Cloud Storage

[deltaforce]

Hello folks,

I could not find other appropriate section to post this question, hence posting here.

I have about 2TB of data (home videos, photos, scanned books, ripped audio CDs and Audiobooks) that I would like to store in the cloud for my rainy day. There are a tons of hosts that can do that for a fee but I am looking at possibly free or cheaper solution.

Can folks chime in on what options do I have here? Again, this data will not be accessed unless and until my house is gutted by fire or all external backup HDDs crash one after the other in very short time frame.

Thanks in advance.

 

[corkyg]

Storing ripped audio CVDs and audiobooks in the Cloud can be risky in that they are technically illegal copies. I keep life simple - I put all that stuff on an external HDD and store it off site in my safe deposit box at the bank along with deed,titles, and other vital docs. Do I trust the Cloud? Nope! 🙂

But, any of the well known ones are good, even Microsoft SkyDrive. Carbonite is reasonable.

 

[Phynaz]

I use Crashplan, for a single user it's $50 a year for unlimited storage.

 

[Lifted]

What's your upload speed? 2TB @ 1Mb upload and you're looking at 5 months to get that all in the cloud.

Keep a couple of copies on HDDs and leave them with different family members. Or get a safe deposit box at your bank for a few $ a month.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Make your own "cloud". It will be in the safety of your own home and nobody else but you or anyone you provide will have access. Can look at MD raid, ZFS etc.. lot of options. Cheaper in the long run too.

Upload speed is going to be a pretty big culpit too. At home you'll be able to upload at gigabit speed, not so much on the cloud.

For backups, a post office box is handy as well. Or just bring drives to work.

 

[Golgatha]

Make your own "cloud". It will be in the safety of your own home and nobody else but you or anyone you provide will have access. Can look at MD raid, ZFS etc.. lot of options. Cheaper in the long run too.

Upload speed is going to be a pretty big culpit too. At home you'll be able to upload at gigabit speed, not so much on the cloud.

For backups, a post office box is handy as well. Or just bring drives to work.

I purchased a small fireproof and waterproof safe I keep under my desk at work. I rotate two external 4TB drives in and out of it on a monthly basis. All drives are encrypted with TrueCrypt.

 

[ronbo613]

I live in the PacNW, I don't like clouds. I keep my valuable digital image and video backups on external hard drives that I keep in my storage unit in weatherproof containers.

The "cloud" is just a marketing buzz word for online storage, which is somebody else's hard drive, I'd rather have my own, thank you very much. The amount of storage I use would cost me a lot of cloud bucks anyway, not to mention the fact I could die of old age uploading and downloading the stuff.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I live in the PacNW, I don't like clouds. I keep my valuable digital image and video backups on external hard drives that I keep in my storage unit in weatherproof containers.

The "cloud" is just a marketing buzz word for online storage, which is somebody else's hard drive, I'd rather have my own, thank you very much. The amount of storage I use would cost me a lot of cloud bucks anyway, not to mention the fact I could die of old age uploading and downloading the stuff.

Someone after my own heart in this matter!

When the options for "cloud" storage first appeared along with "online backup-for-fee" options, I was reticent and am still so. I don't like committing my data, documents, facsimiles etc. to the care of some entity outside my home. But I understand how this could be a fallback . . . especially if you lived in the So Cal mountains with the risk of fire. And the risk of household disaster is everywhere over a range of probabilities.

I figure my DVR recordings can die with any hard disk crash, so I don't use the "duplication" feature on my WHS server-box for those. Everything else is duplicated and gets backed up to disks I can run with if forced to leave the house, but I probably should rent the safety-deposit box or use some similar option.

 

[tential]

Someone asked me why I don't use "The Cloud." They were explaining to me how "I can access all my files from the internet whenever I want!"

Well first off, I don't put my stuff on the cloud because you're trusting someone else to store your personal data. If at any time their servers are compromised all of your data is at risk. Think about it, who is a hacker more likely to focus on. 1 company with 1,000s of user info. Or, focus on each indvidual user.

Yahoo recently just lost MILLIONS of user's passwords/account information. I'd rather not subject myself to that.

Anyone is capable of making their own "Cloud" using any PC/storage device they have. Why pay someone a large monthly fee for what I can already do at my own home, extremely cheap.

 

[Zxian]

I purchased a small fireproof and waterproof safe I keep under my desk at work. I rotate two external 4TB drives in and out of it on a monthly basis. All drives are encrypted with TrueCrypt.

Just a heads up - most fireproof safes are rated to keep paper from burning. Your hard drives may not fare so well in the event of a fire. I hope I'm repeating what you already knew, but I'd rather you not get burned (pun intended).