[Katsunami]

They can try. As soon as I can't read my books without using the internet and/or cloud, I'll abandon their e-reader. I've done so with games and music already. If I can't get my media to work independently of whatever online service, then I don't want it.

The cloud and app stores and such services are fine for things I don't really care for. When dealing with stuff I want to keep and use indefinitely, I'll never trust any company or any service.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One reason would be so it's securely backed up. Hard disks die. I once had the unfortunate situation where TWO drives in a RAID5 array simultaneously got fried by a thunderstorm and I lost my data even though I thought I was safe with RAID5.

I too have multiple terabytes of data on external hard drives, but even though I have a "primary" and a "backup" of each drive, if Cloud storage ever falls to the level when I could afford to store it in the Cloud, I'd be happy to do so for security.

Yep, the old thinking that "RAID = backup" has caught a lot of people out.

Cloud is curious. I think I've grown more paranoid as I've gotten older, I'm not sure that I'd use Cloud storage for backup purposes even if it was an option (if my backups go wrong I have only myself to blame, but I have no control over the Cloud). But as it is, with my massive 0.1Mbps upload speed, for me the Cloud is just an interesting thing that happens to other people.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One reason would be so it's securely backed up. Hard disks die. I once had the unfortunate situation where TWO drives in a RAID5 array simultaneously got fried by a thunderstorm and I lost my data even though I thought I was safe with RAID5.

I too have multiple terabytes of data on external hard drives, but even though I have a "primary" and a "backup" of each drive, if Cloud storage ever falls to the level when I could afford to store it in the Cloud, I'd be happy to do so for security.

Nothing is totally secure even the cloud. I too have lost much on occasion, mostly before the advent of CD's, external drives etc. The most devastating was photos due to a virus.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Some people have privacy concerns, some don't. The stuff on my external drives is things like TV shows, photographs, etc. nothing remotely private. If anyone wants to look at thousands of photographs of Egyptian temples and hieroglyphic inscriptions, they've very welcome to do so .

I don't have security issues either, in fact my feelings are much the same as yours. I do not keep any passwords, identifying financial records etc. personal information, even personal contact info on media if I can help it. Not saying it doesn't happen and I doubt they would be much use to anyone. Still I try, as why tempt fate.

The cloud is an additional resource that I chose not to bother with for the most part. I do have it, it is affordable for anything I care about, but not always accessible.

I have far too much digital media backed up in multiple physical locations just because I can (OCD in that area?).

If all of it was destroyed in one fell swoop I think it would probably be the least of my worries for quite a while.

And not much of it is irreplaceable. In a small way I might benefit from a purge. That coupled with the fact that for 1/2 the year I have extremely limited bandwidth detracts from the perceived advantages.

Helen

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Many things I can access online already and if not, well if my condo and my sister's apartment where I keep a backup of the very small amount of irreplaceable data burnt down the same day, chances are I would have other things more important to worry about.

It's always good to have off-site backups for the stuff that's really important to you!

[tompe]

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

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

It's always good to have off-site backups for the stuff that's really important to you!

Njergh... I even have backups, off-site and otherwise, for stuff that's NOT important to me.

(Read: stuff that is important for family members, and they're too lazy/lackluster/ignorant/*** to back it up, so when I do the regular maintenance, I create another backup.)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by tompe

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

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.

[Mnementh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I too have multiple terabytes of data on external hard drives, but even though I have a "primary" and a "backup" of each drive, if Cloud storage ever falls to the level when I could afford to store it in the Cloud, I'd be happy to do so for security.

Take a look at Crashplan or Backblaze, totally unlimited storage for $5.99pm or $5.00pm respectively.

The initial backup is slow (if like me you have terabytes of data to upload) but after that it's quick as it only does incrementals.