Copy is shutting down

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by library addict

I keep local backups, but like having the cloud as EXTRA backup.

Same here. I use OneDrive for cloud backup and used Copy also. I think I might try SugarSync. There are no free options with enough space for my library. I have 100 GB in Google Drive, but Google Drive is not suitable for Calibre libraries.

[HarryT]

I don't regard iCloud as a backup, but simply as a method of easily sharing content between devices. I never trust a backup unless I do it myself, and all my files are backed up on two drives in two different physical locations.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by dickloraine

Doesn't help with a), but a password manager helps with b) and c). Keepass for example is free and open source and has apps for nearly all platforms. You can backup your password file wherever you want. Mine is on my PC, my Tablet, my Phone and in several clouds (I simply sync through the backup on onedrive, which most of the apps do automatically). Added bonus: you can generate safe passwords for everything, since you don't have to remember them (of course you need to remember one password, your master password, but better one then dozens).

That is a good suggestion. I've been using Keepass for YEARS and wouldn't be able to work on a computer/the internet without it anymore. You can put an URL Keepass so you know to which site the user/pass gives access.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not even via the web browser interface? That's a little surprising.

I've accessed icloud.com from an android browser in the past.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shane R

I've accessed icloud.com from an android browser in the past.

Thank you for confirming that. I was pretty sure that it would work, but I didn't have an Android device at hand to try it.

[Conan46]

Used mover.io to move my files from Copy to Google Drive. They moved the files overnight. Seemed to work pretty good.

[Blossom]

I had a feeling they would not be staying so I never really used the 156GB I got for free from them. I use Dropbox which I have 22GB for free but it's pretty filled up with less than 2GB left. I also have 115GB from OneDrive I got through a Bing rewards promotion till 2017. I won't be renewing unless they come up with a better plan. They did have 100GB for $35 now they have changed it. I have 50GB from Box that I use for my Sims 2 creations. I also have Amazon Cloud Drive that comes with my Amazon subscription to their music but I've never used it.

How can we trust Cloud services if they go belly up within a few years?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Blossom

How can we trust Cloud services if they go belly up within a few years?

Go with a service that you pay for - ie, one that has a sustainable business model. "Free stuff" is nice, but it's worth exactly what you pay for it, ie nothing.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

First, I'll never trust any cloud service to exist indefinitely; in the very least, prices, conditions, or specifications will change, and not always for the better.

Second... I think many people can get into the 'Where's my stuff?!?!" problem. There are people on MR who only shop at Amazon, or Kobo, and keep all their books there, but I shop everywhere. Amazon, a few Kobo stores, Delphi, Angry Robot, Baen, Diesel and Books on Board while they existed, eBooks.com, Feedbooks, and so on, so my books are all over the place. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to find them all. Thus, I download them, unDRM, and keep local copies. I don't really care what happens to the online versions.

How many clouds can people have? Dropbox, Copy, Box, Creative Cloud, Apple Cloud, Samsung Cloud, and others I don't even know about probably. Then your personal files could become splintered throughout the internet.

Originally Posted by Tarana

You do have points and I would also like to point out to others - one day, you may have a stroke or memory loss. Are you going to remember (a) where your stuff is (b) the link to get there and (c) the password to access? My family member experienced this. Some stuff he has never been able to access again. The inability to remember how to get to something has probably preyed upon him more than the actual value of the stuff he lost.

My use of Dropbox is almost entirely transferring stuff to others rather than storage. I have a small storage folder full of certain emagazines to be shared among family, but that's the extent of it. I knew of a couple of people who were devastated when their cloud company shut up shop overnight a couple of years ago. That WAS their backup. At least COPY is warning their customers in advance.

I have DropBox and OneDrive (and Google Drive for some Google stuff, such as my custom maps, but I won't count that one for now).

OneDrive is my main storage box. But OneDrive is still missing one thing that DropBox has: shared folders. At least not in the way DropBox has, where I can add a file to a folder and it appears with all my shared persons. Locally. I use it a lot to share stuff with my mother and my husband.

Originally Posted by dickloraine

Doesn't help with a), but a password manager helps with b) and c).

And my keepass file is also shared across many devices using a cloud service and I told my mother to do the same. I refreshed my Galaxy Note the other day and the first thing I installed was Keepas, so I didn't have to keep on typing my email address (which is 60 or so characters )

[leaston]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Go with a service that you pay for - ie, one that has a sustainable business model. "Free stuff" is nice, but it's worth exactly what you pay for it, ie nothing.

What??? 'Paid for' doesn't necessarily equate to any kind of value or security in any business sector
Besides, how do you know if a business model is sustainable? Just because they charge for a service doesn't mean their business is viable.
In the end, YOUR data is your own responsibility. Putting it in the hands of a third party company you pay a fee to does not mean it's safe and it is extremely naive to suggest otherwise.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by leaston

What??? 'Paid for' doesn't necessarily equate to any kind of value or security in any business sector

I wasn't suggesting that it did, but a service that has a sustainable revenue stream is more likely to be around for the long term than one that doesn't.

[leaston]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I wasn't suggesting that it did, but a service that has a sustainable revenue stream is more likely to be around for the long term than one that doesn't.

Which begs the same question I posed earlier...how can you possibly tell, unless it is a monolithic organisation, that a company like Dropbox or Copy or similar is 'more likely' to be viable as a business and therefore 'sustainable' than any other?
There have been enough cloud storage solutions going down the pan to suggest there may be some issue with the fundamental business model they employ. Back to my original point...don't trust any of them with your data with an expectation it will be safe. It simply isn't.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by leaston

Which begs the same question I posed earlier...how can you possibly tell, unless it is a monolithic organisation, that a company like Dropbox or Copy or similar is 'more likely' to be viable as a business and therefore 'sustainable' than any other?

You can't, which is why I'd put more faith in a company which offers cloud storage as part of a much larger business. I feel a lot more confident that Amazon or Apple's cloud will be around in 10 years' time than Dropbox.

There have been enough cloud storage solutions going down the pan to suggest there may be some issue with the fundamental business model they employ. Back to my original point...don't trust any of them with your data with an expectation it will be safe. It simply isn't.

I agree entirely. Cloud storage is convenient for instant access, but it should never be relied on as your primary backup.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

And my keepass file is also shared across many devices using a cloud service and I told my mother to do the same. I refreshed my Galaxy Note the other day and the first thing I installed was Keepas, so I didn't have to keep on typing my email address (which is 60 or so characters )

Darn, I knew I should have patented that idea I also share my Keepass file (but not the .key file; each device has its own).

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Blossom

How can we trust Cloud services if they go belly up within a few years?

It's the reason why I never ever buy anything digital that is dependent on the seller or a service, except:

- If there is no other choioce, and the price is right/low*
- If I don't care about losing the product**

One can use a cloud service, even as a main storage space, as long as a local backup is kept; or at the *very* least, a backup in another, unrelated cloud service. (For me, even a 'double cloud' wouldn't be good enough. I even have double local backups in different locations.)

*) One example would be the games "War for Cybertron" and "Fall of Cybertron". Most Transformers games are crap, but I really liked these. They are out of print on DVD, and if they can be found, the DVD has an extremely annoying copy protection (SeuRom). These games could be bought via Steam. I refuse to buy anything there because of the online check/DRM. (I always buy from GOG.com, or on DVD if possible.) Now, I didn't have another choice. And, next point....
**) I paid only €5 per game. They are short (+/- 20 hours per game), and don't really have replay value except for looking at the visuals. I don't really mind if I ever lose them.