Cloud Storage

Kumabjorn · 01-26-2012, 04:35 PM

Now that I can't access MegaUpload anymore

I looked into Amazon's Cloud Storage. 5 GB for free, but 1000 GB (that is 1 TB right?) cost $1.000/yr.

Woot?
$1.000 every year. Can't I buy a 2 TB external HDD for $100? That would get me 20 TB for $1.000 or 20 times the storage for the same money.

Why would anyone be prepared to pay Amazon $1.000 on a yearly basis?

Pinecone · 01-27-2012, 08:36 AM

Not now you can't. Hard drives prices went through the roof recently due to the flooding in Thailand.

But yes, cloud storage will cost more than an external drive.

HarryT · 01-27-2012, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Why would anyone be prepared to pay Amazon $1.000 on a yearly basis?

You may not have a secure data centre to put your drives in. You may not have the facility to back them up every night. The sort of people who use capabilities such as this have data which is worth enormously more than the cost of storing it.

Asawi · 01-27-2012, 08:45 AM

Well, if my data was that precious there is NO WAY I'd rely on cloud storage!

Cloud storage is fine for things you want to be able to access easily form different computers/devices and also easy to update, but I would not keep anything important in the cloud that I didn't have elsewhere as well! Preferably stored in multiple ways (external hard drive(s), DVD:s...)

HarryT · 01-27-2012, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asawi

Well, if my data was that precious there is NO WAY I'd rely on cloud storage!

Cloud storage is fine for things you want to be able to access easily form different computers/devices and also easy to update, but I would not keep anything important in the cloud that I didn't have elsewhere as well! Preferably stored in multiple ways (external hard drive(s), DVD:s...)

Certainly it makes sense to have a redundant backup strategy. But cloud storage is big business in the commercial world. The company I work for (not Amazon) is investing serious money in selling secure cloud data storage to businesses.

Asawi · 01-27-2012, 08:54 AM

Yeah, when relying on cloud storage you have to pretty picky on who to trust with your data! It had better not be a "here today, gone tomorrow" solution, and you may need to pay up for that security!

Kumabjorn · 01-27-2012, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Certainly it makes sense to have a redundant backup strategy. But cloud storage is big business in the commercial world. The company I work for (not Amazon) is investing serious money in selling secure cloud data storage to businesses.

I did not get the impression that Amazon was targeting businesses. I bought a 1 TB USb HDD the size of a pack of smokes. Not very difficult to take with me or even lock away (granted I don't have a fire proof safe or anything like that, then my data doesn't really have a commercial value).

My surprise comes from the difference in pricing. If Amazon wanted $100 for 1 TB I can see how some people might opt for an offfering like that, but $1,000?

HarryT · 01-27-2012, 09:06 AM

$1 per GB per year is a actually a pretty low rate. You'd struggle to beat that.

elemenoP · 01-27-2012, 09:13 AM

Amazon and Apple's offerings are not meant primarily for backup. You can use them for backup, but the main purpose is to have documents and media that you can easily access from multiple computers/phones/tablets/etc. So the big draw is the syncing feature. It's unlikely that someone would have 1tb of information that they need to sync with all their devices.

eP

Soldim · 01-27-2012, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I did not get the impression that Amazon was targeting businesses. I bought a 1 TB USb HDD the size of a pack of smokes. Not very difficult to take with me or even lock away (granted I don't have a fire proof safe or anything like that, then my data doesn't really have a commercial value).

My surprise comes from the difference in pricing. If Amazon wanted $100 for 1 TB I can see how some people might opt for an offfering like that, but $1,000?

For our cloud storage we pay close to $2 per GB. I don't know the details, but I think there's back ups at at least 2 different places, a guaranteed percentage of up-time and guaranteed minimum pipe-width in the Gb/s range.

Regardless, for someone relocating shortly, the easiest/cheapest solution is to take his 200 TB of data with him on HDs, leaving a backup behind.

Kumabjorn · 01-27-2012, 10:07 AM

Who has 200 TB of data?
Isn't that more than everything that has ever been written, recorded and photographed?
Don't even think CIA has 200 TB of data.

HarryT · 01-27-2012, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Who has 200 TB of data?
Isn't that more than everything that has ever been written, recorded and photographed?
Don't even think CIA has 200 TB of data.

I was working recently on a project with the National Westminster bank, one of the largest UK banks. Their customer database is well over a Petabyte (1024TB) in size. 200TB would not be considered a particularly large database in modern terms. Many large organisations - banks, airlines, etc - will have databases that size.

Kumabjorn · 01-27-2012, 10:21 AM

They have HD video of every customer?
If one customer = 2 Kb of data then Petabyte = customers on Mars.

I just find it astounding, but I guess once you have the data space then data will expand to fill that space.

HarryT · 01-27-2012, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

They have HD video of every customer?
If one customer = 2 Kb of data then Petabyte = customers on Mars.

I just find it astounding, but I guess once you have the data space then data will expand to fill that space.

It's basically down to the fact that you're storing details of every transaction that every customer makes. That's an awful lot of data!

susan_cassidy · 01-27-2012, 11:41 AM

Amazon has other storage services for businesses. Amazon S3 comes to mind.

01-26-2012, 04:35 PM	#1
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	Cloud Storage Now that I can't access MegaUpload anymore I looked into Amazon's Cloud Storage. 5 GB for free, but 1000 GB (that is 1 TB right?) cost $1.000/yr. Woot? $1.000 every year. Can't I buy a 2 TB external HDD for $100? That would get me 20 TB for $1.000 or 20 times the storage for the same money. Why would anyone be prepared to pay Amazon $1.000 on a yearly basis?

01-27-2012, 09:06 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	$1 per GB per year is a actually a pretty low rate. You'd struggle to beat that. Last edited by HarryT; 01-27-2012 at 09:24 AM.

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01-27-2012, 08:36 AM	#2
Pinecone Guru Posts: 902 Karma: 1660722 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Maryland Device: PRS-650, PRS-600, PRS-350	Not now you can't. Hard drives prices went through the roof recently due to the flooding in Thailand. But yes, cloud storage will cost more than an external drive.

01-27-2012, 08:45 AM	#4
Asawi Gadgetoholic Posts: 1,467 Karma: 3865860 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Libra2, Tolino Vision 6	Well, if my data was that precious there is NO WAY I'd rely on cloud storage! Cloud storage is fine for things you want to be able to access easily form different computers/devices and also easy to update, but I would not keep anything important in the cloud that I didn't have elsewhere as well! Preferably stored in multiple ways (external hard drive(s), DVD:s...)

01-27-2012, 08:54 AM	#6
Asawi Gadgetoholic Posts: 1,467 Karma: 3865860 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Libra2, Tolino Vision 6	Yeah, when relying on cloud storage you have to pretty picky on who to trust with your data! It had better not be a "here today, gone tomorrow" solution, and you may need to pay up for that security!

01-27-2012, 09:13 AM	#9
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Amazon and Apple's offerings are not meant primarily for backup. You can use them for backup, but the main purpose is to have documents and media that you can easily access from multiple computers/phones/tablets/etc. So the big draw is the syncing feature. It's unlikely that someone would have 1tb of information that they need to sync with all their devices. eP

01-27-2012, 10:07 AM	#11
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	Who has 200 TB of data? Isn't that more than everything that has ever been written, recorded and photographed? Don't even think CIA has 200 TB of data.

01-27-2012, 10:21 AM	#13
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	They have HD video of every customer? If one customer = 2 Kb of data then Petabyte = customers on Mars. I just find it astounding, but I guess once you have the data space then data will expand to fill that space.

01-27-2012, 11:41 AM	#15
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	Amazon has other storage services for businesses. Amazon S3 comes to mind.

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